LOS ANGELES -- The New York Islanders bring a surprising surge of momentum into a Wednesday game against the red-hot Los Angeles Kings.New York (6-8-4) broke a four-game losing streak by winning a franchise-record, 14-round shtout and emerging with a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday. The road victory was the first of the season for the Islanders, who are 1-4-1 overall away from Barclays Center during an early-season schedule heavily weighted toward home contests.Thomas Griess was the key to victory, stopping 39 shots through regulation and overtime then 10 more in the shtout for his first victory since Oct. 30 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Nick Leddy became the first defenseman in Islanders history to score a game-winning shtout goal but deferred credit to his goaltender for earning the two points.I was a little nervous, Leddy said of his shtout chance. Johnny Boychuk and I were talking saying there was a gd chance we were gonna go in the shtout, but Thomas came up huge for us in the net.Griess said, Its great to get the win. Thats the most important part. Its big and great for the morale of the team.The Islanders may have to play Wednesday without Cal Clutterbuck, who left the Tuesday game with an upper-body injury after taking a hit from Anaheims Josh Manson. He did not return, and it was presumed he was being evaluated for a possible concussion.Despite the win, New York remains last in the Eastern Conference and is tied with Arizona for the least amount of regulation wins in the NHL (five). Coming off a 102-point regular season and a playoff series win against the Florida Panthers, expectations were high as the season started. The slow start has fueled speculation about the status of Jack Capuano, but general manager Garth Snow gave the embattled coach a vote of confidence last week.While the lone win wont quiet the speculation, it gives the Islanders a fthold in the hopes of turning their season around. Standing in their way is a Kings team that has battled through injury adversity to regain the form that will be needed to contend for the Pacific Division title.The Kings 10-9-1 record was fashioned by both winning and losing streaks. At present, Los Angeles is on a four-game winning streak after defeating the Ducks 3-2 Sunday. The winning streak is more impressive considering it comes at the conclusion of an eight-games-in-13-days segment of the schedule and accomplished without the presence of Anze Kopitar, the Kings top center and leading scorer for the past eight seasons.In his absence, Jeff Carter stepped up, recording four goals and two assists to earn the NHL First Star for the week ending Sunday. Overall, Carter leads the team with nine goals and 17 points in 20 games, including his 600th career point in the Anaheim victory.You lose a guy like Kopitar, everybody has to step up, Carter said after the Sunday win. One guys not going to fill his spot. Guys have done a gd job.Kopitar is close to returning after missing six games with a wrist injury sustained in a 2-1 loss at Ottawa on Nov. 11. Although he skated with the extra players Tuesday, a source said he will attempt to return against the Islanders. The Kings trail the division-leading Edmonton Oilers by two points entering the contest.Kings coach Darryl Sutter was forced to rely on rkies through the teams first 20 games. An injury to top-four defenseman Brayden McNabb caused Derek Forbort to be promoted to the top defensive pairing and led to the recall of Kevin Gravel. Forbort and Gravel struggled on Los Angeles last road trip but stabilized their play during the winning streak.Theyre probably not going to be in the lineup if were fully healthy, Sutter admitted.Cyber Monday Hockey Jerseys . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Cheap Hockey Jerseys . -- The goal posts lying flat on the field, Arizonas fans lingered on the field, congregating around the locker rm entrance nearly 30 minutes after rushing out of the stands. https://www.fakehockeyjerseys.com/ . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Custom Hockey Jerseys . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. Fake Hockey Jerseys . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Ftball Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011.HOUSTON -- After earning at worst a series split with a 3-1 victory Wednesday night, the Toronto Blue Jays enter the series finale against the Houston Astros almost as concerned with the start theyll get the following day.Left-hander J.A. Happ (14-3, 3.16 ERA) starts the series finale for the Blue Jays (61-47). Happ is 3-1 with a 3.50 ERA in six starts against the Astros, for whom he went 18-28 with a 4.84 ERA over parts of three seasons following his trade from the Phillies on July 29, 2010.Left-hander Francisco Liriano (6-11, 5.46 ERA) follows Happ in the rotation, making his first start with the Blue Jays on Friday night in Kansas City against the Royals. Liriano and two prospects joined the organization Monday following a trade deadline deal with the Pirates.Liriano has scuffled this season as he led the majors with 69 walks prior to the trade. But the Blue Jays are confident that Liriano can be reborn, in part because he will be reunited with former Pirates catcher Russell Martin.I think you just need to watch him and let him go out and pitch before you jump the gun, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. Hes back with Russ. Let him pitch. Theres nothing worse than trying to pinpoint something in someones mind before you see him.He may go out there and shine like theres nothing to it.Right-hander Mike Fiers (7-4, 4.42 ERA) starts the series finale for the Astros. Fiers has appeared in just two games (one start) against the Blue Jays in his career, going 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA over eight innings. Once in the precarious position of losing his spot in the rotation, Fiers has rebounded to g 1-0 with a 2.dddddddddddd.03 ERA over his last two starts.Like the Blue Jays, the Astros (56-51) have one eye on their weekend rotation. With right-hander Lance McCullers landing on the 15-day disabled list with a mild elbow sprain, rkie right-hander Joe Musgrove makes his first career start against the Rangers on Sunday.Musgrove excelled in his major league debut on Tuesday night, pitching 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief with eight strikeouts, matching the major league record for strikeouts in relief in a major league debut. Musgrove arrived from Triple-A Fresno on Sunday poised to start in place of right-hander Doug Fister (paternity list) on Monday night.Instead, opportunity knocked one day later and Musgrove validated the trust the organization showed with his promotion.We thought he could handle it which is why we were going to give him an opportunity if Fister was gone, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. We really like this guy. Hes got a lot of charisma; hes got a lot of polish to him. Even to be able to come in and warm up in front of a full crowd and both teams waiting and the umpire sort of pushing the action, its not easy. His maturity came through with rave reviews.He made some really gd hitters lk uncomfortable and I think thats a gd sign. Hes going to have a big test with his first start against the Rangers but I think the way hes handled this season, the way hes matured over the year is why we gave him the opportunity on the front end. ' ' '