Every marriage has its ups and downs. So New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft urged everyone not to read too much into any reported discord in his organization.

Kraft praised Bill Belichick on Monday when asked about some of the unusual decisions the coach made in the Super Bowl loss to Philadelphia.

As for any split among owner Cheap Harold Landry Jersey , coach and star quarterback, Kraft said he has learned to work with "a strong and powerful coach."

"The so-called tension gets greater when you lose," Kraft added.

And with Brady, Kraft noted that the "feeling of a loss is worse than the feeling of a win" in a Super Bowl, except for that first victory.

"I think Tommy is in that category."

Kraft spoke to media at the NFL owners meetings and was grilled about everything from whether All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski will return for another season (Kraft never really answered, though he said he'd seen Gronkowski at the team facility this offseason) to why cornerback Malcolm Butler, now with the Titans, was benched for the Super Bowl.

Mostly, the questions were about friction in New England. Kraft said he has met with both Belichick and Brady, something he does regularly.

"I have faith in Bill as coach," Kraft said. "I don't think there's anyone (else) who has the football knowledge and expertise and understands personnel and is able to merge those. As someone privileged to own one of these teams, I encourage him to keep going with his instincts.

"This is not an energy firm where you go from A to B to C to D. I think Bill's structure has been pretty good most of the time and has worked pretty well."

Kraft admitted he was perplexed that Butler Omar Vizquel Jersey , a Super Bowl hero in the 2015 game, didn't play against the Eagles. But he acknowledged he was looking at it from a fan's viewpoint.

"There's no doubt in my mind that if he is doing it for the right reason," Kraft said of Belichick's decision, "I support it. I haven't had one instance where Bill has done any decision that was not in the best interest of the team."

While noting that Brady had an unparalleled season as a 40-year-old quarterback, including his third career MVP award, Kraft also recognized how difficult the final game of the 2017 season was for Brady.

"You don't get public with your feelings two weeks after a Super Bowl loss," he said.

Kraft got emotional when concluding the session by talking about lending the team's airplane to students from Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida so they could attend the "March For Our Lives" in Washington on the weekend.

"When they called and asked would you send a plane and help take the wounded kids and their families and kids who couldn't go on a normal plane, we didn't hesitate a minute," Kraft said. "Because think of it, all of you who have kids, think about losing one of your kids. You wake up in the morning and they go to school and don't come home at night.

"I just thought this is a way for our organization to be able to reach out to those people who are hurting bad. I can't think of a worse Youth Alex McGough Jersey , unnatural thing of losing your child."

Then Kraft, a donor to the Trump campaign, criticized the legislative process and current environment in the nation's capital.

"I have a big problem with what's going on in Washington and the divisiveness," he said, "and no one's listening to one another and forgetting where you stand on this issue."
Philipp Grubauer made 36 saves and the Washington Capitals celebrated star Alex Ovechkin’s 1,000th career regular season game by clinching their third straight division title with a 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday night.

Ovechkin was held without a point but it hardly mattered. T.J. Oshie, Dmitry Orlov and Tom Wilson scored for Washington while Grubauer kept the NHL’s best power play in check as the Capitals assured themselves home-ice advantage through the first two rounds of the postseason.

The Penguins have the top power play in the league but went 0 for 5 with the man advantage. Patric Hornqvist picked up his 27th of the season late in the third period to avoid a shutout. Matt Murray stopped 31 shots but couldn’t quite match Grubauer.

A night after earning a playoff berth for a franchise-record 12th straight year, Pittsburgh lost at home in regulation for just the second time since Jan. 4.

Ovechkin downplayed his milestone game beforehand, half-jokingly saying it didn’t matter much. The 32-year-old knows his career has been equally defined by his 603 goals and his team’s inability to make a deep playoff run.

The Capitals have won 10 of 12 to create some breathing space in the cramped and crowded Metropolitan

DEVILS 2, CANADIENS 1

MONTREAL (AP) – Taylor Hall scored a short-handed goal late in the third period to lift New Jersey.

Nico Hischier tied the score early in the third and Keith Kinkaid stopped 25 shots in his sixth consecutive start for the Devils. New Jersey increased its lead to seven points on Florida for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Devils, vying for their first trip to the postseason since reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2012, have three games remaining – two fewer than the Panthers.

Daniel Carr scored for the Canadiens Da'Ron Payne Redskins Jersey , who have already been eliminated from playoff contention. Carey Price finished with 30 saves while playing his 556th game with Montreal, pulling into a tie with Jacques Plante for most games by a goaltender in franchise history.

PREDATORS 4, LIGHTNING 1

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Filip Forsbeg had two goals and an assist to lead the Nashville pastTampa Bay.

Forsberg returned to the Predators‘ lineup after being held out of Saturday’s loss to Buffalo for maintenance. Craig Smith and Ryan Johansen also scored to help Nashville move closer to clinching the Presidents’ Trophy with the league’s best record. Juuse Saros finished with 29 saves.

Tampa Bay, which went 0 for 5 on the power play, played the final two periods without captain Steven Stamkos, who left the game with an undisclosed lower-body injury.

Ondrej Palat scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 21 saves while lost his third consecutive game.

The Lightning fell to 5-6-0 in the past 11 games and sit two points behind Boston for the top spot in the Eastern Conference.

FLYERS 4, BRUINS 3, OT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Claude Giroux scored his second goal with 1:21 left in overtime and Philadelphia Flyers recovered from blowing a late lead to inch closer to returning to the playoffs after a one-year absence.

Travis Konecny added a dazzling goal and an assist, Nolan Patrick also scored and Petr Mrazek made 36 saves for the Flyers. Philadelphia who opened an eight-point lead over idle Florida, the last team that can overtake it for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference – the Flyers have three games left and the Panthers five.

Patrice Bergeron tied it with 3.8 seconds left in regulation for the Bruins. With the goaltender pulled Jimmy Garoppolo Jersey 49ers , Bergeron got his 30th goal on feed from Brad Marchand after the Flyers twice failed to clear the puck.

Noel Acciari and David Pasrnak scored and Anton Khudobin stopped 20 shots for the Bruins, who lost Brandon Carlo and Riley Nash to injuries a day earlier.

DUCKS 4, AVALANCHE 3, OT

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Ondrej Kase scored 1:34 into overtime to cap Anaheim’s comeback from a two-goal deficit.

Andrew Cogliano had a goal and an assist, and Adam Henrique and Ryan Kesler also scored for the Ducks, who moved into third place in the Pacific Division. Anaheim is one point ahead of Los Angeles with three games remaining for both teams.

Kase was looking to shoot all the way on a 2-on-1 break and won it by going to the short side over Jonathan Bernier’s right shoulder.

Ryan Miller made 19 saves after replacing John Gibson at the start of the second period, helping the Ducks to their fifth straight home win. Gibson, who made 10 saves before departing, appeared to be shaken up late in the first when Gabriel Landeskog was cross-checked by Kesler into the goalie, who was being evaluated for an undisclosed injury.
.