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PITTSBURGH (AP) The chase began nearly a year ago Authentic Myles Garrett Jersey , when Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan addressed hundreds of thousands of fans following a second Stanley Cup championship parade through choked downtown streets in as many summers.Rather than run from the challenge of trying to become the first franchise in 35 years to win three consecutive Cups, Sullivan embraced it.”I wonder if we can repeat, or three-peat, should I say,” Sullivan said.Following an occasionally rocky regular season, the Penguins begin their pursuit in earnest Wednesday night when they host cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers to open their first-round series. Asked Tuesday if he remembers openly talking about a three-peat – last accomplished by the New York Islanders in 1983 – Sullivan just shrugged. He wasn’t so much predicting another mid-June celebration as he was stating the obvious.”We believe that we have a group that’s capable,” Sullivan said. ”And we’ve shown an ability to have success in a high-stakes environment.”For proof, look no further than the most recent names etched on hockey’s most coveted chalice. The Penguins have won series in all kinds of ways over the last two years. They’ve dominated. They’ve rallied. Mostly, they’ve survived. And the Flyers have noticed.”They have all the pieces,” Philadelphia center Claude Giroux said. ”On paper they’re a really good team and in the playoffs they always find a way.”The Flyers, however Jarvis Landry Jersey Elite , present a unique challenge. Philadelphia hasn’t won a playoff series since it beat the favored Penguins in six sometimes chaotic games in 2012. The Flyers pulled off the upset thanks in part to a meltdown by Pittsburgh. The Penguins lost their composure at times, leading to a string of power plays that Philadelphia rode to victory.While the majority of the faces that will take the ice at PPG Paints Arena are different, the history of antagonism between the two clubs remains. Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby understands things are likely to get chippy. He’d prefer they not get out of hand.”I don’t think we’re looking to fight,” Crosby said. ”It will definitely be an intense series, we know that.”One in which the erratic Flyers, who endured a 10-game winless streak around Thanksgiving, know they are the underdogs. That’s fine. In some ways, they’ve been one all season.”In reality, when you have to earn your way and your margin of error is pretty short all the way along, it tests you,” Philadelphia coach Dave Haksol said. ”Sometimes you pass the test. Sometimes you fail the test. It tests you and pushes you to get better.”Some things to look for as Philadelphia tries to put an abrupt end to Pittsburgh’s bid at winning a fourth Cup during the Crosby Era.POWER HOUR: The Penguins and their star-laden power play led the league and set a franchise record by scoring 26.2 percent of the time with the man advantage. Their number this season was just a touch better than the 26.0 the 1995-96 club posted http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/myles-garrett-jersey , a group that included Hall of Famers Mario Lemieux and Ron Francis and future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr. The Flyers understand their best chance to pull off the upset will be by staying out of the penalty box.”They got special players that make special plays,” Giroux said. ”For us it’s to make sure we minimize those chances.”HOW SWEEP IT IS? The Penguins took all four meetings between the teams during the regular season, scoring five goals each time. Look closer, however, and things are tighter than they seem. Both games in Pittsburgh ended with the Penguins escaping 5-4 following goals during the three-on-three overtime. There are no extra-period gimmicks in the playoffs.”I don’t think we’ve played our best game or a full 60 minutes against Pittsburgh yet,” Flyers forward Sean Couturier said. ”But I like our chances if we play some good hockey for 60 minutes, maybe even more.”BRASSARD BONANZA: Pittsburgh’s big move at the trade deadline was to bring in Derick Brassard from Ottawa to center the third line. Brassard appeared to be hitting his stride in late March before suffering a lower-body injury. He should be good to go in Game 1, and his presence gives the Penguins perhaps the best depth down the middle of any team in the league.”I’m just going to try and keep it simple early and go from there,” Brassard said.— EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) Very few teams can boast of a winning record against the Vegas Golden Knights this season. The Edmonton Oilers are one.Connor McDavid had three assists to push his NHL-leading points total to 106 and help Edmonton beat Vegas 4-3 on Thursday night, improving to 3-1 against the Pacific Division winners.”Obviously to come from behind was nice http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/jarvis-landry-jersey , especially on a team like that which has been so good,” McDavid said. ”To win the season series 3-1, it’s a little feather in our cap.”Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Matt Benning, Mike Cammalleri and Ty Rattie scored for the Oilers. They snapped a five-game losing skid.”It is a little bit gratifying knowing you can play with some of those top teams, but obviously we didn’t play our top game enough this year to put ourselves where we want to be right now,” said Oilers goalie Cam Talbot, who made 30 saves to collect his 30th win of the season. ”It is bittersweet getting a big win against a team like that which is in first place in your division, but after Saturday they keep playing and we don’t.”Brayden McNabb, Brandon Pirri and Oscar Lindberg replied for the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights. They had won three in a row.”We’ve been pretty good as of late,” McNabb said. ”We’ve had a couple of stretches where we’ve had breakdowns Authentic Jarvis Landry Jersey , but that’s hockey. It happened, we have to keep building we have one more left and we’ll keep building for Game 1 of the playoffs.”Edmonton opened the scoring seven minutes into the opening period. McDavid started a three-way passing play that culminated in Nugent-Hopkins scoring his 23rd before goalie Malcolm Subban could get across the crease.The Knights tied it two minutes into the second period when McNabb took the puck at the point off a faceoff before dangling through traffic and beating Talbot.Vegas took the lead three minutes later on Pirri’s goal.Benning’s shot from the slot went in after Subban got a piece of it to tie it at 2.Edmonton went ahead 3-2 midway through the third on the power play as McDavid poked a puck away from a defender behind the net out front to Cammalleri, who notched his seventh.McDavid picked up a third assist three minutes later, feeding the puck to Rattie picked the top corner for his fifth goal in 13 games with Edmonton. Vegas got one back with five minutes to play in the third frame as Lindberg was left alone in the slot and beat Talbot.Notes: Defenseman Zack Whitecloud made his NHL debut for Vegas. The Brandon, Manitoba, product signed as a free agent out of Bemidji State on March 8. … Defenseman Keegan Lowe, son of former Oilers star Kevin Lowe, made his Oilers debut.UP NEXTGolden Knights: At Calgary on Saturday in regular-season finale.Oilers: Host Vancouver on Saturday in regular-season finale.—