Bewerbung » longest run without a homer was 29 games in

Scott Cullen looks at a night of shutouts in the NHL playoffs, with notes on Beau Bennett, Paul Martin, Brandon Dubinsky, Tyson Barrie, Vladimir Tarasenko, the goalies and more. PENGUINS RALLY Things were looking pretty good for the Columbus Blue Jackets, leading 3-1 just over a minute into the third period, but then the Pittsburgh Penguins mounted their comeback, scoring three unanswered goals, to escape with a 4-3 win and take a 2-1 lead in the series. There were a couple facets of the Penguins comeback that were interesting. First off, Pittsburgh outshot Columbus 15-5 in the third period, 14-1 over the first 12:06 the period, and while score effects account for a change in possession numbers, the Penguins controlled play the exact way that a team should when attempting to mount a comeback. Over a span of 2:13 in the third period, the Penguins scored three goals on three shots, with Brandon Sutter, Lee Stempniak and Jussi Jokinen getting credit for the goals. With Brooks Orpik scoring the first goal for Pittsburgh, they managed to earn a 4-3 win despite no goals from any of their top four goal scorers (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Chris Kunitz) during the regular season. to be fair, the Penguins big guns dominated possession, with Crosby, Kunitz, Malkin, Neal and Jokinen all finishing with a Corsi% of at least 69.7%. Pittsburghs supporting cast has been playing big roles in this series. Winger Beau Bennett added a couple of assists and now has four points (1 G, 3 A) in three games and was one of three Penguins forwards to play less than 10 minutes. D Paul Martin recorded two assists for the third straight game, while playing a game-high 28:34. Blue Jackets C Brandon Dubinsky had a strong game for Columbus, picking up a couple of assists and nearly tied the game in the final seconds with a slick toe drag move around Martin followed by a strong drive to the net. The third period was exactly what the Blue Jackets should fear from the Penguins. When Pittsburgh turns up the heat, they can play at a higher level than the Blue Jackets and that puts a lot of pressure on G Sergei Bobrovsky if Columbus isnt at least competitive in terms of possession. GREAT GRANLUND The Minnesota Wild dominated Game Three territorially, but still needed overtime to emerge victorious against the Colorado Avalanche, taking a 1-0 win in Game Three and cutting Colorados series lead to two games to one. The winning goal, and the games only goal, was a brilliant effort from Wild C Mikael Granlund, who eluded Avalanche D Jan Hejda on the right wing boards, drove to the net, past C Mark-Andre Cliche, and tucked the puck around Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov. Granlund has been a strong performer, with a 54.3% Corsi% in the series, but his goal was his first point in the three games. Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov was spectacular, stopping 45 of 46 shots and nearly stealing the game for Colorado. Coming into the series, Varlamov was the one advantage that the Avalanche could lean on, but its asking a lot for a goaltender to make the difference for a team that gets outshot 46-22. Darcy Kuemper, taking over for Ilya Bryzgalov in the Minnesota net, stopped all 22 shots for the win; pretty surethat ought to earn him another start. Wild LW Matt Cooke is due for another suspension after delivering a blatant knee-on-knee hit to Avalanche D Tyson Barrie and the Avalanche already know that they are going to be missing Barrie for the next 4-6 weeks. With Barrie out, Nick Holden played a career-high 28:04 for the Avalanche, and he may be asked to handle more minutes in Barries absence. Stefan Elliott may be next in line to join the Avalanche defence for Game Four, as Cory Sarich is still dealing with back spasms and Ryan Wilson has played sporadically, especially in the second half of the season. With Cooke expected to be out, Kyle Brodziak or Stephane Veilleux could return to the lineup. Given how thoroughly the Wild dominated play in Game Three, and the significance of the Tyson Barrie injury, this series is far from over. BLACKHAWKS ON THE BOARD Blackhawks G Corey Crawford stopped all 34 shots he faced, outdueling Blues G Ryan Miller in a 2-0 Chicago win that cut St. Louis series lead to two games to one. Chicago scored an empty-netter with 20 seconds remaining in the third period, so the only shot that beat Miller was a wrist shot by Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews 4:10 into the game. With Blackhawks D Brent Seabrook suspended, Sheldon Brookbank stepped into the Chicago lineup, playing 14:32 and paired frequently with Duncan Keith, but his 38.5% Corsi% was the lowest among Chicago defencemen. For the Blues, C Patrik Berglund returned to the lineup, but the top line adjusted to David Backes absence by moving Alexander Steen to centre and then bumping Steve Ott to left wing. Ott played 20:05 and was one of six Blues to have at least two-thirds of possession at 5-on-5. Blues RW Vladimir Tarasenko was outstanding, a plus-16 Corsi (20 for, 4 against) for the game, while the Blues were a net plus-1 (32 for, 31 against) Corsi when Tarasenko was off the ice. Chicago needed to win Game Three to have a chance in the series, and while they might not count on Crawford to win the goaltending battle too often, he did it Monday night. STARS BLANK DUCKS Returning home down two games to none, the Dallas Stars faced a must-win situation in Game Three, and G Kari Lehtonen backstopped them to a 3-0 victory, stopping 37 shots. If there was one clear area in which the Stars might hold an advantage in this series, it is that Lehtonen has more of a track record than Ducks rookie Frederik Andersen. Jamie Benn, Valeri Nichushkin and Ryan Garbutt scored for the Stars, with Garbutt leading the Stars with six shots on goal. The Ducks got the better part of the possession game, ultimately, led by C Mathieu Perreault, who was plus-15 (19 for, 4 against) for a Ducks team that ended up as plus-9 in terms of Corsi. Ducks winger Devante Smith-Pelly, skating with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry on the top line, had 10 hits and a 62.5% Corsi%. The big issue for the Ducks coming out of this game was the loss of D Stephane Robidas, who had played more than 20 minutes a game for the Ducks since he was acquired from Dallas, but suffered a leg fracture that will end his season. Robidas had fractured the leg on November 29 and returned to action March 18. His absence creates an opening for either Luca Sbisa or Mark Fistric. This is another series in which the underdog has a chance, but needed the Game Three win to even harbour hopes. Now, the Stars have hope and Anaheim losing a top-four defenceman doesnt diminish the odds of the Stars making a comeback. 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. Orlando Pace Womens Jersey . The Raptors had an early deadline Sunday, a dreaded afternoon game, and they left the bulk of their work until the last minute, as theyve done so many times before. Todd Gurley II Youth Jersey .This one was bigger than most.Ben Roethlisberger and LeVeon Bell came up big in a game that Pittsburgh had to win Sunday, leading the Steelers to a 42-21 drubbing of the Cincinnati Bengals that left the AFC North race wide open. http://www.footballramsshop.us/authentic...-rams-jersey/.C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. Eric Dickerson Womens Jersey . Winnipeg trailed by five points in the final minute when quarterback Drew Willy completed a 13-play, 75-yard drive with Feoli-Gudinos 18-yard touchdown catch on third down to lift the Bombers to a 34-33 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Friday night. Aaron Donald Jersey . - The Clippers have signed guard Dahntay Jones to a second 10-day contract.TORONTO -- It took 36 games but Adam Lind finally found the fence. The Blue Jays first baseman/designated hitter ended the longest home-run drought of his career with a two-run shot in the seventh inning Saturday afternoon to power Toronto to a 6-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. It was just the fifth homer of the season for Lind, who has hit more than 20 four times in his career. "Nice to join the party," Lind said with a wry smile. The happy-go-luck Jay with the ZZ Top-style beard has been contributing in other ways with his bat even if his long ball has been falling just short of late. He has registered a hit in 15 of his last 18 games with seven doubles and one triple. Lind is hitting .328 this season but hadnt homered since June 23. His previous longest run without a homer was 29 games in 2012-13. "It definitely lessens it a little bit," Lind said of his overall hitting success. "But ultimately home runs are where its at, not doubles and batting average." Toronto manager John Gibbons calls Lind a natural hitter. "Lindys got one of the nicest pure swings youre going to find in all of baseball," Gibbons said. "And against right-handers, theres not a better hitter out there." Edwin Encarnacion followed Lind with a blast of his own one pitch later as the Jays snapped a 3-3 tie. The power surge made a winner of knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, who has won his last four decisions and six of his last eight. Dickey (13-12) gave up three runs on four hits in seven innings, striking out five and walking two. With the Rays swinging freely in the early going, Dickey varied his speed more than usual. His knuckleball ranged from the lows 60s to the low 80s. "I changed speeds today early in the count probably more than I have all year," he said. "I threw a lot of knuckleballs under 70 miles per hour early in the count. "I doubled up a few times, which I hardly ever do, with slow knuckleballs." It marked the 19th straight game that a Toronto starter had gone six innings or more, matching a 1998 run. The starters earned-run average over that stretch is 2.52. The Jays (77-70) have gone 12-7 over that run. "The rotation has been on some kind of roll. Theyve been great," said Gibbons. "We score, we win. "Thats the way it is with most teams I guess." Toronto lost the series opener 1-0 on Friday night, snapping a four-game win streak. The Jays have now won 10 of their last 13 outings, outscoring the opposition 70-30 over that span. "Theyve really held up their end of the bargain. All five of them," Gibbons said of his starters. "And one thing thats done too is its allowed our bullpen to kind of regroup a little bit and keep those guys fresh." Said Dickey: "I think a lot of people have doubted our rotation throughout the year. So for us as a group it feels good as a group to kind of hang our hat on being able to go deep in games consistently, which weve been able to do." The 39-year-old Dickey has now pitched 196 2/3 innings, approaching the 200 mark for the foourth straight year.dddddddddddd Casey Janssen pitched the ninth for his 23rd save as Toronto outhit Tampa 7-6. Linds drive over the centre-field fence also scored Jose Bautista, who was walked by reliever Brad Boxberger. Boxberger (5-2) gave way to Steve Geltz and Encarnacion drove his first pitch into the 200 level of left field for a 6-3 lead. Encarnacions 31st home run marked the eighth time this season the Jays have homered on back-to-back pitches. Encarnacion, who has hit five homers since coming off the disabled list Aug. 15, came into the game averaging a home run every 14 at-bats this season. Evan Longoria homered for Tampa Bay, his franchise-leading 183rd, before 31,268 spectators under the Rogers Centre roof. "The three balls that I hit well were probably the worst three knuckleballs hes ever thrown me," Longoria said of Dickey. "Sometimes thats just the way it works out." Tampa (71-78) is 4-4 in its last eight games, blowing leads of 4-0, 4-0, 3-0 and 2-0 in the losses. Tampas Jeremy Hellickson, making his 11th start since coming off the disabled list July 7 after elbow surgery in January, limited the Jays to three runs on four hits in six innings. He struck out eight and walked four Hellickson, the AL rookie of the year in 2011, has now faced Toronto in three of his last five starts. He lost 5-2 to Dickey and the Jays in Tampa on Sept. 2 but did not get the decision in the other two starts. Dickeys first inning lasted just seven pitches but the Jays were down 1-0 after six of them. Ben Zobrist led off with a double and scored on two straight infield ground balls. Tampa manufactured another run in the third after Kevin Kiermaier singled to right and advanced to second, having baited Bautista to throw to first. A groundout and wild pitch made it 2-0. Dickey escaped further damage when the Rays were unable to cash men on second and third after a two-out walk and Longoria double. Toronto went ahead 3-2 in the bottom of a messy third for the Rays. Ryan Goins got to first when a wild pitch saved him from a strikeout. He moved to second on an Anthony Gose single and scored on Hellicksons throwing error on a Jose Reyes sacrifice bunt. Gose then scored when Hellickson, a Gold Glove winner in 2012, couldnt handle a Bautista ball hit back to him. Linds fielders choice scored Reyes to put the Jays ahead. "That was an inning we cant let get away from us defensively and we did," said Tampa manager Joe Maddon. "Thats what got them back in the ball game." Toronto failed to take advantage in the fifth after loading the bases with two outs. Longoria tied it 3-3, leading off the sixth with his 21st homer of the season. The Rays benefited from slick fielding plays from Longoria at third base in both the first and second innings. Reyes matched him in the fourth, jumping high to stab a Yunel Escobar liner. Escobar pulled off a carbon-copy catch on Josh Thole in the bottom of the inning. Rays outfielder Matt Joyce was thrown out in the ninth for arguing balls and strikes. ' ' '