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ad the way. Hopeful

(2014-09-22 00:30:20) 下一個
ST. nfl jerseys china . PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild have turned their home ice into a deafening, discouraging place for opponents to play in the playoffs. For the second straight game, they dominated the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. Jason Pominville scored in the second period off the back of Chicago goalie Corey Crawfords skate, and the Wild beat the Blackhawks 4-2 on Friday night to even their Western Conference semifinal at two games apiece. "Its been fun to play here. I dont know what it is, but we have to find a way to bring that on the road as well," said Jared Spurgeon, whose third-period goal gave the Wild a cushion for the final stretch while the fans cheered and chanted louder and louder. "They play hard in their building, and theyre good in their building, and they check well so its tough to get momentum in here," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. Matt Cooke returned from his seven-game kneeing suspension to give the Wild a jolt, assisting on Justin Fontaines opening goal, and Nino Niederreiter also scored. "I think I should have fresh legs. I have to go out there and lead the way. Hopefully my energy is contagious," Cooke said. Yes, it was. Cooke had a team-high five hits -- the Blackhawks were only credited with seven -- to help the Wild hold an intensity advantage from start to finish. "He brings a physical presence," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews. "You never know what hes going to do, so youve got to be aware of him out there." Crawford made 27 saves, but he gave up four goals for the second straight game. "Weve just got to play the way we can: Move the puck and play with speed and skill, make the right plays at the right time," Crawford said. "Everyones got confidence in everyone else in this room, so weve just got to play together." Patrick Sharp snapped out of his slump with his second post-season goal and Michal Handzus also scored, but the Blackhawks again found themselves unable to establish a consistent attack against the Wilds stifling defence. The teams will return to Chicago for Game 5 on Sunday night and be back in Minnesota for Game 6 on Tuesday night. Quenneville shuffled up the lines, moving Ben Smith to the first group with captain Jonathan Toews and Bryan Bickell and bringing defenceman Nick Leddy back to the lineup in a search for more speed and flow. The Wild wouldnt let that happen. Leading the NHL in takeaways in the playoffs and allowing an average of fewer than 21 shots on goal per game in the series, the Wild improved to 5-0 at home this post-season with a 16-5 goal differential. The franchise playoff record at Xcel Energy Center was a mere 5-10 prior to this year. Sharp, coming off a 34-goal, 44-assist season, got his first goal of the series. But the Blackhawks managed just 20 shots on Wild goalie Ilya Bryzgalov after stressing the importance of testing him more. Cooke set Fontaine up for a slap shot on a 2-on-1 rush early in the game, and the puck sailed over the glass. Fontaine buried his next chance, a bad-angle attempt from the front edge of the circle that skidded through Michal Rozsivals legs after Cooke swiped the puck from the defenceman. After two full periods of trap-filled, tight-checking play in Game 3, the pace in this one was quick from the start. The fans resumed their sing-song jeering of Crawfords last name from the last game, and the chants grew louder throughout the night. The buzz in the building was killed for a bit when Sharp, whose struggles prompted a move down to a new third line with Handzus and Marian Hossa, caught defenceman Clayton Stoner stuck in the offensive zone on a turnover by Niederreiter and beat Mikko Koivu to slip a wrister between Bryzgalovs pads with 38 seconds left before the break. But the Wild roared right back in the second period with goals by Pominville and Niederreiter to bracket the score by Handzus. Bryzgalov did his part by sticking his pad out to stop Sharps breakaway with a thud. "That was huge for us," left wing Zach Parise said. As was all that noise from the crowd. NOTES: Spurgeons goal was just the fourth in 42 opportunities against the Blackhawks in the playoffs, the best penalty-kill percentage in the league. ... The Bickell-Toews-Smith line totalled just three shots. ... Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, drafted from Louisville the night before, took in his first hockey game. cheap jerseys from china . While great crowds will be expected in all three cities, there has been talk of the return of Canadas greatest MMA athlete, George St-Pierre, who has been sidelined since December with a knee injury, to bolster the show in his hometown of Montreal. cheap jerseys . Ranked 32nd in the world, Pospisil was due to play Frenchman Gael Monfils, but he withdrew with a wrist injury. Pospisil had the momentum going into the match against No. 52 Andujar, who got into the draw as a lucky loser, after making the semifinals last weekend in Basel.OSTERSUND, Sweden -- Canadas Megan Imrie will be competing in the Winter Olympics in February after posting one of the best World Cup biathlon sprint results of her career on Saturday. The 27-year-old from Falcon Lake, Man., missed just one shot in the range to clock a 22nd-place time of 22 minutes 8.4 second in the 7.5-kilometre event. Imries previous career-best sprint result was 17th. She also has a 20th-place finish in an individual competition. "It was a fantastic day. I felt great in the warm up and I am very confident in my shooting now," said the 2010 Olympian. "I am very happy this caps off my Sochi qualification. Skiing was all flow and fight. It felt strong and smooth. I put it all out there today." Norways Ann Kristin Aafedt Flatland shot clean to win the womens sprint with a time of 20:41.. cheap nfl jerseys. .2. Russias Olga Zaitseva was also clean on the range to claim the silver at 20:57.1. Norways Tora Berger grabbed the bronze at 21:03.2 (0+1). Reginas Scott Perras was the top Canadian in the mens 10-kilometre sprint. Perras missed one shot in each of his two trips to the range to post a time of 27:38.8. Martin Fourcade, of France, finished on top at 25:56.0 (0+1). Swedens Fredrik Lindstroem was second at 26:02.5 (0+0), while American Tim Burke shot clean to win the bronze with a time of 26:27.3. Other Canadian results included: Calgarys Nathan Smith in 45th with a time of 28:05.0 (1+0); and Jean-Philippe Le Guellec of Shannon, Que., in 69th at 28:54.7 (2+2) in mens racing. Rosanna Crawford, of Canmore, Alta., was 51st at 23:04.8 (0+3) and Zina Kocher finished 64th at 23:21.3 (2+2) in womens. ' ' '
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