| XRAY - Model racing cars https://setup.teamxray.com/xsetup/legacy/ |
|
| CHICAGO -- First, it was Jonathan Toews on a power play, and https://setup.teamxray.com/xsetup/legacy/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=27985 |
Page 1 of 1 |
| Author: | carrie567 [ Sat Aug 10, 2019 04:28:28 ] |
| Post subject: | CHICAGO -- First, it was Jonathan Toews on a power play, and |
CHICAGO -- First, it was Jonathan Toews on a power play, and then Patrick Sharp got loose on a breakaway. Andrew Shaw tipped one home, and it was all over. One dazzling stretch for the Chicago Blackhawks put an end to their tight first-round series against the St. Louis Blues. Duncan Keith had a goal and three assists, and the Blackhawks used a four-goal third period to finish off the Blues with a 5-1 victory in Game 6 on Sunday. "It feels good to contribute in a big game," Keith said, "and I think just the main thing for me is just being able to move on and get a couple days to relax and just regroup and focus on the next round." Chicago won four in a row after a slow start in St. Louis. The defending Stanley Cup champions will play the winner of the Minnesota-Colorado series in the Western Conference semifinals. The Avalanche lead the Wild 3-2 heading into Game 6 in Minnesota on Monday night. Toews, Sharp and Shaw scored in the first 7 1/2 minutes of the third and Keith closed out the scoring as the Blackhawks improved to 14-2 in home playoff games over the past two seasons. Bryan Bickell scored in the first and Corey Crawford made 35 saves, keeping Chicago in a tie game when St. Louis controlled the second period. "They were dominating the first 40 minutes here and we came back with maybe the best period of the year," coach Joel Quenneville said. T.J. Oshie scored for the Blues, who outshot the Blackhawks 36-27. Ryan Miller finished with 22 saves. St. Louis went 0 for 6 in 10 minutes of power-play time over the first two periods, wasting a chance to take the lead. The Blues went 2 for 29 with the man advantage for the series. "I think both the PK and (Crawford) won the game and the series ultimately," Quenneville said. "I think that was the big factor in us getting through." The Blackhawks also struggled on the power play, but they scored when it mattered most. With Jay Bouwmeester in the box for tripping, Keith made a nice stop to keep the puck in the St. Louis zone, and then sent a pass over to Toews. The captain beat Miller over his right shoulder for a 2-1 lead just 44 seconds into the third. It was Toews third game-winning goal of the series. He also scored on a breakaway in overtime of Friday nights 3-2 win. Toews 23rd career post-season goal seemed to take the air out of the Blues, and it got even worse for St. Louis. Sharp got loose for a breakaway, shook off a stick to the face by defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk and slid a shot past Miller. "The third goal was really a backbreaker for us," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. "That was really the one that hurt. We had been chasing them all series and able to catch up in games, but I thought the third goal really took the wind out of our sails." Sharps first point of the playoffs sent a charge through the towel-waving sellout crowd of 22,144, and there were mocking chants of "Mil-ler! Mil-ler!" as Shaw added his second goal of the series and helped set up Keith for his second. It was an eerily similar playoff exit for St. Louis to a year ago, when the Blues also were eliminated by the defending Stanley Cup champions in six games in the first round. In that 2013 playoff series, St. Louis won the first two games at home against Los Angeles, and then lost four in a row. This year was supposed to be different, especially after the Blues acquired Miller from Buffalo on March 1. But they lost their last six games of the regular season, putting them in a first-round series against rival Chicago. St. Louis rebounded for two 4-3 overtime victories, but the Blackhawks found their stride when the series shifted to Chicago. Crawford had a shutout in Game 3, Patrick Kane scored in overtime in Game 4, and Toews breakaway score in St. Louis put the Blackhawks in position to advance. "It was one play here, one play there," Blues captain David Backes said. "But it was on our stick and we needed to get the job done. We didnt get it done and were going home too early." Chicago defenceman Brent Seabrook returned from a three-game suspension. Seabrook was punished by the NHL for his hit on Backes in Game 2. "It was tough. I cant watch hockey," Seabrook said. "Youre hanging on every shot, every save, every play. You want to be out there helping the guys. It was obviously tough to watch it, but they did a great job." Backes exacted a measure of revenge when he delivered a hard hit on Seabrook into the end boards in the second period. But Seabrook added two more assists and had six points for the series. NOTES: Blackhawks F Kris Versteeg was scratched after he played in the first five games. ... Keith, a top candidate for the Norris Trophy awarded to the NHLs top defenceman, tied a playoff career high with four points. ... Miller, who is eligible for unrestricted free agency, on his immediate future: "I dont know. Ive just got to take things as they come right now. I guess Im free to go to my sister-in-laws wedding. Thats about it." . The unrestricted free agent agreed to terms with the club on Thursday on a one-year, two-way deal worth $700,000. . Brad Malone had the other goal for the Monsters (1-1-0), while Elliott chipped in an assist for a three-point night and the games first star. Bryan Lerg also had two assists. Corban Knight and Max Reinhart scored for the Heat (1-1-0), who opened their season Friday with a 5-2 win over the Monsters in Cleveland. http://www.vapormaxoffwhite.it/. Joining him in this years class were Switzerlands Patrick Huerlimann and Norways Eigil Ramsfjell. The announcement was made at the world mens curling championship at Capital Indoor Stadium in China. . -- Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh says he isnt going to change what he does on the field. . Here is a look at all the moves through the first week of NHL Free Agency. The most significant deals will get the full Numbers Game column treatment, like these:Briere-for-Parenteau trade. MELBOURNE, Australia -- Rafael Nadal continued his dominant streak over Roger Federer to reach the Australian Open final for the third time, beating the 17-time major winner 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-3 Friday night to set up a championship decider against No. 8-seeded Stan Wawrinka. With his 23rd win in 33 matches against Federer, the 27-year-old Spaniard set up an ideal chance to win a 14th Grand Slam title and to become the first man to win all four majors at least twice in the Open era. Nadal missed the 2013 Australian Open during a seven-month layoff for illness and a knee injury, but returned to win the French and U.S. Opens among his 10 titles for the season and finished the year at No. 1. He won the Australian Open in 2009, beating Federer in the final, and lost in a five-set, 5-hour, 53-minute 2012 final to Novak Djokovic after ousting Federer in the semis. In other years, hes struggled with injuries -- its the only Grand Slam tournament he hasnt won at least twice. "Its really, really emotional for me to be back on this court, Rod Laver Arena, and to be able to play another final," Nadal said. "I think tonight I played the best match of the tournament. I go on court (against Federer) knowing that is a really tough match and if I am not playing my best, I will not have the chance to win." At the end of the night, Federer knew he wouldnt even be the No. 1-ranked player in Switzerland next week. By reaching his first major final, Wawrinka ensured hed replace Federer as their countrys highest-ranked player for the first time. But the 32-year-old Federer is confident of winning more majors, expecting some coaching from Stefan Edberg and continued improvement in his fitness to help after a slump in 2013, when he didnt reach any of the major finals for the first time in 11 years. "I still think my best tennis is only ahead of me now," said Federer, who reached the Australian Open semifinals for 11 consecutive years. Nadal is now second on the list of players reaching Grand Slam finals, joining Ivan Lendl on 19 -- Federer leads the list with 24. Another Grand Slam title would lift Nadal to equal second on the all-time list with Pete Sampras, who was in the crowd for the match. Nadal has struggled with a blister on the ppalm of his left hand in his last two matches, but he removed the heavy tape that affected his serve in his quarterfinal win over Grigor Dimitrov and replaced it with one square of adhesive tape.dddddddddddd. A TV camera got a close-up view of the blister when he took a medical timeout after the first game of the second set, drawing gasps and groans from the crowd. "Too much talk about the blister. The blister is OK," Nadal said in his on-court interview. "The problem ... is the position of the blister, its difficult." But, he said, he didnt feel any pain. He certainly didnt show it if he did. He resisted just about everything Federer threw at him, scrambling to keep balls in play that usually would be winners. Federer served and volleyed, he played with good touch, he played drop shots, he tried everything -- even complaining to the chair umpire about Nadals loud grunting after the tiebreaker -- but his 50 resulting unforced errors doubled the number by his rival. Left-handed Nadal hit 13 of his 28 winners on his powerful forehand, attacking Federers one-handed backhand yet again. "I tried a few things ... then again, Rafa does a good job of neutralizing you," Federer said. "So I guess at times I couldnt quite do what I wanted to do, but thats because of Rafa." The first break of the match came in the sixth game of the second set, giving Nadal a 4-2 lead. That only heightened the crowd support for Federer, who got a standing ovation when he broke Nadal back to make it 2-all in the third set, immediately after dropping serve in the previous game. It noise and chants died down again when Federer was broken again soon after and Nadal finished off the match. Wawrinka beat Tomas Berdych on Thursday night, getting an extra day off ahead of Sundays championship match. Li Na will be hoping for third time lucky in the womens final on Saturday against Dominika Cibulkova. She has reached the finals in three of the past four years, but is yet to win the Australian title. Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci rallied to win the last five games and successfully defended their Australian Open womens doubles title on Friday with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Russian pair Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. ' ' ' |
|
| Page 1 of 1 | All times are UTC + 2 hours |
| Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group http://www.phpbb.com/ |
|