DS Talk » ceded a strike by Dele Alli six minutes later.It was Spurs four

The key decision for the Los Angeles Kings ahead of the expansion draft in June likely revolves around whether theyre going to protect three defensemen -- or whether they want to protect four.The difference between choosing either the 7-3-1 format (seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie) or the 8-1 format (eight skaters and a goalie) essentially boils down, I suspect, to whether the Kings will protect Brayden McNabb.Its a given that Drew Doughty, Alec Martinez and Jake Muzzin will be protected.But is protecting McNabb, and going with the 8-1 format, the right call for the Kings? That would mean only getting to protect four forwards. Lets go that route for a moment. That means protecting Anze Kopitar (who has a no-movement clause), Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson, most likely, and then exposing Kyle Clifford, Marian Gaborik, Trevor Lewis, Dustin Brown, Jordan Nolan?et al.If the Kings go the 7-3-1 route, however, and expose McNabb, they can protect many of the forwards listed above.Despite the fact that Brown has played better this season, I think the Kings will end up exposing their former captain, who has five more years left on his deal past this season, at a $5.875 million cap hit. Now the question is whether the Vegas Golden Knights would see any cache in selecting a player who has captained two Stanley Cup champions. Dont forget, Vegas has to select a group of players that, overall, meets at least 60 percent of this seasons upper limit on the cap. So GM George McPhee and Co. cant strictly go cheap and young. They will need to take on a big salary or two.It might also make more sense for the Kings and Golden Knights to talk about a trade for Brown instead, so that L.A. retains some salary that way. ?Again, I dont believe the Kings have made an official decision on Browns future yet. Were just speculating, but thats the whole point of this exercise, right??And what of the oft-injured Gaborik? If Im Kings GM Dean Lombardi, I leave him exposed. Gaborik is still a good player. But -- given that hes 34 and has a history of injuries -- the fact that he has four more years on his deal at a $4.875 million cap hit makes it easier to expose him.The Kings have younger players about whom they must make decisions too. Defenseman Derek Forbort and forward Michael Mersch, both 24, are each eligible for the expansion draft. The Kings have to either protect them or expose them.Swedish prospect Adrian Kempe, a 20-year-old forward, is exempt from the expansion draft, however.The Kings should have no issues meeting the criteria for the four players who top the exposure list: they have two goalies signed past this season in Jeff Zatkoff and Jack Campbell, whom?they can expose (theyre going to protect Jonathan Quick, obviously).?Matt Greene would be the defenseman they expose, and they have lots of options up front.Kopitar, by the way, is the only Kings player on the official must-protect list that the NHL sent to teams last month, and thats because he is indeed the only player on the team with a no-movement clause. Los Angeles has, as much as possible, resisted handing out no-movement clauses, and that policy will come in handy heading into the expansion draft because it affords the Kings nice flexibility.Dwight King is a pending unrestricted free agent, which means the Kings dont have to protect him because he cant be exposed in the expansion draft, although the Golden Knights do have a 48-hour window in which to speak to free agents before the expansion draft. Generally speaking, the smart play for teams -- if they have a good relationship with a pending unrestricted free agent -- is to wait until after the expansion draft to re-sign him so as to maximize their protective list spots.All in all, however, this decision looks like it should come down to what the Kings want to do with McNabb. Otherwise, Los Angeles is in fairly good shape in terms of the expansion draft. Los Angeles Angels Gear . There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. Los Angeles Angels Pro Shop . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. https://www.cheapangels.com/ . It is a cliché dragged out by fans and pundits regularly when discussions take place around which teams are better than others. Cheap Angels Jerseys . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. Los Angeles Angels Store . -- Lou Brocks shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bill Freehan during the 1968 World Series and Pete Roses bruising hit on Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game could become relics of baseball history, like the dead-ball era. MANCHESTER, England -- With his team 1-0 down and toiling against Arsenal, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola slipped and tumbled to the ground in the technical area after kicking the ball back into play.Guardiola got back to his feet, dusted himself down and gestured to his team to keep going.On a day of recoveries in the English Premier League, City answered its coachs call.City scored twice in a stirring second-half performance to rally to a 2-1 win over Arsenal in a match between two teams battling to stay in sight of in-form league leader Chelsea.After Leroy Sane equalized in the 47th minute, Raheem Sterling scored the winner in the 71st minute when he collected a stunning cross-field ball from Kevin De Bruyne, cut inside and drove a low finish in at the near post.City moved into second place and back to within seven points of Chelsea, which has won 11 straight games to take control of the title race nearly halfway through the season.Seven points is still a huge distance from a team who made 11 wins in a row, Guardiola said, who urged his team to be there as much as possible and wait for (Chelsea) to fail.Tottenham also rallied to a 2-1 win after falling behind early to Burnley. Danny Rose grabbed the winning goal -- in the 71st minute, like Sterling -- to leave fifth-place Spurs a point behind Arsenal, its north London rival. Arsenal is nine points behind Chelsea.In the days early game, Southampton recovered from falling behind in the sixth minute to beat Bournemouth 3-1, with striker Jay Rodriguez scoring twice.Heres a closer look at Sundays games:---MANCHESTER CITY 2, ARSENAL 1Arsenal squandered a lead to lose 2-1 for the second time this week -- and just like against Everton on Tuesday, Arsene Wenger blamed his players second-half tiredness as well as the referee.The referees are protected like lions in the zoo, the Arsenal manager said, having complained that both of Citys goals should have been disallowed for offside.Sane canceled out a fifth-minute goal from Theo Walcott by racing onto David Silvas pass -- potentially from a marginal offside position -- to slot past Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech. Wenger also felt Silva was offsside, and in Cechs line of vision, when the goalkeeper was beaten by Sterlings low shot.ddddddddddddGuardiola preferred to talk about the exceptional pass from De Bruyne that set Sterling free for the winner, which meant City has come out of a tough spell -- capped by a chastening 4-2 loss at Leicester last weekend -- with two straight victories this week.We are learning little by little, said Guardiola, who has been criticized by some for not adapting his tactics to the Premier League.---TOTTENHAM 2, BURNLEY 1Burnley manager Sean Dyche was aggrieved that Tottenham substitute Moussa Sissoko was still on the field to set up Rose for his winning goal.Moments before playing in Rose, Sissoko had been booked for a high challenge on Stephen Ward.It was a blind challenge, a high challenge and simply a red card, said Dyche.Burnley took the lead against the run of play at White Hart Lane through Ashley Barnes in the 21st minute, but conceded a strike by Dele Alli six minutes later.It was Spurs fourth win in their last five games in all competitions---BOURNEMOUTH 1, SOUTHAMPTON 3Rodriguez has been looking for a performance to kick-start his career since returning from a long spell out with damaged knee ligaments.Two second-half goals to cap a comeback at Bournemouth might just be it.Rodriguez scored from close range in the 48th, then fired in a dipping shot from the edge of the area in the 85th to triple his goal tally for the league campaign.Rodriguez had just forced his way into Englands squad when he sustained a cruciate knee ligament injury in April 2014 that ruled him out for more than a year. He had a poor 2015-16 campaign as he recovered from the injury, and had been below Charlie Austin in Southamptons pecking order of strikers before Austin hurt his shoulder this month.With Austin potentially out for up to four months, Rodriguez might have a prolonged run in Claude Puels team.Nathan Akes header put Bournemouth in front in the sixth minute, before Ryan Bertrand equalized in the 14th. Southampton climbed to seventh. ' ' '