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WASHINGTON -- One night after shuffling his lines produced an overtime loss at Columbus, coach Barry Trotz and the Washington Capitals return home to face Metropolitan Division rival Pittsburgh at the Verizon Center on Wednesday night.The Capitals (9-4-2) lost for the third time in four games, 2-1, after their apparent go-ahead goal in the third period was erased by a coachs challenge and replay review ruling that T.J. Oshie was offside.Nicklas Backstrom, on a line with Oshie and Marcus Johansson, scored Washingtons lone goal. Center Jay Beagle got the start between Alex Ovechkin and Andre Burakovsky, but Ovechkin was scoreless for the fourth straight game.I thought we played better, we created more chances, Backstrom said. Just a little unlucky we couldnt get two points there.Washington has managed just five goals in four games.Back-up netminder Philipp Grubauer made 25 saves. Braden Holtby (7-3-1, 2.16 goals-against average) gets the start Wednesday night against Penguins. He is 5-7-2 with a 2.71 goals-against average in 14 games vs. Pittsburgh.Pittsburgh (10-3-2) hasnt played since Saturdays win over Toronto. Wednesdays meeting will be the second between the teams following the Penguins 3-2 shootout win on opening night.Penguins coach Mike Sullivan has made some line changes as well, recently reuniting the trio of Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel after a brief split.I thought they had a real strong game the other night. They generated a numerous amount of chances, Sullivan told the teams website. Since weve put them back together the coaching staff is very pleased with the looks that theyre getting and how theyre playing.Sullivan is also pleased with the play of Evgeni Malkin, who has 10 points in his last nine games (6 goals, 4 assists).Hes one of those players in the league that has the ability to be a difference maker, Sullivan said. Hes been very good on the power play. I think hes as dangerous a player as there is in the league off the rush. He can shoot the puck as well as pass the puck.Sidney Crosby has scored goals in seven of the nine games hes played.Tuesdays game started a stretch that will see Washington play three of four games vs. Metropolitan Division foes.Obviously when youre playing within your own division, theyre four-point games, Trotz told the teams website. Theyre extremely important, not that the other games arent. But you get an opportunity within your own division to have an effect on it.Johansson leads the Capitals with seven goals and five assists for 12 points. He is followed by Ovechkin, with seven goals and four assists. Ovechkin has 27 goals and 19 assists in 45 games against the Penguins.Crosby, meanwhile, has totaled 19 goals and 36 assists 38 games vs. Washington, while Malkin has 12 and 35 in 33 games.Sullivan said he would wait until game day to announce if his goaltender will be Matt Murray (4-0, 1.25 GAA) or Marc-Andre Fleury (6-3-2, 3.06) as the Penguins begin a three-game road trip.Penguins defenseman Derrick Pouliot practiced Tuesday for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury Oct. 20 against San Jose and will travel with the team. Cheap Ravens Jerseys . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. 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The fight served as a rematch of the pairs 2006 meeting, which Henderson won by decision.ANAHEIM, California - There he sat, the morning of August 4 before the conclusion of a disappointing series with the Los Angeles Angels, discussing the wreckage of a lost season and looking ahead to 2014. General manager Alex Anthopoulos certainly couldnt have envisioned such a conversation so early, if at all this year, but with his team in another tailspin rooted in poor starting pitching and shoddy fundamentals, its his reality. “I dont know that we have the answer right now,” said Anthopoulos when pressed on his clubs defensive play. “We continue to work at it and hopefully its going to improve. The same way as everybody was talking about Brett (Lawrie) and how he was struggling to swing the bat. You work with him, hes starting to turn it around a little bit and hopefully it continues.” Entering Sundays play, the Blue Jays 78 errors ranked fourth most in baseball. Errors can be calculated but they dont tell the whole story. A boxscore doesnt show the number of times opposition runners have taken extra bases because an outfielder has thrown to the wrong base or on how many occasions the Jays havent turned the routine double play because of a bobble or double clutch. Anthopoulos says the club is “looking at everything” it can do to improve, including rethinking its spring training approach. The belief that a predominantly veteran core could go out, get its work done and then check out hasnt produced results. Then again, it could simply come down to the players. “Sometimes guys change defensively and its hard to tell why theyre not the defenders they once were,” said Anthopoulos. “I think it comes down, sometimes, to having the players on the field that are plus defensive players.” The starting rotation and second base top the list of positions in need of upgrade. There are internal options for the former if the Jays count on some combination of the return to health of Brandon Morrow, Drew Hutchison and Kyle Drabek, Ricky Romero bouncing back, or the emergence of youngsters like Marcus Stroman and Sean Nolin. Mark Buehrle garnered praise from Anthopoulos and the general manager believes R.A. Dickey, if he puts it all together, can resemble version 2012 more than what hes provided the Blue Jays so far. The waters Josh Johnson is swimming in get murkier by the start. Its not out of the question that another blow up in his next start, Tuesday in Seattle, could forrce him out of the rotation.dddddddddddd “Right now hes scheduled to make his next start but theres no question its been about six starts where he has been getting hit,” said Anthopoulos. “I know hes working hard and hes not making any excuses at all, he continues to battle.” “But its something we continue to talk about. We have to look at alternatives at some point if this continues. Its really start to start at this point. Its really the only way to characterize it. Right now, hes going to make one more start and well see how he does but well continue to evaluate it each time.” Anthopoulos flexibility will be dependent upon the emergence of young talent. The Blue Jays have almost $110-million committed to 12 players next season and with the likes of Colby Rasmus, J.P. Arencibia and others due for salary arbitration, the cost of doing business will increase. “Ownership was aware, and ownership understood where the commitments would be going forward and they green-lighted everything,” said Anthopoulos. “So from a financial standpoint, the resources will be available for us. It wont mean we wont change some things and reallocate money as you do any time. Its not like those contracts are sneaking up on us.” Anthopoulos assures club ownership hasnt been spooked by the Blue Jays disappointing season and remains committed to maintaining one of the leagues higher payrolls.“What I would say is that we wont be going backwards,” he said. “Thats not in the plan at all. What the number is is developed at the end of the season. Thats our conversations with Paul (Beeston) but the understanding is that we will be able to financially handle those contracts so that was why we were able to do the deals. That was a big part of our discussions. 2013 was going to be fine. It was ‘14 and beyond. Everyone was aware of that. Ownership was aware and thats not going to be an issue." Happ to Return Left-hander J.A. Happ, who went on the disabled list in May after being hit in the head by a line drive, will be activated in time to make Wednesdays start in Seattle. When he toes the rubber August 7, it will mark three months to the day since the frightening incident. To make room on the active roster, reliever Steve Delabar was placed on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his pitching shoulder. Delabar is eligible to come off the DL on August 18. ' ' '