SUNRISE, Fla. -- Its not last season anymore.Thats obvious, of course, but what it means in a hockey context is that the San Jose Sharks (7-6-0) and the Florida Panthers (6-6-1) are battling to regain their form.Both teams will be trying to rekindle that magic from last season on Thursday when the Sharks visit the Panthers. San Jose made the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in its history last season and Florida set the franchise record with 47 victories.Recent events show signs of improvement.The Sharks snapped a three-game losing streak by winning on the road and dominating one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, beating the Washington Capitals 3-0 on Tuesday.That win was big for us just to kind of right the ship for us a little bit, said Sharks goalie Martin Jones, who made 24 saves. Everything kind of went our way.For the Panthers, starting goalie Roberto Luongo broke a personal four-game losing streak by beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 on Monday.Even better for Florida is the fact that it is starting to get healthier.Forward Jussi Jokinen, who has missed the past nine games due to a knee injury, is set to return on Thursday against the Sharks.Hes ready to play, Panthers coach Gerard Gallant confirmed.Florida center Nick Bjugstad, who has yet to play this season due to a broken hand, is set to return next week.The Panthers also made a trade on Wednesday, acquiring former New York Rangers defenseman Dylan McIlrath, a 6-foot-5, 235-pound bruiser.Florida dealt the Rangers a conditional seventh-round draft pick and 28-year-old defenseman Steven Kampfer, who has been a healthy scratch in 12 of 13 games this season. The Rangers sent Kampfer to their AHL affiliate, so he is a non-factor, for now at least.McIlrath, 24, could actually help the Panthers. He was a first-round pick, No. 10 overall, in 2010, but has been unable to crack New Yorks lineup of top-seven defenseman.Part of the problem for McIlrath is that he doesnt play the speed and puck-moving game the Rangers prefer. But with the Panthers, his toughness could be an asset if they indeed use him.Interestingly, the Sharks played the power game all the way to their first Western Conference title last season. But then in the offseason, general manager Doug Wilson added speed by acquiring David Schlemko and Mikkel Boedker as free-agent signings.Neither player has made much of an impact so far, combining for a total of just five points.The Sharks were outstanding on the road last season with a 28-10-3 record. They are off to a 3-4-0 start in 2016-17, including that big win over Washington on Tuesday.The Panthers will have a couple of advantages on Thursday that have nothing to do with personnel -- they are home and did not have to travel. They also have one more days rest in between games than San Jose.Panthers backup goalie James Reimer played for San Jose last season, but is not expected to start on Thursday.San Jose was fourth in the NHL in average goals per game last season, and the Sharks power play is one of the most dynamic units in the NHL. That top unit includes forwards Joe Pavelski, Joe Thornton, Logan Couture and Patrick Marleau along with defenseman Brent Burns at the point. Stitched Jerseys . Now tied for second in the league in shootout goals, the 24-year-old likes to see what the opposing goaltender has in store before he ultimately lands on a move. China Jerseys . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". http://www.cheapjerseysyouth.com/ .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. Cheap Jerseys . - Blake Griffin had 30 points and 12 rebounds, J. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . Westbrook has missed 27 games since having a procedure on Dec. 27 to deal with swelling in his injured right knee — the third operation on the knee in nine months. Kirk Cousins is going to be rich.All right. Lets amend that. Because unless youre, say, Joe Flacco or Eli Manning, you read that first sentence and said to yourself, Kirk Cousins is already rich. And youre right. Cousins is playing this season on a one-year franchise contract thats paying him $19.953 million. But this much is also true: As long as he finishes the season healthy, Cousins is going to get a monster raise -- and likely a monster long-term contract -- in the offseason.The Washington Redskins franchised Cousins because they wanted to see more. They didnt want to turn over a hefty franchise-quarterback deal to a guy who had an 11-14 career record, even if he had just led them to a 2015 NFC East title. They basically told Cousins, Do it again.And he has. After a rough 0-2 start to the season, Cousins team has gone 6-1-1 to stay not all that far behind the surprising Dallas Cowboys and the surprising New York Giants in the division race. Cousins threw an interception on 2 percent of his attempts last year, and hes at 1.8 this season. His yards per attempt last season were 7.7, and this year theyre 8.0. If Cousins mission was to show Washington that last year wasnt a fluke, hes doing just that. And Sunday nights 375-yard, three-touchdown eye-opener, in which he was the best quarterback in a game that featured Aaron Rodgers, was the latest negotiating point in his favor.Washington could franchise Cousins again for next year, but it will cost them at least $23.94 million to do that. The more likely outcome is that he does get that long-term deal this time, and that it at least challenges -- if not surpasses -- the $24.594 million average annual salary of?Andrew Lucks new deal with the Colts.Cousins isnt the only quarterback playing himself into unheard-of money this season. Detroits Matthew Stafford, signed through 2017, could get a contract extension next summer that pushes him well past that $25 million average. Atlantas Matt Ryan has two years left on his deal. But based on the way this season has gone so far, when those guys try to set benchmarks in their next contracts, it could be Kirk Cousins whose deal theyre trying to beat.Some other stuff we learned in Week 11:The Buccaneers might want to think about movingOr becoming one of those full-time rover teams that plays only road games. Tampa Bay is 1-4 at home this year and 4-1 on the road, including wins at Atlanta, Carolina and, most recently, Kansas City. Jameis Winston said after the game that the Chiefs fans in-game chant fired him up because it was the same one he used to hear at home games at Florida State. Bit of a research failure by the Chiefs fans, that.In all seriousness, though, Winston had eight interceptions in his first four games this year but has only two (to go with 12 touchdown passes) in his past six. His passer rating over that time is 102.2 -- eighth-best in the league. The Bucs are only a game out of first place, but even if they dont have enough to make a serious run this year, theres a lot to feel good about in Tampa. The only hitch is that the fans may have to get on a plane to see the team win.?The Vikings cant win when their offense has to provide all of the offenseSix of Minnesotas 22 touchdowns this year have come on defense or special teams. The Vikings are 4-0 when they get a defensive or special-teams touchdown, and 2-4 when they dont. They needed a 100-yard Xavier Rhodes interception return and a 104-yard Cordarrelle Patterson kick return to beat the Cardinals by six points at home on Sunday.Only the Browns, Bears and Rams have a lower averaage of offensive points scored per game than Minnesotas 16.dddddddddddd3. No team averages fewer yards per offensive play than the Vikings 4.67. This is not a sustainable formula. But at least you know, if youre watching the early game Thursday and the Vikings score a non-offensive touchdown, that theyre probably going to end the day in first place.The new extra point rule is totally in the kickers headsNFL kickers have missed on just 10 out of 251 field goal attempts 33 yards or shorter this season. However, on Sunday alone, NFL kickers missed TWELVE extra-point attempts. The extra point, as of the start of the 2015 season, is the distance equivalent of a 33-yard field goal.Obviously, its not equivalent in a lot of other ways, because otherwise these professional kickers wouldnt be turning to pudding when they line up for a one-point kick. In Week 11, NFL kickers were a perfect 23-for-23 on field goal attempts of 33 yards or shorter -- and 41-for-47 on field goals of any distance. But 52-for-64 on extra points.Potential solace: Buccaneers rookie kicker Roberto Aguayo, who only last week succeeded in officially having the word beleaguered removed from in front of his name on all documentation, was 4-for-4 on field goals and hit his only extra point attempt Sunday. So it can get better, kickers. It can get better.Jared Goff is a project ... and thats OKThe Rams have made it clear theyre determined to take things slowly with the No. 1 overall pick, who made his debut Sunday against a tough Dolphins defense and looked like a young player with a lot of work still to do. Chris Weinke, the Rams quarterbacks coach, told me last week that Goff was mentally ready after a half-season-plus of working on his cadence, his huddle presence and his fluency in the Rams offensive terminology. But its clear that the Rams viewed Sunday as simply the latest step in Goffs development. They drafted him to be the answer for the long term, and if hes not the answer for 2016, they all have to live with that.And its not fair to laugh because Dak Prescott was taken 134 picks later and has led the Cowboys to a 9-1 record. Prescott has a monster offensive line, a true No. 1 wide receiver and a star running back. Goff has, at best, one of those things. We all want to see what it looks like when someone gets open down the field and Goff airs it out. But we have to wait, and so does he, and so do the Rams. That doesnt mean he wasnt worth taking No. 1 overall. We wont know for years whether he was. It just means that not every recipe takes the same amount of time to cook. If theres a concern about Goff, it should be about whether this Rams coaching staff is the right group of chefs to help him become great -- and about how long theyll get to prove it.The NFC playoffs could look a lot different this seasonOf last years six NFC playoff teams, only Seattle and Washington would make it if the playoffs started today -- and Washington would be the No. 6 seed. The Packers, Vikings and Cardinals are a combined 3-10-1 over the past five weeks, showing no sign of turning things around. Defending conference champ Carolina has won three of its past four to improve to 4-6, but two of those wins were three-point squeakers wrapped around a crushing collapse against Kansas City. With road games in Oakland and Seattle the next two weeks, things look bleak for Carolina, and 2015 disappointments such as the Cowboys, Giants, Lions and Falcons see opportunity. ' ' '