PITTSBURGH -- Its been about a month since Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan had a talk with winger Phil Kessel. Sullivan wanted to see Kessels wicked shot more to, he hoped, increase his scoring.The Ottawa Senators, who visit PPG Paints Arena on Monday night, will have a chance to see the results, although they might not be thrilled about that.Over the past six games, Kessel has scored four goals to double his total from the first six weeks of the season. He has been contributing all season -- he has 16 assists and ranks third on the team with 24 points -- but seems to be getting back to the snipers role that has defined his career.Sullivan noted that when Kessel is on the puck, hes a threat. Hes got such a great shot, whether its off the rush, underneath the hash marks. ... We have to be a team that can generate offense different ways.Kessel has 29 shots over the past eight games. Saturday, he scored twice in a 5-3 win over Detroit, his first multi-goal game of the season.Those two goals came off of slick passes by Evgeni Malkin and Carl Hagelin, and Kessel was quick to deflect most of the credit to those two, and in hockeyese.Geno sauced me a good one on the first one, and Haggy made a great backdoor for a tap-in, Kessel said.Translation: Malkin found him with a cross-ice saucer pass for a one-timer, and Hagelins pass cut across the grain.The Penguins (15-7-3) have won two games in a row for the first time in almost a month, since Nov. 6 and 8, but they remain neck and neck and neck with the Rangers and Washington as the three jostle for the Metropolitan Division lead.The Senators (15-8-2), meanwhile, beat Florida 2-0 Saturday to break a two-game losing streak. The win brought them within two points of Montreal atop the Atlantic Division -- although the Canadiens then picked up another two points Sunday in a shootout win against Los Angeles.Ottawa coach Guy Boucher sensed some fatigue after the two straight losses, so he called off Fridays practice, and Saturdays morning skate was a lightly-attended optional.We needed to give the guys a rest, Boucher said. We were definitely hoping to have more energy, and thats exactly what happened. You saw that right off the bat. Our guys were skating hard. They were ready.Now the Senators will need to be ready to start a four-game, nine-day road trip that heads to the West Coast following the game against the Penguins.With goaltender Craig Anderson on leave from Ottawa to be with his wife as she battles cancer, Pittsburgh could see a familiar face in goal for Ottawa on Monday.Mike Condon began the season with the Penguins while Matt Murray recovered from a broken thumb. He played just one period. When Murray returned, Pittsburgh traded Condon to the Senators.Condon is 3-1-1 with Ottawa, including two shutouts -- the second one a 24-save job Saturday against Florida. Its quite a run.I dont really look too far in the past or too far in the future, Condon said. Im just trying to keep the game simple and just stay in the moment.Adidas Superstar Dam Sverige . Nigeria beat surprise package Ethiopia 2-0 in the second leg of their playoff for a comfortable 4-1 aggregate victory. Victor Moses converted a 20th-minute penalty after an Ethiopian handball, and Victor Obinna made certain of Nigerias place in Brazil with his powerful free kick in the 82nd at UJ Esuene Stadium. Adidas Falcon Rea . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. http://www.nmdsverige.com/ . "It was nerve-wracking, but we pulled through," said Collaros, who threw four touchdown passes to lead the Toronto Argonauts (8-4) to a 33-27 win over the Calgary Stampeders (9-3) in front of 28,781 fans at McMahon Stadium. Adidas NMD R1 Herr . The news was first reported on Gonzalezs Twitter account and confirmed by the Rockies. Gonzalez has a six-week window before position players have their first workout at spring training in Arizona. Adidas NMD R2 Rea . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2.For college basketball fans that value the importance of defense, Wednesday nights matchup between No. 12 Virginia and California at Berkeley, Calif., will be one that isnt to be missed.Almost a year ago to the date, Virginia edged California 63-62 in overtime in Charlottesville, Va.The Cavaliers travel to the West Coast for an important non-conference game with the Golden Bears before starting their ACC schedule with one of the best defenses in the country -- and maybe one of head coach Tony Bennetts best since hes arrived at Virginia.Four of Virginias 10 opponents have been held to 40 points or fewer, and if you include the Cavaliers win over Iowa, five have been held to 41 or fewer. Bennets squad leads the country in scoring defense at just under 47 points per game allowed.California enters the game with a 9-2 record but will face by far its toughest opponent. The Golden Bears also boast a stout defense, surrendering just under 60 points per game, and have not allowed more than 65 points in any of their nine wins.Three players are averaging in double figures scoring for California. Sophomore standout Ivan Rabb will get his second and final shot at a win over Virginia after California dropped a heartbreaker at John Paul Jones Arena last season. Rabb is averaging 15 points and nine rebounds per game and will be a handful inside for the Cavaliers.RRabb scored just nine points in the meeting last season but did pull down a team-high 12 rebounds.dddddddddddd Fellow frontcourt mate Jabari Bird is averaging just under 16 points per game and six rebounds per game.Virginia has maintained its balanced offensive approach and put four players in double figures in Saturdays win over Robert Morris. Sophomore Jack Salt scored a career-high 10 points in the win and will get the chance to play in front of his family for the first time in the Golden State.Ive got eight family members that are going to be out there, so Im pretty excited, the New Zealand native said. I havent seen them for a while. Ill get to stay with them in California for a few days, which will be nice. I havent seen them for maybe eight months, so I am really looking forward to seeing my family.Senior guard London Perrantes will also get the chance to play in front of some family members. The 6-foot-2 point guard, a Los Angeles native, scored 10 points and dished out six assists in the Cavaliers win last season.I am glad we are going to Cal for London (Perrantes)s sake, Jack (Salt)s family will be there as well, Bennett said. I think the competition will step up from here on out and we will have to be ready. ' ' '