Los Angeles Kings celebrated their latest, greatest escape yet.

With the Senators facing the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, I figured I would try and answer three questions about the Ben Bishop-Cory Conacher trade from earlier this year. 1. Did the Senators trade the wrong goalie? Lets make one thing clear: The Ottawa Senators acquired Ben Bishop from the St. Louis Blues for one reason and one reason alone. They wanted to push Robin Lehner and create an internal competition for him back in the spring of 2011. At no point did the Senators truly believe that Bishop was in their long-term plans. The ideal scenario in Ottawa was always to have Craig Anderson hold onto the No. 1 job for a while and then gradually hand over the job to Lehner. Bishop was always viewed as an intermediary; a transitional netminder who could help bridge the gap when Lehner wasnt ready. But now there is a revisionist theory floating around Ottawa suggesting that the Sens should have traded Craig Anderson while his value was sky-high last season and they could have hung onto a tandem of Bishop and Lehner. To be clear, under that scenario, the Sens would be going into this season with a pair of goalies who had a combined 70 games of NHL experience. That would be a massive, massive gamble for any organization to take – especially one that viewed itself as a darkhorse contender in the conference. Yes, Craig Anderson has been off to a slow start this season, but lets not forget that he has been arguably the best goalie in the history of this franchise over a span of 100 games. Six months ago, if you were to rate the ceiling on the three goalies Ottawa had last season, Bishop would come in third every time. The Senators made the choice of trading Bishop out of that three-headed monster last season because Anderson was providing superior goaltending at a discounted price. Remember that Bishops job was merely to push Lehner a little bit internally and from that standpoint it was mission accomplished. Imagine if they traded Anderson away and he was having a Vezina-calibre season for another team while the Sens were this mess defensively. What would people say then? Probably that they needed a veteran presence in goal and that they shouldnt have traded Anderson. 2. Why did the Senators trade Bishop within the division? On this point, I can see a valid argument for sure. If Ottawa had options, obviously it would have been in their best interests to move Bishop away from the Eastern Conference – and specifically the newly formed Atlantic Division. Remember when the Los Angeles Kings moved Jonathan Bernier this summer, they made sure to trade him to the Eastern Conference. Same goes for the Canucks who ensured Cory Schneider wouldnt impact their own playoff positioning by sending him to New Jersey. But heres a question: Why did the Columbus Blue Jackets trade Steve Mason to the Flyers at the deadline last year, knowing they would be in the same division as Philadelphia this season? Well, they did it for the exact same reason why the Sens moved Bishop to Tampa Bay. The reality is that sometimes, you have to take the best deal on the table and hope that it works out for the best. If you recall, the Boston Bruins traded Andrew Raycroft within their division a few years and that worked out just fine for them. (Of course it helps that they got Tuukka Rask in return). 3. Why didnt Bryan Murray hold out for more? I can tell you with a great deal of authority that the Senators were pursuing a trade with the Flyers near the deadline that would have seen Ben Bishop traded to Philadelphia for Sean Couturier. That was the Senators first option and it looked like it may happen right up until 12 noon on deadline day. The Flyers had even claimed centre Adam Hall off waivers right around the deadline, making the Sens believe they were ready to part with Couturier under the right circumstances. But once the Flyers got cold feet, Murray had to look at his other options and he circled back to the Lightning. Yes, there was a deal on the table from the Oilers that would have included Ryan Jones, but the Senators needed some scoring up front. Murray wanted to land a player who could add some offensive punch to one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league, so he acquired Cory Conacher for Bishop. The other significant goalie who moved at the deadline was the aforementioned Steve Mason – who only cost the Flyers a third-round pick to acquire. And considering Mason had more than 200 games of NHL experience under his belt and had proven he could be a No. 1 goalie, the Flyers didnt give up too much in that trade. So the asking price for a goalie like Bishop wasnt going to be anything greater than a middle-round draft choice or a player like Conacher around the trade deadline. At the time of the deal, Bishop had only played 36 career games and had posted a 15-13-3 record with a 2.58 GAA. Even if the Sens hung onto Bishop for a few more weeks and tried to move him at the NHL Draft, he probably wouldnt have netted them much more – especially considering goalies like Jonathan Bernier and Cory Schneider were being aggressively shopped. Those goalies werent in play at the deadline, but were at the draft. The Devils paid a price of a first-round pick for Schneider, so let me ask this question: What would the Sens have gotten for Bishop at the draft? I dont know for sure, but I can tell you they wouldnt be getting a first-rounder. Bishop wasnt seen in the same class as Schneider or Bernier. This idea the Sens could have held out and gotten more for Bishop is pure fantasy. Pernell McPhee Jersey . Bilbaos first victory in four rounds lifted it four points clear of Real Sociedad and kept it in command of Spains last Champions League berth for next season. In contrast, Betis was left 11 points from safety after a dismal performance that at times bordered on self-destruction amid some questionable refereeing decisions. Washington Redskins Jerseys . Like a magic trick, the puck popped out behind Stalock in the San Jose net. While Sharks coach Todd McLellan decried the legality of the tiebreaking goal, the Los Angeles Kings celebrated their latest, greatest escape yet. http://www.authenticshopredskins.com/Authentic_DaRon_Payne_Redskins_Jersey/ .com) - The collective hearts of Chicago Bulls fans sank on Friday night when Derrick Rose went down with a leg injury against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Alex Smith Jersey .S. routed Sweden 7-0 Sunday to win its fourth straight title and seventh overall under-18 world championship. Olson earned his third shutout of the tournament and the Americans allowed only four goals in six games to set an International Ice Hockey Federation under-18 record. Alex Smith Redskins Jersey . Fabio Fognini pulled off a surprise 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory over two-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray to level the best-of-five quarterfinal at 2-2 before Andreas Seppi defeated James Ward 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in the decisive match.The Premier League season reaches a thrilling conclusion on Thursday as Michael van Gerwen, Phil Taylor, Gary Anderson and Adrian Lewis target the title. The four remaining players will battle for silverware when the semi-finals and final are staged at The O2, live on Sky Sports.World No 1 Van Gerwen takes on the 2011 winner Lewis, while Anderson continues his title defence against six-time champion Taylor. Michael van Gerwen v Adrian Lewis Michael van Gerwen was beaten by Anderson in last years final Van Gerwen reinforced his status as the sports top player with last weeks win over Taylor, ensuring he ended the season as the Premier League leader.The Dutchman did not disappoint his legion of fans in Rotterdam as he hit a 164 checkout in a 7-5 victory over The Power. Van Gerwen put in an impressive display in Rotterdam Van Gerwen has not lost since his opening night defeat to James Wade and has already twice defeated his semi-final opponent Lewis.But Lewis, a beaten finalist in the World Championship, has shown flashes of his talent and is the only man to hit a nine-darter in this years competition. Watch Adrian Lewis hit a nine darter in his win over James Wade Jackpot is reading little into his two previous matches against Van Gerwen and is confident he can claim his second title in the capital.ddddddddddddI cant wait for the play-offs and Im looking forward to playing Michael, said Lewis, who finished fourth. Im not scared of Michael, Im not scared of Phil, Im not scared of anybody, and thats how I feel. Adrian Lewis If I turn up there and play really well, Ive got a great chance of winning the whole tournament. Im not scared of Michael, Im not scared of Phil, Im not scared of anybody, and thats how I feel. Gary Anderson v Phil Taylor Phil Taylor was defeated by Van Gerwen in last weeks top-of-the table decider Anderson is returning to the scene of last years title triumph where he edged out Van Gerwen in a tense final.The Scotsman, also the reigning world champion, finished comfortably in third place, despite being hampered by a virus in the opening weeks. Anderson overcame a difficult start to the campaign Anderson suffered two convincing defeats against Taylor earlier in the campaign, but seems to raise his game on the big stage.Taylor finished above Anderson in second place, although his hopes of taking top spot were ended by two losses in the last three weeks, including that pride-damaging defeat to Van Gerwen. Taylor had a message for Van Gerwen after their Premier League draw on night seven The 16-time world champion had previously vowed to topple Van Gerwen on the final night of the campaign and will be determined to set up another potential showdown by defeating Anderson.Watch the Premier League Play-Off tonight, starting at 7pm on Sky Sports 2. Or watch for £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV. 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