him go, but not going to race him hard." Cast

(SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Islanders have lost ground in the NHL playoff race during a five-game slide and the club may have more bad news coming down the pike. But first, the struggling club hopes to avoid a sixth consecutive setback on Tuesday when it visits the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center. Watch the Islanders vs. Capitals live tonight on TSN2 at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. In addition to posting an 0-4-1 record during its current slide, the Isles are also having difficulty convincing winger Thomas Vanek to stay with the club and New York may wind up trading the Austrian winger. According to a report Monday in Newsday, Vanek, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent in July, has turned down a "substantial contract offer" from the Isles. The report also says New York general manager Garth Snow is fielding offers from teams looking to acquire the 30-year-old forward. Vanek was acquired from Buffalo in a trade on Oct. 27 and he has 15 goals and 38 points in 41 games with the Islanders after becoming part of a formidable top line with John Tavares and Kyle Okposo. If Vanek is dealt by the Isles, it will turn out to be a costly rental for the club. New York sent winger Matt Moulson to the Sabres along with a first-round pick in this summers draft as well as a second-rounder in 2015 to land Vanek. The NHL trade deadline for this season is March 5. The Islanders went 10-3-0 from Dec. 29-Jan. 21 before losing five in a row. The clubs last two losses came against the rival New York Rangers, who posted a 2-1 regulation win over the Isles in last Wednesdays outdoor game at Yankee Stadium before notching a 4-1 home win Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Derick Brassard and Brad Richards scored less than three minutes apart in the third period to support a strong effort from Henrik Lundqvist in the Rangers win over the Isles at MSG. Okposo had the lone score for the struggling Islanders, while Evgeni Nabokov stopped 33-of-36 chances in defeat. "We just looked like we ran out of gas," Tavares said. "We just didnt seem to have that extra gear when we needed it." With 50 points, the Isles are currently 13th out of 15 teams in the Eastern Conference and 12 points out of a playoff spot. Including tonights tilt, New York has three games left before the NHL breaks for the Winter Olympics. After visiting Washington on Tuesday, the Isles will host Calgary and Colorado on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. After losing seven in a row from Jan. 12-24, Washington has recorded three wins over its last five games and is 3-1-1 during that stretch. The Capitals split a home-and-home series with Detroit over the weekend, losing Fridays road portion against the Red Wings 4-3 in a shootout before taking Sundays wild 6-5 overtime decision at the Verizon Center. Alex Ovechkin scored a power-play goal 2:37 into overtime to lift the Capitals to Sundays entertaining matinee battle in D.C. Red Wings defenseman Brendan Smith was called for tripping at the 1:26 mark of the extra session. The Capitals moved the puck around and John Carlson fed Ovechkin for a one-timer from the left circle. Ovechkin has scored seven times over his last nine games and he is leading the NHL with 39 goals. His next goal will give Ovechkin 40 or more markers in a season for the sixth time in his career and for the first time since he posted 50 in 2009-10. Joel Ward registered two goals and one assist on Sunday and Jason Chimera added a goal and two helpers for the Capitals, who overcame blowing a trio of two-goal leads to win for the third time in their last 12 games. "We came out great and they never gave up; they are a really good hockey team," said Washington head coach Adam Oates. Michal Neuvirth picked up the win despite surrendering five goals on 30 shots. The Capitals expect to be without defenseman Mike Green for a third straight game after he suffered a concussion last week against Columbus. Green tried to practice on Monday, but he left for the dressing room after 10 minutes. Washington forwards Mikhail Grabovski (sprained left ankle), Brooks Laich (groin), Eric Fehr (lower body) and Aaron Volpatti (upper body) are also questionable for tonights contest. The Caps, who are three points out of a playoff spot in the East, are 2-0 against the Islanders this season and have won three straight and five of the past seven games in this series. Washington is 8-2-1 in the past 11 encounters in D.C. Wholesale NHL Jerseys Online . The team announced the defensive coordinator will not be offered a contract extension. Fake Adidas NHL Jerseys . Even that couldnt slow them down against the New Orleans Hornets. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook scored 31 points apiece and the Thunder overcame injuries to two key backups to beat New Orleans 101-93 Monday night for their 10th straight home win. http://www.cheapnhlcustomjerseys.com/ . Jones took a beating, the worst one of his record reign, in a bout against Alexander Gustafsson that knocked the light heavyweight champion on the canvas for the first time in his career and put his belt in jeopardy. NHL Jerseys From China .com) - Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight was carted off the field in the fourth quarter of 16th-ranked Sooners 48-14 loss to No. Authentic NHL Jerseys Cheap . As TSN reported Thursday, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport is under intense pressure from the federal government to focus drug testing on athletes who compete in international events representing Canada. Since funding for the tests has been frozen and the cost of testing can eclipse $1,000 per test, university athletes in a number of sports are being tested less often. FONTANA, Calif. -- Penske Racing was perfect Friday in the first phase toward pushing Helio Castroneves to the IndyCar championship. Will Power, Castroneves and AJ Allmendinger swept the front row in qualifying for Saturday nights season finale at Auto Club Speedway, where Castroneves is trying to chase down Scott Dixon for the IndyCar title. "They did a hell of a job to be a front-row lockout, so job accomplished for those guys," said Dixon, who takes a 25-point lead over Castroneves into the finale. Dixons lead could have been cut to 24 points at the start of the race. Power turned a lap at 220.775 mph to bump Castroneves from the pole, snatching away the bonus point his teammate would have earned for qualifying in the top position. "It would have been nice for Helio to get the point, but Scott didnt, so it kind of still keeps it alive," Power said. Castroneves, who had a 49-point lead in the standings before two disastrous races in Houston two weeks ago, has a ton of work to do to win his first title. The Brazilian likely needs to win the race, while Dixon wins his third championship simply by finishing fifth or better. "Unfortunately, we didnt have a crystal ball to tell my buddy here to slow down," Castroneves said. "Those guys were behind him, so Im glad he went for it. Thats what the car was able to do. We showed that we did our homework. Its a game. Youve got to play the game on the odds. In that position, it was the right thing to do." Dixon qualified seventh and said he never had a shot at catching the Penske drivers. Castroneves was the class of the field in an open test last month, and everybody expected his Chevrolet to be fast at the finale. But the qualifying order had Castroneves go out fairly early, and Power knocked him from the pole, saying after he wanted to ensure that Dixon couldnt grab the top spot when he made his late run. "Im surprised they thought we had that kind of speed in us," the New Zealander said. "Thats kind of nice because it obviously helped us. Ill have to thank Will for taking that point. Whether that comes into control tomorrow night, thatts a different subject.dddddddddddd." Both Castroneves and Dixon made engine changes before the weekend and will take 10-spot penalties on the starting grid. It means both will have to drive through early traffic in their championship race. Allmendinger was brought in by team owner Roger Penske as an added aid to Castroneves battle, and both he and Power have said theyll do whatever is needed to help their teammate. "Obviously, Helios got a championship on the line, and if I can help that, I will," Allmendinger said. But Power bristled when asked if a recent manipulating scandal in NASCAR by Michael Waltrips team could reflect poorly on any Penske attempt to assist Castroneves. "No, cmon. If you just sit there and say Im going to race my teammate really hard for the win, what are we talking about?" Power said. "Everyone knows what the deals going to be. Thats what its going to be. Every single team in this pit lane in this situation would do the same thing. Not just back off over the line. Not going to let him go, but not going to race him hard." Castroneves, usually light and playful, turned serious on the issue. "Were going to race as hard as we can without taking each other out," Castroneves said. "Well see what happens. If we got in that position, thats a great problem to have. Hopefully it will be like that, then well talk about it later." Dixon will be racing with Alex Tagliani filling in for regular teammate Dario Franchitti, who is recovering from injuries suffered in a last-lap crash at Houston two weeks ago. The four-time series champion suffered a broken ankle, two fractured vertebrae and a concussion in the accident, and was hospitalized for almost two weeks. Castroneves did not believe Dixon would suffer from not having his usual Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate on the track. "Scott and Ganassi, not the first-time rodeo for them," he said. "They know what they need to do. We know what we need to do, as well." IndyCar moved the start of the race back 20 minutes to address driver concerns about the glare from the sun in Turn 3. ' ' '