I think it goes back to have that respect

[officialsbaseball]

ANNAPOLIS , Md. (AP) Auston Matthews continues to make progress as he works to return from an apparent shoulder injury.The Toronto Maple Leafs‘ outdoor game against the Washington Capitals on Saturday night at Navy is the fourth consecutive game Matthews is missing since injuring his right shoulder Feb. 22 against the New York Islanders.The team has only termed Matthews day to day, which for coach Mike Babcock typically means a player being out 10 days and getting evaluated, but the 20-year-old center could reasonably return as soon as March 10 against the two-time defending Stanley Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins.”He’s skating every day, working hard on his conditioning,” Babcock said. ”The big thing about this injury: you have your legs. When you come back from the previous injury, you don’t have any legs because you didn’t do anything. I think jumping right in and being ready to go when it’s time to come back will be positive for him. He won’t have to get his conditioning back. He’ll have it back already.”Matthews missed four games in November with a suspected back injury and six in December with a concussion. Despite playing just 53 games, the Phoenix area native leads Toronto with 28 goals and is second in points with 50.Going into the Maple Leafs’ game against the Capitals at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, they’re 7-4-2 this season without Matthews.”It shows you how deep the team is, how talented it is and how guys are ready to step up when other guys are out of the lineup ,” veteran forward Patrick Marleau said. ”We’d love to have our full lineup, have Auston in there, but everybody tries to pick up the slack when he’s not.”When Matthews returns after missing at least Toronto’s game Monday at Buffalo, the Maple Leafs will boast depth down the middle with him, Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak and Tomas Plekanec. The fourth line of Plekanec – acquired at the trade deadline from rival Montreal – with Leo Komarov and Kasperi Kapanen sets the Maple Leafs up well for the stretch run and playoffs.”It doesn’t matter who you play against,” Babcock said. ”We miss our matchup and they can go next and however. That’s important.”— NEW YORK (AP) With each passing game, it appears the New York Rangers may have found an apprentice goalie for next season.Jimmy Vesey had two goals and an assist to support Alexandar Georgiev’s season-high 43-save performance and the Rangers beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-1 Saturday night.Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Neal Pionk each added a goal and an assist as the Rangers completed a sweep of the three-game season series and improved to 13-3-0 in the last 16 meetings with the Sabres.”The main thing is that we won the game ,” said the 22-year-old Georgiev, who has been impressive since his recall from AHL Hartford last month after backup Ondrej Pavelec was injured. ”We scored great goals in the first period, played really good defense. The guys were really battling to not let them have many good opportunities to score.”Sam Reinhart spoiled Georgiev’s shutout bid with 4 1/2 minutes remaining for the Sabres, who have lost four straight. Robin Lehner gave up four goals on 12 shots before being replaced near the midpoint of the second period. Linus Ullmark came on and stopped 10 of the 11 shots he faced.Kreider and Vesey each scored in the first before Pionk got his first NHL goal early in the second.”It’s hard to believe it at first. It’s just such a great feeling when those guys come get you and they all give you a huge hug,” Pionk said. ”Something I will never forget.”Zibanejad made it 4-0 with his team-leading 27th at 8:45 of the second, giving the Rangers goals on four consecutive shots for the first time since Jan. 3, 2015, also against the Sabres, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.Georgiev , starting for fifth time in six games, made 21 saves in the first period, nine in the second and 13 more in the third. He has four wins overall and could emerge as Henrik Lundqvist’s backup next season.”I’m just trying to play my game and help the guys in every way I can,” he said.The Sabres outshot the Rangers 21-10 in the first period but it was Kreider opening the scoring with 3:31 left with his 15th of the season with assists to linemates Zibanejad and Jesper Fast. The line has totaled 25 points in last five games.Zibanejad has 12 points in his last seven games including eight goals. Kreider has a five-game points streak with three goals and seven assists. Fast has an eight-game point streak with three goals and seven assists over the span.Vesey made it 2-0 with just under two minutes remaining. Mats Zuccarello had an assist for his team-leading 50th point.Pionk scored his milestone goal at 3:59 of the middle period, extending his points streak to seven games. He has a goal and nine assists during the stretch. The 22-year-old defenseman was recalled from Hartford of the AHL last month and has 14 points overall.Vesey’s 17th made it 5-0 with 5:13 left in the second.”We lost coverages, guys were beating us up the ice, and I think it goes back to have that respect in our own zone and for our goaltender,” Sabres coach Phil Housley said ”We have to keep the puck out of our net.”The Rangers are 6-4-3 since dealing Rick Nash to Boston, and captain Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller to Tampa Bay as part of a promised purge of top players at the trade deadline. Though they will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2010 , they have played with renewed energy since the deals were made.”We had some grade-A chances that we were able to capitalize on and we got a lead,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. ”For the most part, we had some good looks and our goaltender was able to make some big saves.”NOTES: The Rangers also defeated Buffalo 3-2 in overtime in the Winter Classic at Citi Field – which was considered a home game for the Sabres – on New Year’s Day, and won 4-3 at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 18. … The Rangers again scratched Lundqvist after he was shaken up in a collision last Tuesday against Columbus. … The Rangers also scratched F David Desharnais. … Buffalo scratched F Jacob Josefson, F Justin Bailey, D Justin Falk and D Nathan Beaulieu.UP NEXTRangers: Host Washington on Monday.Sabres: Visit Toronto on Monday.