Wednesday Sports Roundup

By Benny Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Thanks to a great supporting cast, Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals rallied back from a 2-1 deficit late in the third period of last night's contest against the Detroit Red Wings to win their third straight game by a score of 3-2.

The Caps were out-shot by the Red Wings 46-23, but still managed to leave Verizon Center with a 'W'. Forward Nicklas Backstrom scored late in the game, evening the score at two a piece. Seconds later, Center David Steckel followed with a score of his own that gave the Caps their first lead of the night. Detroit pulled its netminder with just over a minute to play, but could not capitalize with the extra skater.

The Caps (31-12-6) travel to Pittsburgh on Thursday night to face superstar Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins (31-19-1). The game marks a rematch of last year's highly entertaining Eastern Conference divisional playoff series, won by the Penguins in seven games.

Thursday Sports Roundup

The self-described, "Doctor of Democracy" will not be putting his stamp on the NFL anytime soon. A group bidding to buy the NFL's St. Louis Rams has decided to drop conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh from its list of partners. The group, led by St. Louis Blues (NHL) Chairman Dave Checketts, determined that Limbaugh's participation had complicated its bid. On Wednesday, Checketts said that the group's bid will move forward despite the absence of Limbaugh...

Los Angeles Dodgers Manager Joe Torre has decided to start left-hander Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Kershaw was 0-2 against Philadelphia in the regular season. Tonight's first pitch is scheduled for 8:07 pm ET...

The Washington Capitals have recalled center Keith Aucoin from its minor league affiliate Hershey Bears. Aucoin will presumably fill the roster spot of defenseman John Erskine, who has been placed on the IR with an injured hand. The Capitals host the San Jose Sharks tonight. The puck drops at 7:00 pm ET...

Amid daily speculation regarding the job security of Head Coach Jim Zorn, two Washington Redskins players said Wednesday that they'd like the team's management to put out a statement officially endorsing him. The players, who both spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the lack of a vote of confidence will create division and uneasiness within the team...

Wednesday Sports Roundup

Wednesday Sports Roundup

The National League Championship series kicks off tomorrow night when the NL East Champion Philadelphia Phillies travel to Los Angeles to take on the NL West Champion Dodgers in a rematch of last season’s NLCS. The Phillies, who took that series 4 games to 1, will send lefty Cole Hamels to the mound. Hamels, last season’s NLCS and World Series MVP, has struggled this season, going just 10-11 with an ERA of 4.32. He’ll look to rebound from a shaky start in Game 2 of the NLDS against Colorado in which he gave up four runs on seven hits in just five innings of work. The Dodgers have yet to announce a starter for Game 1...

Meanwhile, the American League Championship Series gets underway Friday night in New York where the Yankees, owners of the best record in all of baseball this season, will look to make it back to the World Series for the first time since 2003. They’ll face the AL West Champion Los Angeles Angels, fresh off a thrilling come-from-behind 7-6 win over the Boston Red Sox that completed a sweep of that series in Boston. Yankees Manager Joe Girardi says he is considering using a three-man pitching rotation against the Angels featuring C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and playoff veteran Andy Pettitte...

Locally, All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas and his team, the Washington Wizards, have each been fined $25,000 by the NBA as a result of Arenas not making himself available to the media before and after games this preseason. Arenas, who has refused to do interviews since his team’s media day on Sept. 28, scored 24 points Tuesday night in the Wizards’ 101-98 exhibition victory over the Detroit Pistons...

In hockey news, the Washington Capitals will welcome the San Jose Sharks to D.C. on Thursday night. The contest features two of the most exciting teams in the National Hockey League as Capitals forward and reigning NHL MVP Alex Ovechkin will attempt to end his team’s current four game winless streak. The Capitals’ latest setback came Monday night when they squandered a two-goal lead and lost 3-2 in a shootout at home against the New Jersey Devils. The Sharks, currently in 2nd place in the NHL’s Pacific Division, are coming off a 1-0 shootout loss against the Phoenix Coyotes. San Jose boasts two of the league’s top scorers in center Joe Thornton and forward Dany Heatley, both of whom have racked up ten points apiece already this season.

Wednesday Sports Roundup

The Major League Baseball postseason kicks off this afternoon when the National League East Champion Philadelphia Phillies host the NL Wild Card Champion Colorado Rockies. The series marks a rematch of the 2007 Divisional Series which the Rockies swept 3-0 en route to a World Series appearence. The Phillies will send mid-season acquisition Cliff Lee to the hill in Game 1, while the Rockies will counter with 15-game winner Ubaldo Jimenez.

Two other playoff series' begin today as well when the NL West Champion Los Angeles Dodgers play host to the NL Central Champion St. Louis Cardinals, and the team with the best record in all of baseball, the American League East Champion New York Yankees, welcome the miraculous Minnesota Twins to Yankee Stadium. The AL Central Division-winning Twins, who trailed the Detroit Tigers by as many as 5 games just a few weeks ago, won 16 of their final 19 regular season games to force a one-game playoff with Detroit for the division crown. The Twins took that tiebraker in stunning fashion last night, winning 6-5 in 12 innings. Their amazing journey continues as they now travel to the Bronx for Game 1, where they will send rookie Brandon Duensing to the mound against Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia...

Elsewhere, a pair of NFL wide receivers will soon be making debuts in new cities. The Cleveland Browns have agreed to trade troubled wideout Braylon Edwards to the New York Jets for a pair of players, while in San Francisco rookie Michael Crabtree, a first-round pick who has held out since being drafted 10th overall this past April, has reportedly agreed to a six-year deal with the 49ers. Crabtree is expected to report to his team's training facility today...

And in hockey, the Philadelphia Flyers took advantage of nine Washington Capitals penalties to beat the Caps 6-5 in overtime Tuesday night. In a matchup that featured stars on both teams, the home-team Flyers overcame a 5-4 deficit in the game's late stages as Scott Hartnell scored with less than 5 minutes to play in the 3rd period to even the score. In the extra frame, Flyers' winger Daniel Briere scored on a rebound in front of Capitals goaltender Jose Theodore with just over a minute to play for the sudden death win. Captain Mike Richards scored three goals and Matt Carle added four assists for the Flyers who improved to 3-0 on the young season. Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin had three points apiece for Washington, which fell to 2-0-1.