CALGARY -- Pittsburgh was held to two goals on Saturday night but, against a struggling Calgary offence that set a record for being shutout at home, it was enough. Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves to backstop the Penguins to a 2-1 victory over the Flames, handing Calgary its team record sixth consecutive home regulation loss. "It was just nice today, to have a close, low scoring game," said Fleury, who improved to 26-10-1. "It felt nice. The last few games were a little crazy so its definitely nice and it was a good battle." It looked for the longest time like Fleury was going to become the sixth goaltender in the last eight games to shut out the Flames before Mikael Backlund cut into a 2-0 deficit with a goal with 8:31 left in the third period. "Its a relief. Its hard when you chase and chase and you get scoring chances and the puck doesnt go in," Backlund said. "It gets in your head a little bit. It shouldnt but its natural. But as soon as you score one, everybody settles down a little bit and you feel better." Ending a goalless stretch at the Scotiabank Saddledome at a team record 196 minutes 59 seconds, Backlund outbattled Kris Letang for the puck and scored on a wicked slapshot from 40 feet out. "Obviously it was nice to get a goal since we havent had too many at home here, lately, but were very disappointed that we didnt win the game," Backlund said. Chris Kunitz and Matt Niskanen scored for Pittsburgh (33-12-2). The Penguins pick up five-of-six points on its three-game road trip that included a win in Vancouver and an overtime loss in Edmonton on Friday. "The Western Canada swing, its always a hype-up for these games," said Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma. "With Sidney in the building, it seems like we get the best from other teams." Calgary (15-24-6) is next in action Monday in Carolina as they begin a short two-game road trip that sees them also play Tuesday in Nashville. "On the mental side, its good but its another loss," said Flames coach Bob Hartley, relieved that his team scored but not pleased with the end result. "But I cant fault the effort. Tonight was by far one of our best games lately." After the Backlund goal, with the roaring sell-out crowd of 19,289 suddenly back in the game and momentum seemingly on their side, Calgary could not get the tying goal as Pittsburgh didnt give the Flames much to work with. That was different than how Fridays loss played out in Edmonton when the Penguins blew a third-period lead and lost in overtime. "After a disappointing third period for us last night, for us it was a much better team game," said Niskanen. "We got the 2-0 lead, same situation we were in last night and thats something we want to get better at, playing with the lead." Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead at 16:34 of the first period on a laser of a shot from Kunitz that beat Reto Berra over his shoulder and just under the cross bar. The Penguins made it 2-0 at 6:42 of the second when Niskanens shot through a crowd in front squeaked through the pads of Berra. The Flames 27-year-old goaltender had 24 saves including two stellar stops against Sidney Crosby less than 30 seconds apart in the first period. With the game scoreless, first Crosby broke in from off the left wing but had his snap shot smothered. Later that shift, Kunitzs pass sprung Crosby on a breakaway from the blue-line but again Berra showed good reflexes in stopping the close wrist shot. Crosby also hit a goal post in seeing his seven-game points streak snapped. Down 2-0 seven minutes into the third period, the Flames had a chance to try to get the game back to even when they got a five-minute power play after Pittsburgh defenceman Robert Bortuzzo was given a match penalty for head contact for a heavy hit along the side boards on Calgary captain Mark Giordano. But the Flames could not click on the major, which was cut short when Mike Cammalleri took a cross-checking penalty during it. Calgary is now 1 for 26 with the man advantage in the last eight games. "If we could have scored a couple power-play goals, we could have won the game. That was the difference," Backlund said. "We had a few power-play opportunities and we didnt score and its been like that for a while and its been costing us some games." Notes: The old mark for Calgarys regulation losses at home was five, which happened in March 2000 ... Calgary has scored just 12 goals in Berras last 11 starts. ... Backlunds goal ended the Flames overall shutout streak at 174:59, short of the team record of 182:42 set in November 2002 ... Calgary RW David Jones (eye) missed his fourth game ... C Joe Vitale (upper body) did not play for Pittsburgh ... Pittsburgh lost centre Brian Gibbons to a lower-body injury in the first period ... Pittsburgh has won seven games in a row against the Flames including the last four at the Scotiabank Saddledome ... The Penguins improved to 10-2-1 against the West. Calgary is 7-8-4 against the East. Oakland Athletics Shirts .com) - Whew! North Dakota States reign as the three-time FCS national champion was pushed to the limit by South Dakota State on Saturday, but freshman R. Oakland Athletics Store . -- John Fox will coach the Denver Broncos from the sideline and not the booth upon his return Sunday five weeks after heart surgery. https://www.cheapathleticsonline.com/. Richard Jefferson scored 17 points and Diante Garrett had a career-high 15 points as the Jazz had seven players with 10 points or more in Utahs largest margin of victory this season. Athletics Jerseys 2019 ., climbed from seventh to fifth spot in womens competition Sunday at the ISU world junior figure skating championships. Wholesale Athletics Jerseys . After making his All-Star debut in Fridays Rising Stars Challenge, the Raptors sophomore centre wont be sticking around for the duration of the weekends festivities, thinking about the big picture instead.TORONTO - Inconsistency ended Randy Carlyles tenure as coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, according to general manager Dave Nonis. Carlyle was fired Tuesday after the Maple Leafs lost five of seven games on their last road trip. The Leafs have a 21-16-3 record this season and currently hold one of the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference. I think wed all agree weve had some good periods, good stretches, but I dont think I can stand here in front of you and say that weve been consistent, Nonis said at a news conference. We just felt at this point this was the right time to make the change and move ahead and try to get this team back playing like we have played for periods this season. Assistants Peter Horachek and Steve Spott will handle coaching duties for Wednesday nights home game against the Washington Capitals. Horachek ran the first practice of the post-Carlyle era. Nonis did not indicate if or when the Leafs might hire a full-time head coach. According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, a replacement process and candidates review will begin immediately, however, no timeline has been established for a new hire. Dreger adds that all Leaf players are now potential trade targets as the team moves forward. Its possible Horachek and/or Spott could handle the job for the rest of the season, though there are several external candidates available. They include Pete DeBoer, who was recently fired as coach of the New Jersey Devils. TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie reports that the most likely scenario is Horachek becoming the interim head coach, as there will likely be many big name coaching candidates available this summer. Carlyle, who was informed of managements decision Monday night, longed for answers back to last season, when the Leafs lost eight straight in regulation and 12 of their final 14 games to fall out of playoff contention. When Brendan Shanahan took over as president, he and Nonis reviewed aspects of the organization and opted to fire Carlyles assistants, Dave Farrish, Scott Gordon and Greg Cronin, and give him a two-year contract extension. Even with hindsight, Nonis said that was the right decision. Randy deserved to come back, Nonis said. I think hes an excellent coach. You dont coach over 700 games withhout being good at it.dddddddddddd Good coaches get let go and unfortunately today we had to do that and it has nothing to do with the summer or whether or not he was the right guy. He was the right guy to bring back and unfortunately today this was the right decision for our team. The Leafs were blown out by the Buffalo Sabres and Nashville Predators in consecutive losses in November, bringing up concerns that Carlyles job may be in danger. When asked if players were trying to get their coach fired, defenceman Cody Franson answered no and added an expletive. Following those losses and in the aftermath of a controversy about not saluting fans at Air Canada Centre following a win, the Leafs went 9-1-1 to rocket into a playoff spot. Recently, some old problems began to creep up, especially on this 2-5 road trip. Its been too much of a roller-coaster, Nonis said. Its not that (players are) not capable because they are, its not that they havent done it because they have. Thats probably the biggest reason, or one of the biggest reasons, for the change today. Carlyle went 91-78-19 in 188 games as Leafs coach over parts of four seasons. The native of Sudbury, Ont., replaced Ron Wilson with 18 games left in the 2011-12 season. Wilson was fired following the infamous 18-wheeler going right off a cliff losing streak named for then-GM Brian Burkes quote. Carlyle and the Leafs made the playoffs in the lockout-shortened 2013 season before falling behind three games to one in the first round against Boston. They came back to force a Game 7 and led 4-1 with 11 minutes left before losing in overtime. In 2013-14, the Leafs were easily in a playoff spot when goaltender Jonathan Bernier suffered an injury. They lost eight in a row in regulation and dropped 12 of their final 14 games. Carlyles job appeared in jeopardy then, but Shanahan decided he wanted some time to evaluate the team. The final decision came with his firing, the fourth NHL coach this season to get the axe. Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators was first, then Dallas Eakins of the Edmonton Oilers, followed by DeBoer. Carlyle won the Stanley Cup as coach of the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. Hes a good man, a good coach and hell be back in this game quickly, Nonis said. ' ' 'ad trauma, including concussions, the NHL has failed and continues to fail to warn its players of the risks to their lives and the devastating and long-term negative health effects. In fact, the NHL affirmatively concealed specific anecdotal evidence from players and scientific evidence about the health risks and consequences associated with playing in the NHL, including head injuries. To maintain its billions in revenue, the NHL also purposefully failed to institute policies and protocols that would protect its players from exacerbating injuries sustained during practice or in games." The NHL will release a statement on Thursday afternoon addressing the lawsuits. More to follow. ' ' '