WASHINGTON -- The Washington Capitals, a team breaking hearts every year in the playoffs. cheap nfl jerseys . Along comes Adam Oates, and they go farther than ever before in his first full season. That was 1997-98, when the Capitals advanced to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time, when Oates the player had six goals and 11 assists in the post-season. Washington didnt win the title, but it was a historic run for a franchise that had become a playoff regular with the reputation for flaming out early. They had been eliminated eight times in the first round in 14 appearances over 15 years, a 7-14 series record that included only one trip to the conference finals. Its a new millennium, but the Capitals are again in a go-home-early playoff funk. Enter Oates again, this time as a first-time NHL coach. The recent run of futility positively glows when compared to the 90s: Alex Ovechkin and Co. are 3-5 in playoff series since 2008, but they havent advanced past the second round. "What I remember -- it was my first year here," said Oates, who was traded to the Capitals late in the 1996-97 season. "So for me, it was coming in with a clean slate. And its funny, because when you make trades, you come to a new team, you dont know their history, youre not a part of that. So it didnt matter to us." Oates has the same approach as the Capitals prepare for Thursdays Game 1 against the New York Rangers. While the sting of recent playoff defeats still resonates throughout most of the roster -- last years Game 7 loss to the Rangers in the second round is a particularly painful memory -- the coach is letting the past lie in the past. "I ignore it," he said. "Because I wasnt involved in it. And every year is different." Different for him, but the same for most of his players -- particularly in one regard. The Rangers and Capitals are meeting in the playoffs for the third year in a row, and for the fourth time in five years. And what a history it is. In 2009, Rangers coach John Tortorella squirted water at fans and tossed a water bottle into the crowd during Game 5 in Washington and was suspended for Game 6. In 2011, then-Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau riled the New York crowd when he said that Madison Square Garden was "nothing" and that its "reputation is far better than the actual building." Theres was no sideshow last year, just a load of tense hockey. Games 2-7 were each decided by one goal, including a three-overtime Game 3, as the Capitals played a defence-heavy system under coach Dale Hunter. "We felt that maybe we should have won last year," forward Troy Brouwer said. "Weve got a little extra fire in us this year to get the job done." Centre Nicklas Backstrom said Saturday that the Capitals were the better team in that series. That might be bulletin board material in New York, although Rangers defenceman Dan Girardi wasnt taking the bait on Monday. "Were not getting into a war of words," Girardi said. "Theyre playing really well. Like us, they had a really solid April. We expect the series to be hard-fought, with a lot of hitting." Those hard hits will have to wait for a bit. Both teams have a four-day layoff between their final regular season games on Saturday and the beginning of the playoff series, a longer break than either team had during the lockout-crunched season. Washingtons coaches worked all day Sunday preparing for a Tuesday start, only to be caught off guard when the NHL announced the schedule. "Kind of odd. Originally I thought we were starting Tuesday and then you think, well, maybe Wednesday," Capitals forward Matt Hendricks said. "But Thursday, yeah, its a lot of days to sit around and practice." wholesale nfl jerseys . During Wednesday nights game in Calgary, Ashton drove Smith into the boards from behind. He was assessed a two-minute penalty on the play and then a further five minutes for fighting after engaging with Calgary defenceman Shane OBrien, who took Ashton to task for the hit. cheap jerseys from china .J. -- The New York Jets have downgraded wide receiver Jeremy Kerley and linebacker Garrett McIntyre from doubtful to out for the teams game against the Ravens at Baltimore. http://www.cheapnfljerseys2015.us.co... . Coda Gordon and Colby Cave could not score for Swift Current in the first two rounds of the shootout, while Giorgio Estephan, Riley Sheen and Reid Duke came up short for Lethbridge. [url=http://www.cheapnfljerseys2015.us.com/]wholesale nfl jerseys . Coming off an embarrassing 5-0 loss to the Boston Bruins on Friday night the Senators made the most of the rematch as they defeated the Bruins 4-3 at the Canadian Tire Centre. cheap jerseys . Cousin appeared in two preseason games, averaging 1.5 points and 2.0 rebounds. Kabongo finished with six points in five minutes at Denver on Oct.(Sports Network) - Colorados second 10-game losing streak of the season has made the race for the top pick in the next draft an interesting one. The Avalanche will once again try to avoid their longest losing streak in over 20 years as they visit the only team in the NHL with fewer points than them, the Edmonton Oilers, at Rexall Place. Colorado is 1-18-2 in its last 21 games, including an 0-9-1 mark over its last 10 games. The Avs dual 10-game slides this year are their longest since relocating to Denver from Quebec and longest since a club-record 14-game slide from Oct. 21-Nov. 19, 1990. The Avalanches 60 points lead only the Oilers 55 in the overall standings. The team that finishes the season with the fewest will have the best chance at landing the first overall pick of the 2011 draft. Colorado will try to avoid going winless on a four-game road trip this evening after Thursdays 5-2 setback in Calgary. The Avs have lost seven straight and 12 of their last 13 on the road. Mark Oliver scored his first NHL goal and Cody McLeod netted a late power-play tally for the Avalanche, who got 23 saves from Peter Budaj. "I was pretty emotional with certain things going on in the game," said Avs head coach Joe Sacco. Both Adam Foote (foot) and Milan Hejduk (shoulder), who remains stuck on 899 career games, missed Thursdays loss, while defense mann Erik Johnson suffered a leg injury in the first period and did not return. jerseys from china. . All three are questionable for tonight. The Avalanche and Oilers will close the regular season against each other at Colorado on April 10 and Edmonton has taken three of four this season, including back-to-back 5-1 victories in Denver. The most recent meeting between the teams took place on March 5. Edmonton hasnt won since, dropping five straight. Its latest setback came on Thursday, a 3-1 home loss to Phoenix. Magnus Paajarvi provided the lone goal and Nikolai Khabibulin gave up three goals on 17 shots for the Oilers, who havent lost six straight since a seven- game skid from Dec. 21-Jan. 4. "I think as far as Phoenix goes, they wanted an easy game," said forward Jordan Eberle. "But we were going on the forecheck and it seemed like we were outplaying them for most of the game. Our power play (which was 1-for-9) probably killed our momentum but I would say that 5-on-5 we were playing them well." Though defenseman Theo Peckham could play tonight for the first time since Feb. 27 due to a concussion, but the Oilers remain without Ales Hemsky, Taylor Hall, Sam Gagner and Shawn Horcoff due to injury. Edmonton is 12-20-4 at home this season and has won three of its last four versus Colorado at Rexall Place. ' ' '