n its final game before the hiatus. That gave the Kings a four-poin

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Los Angeles Kings werent playing their best hockey before the league went on break during the Winter Olympics. You can see the action on TSN2 at 10pm et/7pm pt. Given some time to sort things out, the Kings hope to get on track Wednesday night as they visit the Colorado Avalanche. Los Angeles had lost four straight and nine of 10 before picking up a home victory over Columbus in its final game before the hiatus. That gave the Kings a four-point edge over the Phoenix Coyotes for third place in the Pacific Division and an automatic playoff berth. A number of Kings skaters saw action during the Olympics in Sochi, Russia, including forward Jeff Carter and defenseman Drew Doughty for gold medal- winning Canada. It was a great tournament for Doughty, who scored four goals and had six points. The trip may have been less enjoyable for goaltender Jonathan Quick, who backstopped a Team USA that was bested by Canada in the semifinals before losing to Finland in the bronze medal game. Quick yielded 11 goals in five games during the tournament, posting a .923 save percentage. Those involved will now need to put the highs and lows of the Olympics behind them. "We understand the position that were in," forward Mike Richards told lakingsinsider.com. "Weve got 23 games left and even though we didnt play very well, were still in the same position as we were before. So we just have to look to not repeat things." Like the Kings, the Avalanche sit in third place in their division, but own a 10-point edge over the Minnesota Wild in the Central standings. Colorado also is just five points back of division co-leaders St. Louis and Chicago. Colorado went 2-0-2 on a four-game road trip before the break and has won five of its last seven overall. The Avs return a pair of medal winners to the ice in Canadian Matt Duchene and forward Gabriel Landeskog, who claimed silver with Sweden. Colorado will be without defenseman Erik Johnson for the first two contests of a three-game homestand after he picked up a two-game suspension ahead of the break. He received the ban for a two-handed slash of New York Islanders forward Frans Nielsen on Feb. 8. Johnson also will sit out Fridays game versus Phoenix. Colorado also learned it will be without veteran forward Alex Tanguay for the rest of the season after he underwent hip surgery. Tanguay sat out 36 games from Nov. 6-Jan. 21 with a hip injury, opting for rehab instead of surgery. He made his return to the lineup on Jan. 24, but was unable to play Colorados final five games before the Olympic break due to a knee issue caused by his hip injury. The Avalanche are 6-1-2 in their last nine meetings with the Kings, splitting a pair of matchups this season in Los Angeles that both went beyond regulation. Colorado has won the past three encounters on home ice. Drew Brees Saints Jersey .ca. The NHL Play of the Year showdown kicks off with some slick moves going head-to-head with a combination of soft hands and endless patience. Willie Roaf Youth Jersey .200. His solution to his hitting woes was business in the front and a party in the back."That would be a mullet," Norris says. http://www.saintsrookiestore.com/Saints-Willie-Roaf-Jersey/. The Detroit Tigers slugger fell short in his bid to become the first player to win the Triple Crown in successive seasons. Taysom Hill Youth Jersey . "He came up to me and said, I want to train," said Toronto coach Ryan Nelsen. The 26-year-old midfielder is expected to play Saturday night when Toronto hosts D.C. United, returning to his Major League Soccer squad with mixed feelings about the Americans World Cup run -- sad that it ended when it did but proud of his teams performance. Ted Ginn Jr Youth Jersey . Speaking on TSN Radio 1050s TSN Drive with Dave Naylor on Monday, Colangelo said he had no intention of tanking the shortened 2011-12 season, but definitely wanted a high pick in the draft. "I wish that word wasnt used for headline reasons," said Colangelo, "but the story behind it was: how can we fix the system? How can we tweak the system to make it less likely that teams are rewarded for losing records? "I do believe that if youre as transparent as we were at the time - with our season seat holders, our fans, the market place and the media - everybody knew what the plan was and what we were going through.PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Pittsburgh Pirates believe theyre building something special. The San Francisco Giants provided a reminder that much work remains to be done before a contender becomes a champion.Geared up for another run at Buctober, Pittsburghs post-season journey lasted all of 3 hours, 12 minutes, just long enough for Madison Bumgarner and the Giants to overpower the Pirates for an 8-0 victory in the NL wild-card game Wednesday night.Bumgarner tossed a four-hitter while striking out 10, and Brandon Crawford hit the first grand slam by a shortstop in post-season history as the Giants put an abrupt end to Pittsburghs second straight post-season appearance.We got outplayed tonight, second baseman Neil Walker said. Bumgarner went out there, he did what he wanted to do. He put up the strike zone and he made it tough on us. When they got up early on us we were trying to scratch and claw our way back, and he was good from the first pitch until the last pitch.The ones in between, too.Pittsburgh was unable to duplicate last years victory over Cincinnati in the wild-card game that followed a 21-year playoff drought. Playing before raucous crowds at PNC Park, the Pirates pushed St. Louis to a decisive Game 5 before losing their NLDS.This year, Pittsburgh went 17-9 in September while taking the Cardinals to the final day of the season in an attempt to win the NL Central.The chase included a decision to start budding ace Gerrit Cole in the regular-season finale in the hopes of catching the Cardinals and avoiding the wild-card game. Cole struck out 12 in a brilliant performance but the Pirates lost, putting Pittsburghs hopes for extending its season on Edinson Volquezs excitable shoulders.The former All-Star a€” in the midst of a mid-career renaissance after winning a team-high 13 games a€” navigated three innings in the biggest start of his career before it all unraveled in the fourth, when a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases with no outs.Crawford followed with a drive that kept carrying all the way to the seats above the 21-foot high Roberto Clemente wall to quiet the largest crowd in the 13-year history of PNC Park.I tried to bounce it down, back foot, and the ball just kept going, Volquez said. Bad spot.Bumgarner did the rest as San Francisco won its eighth consecutive post-season game and seventh in a row when facing elimination.Overpowering one of the NLs best lineups, Bumgarner walked one and threw 79 of 109 pitches for strikes in his latest stellar October performance. The big left-hander, who allowed only four singles, has thrown 15 scoreless innings in two World Series starts.Brandon Belt drove in three runs as San Francisco addeed on.dddddddddddd That was more than enough for Bumgarner, who mixed his fastball with a slider the Pirates couldnt seem to figure out.Pittsburgh, fourth in the majors in extra-base hits this season, rarely hit the ball hard.A professional, well-pitched game by him, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. We tried to counter-punch, we just couldnt muster up anything.Bumgarner was helped by his defence, too. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval a€” all 245 pounds of him a€” flipped over the railing in front of the Pittsburgh dugout to track down a foul popup off the bat of Russell Martin.Sandoval landed on his feet, a perfect symbol of San Franciscos seemingly endless resiliency this time of year. Back in the playoffs after winning the World Series in 2010 and 2012, the Giants are looking to continue their every-other-year success.We thrive in these situations, Crawford said. I dont know what it is. We just keep fighting no matter what the circumstance.Its a path the Pirates insist theyre on after winning 94 games last season and backing it up by going 88-74 this year despite a series of obstacles, including extended stays on the disabled list for Cole and Francisco Liriano, and an offence that didnt start to click until utility man Josh Harrison found a spot in the everyday lineup in mid-May.Not to take away from this year, we know it was a good season, Harrison said. But these losses right here hurt. Its not anything anybody would ever get used to. At the end of the day we still know that we are fortunate enough to be in this situation. There were a lot of teams that were eliminated on Sunday. And we had a chance to win tonight and play more.Instead the Pirates could only watch as San Francisco piled on against Pittsburghs normally reliable bullpen. A sizable portion of the crowd a€” most of the fans dressed in black a€” remained until the bitter end. There was a standing ovation after the final out even as the Giants poured onto the field in celebration.An important off-season lies ahead as Pitts