RALEIGH, N.C. -- The San Jose Sharks are aiming to repeat their epic November road trip from a year ago.The sn-to-be Western Conference champions reeled off six consecutive road wins last season over a nine-day period after a mediocre start.Now, San Jose is 3-0-0 on its current six-game Eastern Conference swing, having outscored Washington, Florida and Tampa Bay -- three pretty gd teams -- by a combined 10-3 heading into a game at Carolina on Tuesday night as part of another six-game road trip.Sharks goalie Martin Jones has a .959 save percentage during the road trip, raising his season save percentage to .913. He finished at .918 last season.They are one of the better teams in the league overall, not just in the West, Carolina coach Bill Peters said. It lks liked their same timing from a year ago, getting on a roll. They are a gd veteran team and are gd on the back end. (Defenseman) Brent Burns is a special player back there with the fact that hes up the ice a lot and is unpredictable and can sht it, so we have to know where he is on the ice. They have a nice, deep team.Carolina, last in the Metropolitan Division and in the middle of a five-game homestand, has had surprising success against the Sharks, going 8-3 over the past 11 meetings despite missing the playoffs the last seven seasons.They are a gd team and have had success in the past, but I dont know if you get extra motivated to play them, said Carolinas leading scorer, Jeff Skinner. You should be motivated anyway, but were all aware how gd a team they are, so you have to come in knowing its a gd opportunity to rise to the challenge.Peters didnt rule out the return of two-time All-Star defenseman Justin Faulk, although it is more likely Faulk could return Friday against the red-hot Montreal Canadiens.Hes close; he was able to do everything in practice but the battles, Peters said of his star defenseman, who has missed two games with an upper-body injury.Peters juggled his lines Saturday night in a 5-1 win against the Capitals after the Hurricanes had gotten off to another slow start to the season. The new line of Jordan Staal, Teuvo Teravainen and Sebatian Aho picked up 11 points vs. Washington.Were trying to find the right spot for a lot of different guys, Peters said.Defenseman Matt Tennyson made his Carolina debut against Washington, and he will be in action again Tuesday against his former team.He deserves the opportunity to stay in the lineup, Peter said. The whole trick is no matter how many minutes you get is to be productive on those minutes, and he managed the puck well the other night. He lked like he was real composed out there.On Monday, the Hurricanes terminated the contract of Jakub Nakladal. The 28-year-old defenseman was signed by Carolina as a free agent Oct. 9. He appeared in three games and did not register a point and was minus-4, averaging 140 of ice time. Custom Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys . John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early. Chad Kuhl Pirates Jersey . "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement. http://www.pittsburghpiratesprostore.us/ .ca lk back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we lk back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. Corey Dickerson Jersey . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell lked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days. Colin Moran Pirates Jersey . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. SAN DIEGO -- Two days after clinching a fourth consecutive division title, the Los Angeles Dodgers have set three spots of a potential four-man rotation for the National League Division Series and have locked in an outfielder as well.Manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that left-hander Clayton Kershaw will start Game 1 and left-hander Rich Hill will take the mound in Game 2 of the series against the Washington Nationals. When the series shifts cities, the Dodgers will come back with right-hander Kenta Maeda for Game 3.Providing support for those pitchers will be outfielder Yasiel Puig, who has made it back from an early August demotion to the minor leagues to secure a spot on the postseason roster.Hes earned it, Roberts said.After the Dodgers work their way through their first three starters in the NLDS, they can come back to Kershaw on short rest for Game 4 or add a fourth starter. Roberts said he is keeping his options open that deep into the best-of-five series.While Kershaw has come back on short rest in previous NLDS matchups, his missing 75 days this season with a lower-back injury could have the Dodgers taking a more cautious approach. Then again, if the club is facing elimination, Kershaw could be pressed into duty for an elimination game.After team president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said last month that Julio Urias would not start if the team made the postseason, that plan has now changed. Urias will start Thursday at San Diego, and the 20-year-old rkie could be the rotations fourth man in October.I think its still on the table, Roberts said. I think when you get to the postseason you have to go with your best, and weve been so mindful of his usage. We obviously do a lot of research and studying with matchups. So at the end of the day, Julio is our best matchup, and it makes sense, then yeah its worth the discussion. So its still on the table.Urias is 5-2 this season with a 3.53 ERA and has made huge strides since struggling in his major league debut against the Mets at Citi Field on May 27, when he gave up three runs on five hits and four walks in 2? innings.Taking his first two major league appearances out of the mix, Urias is 5-1 with a 2.85 ERA in 15 games, 12 of them starts. And he has made just three appearances in September, throwing only 11 innings.Thatt is exactly what kept Julio in play moving forward because there were times where we felt that we could have pushed his innings a little more considering where he was at in the rotation, Roberts said.ddddddddddddBut because we didnt and had other guys step up in that role, it has given us this flexibility.Kershaw will make his final appearance of the regular season Saturday at San Francisco?and then be pointed toward his Oct. 7 start against the Nationals. He will go into the postseason with five starts since returning from the disabled list Sept. 9. He is 1-1 with a 0.86 ERA in 21 innings since returning, giving him a 1.65 ERA this season.Hill, who missed six weeks with blisters on two fingers of his left (pitching) hand, is 2-2 with a 1.93 ERA in four starts since returning from the disabled list.Maeda was the starter in Tuesday nights 7-1 loss at San Diego and will start the season finale at San Francisco. By making these two starts, he will receive a $1.5 million bonus on his incentive-laden contract. He already has made more than $8 million in bonuses on top of his $3 million base pay.Obviously what Kenta has done for us, and I dont know all the specifics of his contract, but I know in the spirit of his contract if he performs and he posts, hes going to be compensated, Roberts said. I applaud our organization for acknowledging that and putting Kenta in a position to continue to be compensated and take care of his family because he has deserved it.Both on-field and off-field factors led to Puigs demotion in August, after the Dodgers acquired outfielder Josh Reddick from the Oakland As. But since his return when rosters expanded in September, Puig has helped the Dodgers with run production against left-handed pitching, their biggest weakness this season.Its tough to humble yourself and check your ego and go to [Triple-A] Oklahoma City and be a minor league player, but he did that and learned from it and he earned the right to be a major league player, Roberts said. We talk a lot about it being a privilege to be a major league player, and to his credit, he really understands what that means. And he has done a lot to help us win a lot of baseball games. ' ' '