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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- With the Anaheim Ducks bearing down on him all night, Jaroslav Halak couldnt relax for even a moment in front of the Washington Capitals net until the horn sounded on another victory. None of the Caps can afford to take many more breathers if they hope to make it back to the post-season. Alex Ovechkin scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period, and the Capitals kept up their playoff push with a 3-2 victory Tuesday night. Joel Ward and Troy Brouwer also scored for the Capitals, who have won three straight to pull into an eighth-place tie with Columbus for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They barely held off the Ducks, who threw 45 shots at Halak and pressed right up to the final seconds. "We cant worry about anything else thats going to happen except for our games," said Halak, who made 43 saves in his sixth consecutive start. "Right now, two points are all huge, any way we can get them." The Caps havent trailed during their winning streak. But even after Ovechkin scored his 46th goal early in a power play, they were in a nail-biter against Anaheim. "That was a huge game," Ovechkin said. "We prepared for it, and we were ready for it. We played one of the best teams in the league." Ovechkins goal was just the second in seven games for last seasons NHL MVP, but the Capitals need every goal and victory possible on their three-game California road trip. The Blue Jackets and Detroit, one point back in ninth place, both have two games in hand on Washington. Ben Lovejoy and Mathieu Perreault scored for the Ducks, who have lost four straight home games while falling out of first place in the overall NHL standings. Anaheim is still near the top of the Western Conference playoff race, but San Jose has caught the Ducks atop the Pacific Division standings. The teams meet Thursday at the Shark Tank. Jonas Hiller stopped 27 shots, but the Ducks have lost to the Capitals in each of their last four visits to Honda Center. "I think we had a lot of looks and were shooting the puck, but we werent getting to any loose pucks," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "You can make a million and one excuses, but were just not getting the job done." Washington hadnt visited Honda Center since Feb. 16, 2011, nine months before the Capitals fired Boudreau, who was hired by Anaheim two days later. "This was a big one for Bruce, and we all knew it," Lovejoy said. "I think we came out with a lot of passion. When were skating and playing tough hockey, we get our forecheck going, and we had that going tonight. We just werent able to put more than two in the net." Ward got his 21st goal on a fat rebound just 2:11 in, scoring in his third consecutive game. Lovejoy tied it 59 seconds later on an unobstructed slap shot set up by a terrible Washington line change. Brouwer scored on a power play in the final seconds of the first period for the Caps, getting his third goal in two games off another rebound. Anaheim generated nothing from a two-man advantage for 1:51 early in the second period, adding to the power-play woes of an otherwise powerful offensive club. The Ducks entered the game in a 2-for-42 slump in their previous 13 games, and they went scoreless in their first four chances against Washington. "At the end, it came down to the fact that our special teams werent special," Lovejoy said. Perreault, the former Capitals centre, put a wrist shot past Halak, who was thoroughly screened by Patrick Maroon, to tie it right after a power play expired early in the third period. But just 1:12 later, Nicklas Backstrom won a faceoff and John Carlson got the puck to Ovechkin, who put a typically vicious one-timer past Hiller. Stephane Robidas played more than 13 minutes in his debut for the Ducks, who acquired the veteran defenceman from Dallas two weeks ago for the playoff push. Robidas filled in for Cam Fowler, who missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. "It wasnt my best, but the first one is out of the way now," Robidas said. NOTES: Dustin Penner returned to Honda Center for the first time since Anaheim traded him to Washington on March 4. Penner had 13 goals and 19 assists in 49 games this season in his second stint with the Ducks, but was a frequent healthy scratch. ... Halak was in Anaheim with the Blues on Feb. 28 when he was traded to Buffalo, forcing him to leave Honda Center early while St. Louis faced the Ducks with a locker room attendant as their backup goalie. ... Boudreau won his first game against his former team when the Ducks beat the Capitals 3-2 on Dec. 23. Zack Greinke Jersey . 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He was attracted by the punishing defence, the strong running game and a coaching staff he trusted. The 49ers announced Thursday that Manningham had signed a two-year deal to join the team he helped knock out in the NFC championship game two months ago in their latest offensive upgrade at wide receiver.Off-the-field problems havent dented the NFLs popularity and, it turns out, fewer competitive games isnt turning too many fans away, either.Barely noticed beneath the domestic violence, player health and other troubles plaguing the league this year has been a significant decline in nail-biter games and an increase in blowouts.So far this season, according to STATS, the number of games decided by one score or less (8 points) are down by 18 per cent from last season and 20 per cent from 2012. Meanwhile, blowouts (20 points or more) are on the rise: There have been 32 per cent more than last year and 12 per cent over the 2012 number. There have been only nine overtime games so far this year, compared to 11 at this point last season and 17 in 2012.And yet TV ratings remain fairly steady. Nielsen says national games over cable and broadcast have averaged 16.7 million viewers so far this year, down from 17.2 million last year. Thats less than a 3 per cent decrease, and not enough of a drop to prevent Sunday Night Football from regularly being the weeks most-watched show.Credit fantasy football and gambling for part of that — theres always something to be rooting for, even if the games themselves arent that good.These two pillars, when combined with massive fan interest from hard core fans and a steady engagement from casual fans, blunts the downside associated with less compelling competition, said David Carter, executive director of the Marshall Sports Business Institute at Southern California.To be sure, the league that prides itself on parity has good races going in every division as December hits, and has produced its fair share of good games as well.Last week, there were three one-point affairs, including San Diegos comeback from 10 points down late for a 34-33 victory over Baltimore. Also, Green Bays 26-21 win over New England in the so-called Game of the Year last week was compelling and came down to the final minutes.The Thanksgiving Day games? All turkeys.One of the best lineups for Thanksgiving in recent memory — Chicago at Detroit, Philly at Dallas and Seattle at San Francisco — had playoff implications for all teams involved. The combined score of the three games: 86-30. None were decided by fewer than 16 points.It was unfortunate, because nobody was saying (anything bad) about those games on Wednesday, said Jay Kornegay, who runs the LVH sportsbook. It looked like a prettyy strong lineup.ddddddddddddAnd, to tell by the TV ratings, it was. All three games pulled better ratings than the games in their time slot the year before.Thursday-night games in general have been bad. Unpopular among players who detest the short work week and the ravages it can cause to their bodies, the average score of those games this season has been 33-15. Only three have been decided by a touchdown or less while five have produced margins of 20 or more.The Sunday-night games touted as the weeks marquee matchups have produced a steady stream of blowouts, as well. Since Week 2, only one game has been decided by fewer than 10 points. Sunday Night Football, however, regularly wins its time slot.With America spending upward of $11 billion a year on fantasy football, its no surprise viewership still goes through the roof. The way some fantasy owners see it, a lopsided game is simply a chance for the losing quarterback to rack up some come-from-behind passing yardage and the winning running back grind out some fantasy points, as well.The NFL has emphasized the in-stadium experience, ramping up internet connections so fans can keep track of other games while enjoying the one theyre attending. At the midpoint of the season, attendance was on pace to better last years per-game average of 68,867 (a five-year high), with 20 of the 32 teams reporting increases, according to STATS.And in Vegas — as Al Michaels likes to subtly remind viewers in these runaway Sunday night games hes calling — no game is over, til its over, as in, until it surpasses the number the books set for total points.In keeping with the seasons trend, this weeks lineup features four games with double-digit spreads: New Orleans -10 over Carolina; Detroit -10 over Tampa Bay; Denver -10 over Buffalo and Green Bay -12 1/2 over Atlanta.Kornegay, however, doesnt flinch at an abundance of lopsided matchups. His job is to set a line that will come close to matching the final margin, with the ultimate goal of getting equal action on both sides. If he sets the right spread — and he says Vegas books are having a very good football season so far — then all these games will keep viewers interested to the end, even if the games are blowouts.Yeah, weve seen a few more blowouts and overs due to some of the Thursday night mismatches, along with Sunday nights, Kornegay said. But I dont think theres any reason to panic. Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Discount Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping Cheapest College Jerseys Sale Cheap Football Jerseys China Nike NFL Jerseys Canada Wholesale NHL Jerseys From China MLB Jerseys Outlet Canada Wholesale NBA Jerseys Canada Store Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Canada ' ' '