TORONTO -- An injury to Spencer Abbott in the second period forced Toronto Marlies coach Steve Spott to move Brandon Kozun to the top line. Cheap Jerseys Authentic . The promotion paid off as Kozun picked up the insurance maker and the Marlies defeated the reigning Calder Cup champion Grand Rapids Griffins 4-1 on Friday, "It was nice that we could slot him right up there and that was a huge goal because Grand Rapids was coming late," said Spott. "That seemed to quiet them a little bit because the fire power, the ability to turn over pucks in transition, theyre going to come at you hard and that was a big goal by Brandon. "I know he needed it personally, its good for his confidence and it was a timely goal for our team." Kozun restored Torontos two-goal lead at 12:05 of the third period, beating Mrazek stick-side for his 13th of the season. The goal was Kozuns third and seventh point in eight games since he was acquired from the Manchester Monarchs. "Well when (injuries) happen, everyones got to step up their game, play together as a team, I think this team has been doing it all year and youve got to play as a team to beat a team like that," said Kozun. "Theyre obviously the reigning champions and everyone came to play tonight and it was a good one. T.J. Brennan, Josh Leivo and Jerry DAmigo had the other goals for the Marlies, who won for the third time in four games. The win moves Toronto (28-15-4) two points back of the second-place Griffins (29-15-4) in the AHLs Western Conference. Landon Ferraro replied for Grand Rapids, which has just one win in the last five games. Grand Rapids out-shot Toronto 34-12 in the final 40 minutes, but could not get another one past Drew MacIntyre, who made 41 saves for his league-leading 21st win of the season. Petr Mrazek made 23 saves for the Griffins. "Youre playing the reigning Calder Cup champions and you know theyre going to come, youre up two goals, you lose arguably your best forward in Spencer Abbott and a great shutdown player in Tyler Biggs so there is absolutely nothing left in the tank," said Spott. "We have to go easy (Saturday) and weve got to find a way to, with our tank almost on E, to get another 60 minutes out of these guys on Sunday. Theres not a lot left." Brennan opened the scoring with his 20th goal of the season on the power play at 1:17 of the second period, beating Mrazek with a wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle. With the goal, Brennan became the first defenceman to score 20 goals in a single season since Johnny Boychuck did it with the Providence Bruins in the 2008-2009 season. The Marlies added to their lead at 4:01 of the period when Leivo stepped out of the corner and beat Mrazek from the slot for his 10th. Ferraro pulled the Griffins to within one as he one-timed a Jeff Hoggan pass past MacIntyre at 8:20 of the second period DAmigo added an empty netter for his 10th of the season with 1:09 remaining. In addition to Abbott, who left the game with a lower body injury, the Marlies also lost forward Biggs. Spott said he would have a better idea on the condition of both players Saturday. Toronto was already without forward Sam Carrick, who sustained an upper body injury in Wednesdays shootout win over the San Antonio Rampage. Cheap Jerseys China . beat Ryan Blaney off a restart with 21 laps to go and hung on to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Sunday at Iowa Speedway. Cheap Jerseys For Sale .J. Burnett. Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit a two-run double, Henderson Alvarez threw 6 2-3 sharp innings and the Miami Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 Wednesday night.Buffalo, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Nikita Zadorov scored his first goal of the season 29 seconds into overtime to send the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Brian Giontas third-period goal tied the game for the Sabres and ended a run of three straight Panthers goals. Buffalo also got goals from Cody Hodgson and Marcus Foligno to win its third straight game. Jhonas Enroth made 25 saves in the win. Sean Bergenheim and Jimmy Hayes scored second-period goals to erase a 2-0 deficit for Florida, which lost two of three games on its road trip. Al Montoya made 28 saves for the Panthers but did not stop the only shot he faced in OT. It seems like its common ground these last couple of games in that first period we start digging ourselves a hole, Montoya said. Tyler Ennis puck-handling at the side of the net caught the attention of the Panthers defense, and they missed Zadorov jumping into the play from the point on the backside. Zadorov then wristed the puck by Montoya to end it. The Panthers took their first lead of the game 57 seconds into the final period. A Sabres neutral-zone turnover sent Dave Bolland skating the other way. Bolland connected with Jokinen and his shot found the back of the net. Later in the third, Tyler Myers found Gionta with a stretch pass through the neutral zone that sent the Buffalo captain in on a breeakaway. Cheap Jerseys From China. Giontas shot beat Montoya to tie the game at 3-3 with 12:33 left. Buffalo needed just 2:06 to take the lead in the first period. Hodgson was scratched in Thursdays game and hasnt scored since Oct. 25, but he was able to find a soft spot in the defense, receive a pass from Patrick Kaleta and wrist a shot by Montoya. Its nice to get on the board offensively, but more important to be part of the team and be on the ice, Hodgson said. Eleven minutes later, Foligno extended the Sabres lead with an wrist shot that found its way past Montoya. A Sabres giveaway a minute into the middle period got the Panthers back into the game. Rasmus Ristolainen gave away the puck at the side of the net and Bergenheim was right there to capitalize with his fifth goal of the season. Not even five minutes later, Bergenheim spotted Hayes standing alone at the opposite goal post. His pass across the crease was on the mark, and Hayes lifted the puck by Enroth to tie the game. Game Notes Buffalo has won five straight home games ... The Sabres win snapped a four- game losing streak at home to the Panthers ... Buffalos Drew Stafford has two goals and two assists in a four game point streak ... This is only the third time this season the Sabres have outshot their opponent ... Montoya played in his 100th NHL game. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '
