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The Florida Panthers have been given permission to speak to Montreal assistant coach Gerard Gallant about their vacant head coaching position, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin confirmed on Monday. Buccaneers #90 Jersey . Gallant has worked the last two seasons with head coach Michel Therrien behind the bench, after coaching in the QMJHL with the Saint John Sea Dogs. He led Saint John to to the Memorial Cup in 2011 and coached them back to the tournament in 2012. Prior to joining the Sea Dogs, Gallant served as an NHL assistant coach with the New York Islanders during the 2007-08 season. He also spent seven years on the coaching staff of the Columbus Blue Jackets, serving as the teams head coach from 2004 to 2006. He was also behind the bench as an assistant coach with Team Canada at the 2007 IIHF World Championship in Russia, capturing gold at the tournament. Before joining the Blue Jackets, Gerard was an assistant coach with the American Hockey Leagues Louisville Panthers and led the Summerside Western Capitals to a Kent Cup Championship in 1997 as the MJAHL teams head coach. Gallant appeared in 615 games in the NHL as a member of the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning. Louis Murphy Buccaneers Jersey .com) - The San Antonio Spurs will try to even their series with the Dallas Mavericks Monday night when the two teams collide at American Airlines Arena for Game 4. Buccaneers #87 Jersey . Louis Blues surprised by naming Ken Hitchcock as their new head coach, replacing Davis Payne as the Blues sit 14th in the Western Conference with a 6-7-0 record. NEW YORK -- Deron Williams felt so good, he even dunked for the first time this season. Or, maybe he didnt. "Were trying to debate if that was a dunk," Brooklyn coach Jason Kidd said. It wasnt pretty, but it went in, just like nearly every other shot Williams took in one of his best games of the season. Williams scored 28 points, leading the Nets to a 108-95 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night that extended their home winning streak to nine. Williams shot 11 of 13 from the field and looks all the way back after ankle problems wrecked his first half of the season. He was two points off his season high and rose above the rim to throw down a dunk that finished off a fourth-quarter fast break started by Andrei Kirilenkos steal. The dunk wasnt exactly a no-doubter, but far better than what Williams was capable of a couple of months ago. "Im going to give it to him," rookie Mason Plumlee said. "Hes gone up about three times now with great courage. If at first you dont succeed, keep trying. This one, I mean it rattled in, so he didnt get the flush, but he got a dunk. Theres a difference." Williams joked that his coach was supposed to have his back, adding that Kidd "was never a dunker in his day, either." But theres no debating that the two-time Olympian looks better, and so do the Nets when he plays like this. "Im definitely feeling better," Williams said after shooting 80 per cent in a game for the first time in his career. "Still not jumping that high, as you can tell, but definitely feeling better and more confident every day." Joe Johnson added 19 points for the Nets, on their longest home winning streak since winning nine straight from March 15-April 6, 2006. Playing without Kevin Garnett because of back spasms for the ninth straight game, the Nets continued to thrive playing small ball, making 67.5 per cent of their shots in the first half and leading by as much as 23 in the game. Garnett hasnt played this month and will miss at least two more games before he is re-evaluated Saturday before the Nets leave for a three-game trip. But Mason Plumlee had another strong game in his absence, ffinishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds in outplaying his brother, Miles. Buccaneers #20 Jersey. Markieff Morris scored 18 points and Gerald Green 17 for the Suns, who were seeking a perfect three-game trip against Atlantic Division teams after winning at Boston and Toronto. But they never led and fell 1 1/2 games behind Memphis for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. "We cant have these semi-efforts on nights. We had terrible effort tonight," Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. "This team has a bunch of All-Stars on it. This should have been a big game to get hyped up. Maybe we were worn out with four games in five nights. I dont know." Kidd talked before the game about how potent the Suns, who scored 121 points at Toronto, could be. But it was the Nets who were quicker up and down the floor in their 16th victory in their last 18 home games. The Nets made eight of their first 11 shots, hit 70 per cent in the first quarter, and led by as much as 14 in the period before taking a 30-20 lead to the second. With a couple of huge dunks by Green to answer some by Shaun Livingston, Phoenix was able to match Brooklyn in first-half highlights but not in baskets. Williams made all three of his shots in the second quarter, including a layup that gave the Nets a 62-49 lead at the break. "They were better than us today," Suns guard Goran Dragic said. "We tried to battle but we didnt find energy, and when you play hard you get all the calls. They were just better in all aspects of the game." Phoenix cut it to 76-67 on Morris three-point play, but Johnson and Paul Pierce hit consecutive 3-pointers to start a 14-0 burst and gave the Nets a 90-67 lead with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter. NOTES: Livingston, who suffered a devastating knee injury early in his career, surpassed his previous bests for minutes played and points scored in a season Monday. ... Brooklyns Jorge Gutierrez played 7 scoreless minutes on the day he signed a second 10-day contract. He played in only one game during the first deal. ... The game featured two sets of brothers, with the Suns Morris twins, Markieff and Marcus, and the Plumlees. ' ' ' |
