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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals activated Danny Valencia off the disabled list Sunday and started him at third base against the Seattle Mariners. Valencia went on the disabled list June 1 with a muscle strain in his left hand. He hit .246 with one home run and seven RBIs in 20 games before the injury. He went 3 for 11 with a home run, three walks in three rehab games with Triple-A Omaha. The Royals optioned right-hander Louis Coleman, who was 1-0 with a 6.41 ERA in 18 relief appearances, to Omaha. The Royals are going with a 12-man pitching staff with Colemans demotion. Cheap Air Max 270 . Louis Blues are reportedly taking restricted free agent forward Vladimir Sobotka to arbitration. Discount Nike Air Max Wholesale . At this point, even he isnt sure when it is going to stop. The right-hander dropped his fourth straight decision in Los Angeles 6-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night, leaving his status very much in doubt as the Dodgers prepare for the stretch drive. https://www.wholesalenikeairmaxshoes.com/.com) - The Toronto Blue Jays will look to snap a three-game skid Friday night when they continue their road trip in the opener of a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Fake Nike Air Max Replica .Y. - The New York Rangers have reached a one-year contract extension with goalie Cam Talbot, keeping Henrik Lundqvists backup away from unrestricted free agency. Cheap Nike Air Max Outlet .com) - Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was named the National League Player of the Month for April.Ovechkin takes the goal-scoring lead, Carter leads the Kings, lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Alex Ovechkin – Scored a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. With 13 goals in the past 13 games, Ovechkin now has 29 goals on the season to lead the league. He’s a little behind last season’s 51-goal pace, but this surge has put Ovechkin back at the top of the goal-scoring race. While Ovechkin’s shots on goal totals are down, a little, he has seen a massive jump in power play shot attempts. His 13 power-play goals leads the league and 16 even-strength goals is tied for seventh. OVECHKIN SHOOTING YEAR G/GP SOG/GP SH% 5-on5 SA/60 5-on4 SA/60 2007-08 0.79 5.44 14.6% 26.5 31.7 2008-09 0.71 6.68 10.6% 30.3 44.4 2009-10 0.69 5.11 13.6% 27.8 38.4 2010-11 0.41 4.65 8.7% 23.2 35.5 2011-12 0.49 3.88 12.5% 21.3 32.1 2012-13 0.67 4.58 14.5% 21.8 40.7 2013-14 0.65 4.95 13.2% 24.1 39.1 2014-15 0.60 4.79 12.6% 22.6 51.1 Ovechkin’s playmaking centre, Nicklas Backstrom assisted on both of Ovechkin’s goals. Since 2008-2009, Backstrom’s second season, the Capitals rank third and fourth in points per game, behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Jeff Carter – The Kings centre was a force in a 4-3 win over Chicago, scoring two goals and assisting on another. Even with two goals, Carter has 0.29 goals per game (14 in 48 games) this season, his lowest goal-scoring rate since 2006-2007, his second season in the league. Braden Holtby – Washington’s goaltender delivered a 27-save shutout in a 4-0 win against Pittsburgh. His .922 save percentage ranks sixth in the league, yet not good enough to be one of nine goaltenders named to the All-Star game, apparently. ZEROES Saad, Toews, Hossa – They weren’t terrible, but all Chicago’s first line of Brandon Saad, Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa were under 46% possession and were on for two goals against in a 4-3 loss at Los Angeles. For most lines, that’s not particularly notable. For one of the best two-way lines in hockey, it stands out that they got the worst of it, particularly when facing the line of Jeff Carter, Dwight King and Tyler Toffoli. Adam Henrique – The New Jersey forward failed to generate a shot attempt in 19:57 of ice time and was crushed in shot attempts (3 for, 13 against, 18.8%) at even strength in a 2-1 shootout win over Toronto. Nick Shore – The Kings rookie forward didn’t play much, 6:11 total, against Chicago, but was on for two Blackhawks goals against and not great possession stats (3 shot attempts for, 6 against, 33.3%) despite starting two-thirds of his shifts in the offensive zone; a small-sample tough night. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Sidney Crosby – Returned to the Pittsburgh lineup after missing his mandated one game after the All-Star break. He played 19:42, struggling in the faceoff circle (7 wins, 17 losses, 29.2%) in a 4-0 loss to Washington. Tyler Toffoli – The Kings winger returned to the lineup, for his first game since January 8, after a bout of mono, and scored a goal and an assist in a 4-3 win against Chicago. Adam Larsson – New Jersey’s lone reegulation goal-scorer in the win over Toronto, the 22-year-old defenceman is seeing much different usage under the new regime.dddddddddddd In January, Larsson has six points (1 G, 5 A) in nine games, while averaging 23:37 of ice time per game. He had been averaging 16:35 per game in 21 games through the end of December. Andre Burakovsky – The Capitals rookie winger had four points (2 G, 2 A) during a three-game point streak, playing on the top line with Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, yet was a healthy scratch for Wednesday’s game against Pittsburgh. Jake Gardiner – The Maple Leafs defenceman logged 26:49 at New Jersey, his second straight game over 25 minutes and most in a single game since February 23, 2012. The absence of Dion Phaneuf is going to open up lots of playing time on the Toronto blueline. Petter Granberg – Speaking of Toronto defencemen getting a chance while Phaneuf is out, the 2010 fourth-round pick played his first game of the season (second of his career) for the Maple Leafs at New Jersey. Granberg had seven points (1 G, 6 A) and was even in 28 AHL games before getting called up. SHORT SHIFTS Capitals D Mike Green had a goal and an assist in the 4-0 win over Pittsburgh; he has 17 points (2 G, 15 A) in his past 18 games…Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane recorded a goal and an assist in a 4-3 loss at Los Angeles, giving him 27 points (11 G, 16 A) in his past 20 games…Blackhawks LW Patrick Sharp also had a goal and an assist, and has five points (1 G, 4 A) in the past four games…Kings C Anze Kopitar had a pair of assists in the win; he has 13 points (3 G, 10 A) in the past nine games…Devils RW Martin Havlat had a strong possession game (13 shot attempts for, 2 against, 86.7%) against Toronto...Devils G Cory Schneider stopped 29 of 30 shots in a 2-1 shootout win vs. Toronto, while Maple Leafs G Jonathan Bernier had 22 saves on 23 shots. FANTASY FOCUS There are 11 games on the schedule tonight, so here are half a dozen players to consider for your lineup: Mikhail Grabovski – 15 points (7 G, 8 A) in 39 games is not a great output, despite his stellar possession stats, but getting a shot to play with John Tavares and Josh Bailey on the Isles’ top line is a good opportunity. Michael Del Zotto – Injuries have given him a better opportunity and Del Zotto has five points (2 G, 3 A) during a four-game point streak and has played more than 20 minutes in eight straight games. Riley Sheahan – While he does have five points, all assists, in the past five games, the Red Wings centre has scored one goal in the past 18 games and has just 21 shots on goal in that time. Nevertheless, he’s a two-way centre with some offensive upside. Brad Boyes – The veteran winger has five points (3 G, 2 A) in the past seven games and has a good opportunity, skating with promising young linemates Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau. Seth Jones – Taking advantage of more minutes in Ryan Ellis’ absence, Jones has five points (1 G, 4 A) in the past five games and has played more than 20 minutes in each of the past seven games. Mikael Backlund – He has never had a 40-point season in the NHL and probably won’t get there this year, either, due to injuries, but the Flames centre has eight points (5 G, 3 A) in his past eight games. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca ' ' '