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Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock was very much the diplomat after goalies Curtis McElhinney and Calvin Pickard were claimed off waivers Tuesday.“Good for Mac. Good for Pick Nathan MacKinnon Jersey ,” Babcock said. “Too bad for our depth.”McElhinney was claimed by the Carolina Hurricanes, whose projected starter Scott Darling is injured and set to miss a few weeks. McElhinney has a 62-71-13 record in 10 seasons among six teams.The Philadelphia Flyers claimed Pickard and placed him on non-roster status, while placing goalie Michal Neuvirth on injured reserve because of a groin injury. Pickard had a 21-9-1 record in helping the Toronto Marlies, the Maple Leafs’ American Hockey League affiliate, win their first championship last season.Toronto opens the season against Montreal on Wednesday with no experience behind starter Frederik Andersen and backup Garret Sparks. The next in line for now is Kasimir Kaskisuo, who has a 20-14-1 record in 38 AHL games.“That’s the way it goes,” Babcock said, referring to the waiver system. “You’d love to have them all slip through Authentic Alexander Wennberg Jersey , but they didn’t.”Two other players were claimed on a day NHL teams were required to set their 23-player rosters.The Washington Capitals added St. Louis forward Dmitrij Jaskin, the odd man out after the Blues restocked their forwards this offseason. Jaskin was St. Louis’ second-round pick in the 2011 draft and has 25 goals and 61 points in 266 games over six seasons.The Buffalo Sabres claimed left wing Remi Elie from Dallas. The 23-year-old Elie was the Stars‘ second-round pick in the 2013 draft. He had six goals and 14 points in his first full season last year. He has seven goals and 21 points in 90 career NHL games.The Sabres finalized their roster by placing forwards Scott Wilson (broken ankle), Sean Malone and Johan Larsson and defenseman Matt Hunwick (neck) on injured reserve.The Edmonton Oilers signed forward Alex Chiasson and defenseman Jason Garrison to one-year contracts.Chaisson is a sixth-year player who is on his third team in three seasons after helping the Capitals win a Stanley Cup last season. The 33-year-old Garrison is a 10-year veteran who spent most of last season playing for the Las Vegas Knights’ minor league affiliate in Chicago.Edmonton also assigned defenseman Ethan Bear to the minors and placed defenseman Kris Russell on injured reserve.The Los Angeles Kings placed forwards Dustin Brown (broken finger) and Jonny Brodzinski on injured reserve and released forward Emerson Etem from his tryout agreement.Nashville Predators forward Ryan Hartman was placed on injured reserve as he continues to recover from offseason shoulder surgery. Forward Austin Watson was placed on the non-roster list. He was suspended by the NHL for the entire preseason and first 27 games of the regular season for domestic abuse. Nashville also assigned forward Rocco Grimaldi to the minors.Minnesota Wild defenseman Gustav Olofsson was the only player placed on waivers Tuesday. LAS VEGAS (AP) The Washington Capitals will play for a Stanley Cup championship Thursday night for the first time in 43 NHL seasons. Alex Ovechkin is one win away from carving his name into history at the peak of his incredible hockey career.With a 3-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final and a city thousands of miles away thirsting for its first championship in a generation, the Vegas stakes are awfully high for the Caps in Game 5.Ovi still wants his teammates thinking about the Golden Knights, not that silver trophy.”To be honest, I think most of us have never been in this position,” said Ovechkin, who could become the first Russian captain to raise the Cup. ”For me personally Los Angeles Kings T-Shirts Womens , I don’t try to think about it too much what’s going on and just try focusing on different things. But it’s hard.”Exactly what could distract an athlete of Ovechkin’s magnitude from the imminent chance to validate his place in his sport?”Whatever. Cars. Hotels. You know, Vegas.”Indeed, this desert is a strange place to end a drought. But with three chances to get one win, Ovechkin and his teammates want to seize their very first opportunity for the clincher on the Las Vegas ice.With one more victory, Ovechkin would finally have team success to complement his formidable individual accomplishments. The vaunted goal-scorer can also succeed where a generation of Washington athletes have fallen short by leading the Capitals to their first title and the city’s first major pro sports championship in a quarter-century.With his 33rd birthday looming in the fall, Ovechkin understands the opportunity before him and the magnitude of the situation for everyone who has ever worn the Capitals’ jersey.It’s enough to tighten anybody’s grip on the stick, but the Caps didn’t appear overly tight during their workout or in the dressing room afterward.”It’s a great time,” Ovechkin said Wednesday. ”Probably the best time in my life Sam Reinhart Jersey , hockey-wise. We just enjoy it together, this moment. It’s fun.”Even with a commanding series lead, the Caps all spoke of the importance of consistency and seizing the moment after their light workout. Washington has a shockingly lengthy franchise history of playoff collapses, but these Caps promptly won all three potential closeout games in their first three playoff series this spring.”Maybe because we’ve talked about it so much,” Caps defenseman John Carlson said. ”Guys are sick of hearing about it from the meetings. Sick of not getting it done. They all kind of blend together, but I think we have come out with great efforts every closing-out game, and we’re going to need a big one. This is a good team at home. It’s going to take a really good effort to get it done.”The Caps don’t have the luxury of thinking about the minor disappointment of not being at home to secure Washington’s first championship in a major pro sport since the Redskins’ Super Bowl victory in January 1992. Back home in D.C., fans will be cheering on their team at Capital One Arena in a watch party that sold out in about 20 minutes.”I think the history of the organization is definitely an important thing Zemgus Girgensons Jersey , but we’re focused on this group,” Washington’s Tom Wilson said. ”We’re focused on this year, and obviously once all is said and done or whatever happens, you can look back on it. We want to do it for the city. We want to do it for ourselves.”So far in this series, the Caps have done just about everything well. Washington has scored 16 goals in four games against the reeling Golden Knights, whose charmed expansion season has run short of magic in three consecutive losses.While the Caps focused on changing nothing from their last three efforts, the Golden Knights also don’t believe they need a wholesale change. Coach Gerard Gallant’s team is banking on the resilience of a group that hasn’t lost four consecutive games at any point in their utterly charmed inaugural season.”It’s not the first adversity we’ve faced this year,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said. ”You’d rather have the odds in your favor Los Angeles Kings Hoodies Womens , but I’m thinking about (Game 5). If you start thinking that we have to win three games, sometimes it gets demoralizing. We’re just focused on the next one. … They’re in a better situation than us, that’s for sure. Stuff we’ve done this year has never been done, so I think that’s what we’re thinking about.”—More Stanley Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/StanleyCupFinals