Koraan » picking up speed. The racetrack, if anything, is m

(SportsNetwork.com) - Ryan Callahan and the Tampa Bay Lightning will shoot for a season-series sweep of the New York Rangers when the clubs meet for the third time in two weeks in Mondays clash at Madison Square Garden. The Lightning are 2-0 against New York, and ex-Rangers captain Ryan Callahan provided the offensive spark in both meetings. Callahan, who came to Tampa at least seasons trade deadline in exchange for Lightning captain Martin St. Louis, has four goals and an assist in his first two games against his old club. Callahan made his return to MSG a triumphant one on Nov. 17, posting two goals to help the Bolts record a 5-1 win over the Blueshirts. He then added two goals and a helper in Wednesdays 4-3 victory in Tampa. St. Louis, the Lightnings all-time leader in points, recorded New Yorks only goal in the 5-1 rout on Nov. 17 but failed to reach the scoresheet in last weeks return to Central Florida. He also is sporting a minus-five rating over this seasons two meetings with the Bolts. New York has rebounded from Wednesdays loss in Tampa, as it swept a weekend home-and-home series with the Philadelphia Flyers. Cam Talbot recorded a shutout in Fridays 3-0 win at Wells Fargo Center and Derick Brassard provided two goals the following day to lead the Rangers to a 5-2 win at MSG. Brassards second goal broke a 2-2 tie and was one of three scored by the Rangers in the third period. Henrik Lundqvist returned to the crease after getting Friday off, and New Yorks No. 1 goaltender posted 21 saves to improve his record this season to 9-6-3. Jesper Fast netted his first NHL goal and added an assist for the Rangers, who have won four of their last six games with the only losses in that stretch coming against Tampa. Were playing the right way and hopefully were on the right path, said Brassard. Tampa has won three straight and four of the last five overall meetings in this series and also has claimed two in a row and five of eight in the Big Apple. The Lighting have played only once since beating New York last week. Tampa earned a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday to complete a three-game homestand with a perfect record. Jon Coopers club is 10-2-1 at home this season, but just 6-4-1 as the guest. Ben Bishop made 26 saves and Tampa Bay scored four unanswered goals to top the visiting Senators. Ottawa grabbed a 1-0 lead with a power-play marker late in the first period, but Callahan would even the score in the second period before the Bolts pulled away in the third. Alex Killorn scored the eventual game-winner 76 seconds into the third period, and Brenden Morrow and Nikita Kucherov added insurance goals for the Lightning. Killorn and Callahan each tallied a goal and an assist for the Lightning, while Bishop improved to 14-3-2 this season. Weve got a pretty dynamic bunch, said Cooper. When were pushing the pace, we can get some things done. Victor Hedman made his return to the lineup for Tampa on Saturday and the defenseman logged 19 minutes, 55 seconds of ice time. He had been sidelined since Oct. 18 with a broken finger. Lundqvist could start tonight for New York. He is 17-11-6 with a 2.33 goals against average in 34 career games against Tampa. Its uncertain if the Lightning, who also play tomorrow in Buffalo, will go with Bishop or backup Evgeni Nabokov on Monday. New York are expected to get forward Chris Kreider back tonight after he sat out Friday due to the death of his grandfather. Rangers forward Tanner Glass is expected to miss a third straight game with a case of the mumps and defenseman Dan Boyle is questionable for Monday with flu-like symptoms. Nike React Cheap . Campbell, playing on loan with Greek club Olympiacos, found the net with a left-footed shot in the 44th minute off a pass from second-half substitute Jorge Rojas to open the scoring at Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica. Cheap Nike Shoes Canada . Louis still looking for a way out of Tampa Bay, the 38-year-old NHL veteran isnt showing his cards. http://www.cheapnikereactcanada.com/ . Off-Season Game Plan looks at what the Blue Jackets may do to build upon last seasons success to return to the playoffs again next year. Nike React Canada Clearance . Toronto FC hosts the three-time Italian league champions in a friendly Aug. 7 at BMO Field, a game that Roma CEO Italo Zanzi said falls within a key part of their pre-season. Nike React Canada . Forward Iker Muniain scored the winner in the 70th minute after Bilbaos incessant pressure recovered the ball and sparked a counterattack inside Barcelonas half. Neymar was once again tagged to pick up Messis goal-scoring duties, but when he wasnt frustrated by slippery footing Bilbaos defence got the better of him.BROOKLYN, Mich. - The numbers keep climbing — and this time the rise was anything but gradual. Jeff Gordon set the track qualifying record at Michigan International Speedway on Friday with a speed of 206.558 mph, winning his 76th career pole in NASCARs Sprint Cup series. Gordon broke the previous mark of 204.557 by a remarkable margin — and that record was set just two months ago by Kevin Harvick. Speeds at MIS have been climbing ever since the two-mile oval was repaved before the 2012 season. When Marcos Ambrose reached 203.241 that year, it was the first time anyone won a pole at over 200 mph since Bill Elliott did it in 1987, before horsepower-sapping restrictor plates were introduced at Talladega and Daytona. Joey Logano broke Ambroses record last August, only for Harvick and Gordon to keep pushing it higher. "I dont know where to start," Gordon said. "You can point at the repaving of the racetrack. This track is smooth — has a tremendous amount of surface area where the tire can get a lot of grip to it. The next thing is the cars." Gordons run Friday was the seventh-fastest pole-winning speed in the history of NASCARs top series. NASCAR overhauled its qualifying process before this season, switching to a knockout format similar to Formula One and IndyCar. NASCAR now uses three rounds of qualifying at tracks 1 1/4 miles in length or larger. The entire field has 25 minutes to post their fastest single lap and the top 24 advance to the second round. The second segment lasts 10 minutes, and the fastest 12 advance to a final, 5-minute roundd.dddddddddddd There have been 17 qualifying records set this season, so this is not simply an MIS phenomenon. "It has nothing to do with the racetrack picking up speed," said Logano, who qualified second behind Gordon. "It has (to do with) what weve been doing to the race cars to go faster. ... I believe its cooler out, too. So I think between those two things, thats why we went faster again, but the racetrack itself isnt picking up speed. The racetrack, if anything, is maintaining to getting slower. But its widening out, so its becoming a better race." It was Gordons second pole of the season. He also qualified first last week at Watkins Glen but finished 34th, giving up the series points lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Not everyone took advantage of the favourable conditions at MIS. Earnhardt and Johnson failed to advance out of the first round of qualifying. Earnhardt was 25th and Johnson 30th. Johnson, who won at Michigan in June, has finished out of the top 10 in the last five races — and 28th or lower in four of them. "Weve just had a vibration with our car, really a shake, a violent shake through the corner," Johnson said. "Weve been trying to get to the bottom of it. We made it better, and it certainly went faster, but just not enough. Well go back to the drawing board." Carl Edwards qualified third, followed by Brian Vickers and Brad Keselowski. "Its fast — thats the simplest way to describe it," Edwards said. "I wish you guys could ride in that car with me there. That is screaming." ' ' '