NEW YORK -- When the New York Rangers selected Chris Kreider with the 19th pick in the 2009 draft, stardom was expected.Entering his fourth NHL season, the left wing may be beginning to live up to the projections.Hes a power forward who is playing to his strengths, New York coach Alain Vigneault said after Kreider had a goal and an assist for the third straight game as the Rangers beat the San Jose Sharks 7-4 on Monday night.Hes tough to handle right now, whether on the initial rush or down low in the oppositions end. He makes it real challenging for the other team.Kreider, who signed a four-year, $18.5 million contract on July 22, has three goals and three assists in New Yorks first three games. According to the team, he is the first Ranger since Brian Leetch in 1992-93 to tally six points in New Yorks first three games. He also became the first New York forward to record six points in three games to start a season since Bernie Nicholls and Darren Turcotte in 1990-91.You want to play instinctually, Kreider said. You simplify your game; you get back to the stuff you know you do well. A lot of time that adversity helps you focus. From there, lock in on what you do well and do on a consistent basis.Kreider was one of seven Rangers to score, along with Marc Staal, Rick Nash, Kevin Hayes, rookie Jimmy Vesey, Mats Zuccarello and Michael Grabner. Twelve Rangers finished with at least one point, led by Zuccarello, who recorded a goal and two assists.New York has won two of its first three games this season.Im hoping were going to get better, Vigneault said. If youre going to get into the playoffs you have to be one of those teams that continues to improve. Some teams improve. Some teams dont improve and fade away. We need to be one of those teams that continues to improve.Tied 1-1 early in the second period, New York took the lead for good on Nashs first of the season 4:15 of the period. The sequence began when Rangers captain Ryan McDonaghs shot ricocheted off the end boards to Nash, who was in front of Martin Jones net.Jones finished with 22 saves.The lead grew to 3-1 6:06 later when Kreiders off-wing drive ticked off Jones stick and into the net.New York was 1 for 3 on the power play, and San Jose was 1 for 4.We are finding our way, Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said of his specialty units. I probably like our penalty kill better than our power play.Staals one-timer 12:06 into the game put the Rangers ahead 1-0.Following Staals goal, though, the Sharks outshot the Rangers 7-2 for the remainder of the period, culminated by Logan Coutures 5-on-3 power-play tap-in with 57.5 seconds left.San Jose, which lost for the first time in three games this season, cut the deficit to 3-2 on Brent Burns second of the season at 9:13 of the third.We had it early, then we didnt, said San Jose captain Joe Pavelski, who finished with a goal and three assists. We were chasing it a little bit too much.New York struck back quickly as Hayes and Vesey scored 21 seconds apart to push the lead to 5-2. The goals were the first of the season for both, and for Vesey, the first of his NHL career. The Rangers signed the Hobey Baker Award winner from Harvard to a two-year, free agent contract on Aug. 19.It was definitely just pure joy, Vesey said. I just couldnt be happier to get that one out of the way.Im really happy to get that one.The tack-on goals were significant as Burns scored his second of the game 1:20 after Vesey scored, followed by Pavelskis first of the season at 15:31.Despite watching his team score three third-period goals, DeBoer wasnt enthralled with the Sharks performance.We got what we deserved, DeBoer said. The team that competed the hardest won and thats the way it should be.Zuccarello and Grabner added empty net goals.New York goaltender Antti Raanta made 26 saves on 30 shots.Game notes New York played without D Dan Girardi and D Kevin Klein, along with rookie LW Pavel Buchnevich, due to injuries. Before the morning skate, the Rangers announced Girardi was day-to-day with a strained groin and Buchnevich had back spasms. Klein has missed the first three games of the season with back spasms. ... San Jose scratched D Dylan DeMelo, and C Ryan Carpenter and C Micheal Haley. . Saturday Night Live actor Michael Che was among the announced 18,006 in attendance.UP NEXT:SHARKS: visit Brooklyn on Tuesday night for a game against the New York Islanders.RANGERS: host Detroit in a nationally televised game Wednesday night. Nike Dunk Sb Cheap . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. Cheap Nike Dunks China . Giroud, who wasnt in the starting lineup for two matches after allegations about his private life and a decline in form, scored twice in the first half. Tomas Rosickys chip made it 3-0 before half time at Emirates Stadium, while defender Laurent Koscielny scored an unmarked header in the second half. http://www.nikedunkscheap.com/nike-dunk-high-shoes/mens.html . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. Nike Dunk Wholesale China . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Nike Sb Dunk Mid For Sale . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. RIO DE JANEIRO -- When Hans Struzyna began his University of Washington rowing career, he and his freshman teammates were required to learn two things right off the bat. One, the words to the school fight song, Bow Down to Washington. Two, they needed to memorize the names of each member of the 1936 Huskies crew that won the gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.Don Hume, Joe Rantz, George Hunt, Jim McMillin, John White, Gordon Adam, Chuck Day, Roger Morris and Bobby Moch.It was drilled into us pretty early that this is a really important part of our legacy, Struzyna said. We dont forget where we come from. As an individual rower, youre not necessarily anything special, youre part of the legacy, part of the tradition, part of the timeline, and you have to make that part really exceptional.Struzyna is doing that. He is one of four Washington alumni on the U.S. mens eight crew for the Rio Games, along with Rob Munn, Sam Dommer and coxswain Sam Ojserkis. Former Washington freshman coach Luke McGee is the U.S. mens eight coach.Those four UW alumni arent alone. There are four former Huskies rowing in the various U.S. womens boats, plus another four on the Canadian teams. That makes 12 Washington rowers in Rio.While rowing is often known as an Ivy League sport, the Huskies have won 19 national collegiate mens championships -- the most by any school since 1923 -- and 11 womens titles.More notably, 86 Huskies will have rowed at least once in the Olympics, winning 42 medals, 23 of them gold. Include those from the boycotted 1980 Games, as well as alternates, and the number of UW rowers on a U.S. Olympic team is 100.Furthermore, the famous George Pocock, who designed and built so many top rowing shells, was based in Seattle and was a prime ally with the Washington crew. He was the boatman for the U.S. crew teams in 1936, 1948, 1952 and 1956.Former Washington coaches Al Ulbrickson and Bob Ernst each guided U.S. teams to gold at the Olympics. Ernst coached the U.S. women who won gold in 1984, and Ulbrickson coached UW and U.S. teams to three Olympics, winning gold in the eight man in 1936 and bronze in the coxed four man at the 1952 Games.While other schools have won Olympic medals -- California won three in the mens eight (1928, 1932 and 1948) -- the 1936 UW team is now the most famous due in large part to Daniel James Browns The Boys in the Boat. The book was a nationwide bestseller when it was published in 2013 (and still is in Seattle bookstores), is in the process of becoming a major motion picture and inspired a recent PBS documentary, The Boys of 36.Its interesting because the 36 crew obviously happened a lot of years ago, and the sport has evolvved in so many ways since then, Struzyna said.dddddddddddd So, at first glance, you think, Thats great, but how does it apply to 2008? Or 2016? But when you dig into it a little bit, thats when you remember those are the roots you came from, and you dont want to forget about it.What Ive been inspired by is the grit and the rawness those guys had. And the ability they had to come up in this sport that was basically ruled by the East Coast, Ivy League and Cal and to have this faith in themselves and one another that they could face these guys and beat them.Germany was expected to win gold in the mens eight at the 1936 Olympics, having won five previous rowing races in those Games. Adolph Hitler was on hand for the six-team final race, watching from the terrace behind Ulbricksons wife. She told documentary maker Lenny ODonnell in the 1980s: I sat 30 feet away from Hitler. Id have shot him if I would have known what he was up to.The Washington mens eight didnt fire a bullet, but they upset Hitler, just as Jesse Owens did against the German sprinters and long jumpers. Despite rowing in a lane where wind resistance was strongest, the UW/U.S. team performed impressively, roaring from behind to beat the Germans, who settled for bronze, and the silver medal-winning Italians.The shell the 1936 team rowed to gold in Berlin also hangs in the Huskies shell house. When Struzyna saw it for the first time, he thought: Are you kidding me? Did they actually row that?It looked like it was about to fall apart. And then it was, Oh, crap. They actually rowed that. he said. Thats where my head went. Then it was, This is really cool. This is part of our history. Not some random piece of history. I will always remember my father taking me to my first Husky football game in 1979, when the 1936 Washington rowers were honored on the field. He pointed to them and told me what they accomplished and how special it was.How will the U.S, rowers fare in Rio? The U.S. women have won gold the past two Olympics, and silver in 2004, with Huskies in all three of those boats. They also had the fastest time during Mondays qualifying heats, so expect more success from them. The men have a good chance to medal as well, and also advanced in Mondays heat with the days fourth fastest time.And if they win gold like their forebears in 1936, perhaps the four Huskies in the boat will celebrate by not only listening to The Star-Spangled Banner during the medal ceremony, but also by singing the Husky fight song.Mighty are the men who wear the purple and the gold. ' ' '