Vancouver Games as well as a concussion this past December --

The Columbus Blue Jackets begin just the second playoff run in franchise history, as they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday for Game 1. After getting swept in its lone playoff series, Columbus hopes to skate away with at least one victory in this opening round set despite being heavy underdogs against the Metropolitan Division champion Penguins. The Blue Jackets, who entered the NHL as an expansion team for the 2000-01 campaign, didnt qualify for the postseason until 2009 when they lost all four games against Detroit in the first round. This time they enter the playoffs as the first wild card in the East and face a Pittsburgh team with the second- best record in the conference. Pittsburgh swept the Blue Jackets in 2013-14, winning all five encounters in regulation. The Pens have claimed six straight and 10 of 12 in the series overall. The Blue Jackets and Pens were division rivals for the first time in 2013-14, as Columbus moved from the Western Conference to the East as part of the NHLs realignment plan for this season. Pens star Sidney Crosby racked up seven points (2g, 5a) in five meetings with the Blue Jackets this season. Pittsburghs Chris Kunitz had six points on four goals and two assists, while James Neal added three goals and two helpers. Pens goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, meanwhile, went 3-0 with a 1.33 GAA in the season series. Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson was the best point-producer in the season series for Columbus, posting three assists over the five losses. One bright spot for the Blue Jackets was that No. 1 goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky only faced Pittsburgh once in 2013-14, missing the other four encounters due to injury or illness. On the other hand, Pittsburgh completely dominated the Jackets in special teams during the season series, going 5-for-19 on the power play while killing 13-of-14 penalties. Pittsburgh cruised to a division title this season, taking the Metropolitan with 109 points -- 13 more than the second-place New York Rangers and a healthy Crosby was a big reason why. Crosby led the NHL in scoring with 104 points this season and is the leading candidate for the 2013-14 Hart Trophy. Crosbys fellow star centerman Evgeni Malkin sat out the final 11 games of the regular season with a sprained foot, but he practiced on the first power play unit this morning. A bigger question for Pittsburgh heading into the postseason is whether Fleury will struggle again in net. Fleury anchored Pittsburghs Cup win in 2009, but he has looked awful in the postseason since then and was even demoted to backup last spring. Fleury was replaced by Tomas Vokoun as the clubs No. 1 goaltender after Game 4 of the opening round against the New York Islanders and did not start another game in the playoffs as Pittsburgh was eventually eliminated by Boston in a conference final sweep. However, Pittsburgh is putting its faith in Fleury once again after he went 39-18-5 with a 2.37 goals against average and .915 save percentage during the 2013-14 regular season. In 80 games during his postseason career, Fleury is 45-34 with a 2.73 GAA and .903 save percentage. "(I) remind myself I have one more Stanley Cup than a lot of people, so I know I can do it," Fleury said. "I think we have a solid team and Ill try my best to get to it again." The key to the series for Columbus resides in the crease where Bobrovsky could give the Blue Jackets a considerable edge should Fleury get another case of the postseason yips. Bobrovsky won the Vezina last season and proved that campaign was no fluke in 2013-14, going 32-20-5 with a 2.38 GAA and .923 save percentage. Bobrovsky has playoff experience from his time in Philadelphia, starting three postseason games while making relief appearances on four other occasions. He was 0-2 with a 4.04 GAA and .848 save percentage in those outings. Pittsburgh, which also will host Game 2 on Saturday, was 28-9-4 at CONSOL Energy Center this season. Columbus was 21-17-3 as the visiting team. Penguins Projected Lines Kunitz - Crosby - BennettJokinen - Malkin - NealGlass - Sutter - StempniakAdams - Vitale - Gibbons Scuderi - LetangMartin - OrpickNiskanen - Matta Fleury - Zatkoff Blue Jackets Projected Lines Jenner - Johansen - SkilleCalvert - Dubinsky - AtkinsonMacKenzie - Anisimov - ComeauTropp - Letestu - Boll Murray - WisniewskiTyutin - JohnsonNikitin - Savard Bobrovsky - McElhinney Cheap Puma Shoes Online Uk . -- David Freese is starting to pick up his run production, which is something the Los Angeles Angels have been waiting half a season to see. Puma Shoes Clearance Uk .com) - Joique Bells touchdown run in the fourth quarter gave the Detroit Lions a 20-14 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. http://www.clearancepumauk.com/ . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. Puma Shoes Lowest Price . Tyutin has missed the last nine games with an ankle injury which occurred while playing for Russia at the Olympics. The top-two defenceman has four goals and 20 assists, 30 penalty minutes and a plus-6 rating in 53 games with Columbus this season. Puma Shoes Clearance Sale . After deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league would consider pulling out of Sochi if something "significant" happens before players arrive, those set to participate are trying not to worry about that scenario.VANCOUVER -- Maelle Ricker is confident shell be able to defend her womens snowboard cross gold medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics. The 35-year-old from West Vancouver, B.C., broke her wrist in training Jan. 28 and required surgery to repair the compound fracture. "Ive been training everyday, Ive been doing physio everyday. My arm is getting better and better, its getting more range and getting the swelling out," Ricker said during a conference call Wednesday. "Everybodys done such an amazing job just as a team, as a whole support network to get me out the door and get me on the plane Saturday to get me over to Russia." Snowboard cross involves four athletes racing down a course at the same time, often jockeying for position. Rickers accident happened when she lost her balance during a training run on the X Games course in Vail, Colo. "It was in a section that Ive ridden dozens of times previous to that run. It was nothing new or surprising. I didnt control my speed as I should have," said Ricker, who won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. "I did the exact opposite of what youre supposed to do -- I put my arm out to break the fall and unfortunately it broke me." Despite having a bone sticking of the side of her arm that "was crazy looking" less than three weeks before she was scheduled to compete in Sochi, Ricker said she was never concerned about her ability to participate. "I wasnt worried about that because I had so much support and reassurance right away that I was getting the absolute best medical care on the planet," she said. "I definitely felt that support and reassurance right away." Ricker said she wont get back on her snowboard until she reaches Sochi. She expects there to be some pain when she competes, mainly at the top of the course when she pulls herself out of the start gate. She said some of the exercises shes been doing since the injuury involve simulating a snowboard cross start using bungee cords and pulleys.dddddddddddd "I think its going to be better than maybe what I think, based just on my progress the last few days," said Ricker. "Everything is moving so much better than what I would ever imagine a week (post-operation) from breaking an arm. "I think its going to go quite well. Im really positive about this." Ricker and her fellow womens snowboard cross competitors will get their first look at the Sochi course Feb. 12, with the initial training session scheduled for two days later. The race is scheduled to go Feb. 16. Ricker has fought through injuries before -- including a crash right before the Vancouver Games as well as a concussion this past December -- and expects to be able to do the same in Sochi. "Id be lying if I said it wouldnt be in the back of my mind," she said. "Im hoping everything will go as a usual competition and thats where I spend a lot of time visualizing and thinking about the race and technically what Im doing on the board. Usually that overpowers any pain or anything else thats going on." Ricker made her Olympic debut in 1998 on Canadas halfpipe team at Nagano, Japan. She returned to the Games in 2006 at Turin, Italy, with the snowboard cross team but crashed and had to be airlifted to hospital. She returned in 2010 to win gold and it sounds like shes equally motivated this time around. "It sounds crazy, but its helped me," said Ricker of the injury. "This is almost like there was this burning fire, desire. Its almost like somebody doused a bunch of gasoline on the fire so Im pretty ready to go. I can feel the adrenaline and I can feel the excitement of going over to Russia. "Im actually just going to use that as a positive and use that for motivation to just get me through these couple of weeks and hopefully have the race of my life." ' ' '