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CHICAGO -- A night after giving up seven goals, the Chicago Blackhawks rebounded with an improved defensive effort. Patrick Sharp scored two goals, including one on a third-period penalty shot, and Kris Versteeg had a goal and an assist to lead Chicago to a 5-1 win over San Jose in a matchup of two of the Western Conferences top teams on Sunday night. Jonathan Toews and rookie Brandon Pirri also scored for the Blackhawks, who lost 7-2 in Nashville on Saturday, their most lopsided this season. "Tonight was back-and-forth, trading chances, but at the same time, theres a lot of individual battles that we were on top of," Sharp said. Chicago limited road-weary San Jose to a handful of prime scoring opportunities before pulling away with three goals in the third period. "We werent happy with the last game, obviously," said Chicago goalie Corey Crawford, who finished with 23 saves. "Tonight was one of our better efforts all around, defensively, from everyone in this room. "(San Jose) came out strong, but throughout the game, we had a little bit more legs than them. We opened up the game at the end there." Versteeg scored his first goal with the Blackhawks in his first home game since being reacquired in trade from Florida on Thursday. A member of Chicagos 2010 Stanley Cup-winning team, he joined the Blackhawks Saturday in Nashville. "It was emotional, obviously, coming back," Versteeg said. "Last night wasnt definitely the way I saw coming back in my head, but tonight was very exciting. The guys put in a big effort." Crawford and San Joses Antti Niemi, the goalies who backstopped the Blackhawks to their two recent Stanley Cup titles, opposed each other. Crawford, in nets for Chicagos Cup run last season, allowed only a second-period goal to San Joses Joe Pavelski on a shot he caught, but then misplayed. Niemi, who helped lead the 2010 Blackhawks to the championship, stopped 22 as he faced his former team for the 12th time. Niemi is 5-6-1 against the Blackhawks. The Sharks havent won in Chicago since Dec. 3, 2010, Niemis first game against his old club. Theyre 0-5-1 at the United Center since then. And Niemi didnt get a lot of help in this one, as the Blackhawks created chances and pounced on San Jose turnovers. "We lacked a lot of energy that was needed to play in this game," San Jose coach Todd McLellan said. "When you dont have energy, you better be sharp mentally and we may have been poorer in that area. "There are a lot of teams that play against the Blackhawks and Im sure the coaches are telling them the same thing: That turnovers kill you," McLellan added. "Their counter-punch is incredible and we learned that lesson again. The Sharks played the final contest of a five-game road trip, finishing at 3-1-1 on a zigzagging swing with four contests in Western Canada and a finale in Chicago. The Blackhawks, meanwhile, embark on a seven-game "circus trip" Tuesday at Colorado. They dont return to the United Center until Dec. 3 against Dallas. Chicago started its solid send-off in the first period when Pirri scored the only goal of a crisply played frame with 3:26 left. Pirri, who led the AHL in points last year with 75 points, has goals in three straight games and four in his past six. Patrick Kane went down the right wing into the San Jose zone, backing in Sharks defenceman Scott Hannan to the circle. Kanes shot deflected off Hannan and across the crease to the left side of the net, where Pirri buried the loose puck. Pavelski tied it at 8:16 of the second on a 30-foot shot from the slot. Crawford picked Pavelskis shot out of the air with his glove, but when he lowered it to his side, the puck rolled out and trickled across the goal line. Sharp put Chicago back ahead at 2-1 just under 4 minutes later on a one-time shot from the left circle. He ripped the puck past Niemi after taking a pinpoint cross-ice feed from Marcus Kruger. Toews extended it to 3-1 at 3:39 of the third with his team-leading 10th goal by converting a rebound of his own shot. Niemi stopped Toews first attempt after the Chicago captain skated out of the right corner, but the rebound dropped inches from the goal line. Toews skated around a scrum at the edge of the crease and tucked in the loose puck. With Niemi down on the ice and out of the net, Versteeg converted a rebound of Brandons Saad shot with 4:50 left in the third to make it 4-1. Sharp was awarded the penalty shot with 1:11 left after being pulled down by Marc-Edouard Vlasic on a breakaway. He fired high over Niemi score on a penalty shot for the first time in five chances with Chicago NOTES: The Blackhawks placed G Nikolai Khabibulin on injured reserve with a lower-body injury suffered in Saturdays 7-2 loss in Nashville. Chicago called up rookie Antti Raanta from Rockford of the AHL to back up Crawford. Raanta was signed as a free agent from Finland last summer and was 7-5-0 with a 2.83 goals-against average in 14 games with Rockford. ... Chicago RW Marian Hossa missed his second game with a lower-body injury. Coach Joel Quenneville hopes Hossa will be able to play Tuesday in Colorado. JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- The Russian drug-testing laboratory for Februarys Winter Olympics in Sochi faces suspension unless it significantly improves the reliability of its results by Dec. 1, meaning problems for the doping controls at both major international sports events next year. The World Anti-Doping Agency provisionally suspended the Moscow Antidoping Center on Sunday, saying its operations must improve or a six-month ban on the facilitys accreditation will be imposed. The Moscow lab is due to move some of its facilities to Sochi to handle the tests at the Feb. 7-23 Winter Games. WADA has already revoked the accreditation of the Brazilian testing laboratory, forcing FIFA to fly samples before and during the World Cup in June and July to Switzerland for analysis. In response, the IOC stressed it was "confident" the Sochi lab would be in place for the games and the scrutiny on Russias anti-doping laboratory would actually improve the quality of the testing at its Winter Olympics. The IOC announced last week it would do more doping tests around the Sochi Games than any other Winter Olympics - nearly 2,500 in all. The WADA announcement threatening a suspension, comes less than three months before the start of the Sochi Games. The international anti-doping authority gave the Moscow facility a first deadline of Dec. 1 to bring in independent "quality management" experts to "allow everyone to be confident of the accuracy and reliability of results moving forward." That deadline in two weeks directly affects the Sochi Games. In its statement, WADA said there was a second deadline of April 1, 2014, when the lab must ensure that program of improvement has been "drafted, finalized, implemented and embedded." "If the two above-mentioned conditions are fully satisfied within the specified deadlines (to which no extensions will be granted), then the above referenced six month suspension of accreditation of the Moscow laboratory shall never come into effect," WADA said. WADA is not the responsible medical authority for the upcoming Olympics buut said it "strongly suggests" the International Olympic Committee "consider appropriate action to ensure the complete integrity of all analysis" at the laboratory both in Moscow and the satellite facility at Sochi.dddddddddddd The IOC gave the Russian facility its support, saying that it is "confident that all the necessary measures will be taken and the Sochi lab will be fully functioning during the Games. "The integrity of the Games-time testing program will remain unaffected by these developments, indeed it will be strengthened," an IOC statement said. WADA regularly checks that its accredited labs are working properly by sending them "blind samples," samples meant as tests to ensure the lab is giving correct findings, and not false positives or false negatives. Labs deemed non-compliant with WADAs standards can have their accreditation revoked, as has happened with the Rio de Janeiro lab that had been scheduled to test samples at next years World Cup in Brazil. FIFA will instead have to fly samples from the football showcase to an accredited lab in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Moscow lab handled drug tests for the world track and field championships in August and is also due to do the same for the Sochi games at its satellite facility. Should the Moscow lab have its WADA accreditation revoked, the facility in Sochi would likely not be able to operate, and the cost of transferring samples to another lab would likely be borne by local organizers under the host city agreement. Sochi already has the highest price tag for any Olympics, summer or winter, with an estimated cost of $50 billion. Sochi also will be the most drug-tested games in Winter Olympics history, according to the IOC. New IOC President Thomas Bach told the World Conference on Doping in Sport in Johannesburg this week that there would be a total of 2,453 tests before and during the games, including 1,269 pre-competition tests. The IOC will spend $1 million on pre-competition testing for Sochi and "many millions" on testing throughout the event, Bach said. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
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