MONACO -- With Mercedes looking certain to run away with the Formula One constructors championship, the promising battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg should provide an intriguing backdrop for the rest of the season. Rosberg is only three points behind Hamilton, the championship leader, who has won the past four races. The two go back a long way, to their days karting together. But with so little separating them in the title race, their friendship looks set to be tested. Hamilton has even questioned Rosbergs desire to win. "I come from a not-great place in Stevenage and lived on a couch in my dads apartment, and Nico grew up in Monaco with jets and hotels and boats and all these kind of things," Hamilton said. "So the hunger is different ... if I were to come here believing that Nico is hungrier than me then I might as well go home." Those comments give the first indication that Hamilton, the Formula One champion in 2008, is applying pressure on Rosberg, who is far more inexperienced with four career wins compared to Hamiltons 26. Hamilton dismissed any notion of diplomacy when he was asked his ideal result at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday, replying "(me) finishing first, Fernando (Alonso) finishing second and Sebastian (Vettel) finishing third. That would be it for me. The dream result for the team would be the Mercedes cars finishing 1-2." Four-time defending champion Vettel is already 55 points behind Hamilton in fourth place, and two-time champion Alonso is in third, 51 behind Hamilton. They have one third-place finish each so far and dont look like closing the gap, so it looks like being Hamilton vs. Rosberg for the rest of the campaign. Before he joined Mercedes last season, Hamiltons final season with McLaren proved a tense one. Relations with Jenson Button were strained and he was reprimanded by the team for posting confidential information on social media about McLarens telemetry in September 2012. Button said he was "disappointed" in him, but it also showed Hamilton has a ruthless streak. Even though Hamilton has won the past four races after Rosberg clinched the season-opener in Australia, he wants to dominate Rosberg more. "Even if we are a dominating team, I dont beat my teammate by 40 seconds," the 29-year-old Hamilton said. "Take the last race, it was six-tenths (of a second) between us." Hamilton has beaten Rosberg 4-1 in qualifying -- Mercedes has all the pole positions so far -- but Rosberg argues that it could swing back in his favour heading into the midseason. "Three of those qualifyings were in the wet; in the dry its 1-1 and its supposed to be dry on Saturday (in Monaco) so Im confident I can make it happen," said the 28-year-old Rosberg, who is the son of 1982 F1 champion Keke Rosberg. "Its been a tough battle up until now and I expect it to continue like that," Rosberg said. "Of course now hes had the result in a couple of races but its been very close. I just need a tiny bit to turn it around." It seems unlikely their relationship will ever become as intense as the one between Vettel and Mark Webber at Red Bull, who were known to ignore team orders when asked to let the other driver pass. "We will always have the years in karting, that kind of foundation of a long time ago," Hamilton said. "For example, I have been storing my safe in his house for several months and just took it back now, and that could always be the other way around." Custom Pittsburgh Penguins Jerseys . Theres little time for rest, too. The Flyers and Rangers play again Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. Simmonds scored in the first period and twice more in the second for his first career post-season hat trick. Mason survived a busy first period and stopping 31 straight shots until Carl Hagelin scored late in the third. Fake Penguins Jerseys .C. -- Cam Newton wasnt flawless on Sunday. https://www.cheappenguinsjersey.com/.Y. - The Philadelphia Eagles game at Green Bay against the Packers on Nov. Pittsburgh Penguins Pro Shop . That Ginette Reno can sing. Pittsburgh Penguins Store .Y. - Brooklyn Nets centre Brook Lopez has a strained lower back and will miss at least a week.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Boston Bruins will try to head into the NHLs Christmas break with consecutive victories on Tuesday when they host the Nashville Predators at TD Garden. The Bruins have won two of three and are coming off Sundays overtime victory against visiting Buffalo. However, Boston hasnt earned two straight wins since a three-game run from Nov. 15-21. The Predators, meanwhile, picked up a third straight victory on Monday night, notching a 5-1 victory in Columbus. Nashville, which also has won five of six, enters Tuesday just two points behind the Chicago Blackhawks for first place in the Central Division. Chicago is also in action tonight, as it hosts the Winnipeg Jets. Tonights combatants met in Nashville last Tuesday and the Predators recorded a 3-2 shootout win over the Bruins to halt a three-game slide in the series. The Bs have dominated the Preds in Boston, going 6-2-0 with a tie in nine all-time encounters at TD Garden. Nashville has lost four straight in Beantown and last picked up a road win against the Bruins on Nov. 28, 2003. Boston pushed its home record this season to 10-6-2 with Sundays 4-3 win over the Sabres. Loui Eriksson scored the game-winning goal at 2:14 of OT to grab the extra point for the Bruins. Eriksson took a touch pass from Milan Lucic through the neutral zone and fought off a defender before firing a shot through the pads of Jhonas Enroth for the win. It was Erikssons seventh goal of the season and his fourth of the last seven games. The Swedish winger also provided the OT winner in last Wednesdays victory in Minnesota. Itts always fun to score those important goals, Eriksson said.dddddddddddd I dont know why its been that way, but hopefully it continues like that. Dougie Hamilton finished with two goals and an assist, Chris Kelly also scored and Zdeno Chara added two helpers for the Bruins. Tuukka Rask made 25 saves in the win. Boston, which wont play again until Saturdays game in Columbus, expects to go back to Rask tonight. The Bruins No. 1 netminder is 1-0-2 with a 2.55 goals against average in three career games against Nashville. Nashville has a chance to complete a three-game road trip with a perfect record tonight after posting recent wins in Minnesota and Columbus. Mondays lopsided win over the Blue Jackets improved Nashvilles road record to 10-6-1. Pekka Rinne made 30 stops and Nashville broke open the game with three goals in a span of 2:14 early in the third period to down Columbus at Nationwide Arena. Craig Smith scored twice, while Mike Fisher, Colin Wilson and Seth Jones once each for the Predators. It was a good effort by us, Rinne said. Thats the way weve been playing this year. Nothing changed tonight. We played a solid game, and at the end it was nice to have that cushion. The game was scoreless after one period and the Preds grabbed a 2-0 lead on second-period goals by Wilson and Smith. The three-goal burst in the third period pushed the cushion to five goals. With the Predators off until Saturdays home game against Philadelphia, Rinne could get the start on back-to-back nights. He is 3-0-1 with a 2.32 GAA in four career games against the Bruins. ' ' '