who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin G

PITTSBURGH -- It might be difficult to label a game as a first-place showdown when it comes before the Christmas break, but certainly there will be a good story line Tuesday when the New York Rangers visit the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.With a regulation win, Pittsburgh (20-7-5) would tie the Rangers (23-10-1) atop the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference, although New York has two games in hand.By pretty much any measure, the Metropolitan has been the NHLs best division this season, and recent hot streaks by the Penguins, Rangers, Philadelphia and Columbus have underscored that. Add in Washington, and five of the division clubs are above the 40-point mark.New York, just a point behind Chicago atop the league standings, has won six of its past seven games. Pittsburgh is 7-0-2 in its past nine games and is coming off back-to-back overtime losses.Theres no doubt that at this present time in the NHL, we are the dominant division, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. You go back a couple years, the West looked like they had the better teams, but right now, (it is) our division, because of the wins.But I look at the league and the parity. Every night, players bust their gut to try and get two points.There might be a little extra burst in their skating stride when they play games within the Metropolitan.We pay attention. Its hard not to, Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said of the division standings, according to the New York Post. You can fall behind pretty quick with teams like that that keep streaking. Its something we looked at the other day when we were within three or four points of like six, seven teams. So you have to keep getting points.The teams split a home-and-home series in their first two meetings of the season, with New York winning 5-2 at Pittsburgh Nov. 21 and the Penguins playing what they called one of their best and most complete games in a 6-1 win Nov. 23 at Madison Square Garden.After Tuesday, the Rangers play their next five games outside of the Metropolitan.Pittsburgh, in contrast, is beginning a stretch of five games against division clubs sandwiched around the NHLs holiday break.I just think every games hard, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. It doesnt matter who you play in this league. Every game is hard. Its a good league. Theres a fine line between winning and losing, regardless of who your opponent is.If you dont come with the necessary commitment and the focus and the discipline and that type of a mindset, you run the risk of getting beat, regardless of who your opponent is. I know weve got a capable group. When we play the game the right way, we can play with anybody in the league.Pittsburgh has an extra challenge right now. Two of its top defensemen, Kris Letang and Trevor Daley, got undisclosed injuries in the past week and are expected to miss this stretch against Metropolitan Division rivals and probably beyond.Among defensemen, Letang leads the Penguins with 19 points and Daley is second with three goals.Its going to be hard, fellow defenseman Olli Maatta told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review of filling in for the two swift-skating players. When you dont have those two guys, theres not that one guy that can jump in there and fill in. Theyre that good of players. Jawaan Taylor Womens Jersey .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. Yannick Ngakoue Jaguars Jersey . John Lucas, signed as a mentor for rookie Trey Burke, showed he can score if required, scoring 12 points of his 16 points in the second quarter as Utah built an 18-point lead. http://www.authenticjaguarslockroom.com/Youth-Ryquell-Armstead-Elite-Jersey/ . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Chris Conley Youth Jersey . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. Josh Oliver Jaguars Jersey . The Dutchmans tenure got off to a poor start when referee Guido Winkmann awarded a penalty within two minutes for Niklas Starks clumsy challenge on Alexandru Maxim.Luis Suarez says becoming a good team-mate is the only change he has made to his game since moving from Liverpool to Barcelona. Suarez will spearhead the Barcelona attack in this weekends El Clasico against Real Madrid, a game which is being shown live on Sky Sports 2HD on Saturday night.The Uruguayan goes into the game as his clubs top scorer for the season with 43 goals in 43 games in an overall record for the Spanish giants of 68 goals in 84 appearances. That is an improvement on what was already a very good strike rate of 82 in 133 for Liverpool, and Suarez says he has not made any great alterations to his playing style.La Liga is very different to the Premier League, said Suarez, who last season won the La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey with Barcelona. The El-Clasico head-to-heads Do Barcelona or Real Madrid have the best all-time El Clasico record? Everyone knows that its completely different and what you need to do is always be yourself, dont change, just adapt your movements and a few things FC Barcelona dictate, but the thing I cared about was being a good team-mate.dddddddddddd Also See: Whats it like playing for Zidane? Neymar v Bale Greatest Clasico player? Guillems key Clasico issues ' ' '