| 2070 Beiträge - Forenlegende
|
|
|
WASHINGTON -- With Washington off to a 2-5 start, coach Adam Oates made some changes before the Capitals game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night. Martin Erat wasted little time in making the adjustments pay off. The right wing, moved from the fourth line to the second, assisted on three Washington goals and Braden Holtby made 37 saves in the Capitals 4-1 win. Erat helped out on goals by new linemates Troy Brouwer and Brooks Laich, as well as on a power-play tally by Alex Ovechkin. "He was flying tonight," Ovechkin said of Erat. "He was the best player on the ice for us tonight. He shows who he is." Joel Ward opened the scoring with a power-play goal for the Capitals, who snapped a two-game skid and finished their five-game homestand 2-3. Coming off a 2-0 shutout Thursday against the Rangers, Oates dropped Mikhail Grabovski from the second line to the third and Eric Fehr from the third line to a part-time role on the fourth. Laich centred the second line, with Erat moving onto that group. "You know what, Martys a good hockey player, has been in this league," Oates said of Erat, a veteran who was acquired last year from Nashville but began the season on the fourth line and was scoreless coming in. "We lost a couple in a row, we had to make some changes, and he stepped in there and played great for us." Erat began play with 53 points in 57 regular-season games against Columbus, his highest point total against any team, and continued to punish the Blue Jackets. Afterward, he preferred to discuss the win rather than his increased ice time and performance. "Its nice to have a good game, but in the end its all about the wins, and we got the win and that is the bottom line," he said. Artem Anisimov spoiled Holtbys shutout at 15:05 of the third. "You can see how we play when he is on fire," Ovechkin said of Holtby. "We have a lot of confidence, especially when he makes a big save and we can see he feels the puck." Sergei Bobrovsky had 35 saves for the Blue Jackets, who have lost four straight. "We unraveled," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "I think even after those first two goals, we started to go after them, but we werent good enough. We got what we deserved. I think the chances were there." Washington went up 1-0 early in the second period thanks to its top-ranked power play. With the Blue Jackets Brandon Dubinsky off for tripping, Marcus Johansson made a nice pass in front to Ward, who one-timed it past Bobrovsky for his second goal of the year. Columbus peppered Holtby for several minutes to no avail. Then Washingtons Steve Olesky came down the right side and made a nice delaying move to get his shot off. Bobrovsky made the stop, but Laich shovelled the rebound home to make it 2-0 at the 7:43. Washington added some insurance in the third when Erat stole a pass in the Columbus zone and fed Brouwer in front. Bobrovsky made a point-blank save, but Brouwer got the rebound, moved to his right and put the puck past the fallen goaltender at 4:20. "They got that third (goal) and it just cracked us, I guess," Blue Jackets RJ Umberger said. "We turned the puck over. They capitalized on their chances tonight and we didnt." Just over two minutes later, with Washington on a power play, Ovechkin beat Bobrovsky with a one-timer from his familiar spot in the left circle for his seventh goal of the season. "As far as the third period, were letting each other down as far as our play in front of our goalie," Richards said. "Disappointing the way the game ended." The Capitals controlled play for much of a scoreless first period, when Bobrovsky made 14 saves. Columbus had an excellent chance when Ryan Johansen picked up a loose puck in the Washington zone midway through the period. He skated in alone on Holtby, but his shot hit the right post. NOTES: The Blue Jackets recalled F Jack Skille from the AHLs Springfield Falcons and assigned F Sean Collins to their AHL affiliate. ... Washington D John Erskine missed his fourth game (upper body injury) and C Jay Beagle was a healthy scratch. ... LW Nick Foligno, C Ryan Craig, and D Dalton Prout were the Columbus scratches. ... It was the teams first meeting since Dec. 31, 2011. Theyll play each other three more times this season as members of the Metropolitan Division. Nike Huarache White Cz . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. Adidas Superstar Černé . Pirlo limped out of Sundays 1-0 win over Udinese after just 13 minutes. Juventus says Pirlo underwent tests on Monday which revealed he has "a second-degree lesion to the collateral medial ligament in his right knee. http://www.superstarshopsleva.com/ . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky. Nike Air Max Zero Cz . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. Adidas Stan Smith Černé .com) - The women will also have a new champion at the Australian Open.CHICAGO -- Both the Chicago Bulls and the Minnesota Timberwolves were missing their starting centres. The Timberwolves were able to overcome the adversity. Kevin Love scored 31 points to lead the Timberwolves over the Bulls 95-86 Monday night. Ronny Turiaf added 14 points for the Timberwolves, who snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Bulls and won for the fourth time in five games overall. Timberwolves centre Nikola Pekovic exited with a sore right Achilles tendon midway through the first quarter. Turiaf, who was averaging 2.3 points, scored a season high in his absence. "He stepped up when Pekovic went out, and he brings a lot," Timberwolves guard Ricky Rubio said. "He brought everything he had." The Bulls were also without their starting centre. Joakim Noah was sent home before the game due to an illness. Kirk Hinrich (strained right hamstring) missed his fourth straight game. "They had some people out too, but we knew it was going to be a physical game," Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman said. "We knew how they were going to play, and I thought we responded pretty well." Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and D.J. Augustin added 19 points for the Bulls. Pekovic, who was averaging 18.4 points and 9.3 rebounds, said he hopes his injury is not serious. The injury has been bothering Pekovic during the teams road trip, Adelman said. Pekovic had one point and one rebound in 6 minutes. In Pekovics absence, Turiaf grabbed seven rebounds and had his highest-scoring game since he scored 19 points on Jan. 11, 2011, for the New York Knicks against the Portland Trailblazers. "My goal this year, regardless of the situation, is just to go out there and have some fun," Turiaf said. "No matter how much or how little I play, I just want to have fun." The Bulls pulled within five with 1:29 left on Augustins 3-pointer but got no closer. Love answered with a layup with 1:10 remaining, and Corey Brewers dunk gave the Timberwolves ann 88-79 lead with 57.dddddddddddd4 seconds left. The Timberwolves improved to 2-11 on the road when scoring fewer than 109 points. Minnesota shot 46.6 per cent compared to the Bulls 37.6 per cent. "We need that," Love said. "We communicated really well and we definitely contested a lot of shots." Chicago had won four of five and is 10-4 in January. Chase Budinger added 12 points off the bench for Minnesota, and Brewer had 11. Jimmy Butler scored 16 points, and Mike Dunleavy and Taj Gibson each had 10 for the Bulls. Gibson started at centre in place of Noah and had eight points and seven rebounds at halftime before running into foul trouble in the second half. "Hes an All-Star. Youre going to feel it," Gibson said about the Bulls missing Noah. "He was playing real phenomenal. Hes one of the vocal leaders, rebounding, playing defence, controlling the offensive end and making plays for guys. "We got to keep pushing forward." The Timberwolves went cold in the third quarter as the Bulls outscored them 19-18 and pulled within five. Minnesota had one field goal in the final 7:38 of the period -- Budingers dunk with 34.9 seconds left. The Wolves led 72-65 heading into the fourth. The Bulls had won by an average of 13.3 points during their seven-game winning streak against the Timberwolves. Minnesota last won in Chicago on Jan. 3, 2009. "When you lose a guy like Jo your margin for error is smaller," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said about Noah. "We can get it done. Youve got to give Minnesota credit. Theyre playing real well right now. We can never lose sight of how hard we have to play. We cant play hard for 32 minutes. We have to play hard the whole game." NOTES: The Timberwolves ranked second in the NBA in scoring at 106.8 points per game coming in. The Bulls were holding opponents to 92.9 points per game, second in the league. ... It was the first of two meetings between the teams this season. The Bulls lead the all-time series 28-18. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
|
