News » As both players get used to new defensive co-ordinator

(SportsNetwork. Jon Lester Jersey .com) - The Philadelphia Flyers will try to continue their recent surge when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning in Tuesdays battle at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers are 2-0 at the start of a four-game homestand and enter Tuesday on a five-game point streak. Despite a 3-0-2 mark in its last five outings, however, Philadelphia is still five points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Lightning, meanwhile, are tied with Detroit for first in the Atlantic Division, but Tampa enters tonight having lost two straight and four of its last five games. The Bolts fell Monday evening in Pittsburgh, dropping a 4-2 decision against a Penguins team that played without Sidney Crosby. Philadelphia has been able to dial up the offense so far on its homestand, scoring a total of nine goals in wins over New Jersey and Carolina. The Flyers notched a 4-1 win over the Devils on Thursday and downed the Hurricanes 5-1 on Saturday afternoon. Wayne Simmonds, Scott Laughton and Jakub Voracek led Saturdays offensive onslaught with each player posting a goal and an assist. Laughtons tally, which made it a 4-1 game before the midway point of the second period, was the rookies first career goal. Its nice to get that one to get it out of the way and just keep going, said Laughton. Michael Raffl and Sean Couturier also scored while Steve Mason made 25 saves for the Flyers, who improved to 8-4-2 as the host. Philadelphia is hoping to get as many points as it can from this homestand. After completing the residency Thursday against Florida, the Flyers will play eight straight on the road, where they are 3-9-3 this season. The Lightning have dominated the Flyers over the past several years and enter tonight on a five-game winning streak in the series. Tampa also has taken eight of nine and 12 of the past 15 encounters overall and four of six in Philadelphia. Tampa lost the second stop on a five-game road trip with Mondays setback in the Steel City. Four different players scored for Pittsburgh, while Jonathan Drouin and Nikita Kucherov tallied for the Lightning. Making matters worse, the Bolts also lost their No. 1 goaltender Ben Bishop, who allowed a goal on five shots in the first period before exiting with a lower-body injury. Evgeni Nabokov finished the contest with 18 stops in defeat. I thought we carried the play for a lot of the game, to be honest, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. We scored three goals on ourselves; three went off us in the net. Its hard to win when you put three in the net. We put three in our net and two in theirs. Nabokov will start tonight and the Lightning recalled goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to serve as the backup. The severity of Bishops injury has yet to be revealed. Mason is 1-2-1 with a 3.25 goals against average in his career against the Lightning and he expects to start tonight for the Flyers. Sammy Sosa Jersey . The club announced on Wednesday that Malhotra signed a 25-game professional tryout contract. The 33-year-old suffered a serious eye injury when struck by a puck during a game versus Colorado in March of 2011. Ryne Sandberg Jersey . She still remembers the massive roar of the home crowd when the Canadians walked out on the pitch before 47,784 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in 2002. Lang expects a similar reception for the Canadian team as the host nation at this years tournament, which begins Tuesday. http://www.thecubsteamshop.com/Cubs-David-Ross-Kids-Jersey/ .B. -- Canadian pairs skaters Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford went from elated to frustrated in the span of a few minutes.HOUSTON -- Its almost enough to make a defensive co-ordinator drool. Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, the Houston Texans No. 1 pick in the draft, was on the field Tuesday for the first time with former NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt. As both players get used to new defensive co-ordinator Romeo Crennel, Clowney has eyes on the All-Pro as he eases into the NFL in off-season workouts. "Just watching him work it makes you want to work even more," Clowney said. "Sometimes we maybe go into an extra workout with him. Hes a team guy. Always says he can help you no matter what. (Im) just happy to be beside him out there on the field." The defensive playmaker out of South Carolinas speed and ability had scouts fawning over his potential years ago -- and now the number of ways he can be deployed in a 3-4 defence. Part of that potential involves getting Clowney and Watt on the field together in games. With the departure of Antonio Smith to the Oakland Raiders in free agency, Watt will need a foil. While Clowney is expected to see time at both outside linebacker and as a defensive end, having him on the other side of Watt could take up that slack. Still, it is early in camp and Watt knows what Clowney is going through. While the expectations are high, things will take time. "I dont know enough yet to tell you. Were in just helmets right now," Watt said when asked about Clowneys potential impact. Ian Happ Jersey. "I know hes in the playbook and hes working hard. As we go forward well see a lot more." Clowneys first goal, like that of all the rookies, is to transition to his team and to the NFL. For Clowney, that includes learning the playbook and even learning names. "For any rookie its very difficult to make the jump from college to pro. It doesnt really matter if they were drafted number one or undrafted, theyre all trying to learn and keep pace with the veterans," coach Bill OBrien said. "I think hes doing a decent job of and hes working hard at it." Star receiver Andre Johnson was absent from the session. One of the franchises marquee players, Johnson said two weeks ago that he would not attend Texans workouts. "I said last week that he and I have had positive conversations," OBrien said. "I have a ton of respect for him. Wed love to have him here right now, but thats up to him. Were moving forward with the players that are here and these guys are working extremely hard." With Johnsons absence and a quarterback competition that is open and far from solved, Houstons defence could be called upon to carry the load early in the season. A big part of that equation will be figuring out how to best deploy playmakers such as Watt and Clowney. Cheap Baltimore Orioles Gear Cheap Boston Red Sox Gear Cheap New York Yankees Gear Cheap Tampa Bay Rays Gear Cheap Toronto Blue Jays Gear Cheap Chicago Cubs Gear Cheap Milwaukee Brewers Gear Cheap Pittsburgh Pirates Gear Cheap Cincinnati Reds Gear Cheap St. Louis Cardinals Gear Cheap Arizona Diamondbacks Gear Cheap Colorado Rockies Gear Cheap Los Angeles Dodgers Gear Cheap San Diego Padres Gear Cheap San Francisco Giants Gear ' ' '