quickly and beat Rask inside the far post at 16:21. Krejcis

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- There he was, Julius Peppers -- the Green Bay Packers prized off-season acquisition -- taking runs at the quarterback and dropping back in coverage in a No. 56 jersey that looked a bit snug. It was just an off-season workout in late May, but boy did the addition of the 6-foot-7 Peppers look good to coach Mike McCarthy. "Just the way he moves -- he looks awesome in 56," McCarthy said. "Were a little worried about finding a shirt to fit him." Should be able to sew something together by September. Its not often that a team gets to add a 287-pound pass rusher whose 118 1/2 sacks rank him second in the NFL since entering the league in 2002. Making Peppers move from the NFC North rival Bears even more noteworthy is that he signed with a team that typically doesnt make splash in free agency. "I was a little shocked," linebacker Clay Matthews said. "But obviously ... Im happy to have him on this side of the ball." Green Bay won a third straight NFC North title last season despite a slew of injuries. The defence missed Matthews the most after the linebacker was sidelined much of the year with a broken right thumb. The Packers defence sagged in the second half, about the same time that quarterback Aaron Rodgers went down with a collarbone injury. So part of coach McCarthys plan for the off-season was to look for more impact players on defence, whether through moving pieces around and developing players or adding fresh bodies from free agency and the draft. Enter Peppers, a salary cap hit by Chicago in the off-season. The eight-time Pro Bowler, 34, signed a three-year deal with Green Bay after finishing with just seven sacks in 2013, his lowest total in four seasons with Chicago and the fewest for him since he had a career-low 2 1/2 with Carolina in 2007. Linebacker A.J. Hawk didnt think Peppers lost a step after watching him fly around on a warm spring day in Green Bay. "He runs like hes 18. If theres ever a genetic freak that was put on the planet, its Julius. Hes just a specimen," Hawk said. So what was it about the subpar 2013 season then? "I felt fine last year," Peppers said. "Circumstances around me and the team, you know, led to certain things. But as far as me and how my body feels, I feel great." Getting a chance to play with Matthews, who is one of the leagues most dangerous pass rushers when healthy, was part of the appeal for Peppers in picking the Packers. Matthews -- who was flexing his right hand with a black armband during practice -- said his recovery is coming along fine, and that for now he "didnt see there being any hindrance toward beginning the season, toward camp." The ideal scenario for the Packers might be Matthews and Peppers bookending the line as pass rushers, with Peppers making what he indicated would be a smooth transition to more of an outside linebacker in the Packers 3-4 set. "Theyre not asking me to do very much different except for drop back a little bit," Peppers said. "Other than that, its pretty much almost the same as playing defensive end." As a newcomer, he might benefit from McCarthys emphasis this off-season to seemingly simplifying the defence a little. The mantra seems to be "more personnel, less scheme" to make more people available and add flexibility, following the injury-riddle 2013 season. The addition of Peppers, in effect, could fit well into that philosophy given his history as a hybrid defensive end-linebacker. The Packers also transitioned Mike Neal into a similar role last season with some success. "Weve learned some hard lessons here of late, the last couple years of maybe playing some players that probably werent quite ready because of the scheme of were playing of utilizing your best players, and thats a trap you just dont want to fall into as a coach," McCarthy said. "Everybody prepares this way. Were just tilting a little more that way than we have in the past." Torry Holt Jersey .C. -- Cam Newton wasnt flawless on Sunday. Joe Namath Womens Jersey . The first baseman hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to lead the Mets to a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. http://www.ramsrookiestore.com/Rams-Taylor-Rapp-Jersey/ . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. Andrew Whitworth Rams Jersey . -- On any given day here at his companys Silicon Valley headquarters, Vivek Ranadive is ready to compete against any employee who wants to challenge him to any contest. Nolan Cromwell Womens Jersey . Nikolai Khabibulin was yanked in the second period, and the Ottawa Senators looked ready to put away a big road win.BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins own the NHLs best home record. Now they know theyll have home-ice advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. Johnny Boychuk scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:06 left in the third period, Milan Lucic had two goals and the Bruins clinched the conferences best record with a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday afternoon. With four games remaining on their schedule, the Bruins have 50 regulation and overtime wins -- the leagues first tiebreaker. Second-place Pittsburgh has 44 and cant catch Boston if it wins the rest of its games. "You work so hard for that all season, its nice we could do it here," Lucic said. It was Bostons league-leading 30th home victory. The win also moved Boston two points ahead of St. Louis for the NHLs best record. The Blues lost to Colorado on Saturday. "With the win today we clinched (the conference), and its good for our team," Boston defenceman Torey Krug said. "Were excited about having home ice now." Boston coach Claude Julien knows its been a good season. "You just have to look at our record," he said. "Were at 113 (points). I think that shows you overall weve been a pretty good team. Weve had struggles at times, but I dont think theres an area Id consider a weakness on the team." David Krejci also scored for the Bruins and Patrice Bergeron extended his consecutive point streak to 11 games, setting up Boychuks go-ahead score. Wayne Simmonds and Jay Rosehill scored for the Flyers, who are in a tight race with a group of teams for a playoff spot. "Every game is a must-win," Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. "There are a lot of teams behind us trying to make the playoffs. We have played good enough to be in the position we are right now and we cant forget that. We have to remember that we are a good team and we are in this position because we did a lot of good things this year." Tuukka Rask stopped 24 shots for the Bruins, who had lost their past two games. Ray Emery made 37 saves for the Flyers. Philadelphia has lost three straight. Emery hopes the Flyers can turn thiings around quickly.dddddddddddd "The playoffs come fast and if youre not playing well, normally you see yourselves out pretty quick," he said. "So we definitely want to be sharp going in." Bergeron won a faceoff cleanly back to Boychuk, who fired a slap shot past Emerys glove for the go-ahead goal. Lucic scored less than a minute later and Chris Kelly added an empty-netter with 21 seconds to play. The teams were tied 2-2 entering the third period after the Flyers came back twice. Trailing 1-0, the Flyers snapped a lengthy scoreless stretch on Simmonds power-play goal 14:36 into the second when he gained possession of a shot off the back boards and slipped a backhand behind Rask. Philadelphia was shut out in its past two games, and it halted the scoreless stretch at 165:01. But Boston regained the lead 19 seconds later when Krejci circled the net and fed Lucic, who one-timed a shot past Emery from the slot. Philadelphia then tied it at 2 when Rosehill collected Michael Raffls pass alone at the bottom of the right circle, spun quickly and beat Rask inside the far post at 16:21. Krejcis goal 15:56 into the first period gave Boston a 1-0 lead. He scored off the rebound of Loui Erikssons shot, collecting the puck and shifting to his right before firing a wrist shot into the open side of the net. NOTES: Boston F Jarome Iginla was sidelined for the second time in three games, moving Eriksson to the top line. The team said the first one was because of a lower body injury, but didnt have injury details of this one before the game. "Its very minor," Julien said. "More of a maintenance day." ... Bruins D Kevan Miller was also scratched with an unspecified injury. ... The Flyers host Buffalo on Sunday before three straight road games. ... Boston is off until it opens a two-game road trip at Minnesota on Tuesday. The Bruins are at Winnipeg on Thursday. ... Boston F Reilly Smith was presented the teams Seventh Player Award before the game. The award is voted by the fans for the player that performs "above and beyond" expectations. ... It was the Flyers only regular season visit to Boston. ' ' '