to be ready to go." Bears coach Lovie Smith insist...
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to be ready to go." Bears coach Lovie Smith insist
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wff0605,
2014/11/29 09:06PM
Latest post: 2014/11/29 09:06PM, Views: 276, Posts: 1
Latest post: 2014/11/29 09:06PM, Views: 276, Posts: 1
wff0605
TORONTO -- The Boston Bruins, in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons the previous night, stuck to hockey Sunday. A... Robinson Jaguars Jersey . Minus the suspended Shawn Thornton, awaiting his punishment for a red mist that saw him send Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik to hospital on Saturday, the injury-ravaged Bruins rallied to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on the strength of three second-period goals. Carl Soderberg, Torey Krug, Kevan Miller, Jarome Iginla and Patrice Bergeron -- with an empty-net goal coming out of the penalty box with 11 seconds remaining -- scored for Boston, which came into the game under scrutiny thanks to Thorntons meltdown at TD Garden. The Bruins tough guy is suspended pending a league hearing into his sucker-punch attack. For Iginla, Sundays game was a chance for the Bruins to get back to their game. "It was (good)," he said, choosing his words carefully. "Just to get the focus on just winning a game and playing. Because, yeah, it was pretty emotional. Everybody felt that from (Saturday) night." Thanks to the ugly, violent win over Pittsburgh, the Bruins (20-8-2) were also without the injured Loui Eriksson and Chris Kelly, among others. Defencemen Adam McQuaid and Johnny Boychuk were sidelined with earlier injuries. And the Bruins defensive woes were intensified Sunday when Dougie Hamilton exited after the first period with a lower-body injury after a collision with Leafs blue-liner Carl Gunnarsson. Boston coach Claude Julien said Hamilton was to return home Monday for medical evaluation but was hopeful that Boychuk might be close to returning to the lineup in his absence during the remaining three games of the Canadian road trip. Peter Holland and Jay McClement scored for Toronto (16-12-3) before an announced crowd of 19,165. The Leafs led 1-0 in the first and then cut the lead to 3-2 early in the third before Boston scored two insurance goals. Julien attributed his jury-rigged teams success to the organizations focus on playing a two-way game, whether it be wearing a Boston or AHLs Providence jersey. "The way we play is a very demanding way of playing but we feel our scouts and upper management have done a good job of giving us the types of players who can play that game," he said. "So even with the guys being called up, they play a very similar style back in Providence. And were asking them to do the same thing here. "Its about believing what your teams all about. Going out there and doing it, whether youre a young player or an older player. Our game can never change." The Leafs, who beat Ottawa 4-3 in a shootout Saturday, controlled the early going and led 1-0 after the first. But the Bruins three-goal outburst in the second period, including a pair of power-play goals in a 94-second stretch, left the Leafs in their wake. "The first period it seemed like we had our legs, we were doing a lot of things," said Toronto coach Randy Carlyle. "Then we take the one penalty and their (tying) goal kind of flattened us and the next thing you know were killing (a penalty) again right after. And it was bang-bang, all of a sudden they scored two goals and the life went out of our hockey club." Toronto, which also gave up two power-play goals against the Senators, went 0 for 4 on its power play Sunday. The Bruins, who had to kill off a pair of penalties in the third, outshot the Leafs 39-32. The focus before the game was on Thorntons moment of madness. "I agree, he did cross the line," said Julien. "He got caught in the emotions. Theres nobody thats proud of what happened (Saturday) night. Absolutely not. So hes going to suffer the consequences and so will we." "Thorny did cross the line and some others did too," Julien added. "But sometimes you have to man up to those things and I think he did." Julien saw a woozy Miller leave the game later after being crunched into the boards by Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf. The Boston coach admitted he asked the referee whether it was a penalty. "Its very minor and should impact him playing for us next game but it was a close call -- head first into the boards," said Julien. The Leafs faced Chad Johnson, who was filling in to give Bruins star goalie Tuukka Rask a night off. Jonathan Bernier started for Toronto, after James Reimers 47-save performance in Ottawa. It took the Leafs almost five minutes to get a shot on Johnson but they still showed jump and went ahead at 12:20 when Holland jammed a David Clarkson redirect of a Jake Gardiner shot into a gaping net for his third of the year. Toronto, outshot in 26 of its first 30 games, outshot the Bruins 11-10 in the first period. It took a while before shot No. 12 came, however. And Boston pulled even on the power play at 5:14 of the second period after Reilly Smith found Soderberg alone on the edge of the crease. Torontos Carter Ashton was in the penalty box for delay of game. For Smith, who grew up in nearby Mimico, it was a point in his first appearance at the Air Canada Centre. Twenty seconds after the goal, the Leafs went a man-down again with Gunnarsson sent to the box. And Krug made the Leafs pay with his eighth goal of the season at 6:47, beating Bernier with the hulking Zdeno Chara blocking the goalie in front. Ten of the Bruins 15 power-play goals this season have come from their defencemen. Boston outshot Toronto 8-0 in the second period before the home side finally put a shot on Johnson at 9:57. Defenceman Cody Franson had a good chance from in close with seven minutes remaining but the Bruins goalie made the save. Phaneuf and sniper Phil Kessel ran into each other on a line change, flooring Kessel. It was that kind of period for the Leafs. Smith hit the Toronto crossbar late in the period. Seconds later, Millers wrist shot from the blue-line slipped through Bernier at 15:58. It was his first NHL goal. Boston outshot Toronto 17-9 in the second period. McClement closed the gap to 3-2 just 37 seconds into the third, winning a faceoff in the Bruins end and then driving the Boston goal and slapping in his own rebound for his first of the year. The Bruins had to kill off consecutive penalties to maintain their lead. The Leafs, meanwhile, needed a huge save from Bernier on Jordan Caron to stay within one as the clock wound down. But he was powerless to stop Iginla after Milan Lucic accelerated past Phaneuf and fed Iginla in the crease for his sixth goal at the 16:00 mark. .Y. -- San Jose coach Todd McLellan was happy enough to laugh about the winning goal, even if it didnt come on the play he designed. [url=http://www.officialnflonlineshop.com/Black-Friday-New-England-Patriots-Tedy... Bruschi Black Friday Jersey . LOUIS -- Antti Niemi thinks the San Jose Sharks have finally found the key to beating the St. ... . -- Kawhi Leonard had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and second-seeded San Diego State survived Devon Beitzels scoring burst to win its first NCAA tournament game, 68-50 over Northern Colorado on Thursday. [url=http://www.thetexansofficialshop.com/black-friday-andre-johnson-jersey/]And... Johnson Jersey . David Perron scored a goal and added an assist on Saturday as the Edmonton Oilers came away with a 5-2 exhibition victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Mas... Crosby Jersey . The 76ers looked like the high-scoring, solid defensive team the brass envisioned when it traded for Andrew Bynum.GREEN BAY, Wis. -- With two words, Jay Cutler dismissed the notion that the Green Bay Packers would be able to disrupt the Chicago Bears new-look wide receiver corps with physical play: Good luck. Emboldened by a makeover that featured the arrival of Brandon Marshall, Cutler believes the Bears are better prepared to handle any sort of clutching, grabbing or jamming by the Packers. "Our speed guys are going to get around them and our big guys are going to throw and go," Cutler said. "We invite press coverage. We invite man. And if we get in that type of game, our guys outside have to make some plays for us." And if the Bears (1-0) somehow find a way to outscore Aaron Rodgers and the Packers (0-1) at Lambeau Field on Thursday night, the result will be something that seemed unlikely going into the season: The Bears could send the NFC North heavyweights to an unlikely 0-2 start at home. Four days after their defence got pushed around in a season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Packers must find a way to stop a Bears offence that put up 41 points on Indianapolis in a Week 1 victory. Renewing the productive partnership he had with Cutler in Denver, Marshall caught nine passes for 119 yards with a touchdown. "They definitely have better personnel, especially on the perimeter," Packers cornerback Tramon Williams said. "Jay has confidence in those guys and is definitely going to give those guys a chance to go get the ball." Williams said Marshalls size and skill present a tough challenge but added, "Im up for the task." Marshall had a big game the last time he faced the Packers, catching 10 passes for 127 yards with the Miami Dolphins in 2010. He welcomes the physical brand of coverage the Packers have used to neutralize Bears receivers in the past. "Its all about matchups," Marshall said. "Im 6-5, 230. There arent too many DBs walking around that big. If they want to get physical, I do welcome that. But again, you look at Williams and (Sam) Shields over there and even (Charles) Woodson when hes down there, they like to mix it up a lot. They give you different looks and thats what gives them big-play potential." Besides changes on offence, which also included drafting another big wide receiver in Alshon Jeffery and signing free agent running back Michael Bush to team with Matt Forte -- the Bears also have a new look led by Mike Tice. "I think there is a big difference to wwhat we are doing offensively," Cutler said. [url=http://www.officialnflonlineshop.com/Black-Friday-San-Diego-Chargers-Keenan... Allen Black Friday Jersey[/url]. "This is a totally different scheme, a mentality and direction that we are going offensively. So, there would be no advantage for (the Packers) watching tape from last year of what we did. Its totally different. I think they understand that." One thing the Bears didnt appear to fix in the off-season was their offensive line. Cutler was sacked 23 times in 10 games last season before breaking his right thumb. He was sacked twice in Sundays victory over Indianapolis -- and the Colts played most of the game without Dwight Freeney, who left with a sprained left ankle. While the Packers defence got pushed around by the 49ers, it did manage to sack Alex Smith four times. Thats an indication that they might have fixed one of last years biggest defensive deficiencies. "I thought we did some good things in the pass rush," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "The statistical support of that would be the four sacks, but I thought we had good pressure (throughout the game)." Green Bay could be without wide receiver Greg Jennings, who hurt his groin in the game, has missed practice time and is listed as doubtful. The Packers could again try to create mismatches with Randall Cobb, who caught a team-high nine passes last week. Rodgers tore the Bears apart in last time the teams met, completing 21 of 29 passes for 283 yards and five touchdowns in a Christmas Day win at Lambeau. The Packers will be hoping for more production from Cedric Benson, who had nine carries for only 18 yards last week. Benson, a first-round pick by Chicago in 2005, had 189 yards rushing when he faced the Bears with Cincinnati in 2009. Expect Rodgers to test linebacker Brian Urlacher, who missed nearly all of training camp and the preseason with a left knee injury that required surgery. With the Bears up big, Urlacher came out of the Colts game early, presumably to rest up for the quick turnaround. "Looks like hes moving around pretty good," Rodgers said. "They were up by 20 when he came out. I would expect him to be ready to go." Bears coach Lovie Smith insists that Urlacher is the same player he was before the injury. "He still is that guy," Smith said. "Hes the face of our franchise. Thats not going to change. He had an injury. A lot of guys go through injuries. I thought last week that was a good start for him. He got about 30 plays. He was old Brian." ' ' '
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