PITTSBURGH -- There were some difficult questions surrounding Sidney Crosby when he missed the start of the season because of a concussion, especially given his history with that type of injury.The answers have come swiftly and definitively. The Pittsburgh Penguins center is OK. More than OK.Going into Mondays game against the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena, Crosby has 12 goals in 12 games, putting him into a tie with Winnipeg rookie Patrik Laine for the NHL lead in that category. Laine has played eight more games.The anomaly in Crosbys game is his goals-to-assists ratio. He has three times as many goals as his four assists. He has never finished with more goals than assists in an NHL season.For whatever reason, thats just the way its worked out, he recently told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I dont feel like Im looking to shoot any more. Thats one thing I have to constantly remind myself of, to have that shooting mentality. I would probably look to pass most times.Crosby is not shooting appreciably more -- 3.6 shots a game this season, 3.3 for his career.Since their team captain got into the lineup, the Penguins are 8-2-2.Overall, Pittsburgh is 11-4-3. That makes Mondays game a showdown for first place in the Metropolitan Division between the Penguins, with 25 points, and the Rangers (13-5-1, 27 points), who are coming off of a 3-2 shootout loss Sunday against Florida in their first game beyond regulation this season.This is the first meeting between the clubs since the Penguins knocked New York out of the playoffs in the opening round last spring.Sundays game -- one made worse by a broken left leg suffered by Mika Zibanejad in overtime -- was the Rangers second loss in a row, and their four combined goals in those games are uncharacteristic. They have thrived on offense. They have a league-best 76 goals and a plus-31 goal differential. They have 14 players with at least 10 points, and Michael Grabner sits just behind Crosby and Laine with 11 goals.But New York also has gotten strong goaltending. Henrik Lundqvist missed a shot at his 10th win Sunday. Antti Raanta, who seems likely to start Monday, hasnt played a lot, but he has been effective, going 4-0 with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage.Im not worried at all about Antti, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault told the New York Post recently about Raanta. We know hes always going to give us a chance to win.Raanta said its about finding a good New York backup state of mind.I just think about good things and what youre doing and what it takes, and just enjoy the moment, he told the Post. Its the best league in the world, and youre fortunate enough to be here. Just go there and do your best and, hopefully, you get the win.Pittsburgh, coming off of a 1-1-1 road trip, lags behind the Rangers in terms of offensive prowess despite returning nearly the same lineup from its Stanley Cup team last season and Crosbys goal production. The Penguins have five players with at least 10 points. It scored just five goals on the three-game road trip. It has outscored its opponents by just two goals, 52-50.Were going to keep moving forward. All we can do is control the process and whats in front of us. Were grabbing points here along the way and winning some games, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.The teams wont have to wait long for their second meeting. This is the first half of a home-and-home. They have a rematch Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. Nike Air Max 90 Blue . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Nike Air Max 90 Grey . -- Matt Rupert scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the London Knights extended their win streak to nine games by defeating the Owen Sound Attack 4-3 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.airmax90outletonline.com/ . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Nike Shoes Air Max 90 Womens .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. Cheap Nike Air Max 90 Mens . -- Mike Smith never saw his first NHL goal go in. WASHINGTON -- The Kansas City Royals are going to have to work on their nicknames as far as President Barack Obama is concerned. Everything else was looking pretty good though as he honored the 2015 World Series champions at the White House on Thursday, describing them as one of the grittiest, most complete teams weve seen in a long time.The Royals last visited the White House in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan saluted their never-say-die spirit in the Rose Garden. The 2015 team showed the same quality. Six outs away from playoff elimination, the Royals scored seven runs to defeat the Houston Astros. They went on to win that series and to beat the Toronto Blue Jays and the New York Mets. Obama noted that the Royals held the record for comeback wins in the playoffs.Obama also acknowledged that it had been a long time between visits to the White House for Kansas City. Lets face it, its been a long road for Royals fans, Obama said. There were some dark years, some tough decades.But Obama said that began to change when General Manager Dayton Moore was hired and the Royals started to develop talented players through their minor league system. Among them: outfielder Alex Gordon, infielders Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer, and catcher Salvador Perez.Obama called each of the players by their nicknames, Gordo, `Moose, `Hos and Salvy. But the presiident didnt seem to find those too creative.ddddddddddddWere going to have to work on these, Obama said.When the president calls you out, you definitely got to start thinking about something, Hosmer said after the ceremony. Weve got some guys in the locker room, Im sure theyre starting to bear down on that.However, Obama admitted to liking outfielder Jarrod Dysons description of one of the teams top weapons: Thats what speed do.Thats a good quote, Obama said.Obama noted that his spokesman, Josh Earnest, was a big Royals fan, and that the Royals visit Thursday was right up there as far as best days ever. Manager Ned Yost, Hosmer and Perez interrupted the days press briefing to present the Kansas City, Missouri native with a team jersey, an upgraded mug and an autographed World Series baseball. Yost said the team didnt want Earnest to get into trouble by him trying to hijack the presidents jersey.The team gave Obama a Royals jersey with the number 44 in gold lettering, which nicely matched the ornate drapes in the White House East Room.---On Twitter, reach Kevin Freking at https://twitter.com/APkfreking---This story has been corrected to note that Obama called the Royals one of the grittiest teams in a long time. ' ' '