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NEW YORK (AP) The Chicago Blackhawks are in an uncertain and wholly unfamiliar place.They know they will not have the opportunity to compete for the Stanley Cup Womens Alex Goligoski Jersey , and morale is low. A franchise used to preparing for the playoffs has been relegated to finishing the season feeling good about itself.And maybe look to see who will make up next year’s squad.”When you’re not winning, it’s not easy to get that confidence and enthusiasm,” coach Joel Quenneville said after the Blackhawks snapped a five-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday night.”At this stage in the game, build a little something off it,” he added.Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad scored in the second period, and Brent Seabrook added an empty-netter for the Blackhawks. Anton Forsberg made 30 saves.”It was something, I don’t know, I didn’t really expect tonight,” said Kane, who centered Chicago’s top line. ”It was a little bit different. Weird playing a different position. Something I haven’t done in six years.”John Tavares scored late in the third period and Jaroslav Halak finished with 22 saves as the Islanders lost for the fifth time in six games and 13th in their last 15 (2-9-4).”I think we’re better than what we’ve shown,” Tavares said.Chicago was eliminated from postseason contention for the first time since 2008 following its 5-1 loss to Colorado on Tuesday, and pushed the struggling Islanders to the verge of being knocked for the second straight year.”You’ll take a win when you’re (going) through a stretch when you haven’t won in a while Christian Dvorak Jersey ,” Quenneville said. ”Any win certainly feels better than what we’ve been going through.”Kane opened the scoring 2:36 into the second period with his team-leading 26th of the year. With the Blackhawks on the power play after Thomas Hickey was whistled for tripping Tomas Jurco as the two battled for a puck along the boards, Kane’s shot from the right circle deflected off Adam Pelech’s stick blade and through Halak.It took the Blackhawks 1:49 to add to their lead as Saad tapped a rebound off of his initial shot – which ricocheted off the end boards – along the goal line before the puck bounced off the back of Halak’s left skate into the net.”It’s a tough one for the goalie,” Islanders coach Doug Weight said. ”It’s a bounce. Two bounces, two goals, we’re down.”Forsberg made the lead hold up, even though he only faced 22 shots in the final 40 minutes. His lone mistake was Tavares’ unassisted goal with 2:42 left, but Seabrook’s empty-netter with 1:14 left ended the scoring.”For the most part, we generated good chances, had opportunities, even in the last eight, nine minutes had some really good looks,” Weight said. ”Just couldn’t get the puck by him.”Neither team scored in an opening period which was mostly played at even strength http://www.officialcoyotes.com/authentic-adidas-clayton-keller-jersey , except for an Islanders power play late. New York outshot the Blackhawks 10-9 in the period.”It sums it up,” Weight said. ”We played a good game, it’s not good enough but we played a good game and we generated enough to win.”NOTES: The teams split the regular season series, with the Islanders winning 7-3 at Chicago on Jan. 20. … The Blackhawks went 1 for 2 on the power play. The Islanders were 0 for 2. … New York outshot Chicago 32-25. … Chicago C Jonathan Toews missed his second straight game with an upper body injury. … The Blackhawks scratched LW Anthony Duclair. … D Dennis Seidenberg and RW Chris Wagner were the Islanders’ scratches. … The announced attendance was 13,091.UP NEXTBlackhawks: Host San Jose on Monday night.Islanders: Host Florida on Monday night.— NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Angry after losing a playoff game, Nikita Kucherov and the Tampa Bay Lightning took out their ire on the New Jersey Devils.Not only did the Lightning defeat New Jersey 3-1 on Wednesday to move within a game of making the Devils’ first trip to the playoffs in six years a short one, Kucherov was a one-man demolition man.The NHL’s No. 3 scorer this season scored two goals, set up another and knocked New Jersey’s top defenseman, Sami Vatanen, out of the game with a big hit in the opening period.”Kuch tonight flexed his muscles,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. ”He’s pretty dynamic on the power play Youth Derek Stepan Jersey , but tonight, all around, I thought he was the best player on the ice.”Kucherov has been the best player in the series so far. He has four goals and five assists in four games and he came into this game upset after the Lightning blew a 2-1 third-period lead in Game 3 to let the Devils back in the series.With a 3-1 lead now, Tampa Bay can wrap up the best-of-seven series in Game 5 at home on Saturday.”I didn’t like the way we had so many penalties in the last game, giving up so many opportunities on the power play,” Kucherov said. ”For me, I was (angry) and didn’t want to lose-especially the way they reacted after some goals.”The play everyone is going to talk about and the NHL probably will look at is Kucherov’s hit on Vatanen. No penalty was called but the 24-year-old Russian appeared to jump before hitting Vatanen in the shoulder and head area.Cooper thought the hit was legal. Devils coach John Hynes screamed at the officials after the play but declined to talk about it after the game. Devils goaltender Cory Schneider, who made 34 saves, said he would give referees Tim Peel and Wes McCauley the benefit of the doubt on the play.Kucherov said he did not intend to hurt Vatanen, who did not return. He has an undisclosed upper body injury, the Devils said.”He’s normally the one dancing around guys,” said linemate J.T. Miller Womens Jason Demers Jersey , who scored the other Lightning goal and had two assists. ”I couldn’t believe it was him. I was right behind him and that’s a big-league hit right there. That’s the type of player he is. He’s competitive and he wants to win really bad.”Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped three breakaways in making 27 saves as the Lightning bounced back from a 5-2 loss.”Vasy made some great saves, especially early on the game with a couple of breakaways,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. ”That calmed us down a bit and I thought we played a great third period.”Kyle Palmieri scored on a 5-on-3 advantage for the Devils, who are back in the playoffs for the first time since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2012. It was the only time they beat Vasilevskiy, whose 44 wins in the regular season shared the league lead with Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck.”We were picked to finish last in the East and last in the Metro,” Devils defenseman Ben Lovejoy said. ”This is a spot we are comfortable. We are comfortable being the underdog. We need to go out and win one game in Tampa. We need to go out and play our best game.”Kucherov broke a 1-all tie with 4:58 left in the period. Defenseman Brayden Coburn sent a pass from the left boards that hit off Devils’ defenseman Damon Severson. Kucherov collected the loose puck right in front and put it high into the net for his third goal of the series. He would ice the game with an empty-net goal with 1:08 to go.The Lightning had tied it at 11:30 of the opening period on a great rush. Stamkos fed Kucherov entering the zone and he found Miller on the left side for a shot over Schneider’s shoulder.Cory Conacher appeared to give Tampa Bay the lead with 7:39 left in the period, but the goal was overturned when a review found the Lightning were offside.For the first time in the series, the Devils scored first with Palmieri converting from the left circle with the Lightning playing two men short at 8:23 of the first.Alex Killorn got the first penalty at 7:47 with a hook and 25 seconds later Cedric Paquette tripped Taylor Hall. Eleven seconds later, New Jersey had its second 5-on-3 goal in two games.NOTES: Lightning D Ryan McDonagh appeared in his 100th NHL playoff game. … This is the first time Schneider has had consecutive starts since Jan. 22-23. … There were no lineup changes for Game 4. … Vatanen has been leading the Devils in time on ice in the series, averaging 23:23. … Tampa Bay was 5 of 9 on the power play in the first three games. They were 0 for 5 in Game 4. They killed off 6 of 7 Devils’ power plays.—