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\The Miami Heat will hang a third NBA championship banner, and second in a row, when they kick off their title defense tonight against the Chicago Bulls. Commissioner David Stern will be on hand to dole out some fancy jewelry. The Heat players will receive the championship rings pre-game as Miami will begin its quest for a third consecutive title. Listen to the game live on TSN Radio 1050 starting at 8pm et. "Its an exciting time for us, for our fans, for our franchise," two-time reigning MVP LeBron James said after practice on Monday. "But, we cant prepare for it." And what about the fact that the Heat get their rings and banner ceremony, on opening night, at AmericanAirlines Arena, and against the Bulls, a team several pundits picked to usurp the Heat in the Eastern Conference? "It didnt matter who it was," said James, ever the diplomat. "But, we like the fact that it is the Bulls. It makes us stay on our toes. Its exciting. Its great for the league." Its definitely great for the NBA, pitting arguably the two best teams against each other on opening night. Its also great that James will battle Derrick Rose, the former MVP, who missed all of last season when he tore his ACL in the playoffs in 2012. Rose took his fair share of criticism for sitting the entire season, despite the Bulls announcing he was medically cleared to play. Rose didnt feel ready, but he does now and has had this day circled on his calendar. "Its just going to be an emotional day," Rose said back in September about this night. "Just playing again and being around my teammates and being in the atmosphere of an arena, playing in front of people...I havent had that in a long time." Roses return should propel a Bulls team that lost to the Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season. Chicago knocked off the Brooklyn Nets in Game 7 at the Barclays Center last season, but Miami then dispatched the Bulls in five games. That was all without Rose. The two seasons prior to last, the Bulls were the No. 1 seed in the East. Rose won the MVP in 2011 and Tom Thibodeau was named Coach of the Year. Yet, the Bulls never made it past the Heat. This season, the Bulls still boast an incredible defense (third last season in points allowed), a great starting unit with former All-Stars Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer and Luol Deng alongside Rose and Jimmy Butler, who emerged in the postseason. But, all roads to championship banners run through Miami. James is the best player by miles and is the odds-on favorite for a fifth MVP. At 28, James is still in the prime of his career, although this season might be taxing at times. He can opt out of his contract with the Heat and become a free agent, but James doesnt want to discuss that during the season. (Good luck.) Dwyane Wade had an awesome regular season last season and an awful playoff run. Same goes for Chris Bosh. Both can also vacate their contracts, but both should be much improved from their disastrous postseason performances. The biggest additions in Miami this offseason came in the form of Greg Oden and Michael Beasley. They went first and second in the 2007 and 2008 NBA drafts, respectively. Odens career seemingly ended due to bad knees and Beasleys looked to be over thanks to poor decisions, but the Heat are giving them a chance. The two teams have been evenly matched the last seasons, going 4-4 against each other. Chicago did win in Miami on Jan. 4 and the two sides wont meet again until Dec. 5 in the Windy City. John Tavares Jersey . The Rainbow FlickNext up is the Rainbow Flick, or as you probably know it, the trick that everybody at soccer camp thought they knew how to do. Calvin Pickard Jersey .I dont think it comes to mind in this business, in this game, the Philadelphia Flyers forward said. You dont try to lose games. http://www.officialmapleleafsfanstore.co...e-leafs-jersey/. 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His first shot went into the goaltenders right pad. He roofed his second into the top of the net to even the Eastern Conference quarterfinals at one game each. Game 3 is Monday in Columbus. "You always dream about being the hero in overtime," Calvert said. "We battled for it and it didnt come easy. We were down a couple goals at different times. The penalty kill was great when it had to be and its just a great feeling right now." The Blue Jackets trailed 3-1 after the first period, but Calverts short-handed goal 7:31 into the second changed the game completely. "It gave hope to our guys," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "It was 3-1 at the time and we scored to make it 3-2. You could feel it on the bench. After that I felt we played a very strong game." Looked like it. Jack Johnson eventually tied it with 6:01 left in regulation. Ryan Johansen also scored the first playoff goal of his career for Columbus. Sergei Bobrovsky overcame a shaky start to finish with 39 saves. Brian Gibbons scored twice and Matt Niskanen added his second goal of the playoffs, but Pittsburgh was outplayed for much of the final three-plus periods. Fleury made 41 stops but was helpless on the game-winner. "We have to be better," said Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby, who had two assists but was held without a goal for the second straight game. "Thats really, I think, the bottom line. Right on through, whether its special teams or 5-on-5 we have to be better." The Penguins have dropped four straight home overtime playoff games and blew a chance to take a 2-0 series lead when they failed to bury the Blue Jackets early on. Pittsburgh, the best power play team in the NHL during the regular season, went just 1 for 8 with the man advantage, including 0 for 2 in overtime. Even worse, Columbus has two short-handed goals in as many games. Both teams traded quality chances in the first overtime. Bobrovsky made an excellent blocker save on Crosby racing ddown the right wing and got a piece of Lee Stempniaks rebound.dddddddddddd. Fleury stuffed R.J. Umberger from point-blank range earlier in the period. There was no back-and-forth in the second extra session. Brandon Dubinsky started the winning play by finding Atkinson in front and Pittsburghs defence offered little resistance until the puck was on Calverts stick for the winner. "We stuck with it and we just kept playing and kept going and we got a split in Pittsburgh and thats what we wanted," Calvert said. The Penguins knew they couldnt afford a repeat of the first 21 minutes of Game 1, when the Blue Jackets knocked them around while streaking to a two-goal lead before Pittsburgh rallied to escape. This time, the start wasnt the problem for the Penguins. It was everything else. Gibbons scored the first two playoff goals of his career 54 seconds apart -- including a nifty short-handed breakaway in which he undressed Bobrovsky -- to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead before the game was 5 minutes old. The giddiness didnt last long, for the Penguins or Gibbons. Johansen scored before the power play expired and Gibbons, elevated to Pittsburghs top line midway through Game 1, did not return after colliding with Johansen midway through the first period. While a Niskanen shot from the point with 2:08 left in the first restored Pittsburghs two-goal edge, it only seemed to galvanize the Blue Jackets. The Penguins earned back-to-back power plays early in the second period and somehow lost momentum. Some lethargic Pittsburgh passing set up a 3-on-1 short-handed breakaway for the Blue Jackets, with Calvert beating Fleury to bring Columbus within one. The disjointed effort by the Penguins deflated the bench and the building. The wave carried over into the third, with Columbus eventually drawing even on Johnsons power-play goal with 6 minutes to go before Calverts winner gave Columbus a taste of playoff success after 13-plus years of waiting. "Its a big step for us as a group and an organization," Calvert said. "It felt great, and Im sure were going to enjoy it tonight, but its a long series." NOTES: The Blue Jackets scratched forward Nick Foligno once again with a lower body injury but Foligno is optimistic hell be able to return for Game 3. ... Crosbys two assists moved him into third on the teams career post-season scoring list. He now has 108 post-season points, trailing Jaromir Jagr (147) and Mario Lemieux (172). ... Columbus D Fedor Tyutin missed the third period and overtime due to an undisclosed injury. 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