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28.02.2019 01:56
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ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Matching the Chicago Blackhawks is a tough task, and the Minnesota Wild werent going to catch up without more presence and production from their top forwards. After a couple of quiet games and two sluggish periods, Mikael Granlund, Zach Parise and the rest of the Wilds skill-position players came to life. Granlund scored twice, Parise had a goal and an assist, and Erik Haula jump-started the Wild by scoring early in the third period in a 4-0 victory over the Blackhawks on Tuesday in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal series. "The big guys definitely came through tonight," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. Ilya Bryzgalov made 19 saves for his first shutout in the playoffs in eight years, and the Blackhawks had their lead whittled to 2-1 with their first loss in 2 1/2 weeks. "Today is a tremendous team effort," Bryzgalov said. "We play very, very, very nice hockey." Game 4 is Friday in Minnesota. The announced attendance of 19,416 was the most in franchise history, but the atmosphere didnt match that until shortly after the second intermission. Pucks were whizzing way wide of the net, and clogged shooting lanes led to plenty of thwarted opportunities for both sides. "Theyre probably as tight a team as were going to play all year," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. Haula finally brought the fans to their feet. The rookie centre from Finland, once a standout for the University of Minnesota, started the play from the neutral zone and finished in front of the rush for a tap-in of Justin Fontaines slick pass through the defence. Then less than 3 minutes later, Granlund took a pass from Jason Pominville and went to his backhand to slip a high shot past Corey Crawfords glove for the 2-0 lead. The crowd began to taunt the goalie with a "Craw-ford! Craw-ford!" chant, and Parise put the exclamation point on the night with a power-play goal, the first in 25 chances for the Wild over their last two playoff series against the Blackhawks. Then Granlund tacked on an empty-netter with 1:17 left. "We know when we play like we can, we can beat any team in this league, especially here at home," Granlund said. Crawford stopped only 14 shots for the Blackhawks, who dropped their first two games to St. Louis in the last round before winning four in a row. Since losing to the Blues on April 19, they took the lead in all six games and outscored their opponents 23-9. Despite outscoring the Wild 9-3 in the first two games of this series, the Blackhawks have not been able to test Bryzgalov much. "We cant let it frustrate us. We just have to do something about it," captain Jonathan Toews said, adding: "Theyre a smart defensive team. Give them credit. But its more about what were not doing." The blue liners were in full force early for Blackhawks, who blocked a whopping 25 shots in Game 2, six more than the Wild even sent at the net. Niklas Hjalmarsson bravely took one on the neck Sunday, and while the seventh-year veteran was cleared to play, the Swede wasnt even allowed to talk. Quenneville said before the game he wasnt worried about any communication problems between Hjalmarsson and his teammates. Had he been able to yell, Hjalmarsson wouldve been easy to hear for most of the night. For all the noise this crowd made in the last round, the synergy between vocal fan support and a relentless attack by the Wild was largely missing during the first 40 minutes. Yeo said this was the tightest-checking game hed ever been a part of. The offence came, eventually. Pominville has only one goal in nine playoff games, but he had two assists in this one. Mikko Koivu didnt make the scoring summary, but Yeo said his captain played a critical part in helping stifle the Blackhawks and their top lines. None of the Wilds top six forwards scored in the first two games, with Parise and Pominville managing the only assists. The Wild faced yet another desperate situation after trailing 2-0 in the last round against the Colorado Avalanche. "It was pretty familiar territory for us. We knew we had to win the game," Parise said. NOTES: The Blackhawks scratched defenceman Nick Leddy, his first absence since his rookie season of 2010-11. Quenneville said he wanted Sheldon Brookbank in the lineup for a physical presence. ... Bryzgalov had three shutouts in the 2006 playoffs for Anaheim. Stan Smith Baratas Online .Balotelli uploaded on Instagram a picture of the video-game character Super Mario, with whom the Italy international shares a nickname, with text around the image including jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a Jew. Stan Smith Rebajas .com) - The Ottawa Senators will try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive when they face the Chicago Blackhawks who are trying to secure their place in the post-season. http://www.stansmithbaratas.es/ . - The Jacksonville Jaguars are leaning more toward playing injured quarterback Blake Bortles against Tennessee on Thursday night. Stan Smith Baratas . Their 9-19 record remains identical to the crosstown rivals in Brooklyn and trails both Toronto and Boston in the Atlantic Division. Raymond Felton, their declining point guard, is back on the sideline nursing his third injury of the season. Comprar Stan Smith Baratas . - Kentucky freshmen Stanley Boom Williams, Dorian Baker, Drew Barker and Tymere Dubose have been charged with disorderly conduct for their involvement with air pistol shots being fired near a residence hall on the South campus Sunday night.Melbourne, Australia (SportsNetwork.com) - World No. 1 Serena Williams and former top-ranked star Venus Williams secured berths in the quarterfinals at the 2015 Australian Open. Serena dropped the first set before rallying to top rising 24th-seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours at Melbourne Park. Muguruza stunned Serena at the French Open last year, handing the American, who won just four games in that match in Paris, the worst loss of her Grand Slam career in the process. The 33-year-old American great blitzed her 21-year-old opponent with 17 aces and won 38 of 49 first-serve points on Monday. It was a great match -- congratulations to Garbine, she played so well, Serena said. The 18-time Grand Slam champion and reigning U.S. Open titlist owns five Aussie Open titles, but none since 2010. Her quarterfinal opponent will be 11th-seeded Slovak Dominika Cibulkova, who doused on-the-mend Belarusian star Victoria Azarenka, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Azarenka led 2-0 in the third set, but couldnt hold on against the diminutive Cibulkova. Today I wasnt thinking about the score, I was just going for it, Cibulkova said. And when I was up, I was going for it even more. I always have tough matches with Vika. The tennis she plays goes well with mine, Cibulkova added. Cibulkova was last years Aussie runner-up to since-retired Chinese star Li Na. The former world No. 1 Azarenka is a two-time Aussie Open champ and two-time U.S. Open runner-up. Her 2014 season was interrupted by a foot injury and shes been trying to re-locate her game since last spring. In other fourth round action on Day 8 of the fortnight, an 18th-seeded Venus remained undefeated in 2015 by surprising sixth-seeeded former Wimbledon runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 and rising Madison Keys vanquished fellow American Madison Brengle 6-2, 6-4.dddddddddddd Brengle reached her first-ever WTA final in Hobart two weeks ago. Venus will clash with the 19-year-old Keys in an all-American quarterfinal on Wednesday. Venus is a seven-time Grand Slam champion who was the 2003 Aussie runner-up to her younger sister. Shes a perfect 9-0 this year, including a title in Auckland three weeks back. The 34-year-old Venus was asked what her inspiration has been to keep plugging away all these years. Definitely my sister Serena, she replied. Shes just the ultimate champion. She definitely gives me a lot of inspiration. And of course all of my fans, whove always stayed behind me. Keys will play in her first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal when she faces Venus. It feels really good, she said. My mom texted me before the tournament. She said, Its your last Grand Slam as a teenager, and sent me a bunch of grandma faces. Im like, Thanks for reminding me mom! Thank you. Love you. But its huge. Its my last Slam as a teenager. I hope I can keep it up. The quarterfinals will get underway Tuesday, as second-seeded former No. 1 Maria Sharapova will battle seventh-seeded Wimbledon runner-up Eugenie Bouchard and third-seeded French Open finalist Simona Halep will take on consistent 10th-seeded Russian left-hander Ekaterina Makarova. Sharapova is 3-0 all-time against the Canadian Bouchard, including some French Open match wins in 2013 and last year, while Halep is 1-0 lifetime versus Makarova. The reigning French Open champion Sharapova was the Aussie champ in 2008 and runner-up in 2007 and 2012. ' ' ' |
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