NEU » two home tilts of the season. Vokoun,

United States law enforcement authorities are investigating a Russian sports agent based in New York on suspicion of bribery and corruption, sources tell The New York Times.The agent, Andrey Baranov, who lives on Manhattans Upper West Side, has been under surveillance by federal authorities. Sources tell the newspaper that investigators are trying to determine whether Baranov conspired with organizers of American marathons, including the New York City Marathon, to allow runners to used banned substances while competing.The operation is part of a broader investigation by the U.S. Justice Department into doping. The probe includes the FBI and investigators from the U.S. Attorneys office for the Eastern District of New York.Federal officials also are looking into possible racketeering and money-laundering schemes involving the organizers of major American track events.The news about Baranov comes as elite athletes from all over the world are arriving in New York for Sundays marathon.According to the Times report, Baranov, who has been described in the past as a whistleblower who exposed cheating and corruption in track and field, has not been charged with any crimes.Baranov, on Thursday, said he was not aware of the governments probe. Baranov denied he is involved in any criminal activity, telling the Times he has absolutely not entered doping athletes in U.S. races, nor made inappropriate payments to race officials.A New York City Marathon spokesman, meanwhile, said race officials also know nothing about criminal activities within their organization, and that Baranov had not bribed anyone in the group.In keeping with international authorities who have banned Russian athletes from competition, no Russians are registered to run in Sundays marathon. Baranov said none of his clients are registered to run, either.The Justice Department was investigating state-sponsored doping by Russian athletes, with an emphasis on those who might aid competitors in the U.S. who are doping, or used the nations banks to fund doping schemes -- the Times reported in May. Grigory Rodchenkov, former head of Russias anti-doping lab, told the newspaper the Russian government was running a program to help its athletes use banned substances and avoid detection.More than 100 Russian athletes were banned from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Eastern European athletes who participated in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Games also faced discipline, after their urine samples were retested.Federal authorities, according to the Times, are looking into whether race officials have been bribed to allow athletes to compete while using banned performance-enhancing drugs, and whether doped athletes have consciously been entered into competitions, which legally could be considered fraud. The track investigation reportedly is focusing on the agents for track athletes, like Baranov, and whether they might be laundering money through American banks.The investigation is similar to criminal inquiries into FIFA, soccers scandal-ridden governing body. Eighteen people connected to the FIFA investigation have been convicted on charges ranging from bribery and racketeering to money laundering and wire fraud.While the investigation centers on Russian agents, if it is found that payments being used for illegal purposes are being made through American banks, the U.S. government can claim jurisdiction over the alleged crimes.In fact, Rodchenkov also is facing scrutiny by U.S. officials, though he fled to the United States in 2015 and has provided investigators with information.Baranov, 50, who moved to New York in the 1990s, according to the Times, and has competed in the New York City Marathon six times, runs the Spartanik Running School. It was founded in 2003 to help boost Eastern European athletes in Olympic competitions.Baranov has represented a number of high-profile runners, including some top finishers in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago, who have failed drug tests. One of his clients -- Liliya Shobukhov -- who won the Chicago Marathon in 2009, 2010 and 2011, was accused by Baranov of paying officials to conceal doping violations that allowed her to compete in the 2012 Summer Games. She was later stripped of several titles. Wholesale Custom Chiefs Shirts . John Lucas, signed as a mentor for rookie Trey Burke, showed he can score if required, scoring 12 points of his 16 points in the second quarter as Utah built an 18-point lead. Custom Mecole Hardman Jersey . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. http://www.customchiefsjersey.com/ . Hamelin, who triumphed in the 500 on Saturday, edged out Victor An of Russia by 0.021 seconds to maintain his lead in the World Cup standings. Russias Vladimir Grigorev was third. In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands. Authentic Custom Chiefs Jersey . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. Cheap Custom Chiefs Jersey . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets.(Sports Network) - After getting thoroughly outplayed in the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals on home ice, the top-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins will try to rebound on the road as they visit the Boston Bruins for Wednesdays Game 3 at TD Garden. Boston has picked the Penguins apart so far in this series, winning a 3-0 decision in the opener on Saturday before slamming Pittsburgh in Mondays 6-1 rout at CONSOL Energy Center. Tomas Vokoun will get the nod in goal again for the Penguins after allowing three goals on 12 shots in Game 2. Of course, the task of getting back into this series becomes more difficult for Pittsburgh with the best-of-seven set shifting to Boston for Games 3 and 4. The Penguins had identical 18-6-0 records at home and on the road during the regular season and is 3-2 as the guest in these playoffs. Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded Bruins are 5-2 in Beantown in this postseason after posting a 16-5-3 mark at TD Garden during the 2013 campaign. Boston grabbed the lead just 28 seconds into Game 2, as Brad Marchand turned a Sidney Crosby turnover into a breakaway goal. Crosby tried to whack a bouncing puck at the right point and missed it shortly after the opening faceoff. The disc was picked up by Marchand in the neutral zone and he went in on a clear break, snapping the puck into the left corner for a 1-0 lead. The Bruins soon would push their lead to 3-0 before heading into the first intermission with a 4-1 advantage. Marchand wound up with two goals and his linemate Jaromir Jagr added two assists. Nathan Horton, Patrice Bergeron and Johnny Boychuk each contributed a goal and an assist to the blowout. David Krejci also added a goal for the Bruins and leads all skaters in the playoffs with 20 points (8G, 12A). HHorton is second in the NHL with 17 points on seven goals and 10 assists.dddddddddddd The Bruins also received another strong outing from goaltender Tuukka Rask, who turned aside 26 shots. "We had all of our guys making some great plays out there tonight," said Boston head coach Claude Julien. "Tuukka has been in the zone for a while and hes got a lot of confidence right now. That puck looks huge to him." Rask has turned aside 55-of-56 shots in two games against the Penguins, who were averaging an NHL-best 4.27 goals per game heading into this series. Pittsburgh is still leading all playoff teams in goals per game, but has seen that number slip to 3.69 after the first two tilts of this series. Brandon Sutter had the lone goal on Monday for the Penguins, who lost consecutive home games for the first time since dropping their first two home tilts of the season. Vokoun, who made his ninth straight start in goal for Pittsburgh, was pulled less than 15 minutes in after giving up three goals on 12 shots and will start again tonight. Marc- Andre Fleury, who was replaced by Vokoun in the quarterfinals and playing for the first time since May 7, gave up three goals on 17 shots in relief. "Were going to Boston and we have to win Game 3," said Pittsburgh head coach Dan Bylsma. "This team has won a lot of hockey games and its a good team. We certainly didnt play anywhere near what were capable of and thats got to be our focus." This is the first series between Boston and Pittsburgh since 1992, and the Bruins are aiming to eliminate the Pens from the postseason for the first time since 1980. The Pens and Bruins have split four all-time series in the postseason. Game 4 of this series is scheduled for Friday in Boston. ' ' '