PITTSBURGH (AP) ¡ª The Pittsburgh Steelers will be a little short-handed as they prepare for their home opener against Kanas City.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger Nate Hairston Jersey , cornerback Joe Haden and guard David DeCastro could all miss practice time after getting dinged up in a season-opening tie in Cleveland.

Roethlisberger is dealing with a right (throwing) elbow issue, Haden has a hamstring problem and DeCastro fractured one of his hands during the four-hour marathon in a monsoon.

Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday he will monitor their participation before making any sort of judgment on whether they will be available when the Chiefs (1-0) visit Heinz Field.

The injuries don¡¯t appear to be serious, with Haden the most likely candidate to sit out if his hamstring doesn¡¯t recover in time.

Tomlin described Roethlisberger¡¯s achy elbow the byproduct of ¡°the bumps and bruises associated with play.¡±

Roethlisberger raised his concerns after the bizarre 21-21 tie in Cleveland, a game in which the 36-year-old turned the ball over five times, three on interceptions and twice on fumbles. Tomlin said Roethlisberger¡¯s elbow had nothing to do with the miscues.

DeCastro fractured his hand during the game but did not miss a play. The All-Pro cleared the way for a pair of touchdown runs by second-year running back James Conner, including a textbook kickout block on Conner¡¯s 22-yard scoring run in the second quarter.

If Haden is unable to play, the Steelers will turn to Cam Sutton to fill the void. Sutton grabbed his first career NFL interception when he picked off Tyrod Taylor¡¯s lob late in the fourth quarter. Sutton¡¯s play was part of what Tomlin described as a ¡°very positive¡± performance by his team¡¯s restructured secondary.

Tomlin also praised the new alignment at outside linebacker of T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree. The two switched sides during the offseason, with Dupree set up to go at the quarterback¡¯s blind side. The two combined for five of Pittsburgh¡¯s seven sacks, four of them going to Watt.

The Steelers are also planning to get ready for Kansas City without All-Pro running back Le¡¯Veon Bell, who remains out while waiting to sign his one-year franchise tender. Tomlin said he has not had any contact with Bell Riley Nash Jersey , who has dominated the Chiefs during his career. He is averaging 126.8 yards rushing against Kansas City in four regular-season games and racked up 170 yards in a divisional round win two years ago.

Conner filled in capably for Bell in Cleveland, piling up 192 total yards on 36 touches. Tomlin is not concerned about relying too heavily on Conner, pointing out Conner was a workhorse during his college career at the University of Pittsburgh.

¡°That¡¯s one of the things that made him attractive,¡± Tomlin said.

Evgeny Kuznetsov smiled about getting four assists. He tried not to smile too much at the thought of being one win away from the Stanley Cup.

With Kuznetsov and goaltender Braden Holtby leading the way, the Washington Capitals are on the verge of capturing the first title in their 43rd season after routing the Vegas Golden Knights 6-2 on Monday night to take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals will get their first chance to hoist the Cup in Game 5 on Thursday night in Las Vegas.

One more win.

¡±I¡¯ve never been there,¡± Kuznetsov said after just the fourth four-assist game in Cup Final history. ¡±And I don¡¯t really care about that yet, so it¡¯s kind of easy for me. You know me, I always stay loose a little bit especially off the games. I¡¯m pretty sure when game gonna come, we¡¯re gonna a little bit think about it. It¡¯s pretty hard to not think about that.¡±

T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson and Devante Smith-Pelly all scored in the first period to get the Capitals rolling against a determined Vegas team that has not found consistent answers against Holtby Colin Kaepernick Jersey , who stopped 28 shots in another strong showing. The Golden Knights outchanced the Capitals by a wide margin but fell apart after James Neal clanked a shot off the post instead of hitting a wide-open net early, and the expansion team¡¯s Cinderella run could be over in a matter of days.

¡±It probably changes the game,¡± Neal said. ¡±It¡¯s probably a different game after that I had a wide-open net, and then I just hit the post.¡±

John Carlson, Michal Kempny and Brett Connolly also scored as thunderous chants of ¡±We want the Cup! We want the Cup!¡± rang out from the crowd. No team since the Detroit Red Wings in 1942 has blown a 3-1 lead in the Cup Final.

¡±It can be easy in a game where you can clinch to get a little bit ahead of ourselves,¡± Oshie said. ¡±But we¡¯ve got a good group of leaders in the room ¡­ and we¡¯ll be focused at the start.¡±

The Capitals seem to be getting enough bounces to make up for nine previous first- or second-round playoff exits in the Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom era ¨C and plenty of disappointments in the previous decades, too.

While Vegas rang several shots off the posts, the Capitals seized just about every opportunity as they have throughout this surprising run. Kuznetsov padded his lead as the playoffs¡¯ leading scorer with primary assists on Oshie¡¯s power-play goal that made it 1-0 and Wilson¡¯s that doubled the lead.

¡±He just tells me to put my stick on the ice and he¡¯ll hit it,¡± Wilson said of Kuznetsov. ¡±It¡¯s a privilege to play with him. He¡¯s one of the best at his craft.¡±

Smith-Pelly, who scored the insurance goal to ice Game 3 Willie Snead IV Jersey , kicked the puck from his left skate to his stick and roofed a shot on Marc-Andre Fleury with 20.5 seconds left in the first period. Fleury came into the final as the Conn Smythe front-runner for playoff MVP honors but looked human again by allowing six goals on 23 shots at a defense that has often left him vulnerable.

Fleury called the loss ¡±frustrating and demoralizing.¡± Coach Gerard Gallant was quick to absolve his goaltender of blame.

¡±At least five of the six goals were wide-open nets,¡± Gallant said. ¡±Nothing he could do on them.¡±

Kuznetsov leads all playoff scorers with 31 points, Ovechkin is tied for the goal lead with 14 and Holtby showed again his ability to alter the course of a game. Holtby got some good fortune from the post on shots by Alex Tuch, Neal and Brayden McNabb, but he also had not allowed a goal in more than 62 minutes stretching back to Game 3.

¡±We obviously got some breaks at the start of the game,¡± Holtby said. ¡±Honestly I thought (Neal¡¯s shot) was in, my angle, and somehow it didn¡¯t go in.¡±

Somehow, the Capitals have turned around their results at home, winning their past three in Washington after losing five of their first eight. This one got chippy at the end when Oshie broke Vegas defenseman Colin Miller¡¯s nose on a hit and was given a game-ending 10-minute misconduct along with Golden Knights forwards Deryk Engelland and Ryan Reaves.

¡±It is not ideal Philipp Grubauer Jersey , but it is the Stanley Cup finals and everyone wants to win,¡± Backstrom said.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said he and his Vegas teammates can¡¯t win three games in one night, so they have no choice but to focus on the next opportunity to stave off elimination.

Coach Barry Trotz wants his players to relax and not think too much about the chance in front of them.

¡±You have the opportunity to do something special as a group, but it¡¯s going to be the hardest thing to do, the hardest game to win because there¡¯s a very good team on the other side, a very proud team,¡± Trotz said. ¡±They¡¯re great in their building. We¡¯re not scared of their building. We¡¯ve proved it that we¡¯re very good on the road and we¡¯re going to go there and put our best effort in there.¡±

¡ª

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