7:31 of the second period and Jack Johnsons power-play tally tied it at

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- Chris Kirk was at his best when the wind was at its worst Friday in the McGladrey Classic. Kirk rolled in a 40-foot birdie putt from off the green, chipped in from nearly 60 feet for birdie on another hole and wound up with another 4-under 66 at Sea Island to take a one-shot lead going into the weekend. "Definitely shot my score on that back nine," said Kirk, who started the second round on the back. "I made a pretty easy bogey on No. 10 and it was just kind of like, Yeah, this is going to be a pretty tough day. But I didnt let it bug me." He followed with five birdies to get into the lead, and stayed there with a pair of saves -- one for bogey on No. 4, another from a plugged lie in the bunker on No. 8. Kirk was at 8-under 132, one shot ahead of Kevin Chappell (68), Webb Simpson (68), John Senden (67) and Briny Baird (70). Eighteen players had to return Saturday morning to finish the round, none closer than three shot of Kirk. Even though he recently moved back to the Atlanta area, Kirk was one of the early PGA Tour pros to settle at Sea Island. This was one time where it paid off. The conditions were cold and blustery, with gusts up to 35 mph, and Kirk was ready for just about anything. "Ive played this course hundreds of times," he said. "Ive seen every wind direction, every wind strength. Ive seen it blow way harder than that before. You still know how well youve got to play to shoot a good score, but at least theres no surprises." He missed his 3-wood ever so slightly into the wind at the start of his round and had to hit hybrid for his second shot. Its normally a 3-wood and a wedge. "I guess that is a little bit of an advantage, just not being shocked by it all," he said. Chappell had a few surprises, good and bad. He reached the par-5 15th hole in two and felt a gust helped blow his eagle putt into the hole. That was good. But on the par-3 third, aiming at a small tent well right of the green to cope with a strong right-to-left wind, he came up so short of the green that his ball disappeared into a hazard that Chappell didnt even know existed. That led to a double bogey. "You hit some not-so-perfect shots and get some bad breaks with the wind gusting and you get exposed really quickly," Chappell said. "I think I was fortunate to come to that realization that theres some luck involved today and that maybe for a period of time I was one of the luckier guys out here. But that tough stretch in the middle of the round I wasnt so lucky, and the law of averages, it averaged out." The law of averages was reflected in the scoring. George McNeill finished off the fog-delayed first round Friday morning with an 8-under 62, when the course was soft and benign. It only made sense to Kirk that the lead going into the weekend was 8 under. Simpson, who lost in a playoff at Sea Island in 2011, had a flawless round spoiled with a bogey from the bunker on the 17th hole. Even so, he was poised to go after his second win since this wraparound season began a month ago. Simpson already has won in Las Vegas. The group at 6-under 134 included Jason Kokrak, who had the low score of the second round at 65. That included a birdie on the par-4 fifth hole, which wraps around a marsh. With the wind helping, the big-hitting Kokrak took a short cut toward the green and came up just short, setting up a chip-and-putt for birdie. That was two shots worse than how he played the hole in a pro-am round. With a similar wind, he smashed his driver over the marsh, onto the green and into the hole for an albatross ace. Too bad it was only practice. "I think it will play into my favour to play a little bit windy," Kokrak said. "Maybe not quite as gusty and windy as it is today for the putting aspect, but 15 to 20 mph wind would be fine with me. I think its an easier golf course for me to climb closer to the leaders with a little bit of wind as opposed to shooting 7-, 8-under par like the first round." McNeill struggled in the wind, making five straight bogeys on his way to a 76. He was six shots behind. Kirk moved to Sea Island in 2007, among the early settlers of PGA Tour players, and he still keeps a place here. Its not a big problem being a local and having to deal with ticket requests. "Im probably the seventh- or eighth-best player on the island," he said with a laugh. But he has been the best over two days, thanks to mixture of solid shots and long birdies. Perhaps his best shot of the day came at the par-5 15th, when Kirk had a tree blocking his second shot to the green. He had to play a hook around the green, not easy considering the wind was hard from left-to right. "I had to effectively hit a 30-, 35-yard hook just to get it around the tee and fight the wind," Kirk said. He would have taken the left bunker, but instead hit the shot into about 10 feet and two-putted for birdie. DIVOTS: Tournament host Davis Love III, who shared the 54-hole lead a year ago at Sea Island, went 75-74 and missed the cut. ... Will MacKenzie was 7 under in his first 13 holes and 11 over on his next 13 holes. He went 66-79 to miss the cut. ... Matt Kuchar opened with rounds of 68-68 and was four shots behind. Authentic Ben Niemann Jersey .Y. - Geno Smith shouted a couple of mighty expensive expletives. Authentic Cameron Erving Jersey . Its been two seasons in one for both parties and neither will look back on the first 18 games fondly. "I think I took the fall for a lot of things," said Gay, reflecting on his short time in Toronto ahead of Wednesdays game against his former club. http://www.cheapchiefsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-ike-boettger-jersey . - Aaron Rodgers makes tough throws that can leave fans of the Green Bay Packers speechless. Authentic Len Dawson Jersey . Strasburg (1-1) got 14 consecutive outs in one stretch and allowed only three hits, including Marcell Ozunas homer in the seventh. The right-handers lone walk was to the last batter he faced. Washingtons starter Wednesday, Jordan Zimmermann, left after a career-low 1 2-3 innings, leaving the bullpen "taxed," as manager Matt Williams put it. Authentic Darrel Williams Jersey . However, Jim Popp isnt sure how long hell be able to admire wide receiver Duron Carter.The Columbus Blue Jackets will try to build off the first playoff victory in club history when they host the Pittsburgh Penguins in Mondays Game 3 battle at Nationwide Arena. Columbus had been 0-5 all-time in postseason games before taking Game 2 in Pittsburgh on Saturday with a 4-3 double-overtime decision. The victory not only ended the Blue Jackets playoff win drought, but also tied this best-of- seven series against the heavily-favored Penguins at one game apiece. Matt Calverts second goal of the contest, coming at 1:10 of the second overtime, gave Columbus its first-ever playoff victory. The Blue Jackets are playing in just their second postseason since entering the league as an expansion club for the 2000-01 campaign. Columbus first made the playoffs in 2009, but was swept in four games by Detroit. Brandon Dubinsky fought off Pens forward Jussi Jokinen behind the net and fed the puck in front to Cam Atkinson, who missed from point-blank range on the right side. However, the rebound came out to Calvert, who made no mistake from the left wing. "Its a big win for our hockey team and a lot of people back in Columbus who are devoted to this organization," noted Blue Jackets head coach Todd Richards. Jack Johnson and Ryan Johansen added tallies with David Savard contributing two assists for the Blue Jackets. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 39 pucks to record his first playoff win after nine appearances and three losses. The 2013 Vezina Trophy winner was 0-2 in seven postseason appearances -- three starts -- during his time with the Philadelphia Flyers and fell to 0-3 after Wednesdays Game 1 loss in Pittsburgh. Brian Gibbons picked up a pair of first-period scores for the Penguins, who entered this postseason as winners of the Metropolitan Division and the second-best team in the East. Matt Niskanen also lit the lamp and Sidney Crossby netted two helpers for the Penguins, who have dropped their last three multiple-overtime contests.dddddddddddd Marc- Andre Fleury halted 41 shots in defeat. Pittsburgh overcame a 3-1 deficit to take Game 1 by a 4-3 score, but on Saturday it was the Blue Jackets who successfully mounted a comeback. The Pens led 2-0 less than five minutes into the game and carried a 3-1 lead into the second period, but then went the final 63 minutes, 18 seconds of Game 2 without a goal. "I think its a missed opportunity," Niskanen said. "Were at home, Game 2, were having a great first period, we have a two-goal lead. Were in complete control of the hockey game and whether its a mistake or them capitalizing on an opportunity, the momentum changes and it took us a while to get back to playing." Calvert scored a short-handed goal at 7:31 of the second period and Jack Johnsons power-play tally tied it at 3-3 with 6:01 remaining in regulation. "The short-handed goal for us was, I thought, the difference maker in the game. It gave hope to our guys," Richards. "You could feel it on the bench. From that moment on I thought we played a very strong game." Pittsburgh finished 16 points ahead of fourth-place Columbus in the Metropolitan and also went 5-0-0 against the Blue Jackets during the 2013-14 season series. However, the Jackets now have a chance to take control of the series with it all tied up and Games 3 and 4 being played at Nationwide Arena. The Blue Jackets went 22-15-4 as the host this season, but Pittsburgh was 3-0 at Nationwide Arena this season and outscored Columbus 10-4 in those games. Columbus has played the first two games without forward Nick Foligno, but he is expected to play in tonights Game 3. Foligno was tied for fourth on the team with 18 goals in 70 games this season. Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday evening in Columbus. ' ' '