Etemons Spiele » 95-88. The Heat are heading to the Finals for the fourth

PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Pittsburgh Penguins and captain Sidney Crosby hope that a recent bout with the mumps is a thing of the past.Blake Comeau scored 2:24 into overtime to give the Penguins a 1-0 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots, registering his career-best sixth shutout of the season just hours after the Penguins thought their starting goaltender had the mumps.It wasnt the mumps, Fleury said. Everybody goes through life with a cold here and there. Its no big deal. I felt good.Fleury, who recorded the 34th shutout of his career, was tested after missing Wednesdays practice with an illness, but the results came back negative and he was cleared for Thursdays game.Crosby did have the mumps and the Penguins captain returned Thursday after missing three games. The Penguins, who managed two wins and five of a possible six points without their captain, now have six wins in their last nine games.I think, as a hockey player, you crave that routine and competing, Crosby said. Its much better talking about hockey than that other stuff.Comeaus goal was his 11th of the season. He tapped his third game-winner of the year past goaltender Calvin Pickard after Evgeni Malkin deflected Rob Scuderis shot from the point in front. Malkin has points in six straight games.There are going to be times when goals are tough to come by, Comeau said. (Malkin) did a good job of tipping (the shot), it popped out to me and I was at the right spot at the right time.Pickard stopped 47 shots for the Avalanche, who lost for the sixth time in seven games and have one win in December.He played a really strong game for us and allowed us to be in that game, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. Obviously, he was our star player.Both teams were scoreless through two periods and Pickard, a rookie recalled from Lake Erie earlier this month, kept it that way with Pittsburgh pressing for the go-ahead goal. Pickard started the last four games and seven of the last 10 with Semyon Varlamov nursing a groin injury.We got pucks to the crease and we had guys in the crease looking for second-shot opportunities, Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. We scored the last one, but we probably had six or seven opportunities around the net where there was a loose puck in the crease and we just missed.The Penguins spent most of the third in the Colorado zone, registering 19 of the first 24 shots of the period.Crosby returned to practice Wednesday, skating for the first time since his diagnosis. Though Crosby missed a practice last week because of illness, the Penguins believed their captain wasnt at risk for the mumps after he received a booster shot prior to travelling to Russia for the Winter Olympics in February.But the Penguins announced Sunday that Crosby had contracted the mumps — two days after pronounced swelling in his face forced him to sit out last Fridays home game against Calgary.It took a period to get used to the speed, but once youre in the game you start feeling more comfortable, said Crosby, who logged 20:19 of ice time. I might be a little more tired than typically, but thats to be expected. You just kind of monitor it as you go along.Forward Beau Bennett also was diagnosed with mumps, which has affected at least five other NHL teams, while backup goaltender Thomas Greiss and defencemen Robert Bortuzzo and Olli Maatta — both sidelined because of injury —are all being tested.NOTES: Penguins D Christian Ehrhoff left after the first period with an undisclosed injury. Avalanche D Brad Stuart became the 293rd player in league history and 100th defenceman to appear in 1,000 career games.Penguins D Scott Harrington made his NHL debut on Thursday. The Penguins, for the fifth time, wore their third jersey -- a throwback to the black and yellow-gold colour scheme from when they won their first two Stanley Cups.Colorado continues a three-game road trip Saturday at Buffalo, while Pittsburgh hosts Florida. Mateo Kovacic Jersey . LaQuinton Ross scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half, hitting his first four 3-pointers, to send No. Ross Barkley Chelsea Jersey . 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San Antonio and Miami will decide the leagues champion for the second straight season, the Spurs earning their spot Saturday night by beating Oklahoma City 112-107 in overtime in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals. Miami -- the NBAs two-time defending champion -- eliminated Indiana from the East finals Friday night, also in six games. "The two best teams will meet," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said. "Were just happy and excited that were one of the best." The Spurs and Heat split two meetings this season, both winning by comfortable margins at home. Game 1 of this years Finals is Thursday night in San Antonio. "Its unbelievable to regain that focus after that devastating loss that we had last year," San Antonios Tim Duncan said. "But were back here. Were excited about it. Weve got four more to win. Well do it this time." Its the sixth trip to the Finals for San Antonio, which won titles in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007 before falling to the Heat last season in a series that had some unbelievable drama. The Spurs held a 3-2 series lead and were leeading by five points with 28.dddddddddddd2 seconds left in Game 6 at Miami, before Ray Allens 3-pointer capped a wild rally and forced overtime, where the Heat ultimately prevailed. Miami then won Game 7, 95-88. The Heat are heading to the Finals for the fourth straight season and fifth time overall, beating Dallas in 2006, losing to the Mavericks in 2011, then topping Oklahoma City in 2012 and the Spurs last season. The Spurs -- who had the leagues best regular-season record, 62-20 -- are now the eighth franchise in league history with at least six trips to the championship round, and would be just the fourth franchise with as many as five NBA titles. "We know were facing a very talented and tough team and its going to be rough," the Spurs Manu Ginobili said. "But of course, we believe in our means and were going to do our best, as always." Both teams have a multi-time Finals MVP. Duncan has won it three times for the Spurs; LeBron James has won it twice for the Heat, and will look to join only Michael Jordan and Shaquille ONeal on the list of players to receive that award in three consecutive seasons. The last Finals rematch came in 1998 when Chicago beat Utah for the last of Jordans six championships. ' ' '