|
CHICAGO -- Marian Hossa scored the lone goal in the shootout, and the banged-up Chicago Blackhawks stopped a three-game slide with a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night. Travis Wood Cubs Jersey . Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford made 25 saves through overtime, and then stopped all three Minnesota attempts in the shootout. Hossa connected on the Blackhawks second attempt in the tiebreaker by powering a shot through Ilya Bryzgalov. It was Chicagos first game since coach Joel Quenneville said captain Jonathan Toews would miss the rest of the regular season due to an upper-body injury. The Blackhawks also were without Patrick Kane, another star forward who is expected to miss the rest of the regular season because of a lower-body injury. Chicago did get Bryan Bickell back from an injury, and he scored a tiebreaking goal in the third period. Ben Smith also scored for the Blackhawks. Charlie Coyle and Erik Haula scored for Minnesota, which moved five points ahead of Dallas and Phoenix in the battle for two Western Conference wild-card playoff spots. Bryzgalov stopped 24 shots through overtime. Haula scored his fourth goal on a screened shot with 1:54 left, tying it at 2. He snapped off a shot from the right circle that sailed between the legs of Blackhawks defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson and then deflected in off Crawfords glove. Coyle scored the only goal of the first on a quirky tip-in. Jared Spurgeon drifted in from the right point and fired. His shot hit Hjalmarssons stick, then deflected off the blade of Coyles stick and flipped over Crawfords glove at 14:19. Smith tied it at 2:29 of the second with his 11th goal. Bryzgalov stopped Nick Leddys low drive from the left point, and then got his left pad in front of Brandons Saad rebound attempt. Smith popped in the loose puck from a scrum in front. Zach Parise, who leads Minnesota with 28 goals, was hit hard from behind in open ice by Chicagos Brandon Bollig at 8:34 of the second period. After lying face down on the ice for a minute, he was helped to the dressing room by one of the Wild trainers, but returned later in the period. Minnesotas Kyle Brodziak broke in and deked Crawford to the ice with 1:15 left in the second, but fired wide. Bickell, who was sidelined for six games with an upper-body injury, beat Bryzgalov on a rebound of his initial point-blank attempt at 2:45 of the third period. But Haula sent the game to overtime, where the Wild outshot the Blackhawks 3-2 in a cautious period. Toews got hurt when he was drilled by Pittsburgh defenceman Brooks Orpik in the second period on Sunday. Kane was injured March 19 against St. Louis and has missed seven straight games. Quenneville has said both stars will be ready for the playoffs. NOTES: Blackhawks D Johnny Oduya was a last-minute scratch with a lower-body injury. ... Chicago C Joakim Nordstrom, recalled from Rockford of the AHL on Wednesday, played. ... Minnesota F Jake Dowell and G John Curry, both recalled from Iowa of the AHL on Tuesday, were in the lineup. Curry backed up Bryzgalov. ... Out with injuries for Minnesota were Fs Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter (upper body), Ds Clayton Stoner and Keith Ballard (both lower body), and G Darcy Kuemper (upper body). Andre Dawson Jersey . - Eries top line of Dane Fox, Connor Brown and Connor McDavid combined for six goals and 14 points as the Otters crushed the visiting Windsor Spitfires 9-0 on Sunday in Ontario Hockey League play. Fergie Jenkins Cubs Jersey . The IceHogs scored three unanswered goals, capped by Jeremy Morins third-period goal, to beat the Marlies 3-2 in American Hockey League play Wednesday.MONTREAL -- Rachel Homans Canada team defeated Val Sweetings Alberta rink 8-6 to win a second consecutive Scotties Tournament of Hearts on Sunday night. The Ottawa team of Homan, lead Lisa Weagle, second Alison Kreviazuk and third Emma Miskew, defended the Canadian womens curling championship they won last year in Kingston, Ont. At 13-0, they are the first since Linda Moores rink in 1985 to go undefeated at the tournament. Homan took early leads all week and did it again by posting three points in the second end, although Sweeting answered with a hit for two in the third. Sweeting was a tad strong on a raise in the fourth and Homan came around the right side to hit for two. Alberta got one back in the fifth. Canada was in trouble in the sixth when a Sweeting draw left Alberta with three stones near the button, but Homan scattered them with a hit to salvage one point. Sweeting drew for two in the seventh to close the gap to one point, only to see Homan pick off two Sweeting draws to score two in the eighth. A Sweeting bid for a double takeout fell short and the Alberta skip was forced to draw for one in the ninth, handing Homan the hammer and a two-point lead going into the final end. Canada ran them out of rocks to clinch the victory. Prime Minister Stephen Harper witnessed the win from the grandstands at the Maurice Richard Arena. He was wearing a Canadian Olympic team jacket and posing for pictures with fans between ends. Harper has been to the mens Brier, but a curling official said it was his first visit to the Scotties Manitobas Chelsea Carey won the bronze medal game 7-3 over Saskatchewans Stefanie Lawton. It offered some consolation for not reaaching the final. Jeff Samardzija Jersey. "The disappointment doesnt go away, but you want to at least salvage what you can out of it," said Carey. "I dont agree with this even being a game. I never have. "The Page (playoff) system builds in a bronze medallist. But, as much as I disagree with the game, its nice to win a game to get there." Carey made two perfect draws to score two in the eighth end for a 4-3 lead. Lawton blanked the ninth and had the hammer going into the final end, but then disaster struck. Second Sherri Singler threw a flash, third Sherry Anderson hit a guard and soon there were five Manitoba stones ringing the button. Lawton tried to sneak in an angled raise with her last shot, but it couldnt get through and Carey got a steal of three. "It was worth a try,"said Lawton. "It was there...I had to stick it right on the nose. I couldnt roll off. But it was a bit too hard. We didnt leave ourselves in a great position to score one that end. "It would have been nice to finish with a medal, but Im proud of our girls. It was a great tournament for us. Its unfortunate how it ended." The winning team splits $25,500 and gets gold rings with a diamond, while the silver medallists get $15,500 plus a gold ring with a ruby. Careys squad gets $12,000 and a gold ring with an emerald. Because of her repeat win, the Homan teams diamonds will be twice the size of last year. Lawtons side gets $7,000. All 12 teams get $4,167 for wearing title sponsor crests. The winner usually gets $40,000 from the Own The Podium program, but in Olympic years that goes to the team that qualifies for the Winter Games. wholesale jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
