(SportsNetwork. Franco Harris Steelers Jersey .com) - The fading Ottawa Senators have a chance to make up some ground in the playoff race on Tuesday night as they play host to the New York Rangers. The Senators are in the midst of a 2-5-2 skid, dropping them seven points behind the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, a position currently held by the Rangers. New York is tied for third place in the Metropolitan Division with the Columbus Blue Jackets, as both clubs have 76 points. However, the Blue Jackets have two games in hand to hold the current tiebreaker and push the Blueshirts out of one of the three automatic playoff bids in the division. The Senators have lost three straight and are coming off a 3-1 setback to the Colorado Avalanche. Ottawa was six seconds away from being shut out before Mika Zibanejad scored on a one-time blast. Robin Lehner stopped 19 shots in defeat. "We need wins right now, not moral victories," said Ottawa head coach Paul MacLean. Lehner was making his second straight start in place of the injured Craig Anderson, who suffered an upper-body injury in an overtime loss to the Nashville Predators last Monday. Anderson remains day-to-day and Lehner is likely to face the Rangers tonight for the second time in his career. He won the first meeting, stopping 33-of-35 shots faced. New York also is slumping, having lost six of its past nine games. That includes a tough-luck 1-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday that denied goaltender Henrik Lundqvist a piece of team history. Lundqvist made 28 saves and remains stuck on 301 career victories, tied with Mike Richter for the most in club history. The Rangers were denied a potential tying goal in the second period. Carl Hagelin forced a shot from a severe angle along the goal line to Antti Niemis left, and after the San Jose backstop virtually glued himself to the post, the puck was obscured underneath his equipment. A lengthy replay was not conclusive enough to overturn the original no-goal ruling on the ice. "I thought defensively we did what we had to do. Offensively, we did everything but finish. We had some very good looks, but we couldnt pull the trigger," New York coach Alain Vigneault said. "Youve got to believe if we keep playing this way, well be alright." Martin St. Louis played in his sixth game with the Rangers since being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning and has yet to score a goal with his new club. He has two assists and is a minus-1. St. Louis has 15 goals and 43 points in 50 career games versus the Senators, while Lundqvist is 11-14-3 with a 2.08 goals against average versus them. The Rangers snapped a five-game series losing streak to the Senators with a 4-1 win in Ottawa on Jan. 18. Derek Stepan had a goal and two assists, while Cam Talbot came up with 29 saves. The Blueshirts bested the Sens for only the second time in the last nine meetings and the recent victory snapped a three-game slide in Ottawa. Markus Wheaton Steelers Jersey ." The announcement from Rutgers President Robert Barchi, who said there was a "miscommunication" about the speeches, is the latest development in a strange saga surrounding the May 18 ceremony. The New Jersey university initially announced that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would give the keynote address, and school officials maintained that she would not be "disinvited" as some students and faculty protested her selection, including holding a sit-in last week. Cam Thomas Steelers Jersey . Mata had already been dropped from Spains squad once this season and with the country blessed with so many playmakers, he was in real danger of being overlooked for the trip to Brazil to defend their title.FORT WORTH, Texas -- Vaughan, Ont., native Andrew Wiggins wasnt around a year ago for one of the worst nights in Kansas basketball history. The freshman guard heard stories from coach Bill Self, and took it upon himself to squash any TCU hopes of a repeat. Wiggins scored 19 of his career-high 27 points in the first half and No. 8 Kansas answered last years stunning loss by taking control early in a 91-69 victory over the Horned Frogs on Saturday night. "He let everyone know that they beat us last year so we had to come out with a lot of energy, come with aggression," Wiggins said. "I think we were concentrating and we played with a high level of energy." The Jayhawks (15-4, 6-0 Big 12) won their sixth straight game and remained the only Big 12 team without a league loss. Kansas didnt get to extend its run of wins in four straight games against ranked opponents, the first team to do that since North Carolina in 1996-97. In their visit to Fort Worth last year, the Jayhawks became the first top-five team to lose to the Horned Frogs in a 62-55 defeat. This time, Kansas had 53 points at halftime and led by as many as 24 in the first half. "It was better, a lot better," said Self, who joked a year ago that it was "the worst team that Kansas ever put on the floor, since Dr. Naismith was there" after the Jayhawks scored 13 points in the first half. Brandon Parrish scored 15 points to lead TCU (9-10, 0-7). The Horned Frogs are the only conference team without a league win and are 2-23 in their two Big 12 seasons. TCU coach Trent Johnson simply saw what he called a "really good" Kansas team, not one fired up to make amends for the shocker of a season ago. "Why would they get all fired up about what?" Johnson said. "You talk about Kansas basketball and were just trying to make this team relevant. We havent been to the post-season since the dinosaurs. So I dont think they get all worked up over something like that." Joel Embiid had 14 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots for Kansas before fouling out for the fourth time this seasonn. Lynn Swann Steelers Jersey. Wayne Selden Jr. scored 12, and Perry Ellis had eight points and 14 rebounds. TCUs student section flashed last years score in huge block numbers before the opening tip in case the Jayhawks had forgotten, but Wiggins was hardly fazed. The top-scoring freshman in the Big 12 made his first three shots and had a pair of 3-pointers and an alley-oop dunk from Selden in the first half. Wiggins topped his previous career best of 25 points against Florida on Dec. 10 and led Kansas with five assists. "He can defer a little bit and he can kind of get lost, but he never got lost today," Self said. "He was able to put his handprint all over the possessions and create opportunities for himself and others. I thought he played the way he should play every game." Wiggins also made it easier for the Jayhawks to exploit their size advantage inside. Jamari Traylor and Embiid had back-to-back dunks to put the Jayhawks up 14-6, surpassing their halftime total of 13 points from last year just 4 1/2 minutes into the game. Kansas, which shot a season-low 30 per cent in last years loss, was at 62 per cent in the first half, which ended with the Jayhawks in front by 21. The Jayhawks shot 57 per cent for the game. Conner Frankamp and Wiggins hit consecutive 3-pointers to finish a 13-2 run that put Kansas up 43-22. Embiid, a 7-footer from Cameroon, showed some versatility, beating Amric Fields with a strong spin move for a layup shortly before getting a steal, dribbling the length of the floor and getting fouled driving for a layup. He made both free throws for Kansas biggest first-half lead at 51-27. "Hes a good player," said TCU freshman centre Karviar Shepherd, who had eight points and fouled out trying to stay with Embiid. "We attacked each other on the offensive end and the defensive end. I got in some foul trouble early and he got the best of me." Fields had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Horned Frogs, who shot 56 per cent in the second half to keep the game from getting completely out of hand. Kyan Anderson added 12 points and eight assists. ' ' '
