Bewerbungen » WASHINGTON (AP) — Jakub Vrana keeps finding

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jakub Vrana keeps finding another gear with his speed and another level to his game. Meanwhile John Carlson Jersey , the Philadelphia Flyers keep finding new lows in what’s turning into a lost season.Vrana scored twice and had an assist for his first career three-point game to help the Washington Capitals beat Philadelphia 5-3 on Tuesday night, handing the division-rival Flyers their eighth consecutive loss. He showed off his speed on his first goal and ended the defending Stanley Cup champions’ 0-for-12 power-play drought with his second.The 22-year-old winger set a career high with 14 goals in just 42 games. Often one of the last players on the ice for practice, the 2014 first-round pick takes every chance he can to improve and doesn’t think he’s done growing.“In my situation I always feel like I can work on something,” said Vrana, who also assisted on Tom Wilson’s first-period goal that opened the scoring. “I can always get better. It either is the defensive zone or whatever, sometimes mental game. It’s little things you can always work on, and I just try to improve every day, work on my game and try to get better.”Not much is getting better for Philadelphia, which has lost 13 of 16 and is second-last in the NHL with 36 points. Despite outshooting the Capitals 40-26, the Flyers unraveled yet again and fell to 3-7-2 under interim coach Scott Gordon.“We’ve got to win the game,” said Philadelphia winger Jakub Voracek, who scored his 11th goal. “It’s not that hard. I mean, it is hard right now for us, but it has to end. We’ve just got to get on a roll. We need to stop it. When you play 40 minutes Lars Eller Jersey , you’re not going to win many games. I mean, if you play 40 great and 20 good, maybe you have a chance, but if you play 40 good and 20 absolutely brutal like we did again, we have no chance.”In starting journeyman Mike McKenna, the floundering Flyers tied an NHL record by using their seventh goaltender this season. They became the fourth team in league history to play seven goalies, joining the 1989-90 Quebec Nordiques, 2002-03 St. Louis Blues and 2007-08 Los Angeles Kings.McKenna allowed four goals on 25 shots and was hung out to dry on Flyers defensive miscues.“Just trying to kind of get your bearings a little bit and sort things, but hockey’s hockey,” McKenna said. “It definitely wasn’t my best game, I don’t think, but it felt like the rest of them I’ve played this year in terms of just preparation and everything.”T.J. Oshie also scored twice — including an empty-netter with 2.1 seconds left — for the Capitals, who won their second in a row to bounce back from a three-game skid. Backup goaltender Pheonix Copley made a season-high 37 saves to pick up his 10th victory of the season.Copley has started five of the past 11 games and exceeded expectations so much that Washington has been able to reduce All-Star Braden Holtby’s workload.“He has been awesome,” Wilson said. “You don’t know him that well and he comes in Madison Bowey Jersey , and we’re pretty lucky to have two guys that can steal a game for us on any given night. … He’s one of the backbones of our team. A great guy, a great teammate and he’s done a great job for us this year.”Washington was outplayed during the first period and beyond but capitalized on several mistakes by Philadelphia, which got late goals by Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux to make the final score look closer than the game itself.NOTES: C Nic Dowd replaced Nicklas Backstrom (illness) in the lineup. … Gordon said he started McKenna to give 20-year-old Carter Hart a rest after playing twice in three days. … Simmonds was ejected with a 10-minute misconduct with 2:04 remaining. … F Phil Varone replaced Jordan Weal in the Flyers’ lineup.UP NEXTFlyers: Look to avoid a ninth consecutive loss when they host the Dallas Stars on Thursday.Capitals: Visit the Boston Bruins on Thursday. The NHL has told Brad Marchand to stop licking opponents or the Boston Bruins forward will face punishment.Senior vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell spoke to Marchand and Bruins general manager Don Sweeney on Saturday about Marchand’s actions against Tampa Bay a night earlier. Marchand licked Lightning forward Ryan Callahan on the face during Game 4 of their second-round series after appearing to do the same to Toronto’s Leo Komarov earlier in the playoffs.The league says Marchand has been put on notice that his actions are unacceptable and that similar behavior in the future will be dealt with through supplemental discipline. He could be fined or suspended by the NHL if he continues to lick players.”All I’m going to say is there is absolutely no place in our game for that,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. ”I don’t get it, I don’t understand it. How would you feel if I walked over to you right now and gave you one big lick? Right from the chin all the way up. There’s just no place in the game for that.”After the game, an overtime loss that put Boston down 3-1 in the series, Marchand said Callahan punched him in the face four times.”He just kept getting close,” Marchand said. ”Nothing big.”Told that Callahan compared licking to spitting and said it should be penalized accordingly, Marchand said: ”That’s cute. Good for him.”Marchand’s antics were the talk of rinks on Saturday. Penguins forward Tom Kuhnhackl said it was impossible to avoid hearing about Marchand licking Callahan because it was all over social media.When asked if one benefit of wearing a full face shield was protection from being licked, Pittsburgh’s Carl Hagelin said: `I’m not going to answer that. Funny question, though.”Some Winnipeg players watched the game while in Nashville and had a variety of reactions. Jets forward Adam Lowry said he probably would’ve punched Marchand – the kind of response the known instigator likely was looking for – while coach Paul Maurice said, ”It gives me the willies.””It’s a play I’ve never seen happen before in hockey,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. ”That’s the thing in the playoffs. Crazy stuff goes on and you have to keep a level head.”Predators players talked among themselves about Marchand, asking each other what they would do in that situation.”It would kind of be funny Nicklas Backstrom Jersey , but in the moment it probably wouldn’t be very funny,” defenseman P.K. Subban. ”I’m sure looking back you’re like, `I got licked in a hockey game.’ It’s just weird, you know?”For all the trash-talking, pushing and shoving that goes on in hockey, especially with the Stanley Cup as the ultimate prize, the line is usually drawn at spitting. Licking is just as unsanitary and, to most players, unwelcome.”It’s like spitting on someone. It’s extremely disrespectful,” Lowry said. ”You got to respect your opponents. I get playing hard in a series and there might be some dislike between guys, but there’s a certain line that shouldn’t be crossed and that’s one of them.”—AP Sports Writers Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tennessee, and Jimmy Golen in Boston contributed to this report.—