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is not afraid of the moment," Clifford said. "He had a really good y

in Here is your first Forum Fri Dec 27, 2019 9:55 am
by sakura698 • 630 Posts

The Rangers earn an overtime win and Patrick Kane comes alive in the third period to give Chicago a victory in Game One. Fake Kings Jerseys . Scott Cullen has notes on Brassard, Pouliot, Crosby, Kane, Bickell, Hossa and more. RANGERS TAKE OT WIN Derick Brassard scored at 3:06 of overtime to give the New York Rangers a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game One. The Rangers third line made the most of their opportunities for the night, as Benoit Pouliot scored the Rangers first goal as well as assisting on the game-winner. Brassard and Pouliot also had the Rangers best possession stats for the game, on the ice for 60% of the shot attempts at 5-on-5. The most notable story for the Penguins is that Sidney Crosby was held off the scoresheet, but also was on for all three Rangers goals. Its been a rough start to the postseason for Crosby. Even though he has six assists in seven games and his puck possession numbers are strong, Crosby is minus-5 and still seeking his first goal of the postseason. Hes still getting chances -- his 3.14 shots on goal per game is barely below his regular-season average of 3.24 per game -- but until he gets that first goal, hes going to be under more scrutiny than usual. Penguins wingers Jussi Jokinen and James Neal were on the ice for more than 70% of 5-on-5 shot attempts and Neal scored Pittsburghs second goal, but the ice was tilted favourably in their direction -- they started more than 75% of their shifts in the offensive zone. Rangers D Dan Girardi chipped in a couple of assists. Only once in 81 games during the regular season did Girardi record two assists in a game. The bad news for the Penguins is that they won the puck possession battle, which doesnt fit the profile of these teams entering the postseason, but that still wasnt enough to get away with the win. Getting beat by the Rangers third line is all the more troubling because the Penguins depth and goaltending are areas in which they would expect to have a deficit when compared to the Rangers and thats exactly how Game One played out. KANE PUTS ON A SHOW Blackhawks wingers Patrick Kane and Bryan Bickell each scored a pair of goals and Chicago knocked off the Minnesota Wild, 5-2, in Game One. Kane broke a 2-2 tie with 11:38 remaining in the third period, on a highlight-reel goal, then added another with 3:13 remaining to settle the matter before Bickell added an empty-netter. Kane now has five goals and eight points in seven games this postseason, while Bickell has four goals and five points in seven games. Blackhawks RW Marian Hossa had three points (1 G, 2 A), giving him more points already in this series than he managed in six first-round games against St. Louis. No matter, no one in this years playoffs has more than Hossas 118 career playoff points. LW Patrick Sharp, who had one point in Round One, added two assists in Game One against Minnesota, while D Brent Seabrook contributed two more assists, giving him eight points (2 G, 6 A) in four games. To their credit, the Wild didnt wilt after falling behind 2-0. They outshot the Blackhawks 17-3 in the second period, then scored twice in the first seven minutes of the third to even things up; not for long it turned out. Wild D Jonas Brodin had the best possession numbers for Minnesota at 5-on-5, 73.7% of shot attempts, but it was a rough night for him, as he had six minutes in penalties and was in the box for Chicagos first two goals. D Clayton Stoner also had an eventful game for the Wild, getting credited with a goal (knocked in by Johnny Oduyas skate) and delivering a game-high six hits, including one that knocked Blackhawks RW Andrew Shaw out of the game in the first period. This game showed just how difficult the task at hand is for the Wild. They fought hard to come back, outshot the Blackhawks 32-21 (48-37 in 5-on-5 shot attempts), but they couldnt contain the Blackhawks power play or prevent Kane from getting loose. On top of that, the Wild were fortunate enough to have a Blackhawks goal disallowed in the first period, so there is some work to be done if they are going to make a series out of this. On the plus side, the Wild did show that they can take the play to the Blackhawks at times, so they will have to continue doing so because its difficult to expect Ilya Bryzgalov to get the better of Corey Crawford in the goaltending matchup. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Sacramento Kings Store . FIFA said in a statement Friday that "several racist and discriminatory incidents were apparently perpetrated by local supporters during the match, in particular by displaying neo-Nazi banners and by making monkey noises and gestures as well as Nazi salutes. Sacramento Kings Shirts . -- John Fox will coach the Denver Broncos from the sideline and not the booth upon his return Sunday five weeks after heart surgery. https://www.cheapkingsbasketball.com/ . -- Adrian Peterson takes a look around the league and sees big money flying everywhere.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- LeBron James heard the cheers from the crowd as he lay on the court holding his right thigh and writhing in pain. It only seemed to awaken the four-time league MVP. James scored 19 of his game-high 31 points after sustaining a thigh bruise early in the third quarter, helping the Miami Heat earn a first-round sweep of the Charlotte Bobcats with a 109-98 victory Monday night. He finished Game 4 10 of 19 from the field and had nine assists. "Its definitely sore," James said. "Im fortunate we were able to close out tonight and I can give it a little rest." He should have plenty of time. The two-time defending NBA champions will await the winner of Brooklyn-Toronto series, which is tied 2-2. If that series goes the distance it wont wrap up until Sunday. James said playing Charlotte was a good first test and Miami is headed in the right direction as it looks to win its third straight NBA championship. "We got tested by a young, scrappy Bobcats team," said James, who averaged 36.2 points in eight games against Charlotte this season. "We responded with a championship-type attitude." Chris Bosh added 17 points and Dwyane Wade battled through foul trouble and finished with 15 as Miami extended its winning streak over Charlotte to 20 games. The Heat improved to 16-2 in first-round games since James arrival four years ago. This was the second straight year the Heat swept their first-round series, taking out Milwaukee in four games last season. This was Miamis ninth consecutive series victory. "We improved every game and thats the most important thing about this series," James said. Miami began to take control midway through the third quarter shortly after James gave his teammates a scare when he drove to the basket from the left wing and his right thigh collided with Bismack Biyombos knee, sending James to the floor. Concerned teammates gathered around him and he was down for about a minute. James eventually got up and hobbled to the bench where sat down during a timeout. But he stayed in the game. After the timeout he buried a 3-pointer and a long jumper before a one-handed dunk to help give Miami a 73-66 lead with 4:51 left in the third quarter. Miami pushed the lead to 13 when Norris Cole knocked down a 3-point buzzer-beater from the right corner aat the end of the quarter. Kings Jerseys 2021. Charlotte never got closer than seven points in the fourth quarter. Down the stretch, the Heat went to James time and time again with Wade on the bench with five fouls. James scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, taking advantage of a size advantage against Gerald Henderson. "LeBron was terrific during that stretch of the fourth quarter," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I thought the last 5 minutes of the fourth quarter there was great execution and trust and the ball was moving and it was just working to the open guy. That was encouraging to see, especially at that time in the game." The Bobcats played without Al Jefferson, their leading scorer and rebounder who has been bothered by a foot injury since the first quarter of Game 1. "If you take away the best offensive player from any team in the league it dramatically changes your team," Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said. Kemba Walker picked up the slack, playing tough throughout and finishing with 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting. "He showed that he is not afraid of the moment," Clifford said. "He had a really good year and finished in a good way so we should be happy about him." Walker called the game a good learning experience for the inexperienced Bobcats. "At the same time its our first go-around in the playoffs for a lot of us and we can only go up from here," Walker said. In the end, turnovers again spelled doom for the Bobcats. They turned it over 16 times, leading to 22 Heat points, including two dunks by James. The loss signalled the end of an era for the Bobcats. They will become the Hornets next season. Before the game the Heat showed solidarity with the Los Angeles Clippers over the Donald Sterling controversy. Like the Clippers on Sunday, the Heat ran out of the tunnel wearing their warmups, huddled at centre court and tossed their white shooting T-shirts to the ground. They then went through their pregame routine with their red Heat warmup jerseys inside out, hiding the teams logo. NOTES: Charlotte never won a post-season game as the Bobcats in franchise history. ... James scored at least 20 points in all four games. ... Tyler Zeller of the Cleveland Cavaliers was in the crowd cheering on his brother Cody, a rookie with the Bobcats. ' ' '

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