ies, where Suarez ran before coming to the United States? NASCAR has not

PITTSBURGH -- The New York Rangers arent about to let the loss of two top forwards derail their hot start.The Rangers were hit with adversity the previous two days, first on Sunday after learning Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich would miss extended time because of injury, and the following day when they fell behind early against their division rival Pittsburgh Penguins.Rick Nash sparked a comeback, though, and J.T. Miller scored short-handed to cap a second-period rally, helping the Rangers overcome an early two-goal deficit to beat the Penguins 5-2 on Monday night.We know a lot about this team because we played them so much over the last handful of years, Miller said. I think we were on our heels a little too much to start, a little too passive. I thought we were a lot more aggressive after that, and when we did that, we forced them into more turnovers and got a couple lucky bounces.The teams play again Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden to complete a pivotal, early season home-and-home between Metropolitan Division contenders. The Penguins have lost four of six and trail the first-place Rangers by four points.Pittsburghs Jake Guentzel scored twice in the first period of his first NHL game, but Rick Nash and Michael Grabner made it 2-2 before Miller, a Pittsburgh native, got his eighth of the season.Kevin Hayes added his ninth goal midway through the third, and Derek Stepan also scored into an empty net.Antti Raanta, starting the second game of a back-to-back for New York, rebounded after the first period and made 29 saves for his fifth win in six games.Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 31 shots for Pittsburgh. It was the first time he started two straight games since Matt Murray returned earlier in the month from a broken hand.Its a long season and things arent always going to go your way, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. Whats most important, from our standpoint, is how we react to it. Thats the lesson we need to learn from this game.Zibanejad, injured a day earlier against Florida, is expected to miss six to eight weeks for the Rangers with a broken leg, while Buchnevich is out two to three weeks with a back injury. Zibanejad had five goals and 15 points in 19 games, while Buchnevich scored four goals and eight points in 10 games.That didnt deter the Rangers on Monday, as New York, with an NHL-best 81 goals through 20 games, was able to rally.Miller scored in the final minute of the second period to put the Rangers ahead. A centering pass deflected off Penguins defenseman Kris Letang and forward Evgeni Malkin before hitting Miller and going past Fleury.The Rangers next goal was also a lucky one, as Ryan McDonaghs centering pass hit off Hayes skate and went behind Fleury.The game didnt start the way we wanted, but I thought after the first period we settled down, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. Thats a really strong team, but we were able to do what we had to do to get the job done.Guentzel made his debut against the same team that drafted his father Mike in the seventh round in 1981. The younger Guentzel scored on the first shot of his first shift, a similar feat accomplished by Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux 32 years earlier. Guentzels wrist shot from below the left faceoff dot sneaked between Raantas pads 1:02 into the game. It was the fastest goal by a Penguins player making his NHL debut.His second goal came exactly 12 minutes later. Malkin tipped Phil Kessels initial shot, and Guentzel put the rebound behind Raanta from the slot.Guentzel, the Penguins 2013 third-round pick, was recalled from the teams AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton earlier in the day. He had seven goals and 17 points in 16 AHL games, leading the team and ranking among the league leaders.Its a dream come true to play here, Guentzel said. Whenever you get the chance, you want to make the most of it.This was the first meeting between the division rivals since the Penguins eliminated the Rangers in the opening round of the playoffs last spring. It marked the third straight year the teams met in the postseason -- the Rangers won the first two meetings before losing to the Stanley Cup champions last season.Game notesGuentzel is the fifth player in team history to score his first NHL goal on his first shift. He is the third Nebraska-born player in NHL history to score a goal. ... Malkin has points in seven straight home games.... Penguins F Chris Kunitz, who has 11 points in 18 games, is considered week-to-week with a lower-body injury. ... Patric Hornqvist, who missed the last three games with a concussion, skated on his own before the Penguins morning skate.UP NEXTThe teams complete their home-and-home at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.Cheap Blue Jays Jerseys . LOUIS -- Lance Lynn was one of the more enthusiastic participants as the St. Toronto Blue Jays Gear . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/ . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. Wholesale Blue Jays Jerseys . The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling "puts an end to my dreams of being a top player," the 27-year-old Troicki said in a statement. "I worked my entire life for it, and it has been taken away from me in one afternoon by a doctor I didnt know," said Troicki, whose ranking peaked at No. Toronto Blue Jays Store . The Swede became the first golfer to win the PGA Tours FedEx Cup and European Tours Race to Dubai in the same season. "It is still taking a little time to sink in what Ive achieved this week as was the case when I won the FedEx Cup but then it just kept getting better and better as the days went on and I am sure this will be the same," he said.The first half of the Sprint Cup season brought some of the closest finishes in NASCAR history, a surprise manufacturer announcement and a delayed farewell tour that still has epic potential.Denny Hamlin won the Daytona 500 by inches over Martin Truex Jr., Stewart-Haas Racing announced a switch to Ford in 2017 and the team co-owner, Tony Stewart, missed the first eight races of his final Sprint Cup season with a broken back.With 18 races down and 18 races remaining -- eight Sprint Cup races left in the regular season before the 10-week Chase for the Sprint Cup -- the focus wont just remain on the championship battle.What to watch for over the second half of the season:Free agencyThe top free agents, based on points, are Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and Kyle Larson.Truex and Larson more than likely will stay where they are, although until they sign contracts, their teams have to worry that they might be ripe for the picking if something unexpected happens at another team.Some would think Hendrick Motorsports would want to snap up Larson to replace Kasey Kahne, but Kahnes contract runs through 2018 and support from Great Clips might be too much for Hendrick to want to try to attempt a buyout. And, frankly, the No. 5 team doesnt have the best history. If youre Hendrick, do you wait until Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Jimmie Johnson seems ready to retire before attempting to lure Larson from his current spot at Chip Ganassi Racing? Finally, Hendrick has remained loyal to his drivers in recent years, and he has stuck with them through hard times such as the past couple of years for Kahne.Newman likely will depend on sponsor Caterpillars preference but also RCR must want to get Ty Dillon to Cup. Menard also must renew his deal, and with sponsorship, could take it to another organization, but they also would need to buy a charter to be guaranteed spots in the field.The replacement for SprintThere seems to be plenty flavors of the week and even a few flavors of the month, but so far no one company has emerged publicly as the solid front-runner to replace Sprint. Walk through the garage and every couple of weeks, a new name surfaces of who will serve as title sponsor for 2017 and beyond.Its not the greatest sign for NASCAR that it doesnt have the deal done yet, but it also should not cause panic -- with the heavy drop in ratings the first two races before a more manageable decline for many other events, any company taking a serious look would want to wait and see how things developed this season with a new aero package and without Jeff Gordon.The racing has improved, and while the television and attendance figures raise concern, NASCAR should find a company willing to sponsor the series. It likely needs to get it done at least in principle by the end of August, as companies set their budgets for the upcoming year.NASCAR has wanted a 10-year deal like the original one signed by Nextel, but it probably can get more annually from a three-year or five-year deal.The sponsor not only provides the bulk of the $20 million-plus season-ending points fund but also must make a commitment to promote the sport through advertising and other promotions (not to mention NASCAR likely hoping they sponsor the All-Star Race).Tony StewartStewart has won a race in his final season. Hes in the Chase as long as he remains in the top 30 in points and he would have to have a disastrous next eight weeks to drop out.So now comes the Chase for Stewarts final season. How far can he go?Stewart will try to replicate his 2011 performance in the Chase where he turned a mediocre season into the championship by winning five of the final 10 races.That probably wont happen. But are you going to be the one to doubt the three-time champion in his last 10 races with a zeroo-cares-given attitude?Hendrick MotorsportsRick Hendrick celebrated his 67th birthday Wednesday.dddddddddddd He might not have had room for any cake considering how fed up he was with his team the past couple of weeks.Hendrick Motorsports failed to put any of its drivers in the top 10 at Kentucky. The same was true a week earlier at Daytona. It was the first time since October 2011 that Hendrick failed to have a top-10 driver in back-to-back races.In looking at the past nine races, the Hendrick drivers would rank sixth (Chase Elliott), 18th (Kasey Kahne), 23rd (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and 25th (Jimmie Johnson) in the standings.Should they be worried? Maybe.The past four races have had little to do with what the drivers will face much of the remainder of the season, as Michigan had the proposed 2017 rules package, followed by a road-course race at Sonoma, the restrictor-plate race at Daytona and another 2017 race at Kentucky.2017 aerodynamic packageNASCAR hopes to have the 2017 rules to teams in August, or at least the main parts of the rules package so teams -- and Goodyear -- can start working toward 2017.The race at Michigan appeared as a good start, and the race at Kentucky gave NASCAR a chance to see the package on a newly paved track.While it might not hurt to get one more race with the 2017 package, NASCAR probably has seen enough to try to implement many of the elements for next year. The key is lowering the corner speed and creating cars where side force is not such a big an issue so that a driver trying to make the pass cant be pinched and lose immediate control.The BrickyardAfter an incredible 100th Indianapolis 500, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway made a big push for renewals. With all that effort, where will the Brickyard 400 sit in the IMS landscape?The 2015 NASCAR race probably had 20 percent of the crowd of the 2016 Indianapolis 500, and no one expects to match it. But if NASCAR only draws 60,000-70,000 at Indianapolis, is that big enough to have an event? Can NASCAR handle being the second, third and fourth fiddle at Indy?The races at Indianapolis havent created the most drama beyond fuel mileage ones. And the Xfinity Series races at Indianapolis will have heat races. That should be, well, gulp, interesting.Daniel Suarez impactDaniel Suarez became the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR national series race when he captured the Xfinity Series race victory last month at Michigan.So whats next?It is unlikely Suarez will have a spot at Joe Gibbs Racing in a Sprint Cup car. Will someone else give him a chance in the next few years? It probably depends on if he wins again as well as the sponsorship he could bring with him.And the other question is what will happen to the NASCAR Mexico Series, where Suarez ran before coming to the United States? NASCAR has not released a schedule yet for the series in 2016, and while NASCAR still works to come up with some sort of abbreviated 2016 schedule, time is running out for any races to happen this year.Donald and HillaryIts an election year and there are 16 races remaining before the 2016 U.S. presidential election.Will Donald Trump, BFF of BZF (NASCAR Chairman Brian Z. France), show up at a race? Hillary Clinton? Or their running mates?Fans dont like it when their sports get political. But with NASCAR races in swing states such as Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia between now and mid-October, it makes NASCAR a likely candidate for candidates.If they dont make it, locals can still expect others running for federal office or governorships to use NASCAR to meet and greet and ask for votes.Dont say we didnt warn you. ' ' '