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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Washington Capitals play the first of back-to-back games Tuesday as they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.The Capitals (9-4-1, 19 points) have lost two of their last three games and face a Columbus team that is 5-0-0 at home since Oct. 15.The Blue Jackets (7-4-2, 16 points) scored 10 goals against Montreal earlier this month and eight goals against St. Louis in their last game, with both of those games at home.Washingtons offense is ranked 16th in the NHL with 2.64 goals per game. The Blue Jackets are ranked 2nd in the league with 3.46 goals per game.In an effort to spark some offense from his team, Capitals head coach Barry Trotz made some line changes ahead of Tuesdays game with Columbus.One thing that resonates with me a lot is that you have to have a balance of will and skill, he told The Washington Post. Sometimes we forget that we need the will and the skill to work together. I made a lot of changes, even for my standards in some way, but at the same time, the players that have played well are going to move up and get an opportunity. You never know.The Capitals points leader is left winger Marcus Johansson, with seven goals and five assists for 12 points. He is followed by left winger Alex Ovechkin, with seven goals and four assists for 11 points.They are backstopped by goaltender Braden Holtby, with a record of 7-3-1 in 11 games. He has a 2.16 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage and sits 10th in the league in save percentage (minimum 10 games played).Although the Blue Jackets penalty-killing unit allowed four goals on five power-play opportunities in their last game, their power play still sits atop the NHL with a 33.3 power-play percentage. The Capitals convert 12.5 percent of their man-advantage opportunities and sit 24th in the league.Neither the players nor head coach John Tortorella left the arena happy after Saturdays 8-4 win over St. Louis, much of the discomfort due to their sloppy play.The team held an intense practice Monday, in order to keep them from becoming complacent despite a decent start to their season.Its been a struggle with our coverages because we dont initiate the contact and win the one-on-one battle and it allows (an opponent) to play (in our end) and brings in different kind of coverages, sometimes we have to switch, Tortorella said to the Columbus Dispatch.It causes too many problems when that initial battle isnt won and we havent won enough of those.Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to make his 13th start in 14 games against the Capitals. He has a record of 7-4-1, with a 2.33 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage and sits 6th in save percentage in the NHL (minimum 10 games played).No lineup changes appear to be imminent for the Blue Jackets for Tuesdays game against the Capitals. Olivier Giroud Jersey . "No difference at all," chirped U.S. roommate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil. Alvaro Morata Jersey .Y. -- Syracuse has turned up the defence at the right time all season, and when High Point threatened to pull off a monumental upset the second-ranked Orange did what they do best with their quick hands and savvy play. http://www.chelseafcproshop.com/Kids-Jorginho-Jersey/ . Ivanovic was leading 7-5, 1-0 when Hantuchova withdrew after falling 0-40 behind in the second game. The match started slowly for Ivanovic, who surrendered her first two serves as Hantuchova took a 5-3 lead. Mateo Kovacic Chelsea Jersey .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. NGolo Kante Chelsea Jersey .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tommy Milone shut out the Kansas City Royals for eight innings, and then got in just enough trouble in the ninth to ensure that Grant Balfour would have a nice, easy save chance. A save that will go down in Oakland history, too. Balfour gave up a run-scoring single to Billy Butler before retiring the final two batters of the game Friday night, preserving the As 6-3 victory and notching his 40th consecutive save to tie Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersleys franchise record. "You know, its an accomplishment. Definitely," Balfour said. "I dont like to look into it too much -- Im superstitious, obviously. But I never knew about this, and its not something I set out to do. It just happened. I still have a lot of work to do." Balfour has 22 saves this season to match the mark that Eckersley set from Sept. 15, 1991-Aug. 7, 1992, this one helping the As (51-36) win for the seventh time in their last nine games. "Thats pretty remarkable, but when you look at Grant, its not surprising what hes able to do," Milone said. "Thats pretty cool for him. Im happy." Happy enough to get into trouble in the ninth for him? "We can go there if you want," Milone said, grinning. "Yeah, I guess." Milone (8-7) was in control before Alcides Escobar and Eric Hosmer drove in runs to get the Royals within 6-2 with one out in the ninth. Balfour came on and gave up the single to Butler, but he managed to retire Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas to end the game. "Like him, I dont like to talk about it a whole lot, but youre asking me the question," As manager Bob Melvin said of Balfours save streak. "Pretty phenomenal." Milone, who had been battered in his last three starts, outpitched Wade Davis (4-7) in another strong night from Oaklands pitching staff. The As had put together 18 1-3 innings without giving up a run before the Royals plated their three in the ninth. Milone was two outs shy of racking up Oaklands third shutout in its last eight games. "A tough eight innings. Tommy Milone was really on top of his game," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "What makes him so tough on nights like tonight, he can command his fastball to both sides of the plate, but when that changeup is on, its almost unnhittable.dddddddddddd" The recent history for Milone and Davis pointed to runs-a-plenty on Friday night. Milone had been struggling lately, and Davis was yanked after one-plus inning last Saturday. So naturally, the two of them took turns mowing through hitters. Milone retired his first 11 batters, and only twice allowed a ball to get out of the infield through the first three innings. The left-hander finally gave up a single to Hosmer with two outs in the fourth, but that was it until David Loughs two-out single in the sixth. "We were just trying to take pitches and try to see as many pitches as possible," said the Royals Lorenzo Cain, "but he was pounding the zone." Davis only needed 10 pitches to get through the first inning against Oakland, and the right-hander set down nine straight before Josh Reddicks double in the third. Eric Sogard came through with a timely single to shallow left field that gave the scrappy As a 1-0 lead. Davis cruised through the fourth, and then issued a leadoff walk to John Jaso in the fifth. Reddick followed with a triple to right, and he scampered home on Coco Crisps sacrifice fly. The As added three more in the ninth, two of them when Cain misplayed a line drive in right field that bounced off his glove -- "I just flat-out missed it," he said. The Royals tried to rally in the ninth behind back-to-back doubles by Lough and Escobar, and consecutive singles by Hosmer and Butler. But the unflappable Balfour got Cain and Moustakas on harmless groundouts to record his historic save. "I hope youre not jinxing him by talking about it," Reddick said with a smile. NOTES: Royals OF Alex Gordon passed his concussion tests after colliding with the wall while trying to make a catch Wednesday night. He could return this weekend. ... The Royals requested unconditional release waivers on OF Jeff Francoeur, who was designated for assignment June 30. LHP Francisley Bueno accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Omaha. ... As LHP Brett Anderson plans to play catch Saturday after a CT scan cleared him to begin walking on his right foot without a boot. Hes been on the DL with a stress fracture since May 1. ... RHP Jarrod Parker will start Saturday for Oakland against Royals RHP Ervin Santana. ' ' '