|
NEW YORK, N. Keenan Allen Youth Jersey .Y. - The New York Rangers were running out of time to make anything out of the longest homestand in team history. The first seven games of the nine-game Madison Square Garden stay produced one win and only four of a possible 14 points for the Rangers, who seemingly lost their way in front of goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Enter backup Cam Talbot, who got the rare start and kept all but one puck out. Carl Hagelin and Mats Zuccarello scored second-period goals, and Talbot made 24 saves in the Rangers 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night. Talbot allowed the first goal but was steady the rest of the way in relief of the struggling Lundqvist, who started the previous eight games and allowed at least three goals in the last seven outings. "We owed the fans this one," Talbot said. "Theyve been supporting us quite a bit lately, and we havent really produced for them." Benoit Pouliot tied it in the first period, Chris Kreider added a goal in the third, and Derick Brassard had two assists. Kreider made it 4-1 with 7:14 remaining. "Probably our best game all year when it comes to playing a full 60 minutes and everyone contributing," Hagelin said. "We definitely needed one of these just to feel good about ourselves." New York improved to 2-4-2 on the homestand that concludes Monday against Toronto. "There is not a whole lot of time to think about it," Talbot said. "Just go out there and try to carry this game into tomorrow." Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said he decided on his starting goalie for Monday, but didnt reveal his choice. "Hes a young kid thats learning the NHL game," Vigneault said of the 26-year-old rookie Talbot. "He came in here and did what we expect of our goalies and gave us a chance to win." Jason Pominville scored for Minnesota, and Niklas Backstrom stopped 32 shots. He made his second straight start in place of Josh Harding, who is out while adjustments are made to medication for multiple sclerosis. Minnesota, which has lost four of six, has netted only 13 goals in eight games. "When you put yourself in a hole, its hard to get out of it when goals have been tough to come by and overall youre just not feeling good about the way weve been playing," forward Zach Parise said. "Its just been a frustrating stretch for us. "Weve got to find a way to score. Thats the bottom line. Were not scoring. Were not giving ourselves a chance." New York took control during a dominant second period in which the Rangers outscored the Wild 2-0 and outshot them 17-5 to take a 3-1 lead and a 29-16 edge in shots. "Our compete level, especially in the second period, was probably our best four-line, six-defence pairing in a long time," Vigneault said. Hagelin gave the Rangers the lead when he took a pass from Derek Dorsett in the right circle and snapped a drive that beat Backstrom at 11:26 for his third goal in four games. The Rangers made it 3-1 with 1:25 left in the second when Brassard skated the length of the ice, curled behind the net, and flung a backhanded pass into the slot to the charging Zuccarello. New York fell behind 4:08 in on Pominvilles team-leading 17th goal. Mikael Granlund, who returned after a long absence, won a faceoff in the New York zone. The puck came to Pominville, who moved it back to Ryan Suter at the left point and then cut to the front. Suter sent him a quick pass for a deflection past Talbot. It marked the first time in 11 road games that Minnesota scored first. "We felt pretty good about the way we played in the first period," Parise said. "We got the first goal and that was it." New York cashed in on its second power play when Pouliot finished a crisp passing sequence started by Brad Richards. Brassard moved the puck to Ryan McDonagh, who sent a floating drive toward the net that Pouliot deflected in with 3:52 left. Pouliot, who has five goals, has scored in three of his last six games and has a point in four straight and five of six. NOTES: The Rangers improved to 3-16-1 after allowing the first goal. The Wild fell to 14-2-2 after scoring first. ... Suter has a six-game assist streak, his longest since another six-game run in December 2011 with Nashville. ... The 21-year-old Granlund had missed 11 games with a head injury. He was hurt on his first shift against Phoenix on Nov. 27. ... Wild defencemen Jared Spurgeon and Clayton Stoner played in their 200th NHL game. ... Zuccarello has a point in 10 of 15 games. Antonio Gates Elite Jersey . -- Look at London Fletchers career stats, particularly the column of numbers under the letter "G. Nick Novak Jersey . CSN New England reports that the team is interested in Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, whom they reportedly tried to acquire last off-season.MILWAUKEE -- It was just like old times for Rick Barnes and Texas. The Longhorns made a successful return to the NCAA tournament when Cameron Ridley converted a tiebreaking layup as time expired Thursday night, lifting his team to an 87-85 victory over Arizona State. Jonathan Holmes missed badly on a long 3-pointer for the Longhorns in the final seconds, but Ridley emerged from the scrum and banked it in as the buzzer sounded. The call stood after a video replay, handing Texas its first tourney win since 2011. "I went to the glass as hard as I could," Ridley said. Ridley finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds for the seventh-seeded Longhorns (24-10), who led by 14 with 12 minutes left. Freshman reserve Martez Walker had 16 points and Demarcus Holland scored 14 on 6-for-6 shooting from the field. "It was a great, great college basketball game and I thought it was really very unfortunate that either team had to lose this game," Barnes said. "We were fortunate. ... We didnt have great execution at the end but we found a way to make a couple plays." Texas will face No. 2 seed Michigan Saturday. The Wolverines advanced with a 57-40 victory over Wofford. Jordan Bachynski had 25 points and seven rebounds for No. 10 seed Arizona State (21-12), which was making its first tournament appearance since 2009. Jahii Carson had 19 points and nine assists, and Jermaine Marshall added 17 points and seven rebounds. "Its a tough one, its a tough way to end the game and end my career," Bachynski said. Texas went to the NCAA tournament in each of Barnes first 14 seasons, making it to the 2003 Final Four. But last season was a disaster for the Longhorns, who went 16-18 and lost in the opening round of the College Basketball Invitational. Barnes lost three starters from that team, but Holmes and Ridley returned, and the Lonnghorns were determined to turn it around after the disappointing finish. Shareece Wright Jersey. They stumbled a bit heading into the tournament, losing five of eight, but they stepped up at the most critical time against the Sun Devils. Holmes made two free throws to give Texas a 61-47 lead with 12:11 to go, and the Longhorns looked ready to blow out the Sun Devils. ASU then scored 17 of the next 22 points, trimming the deficit to two on Jonathan Gillings 3-pointer with 8:15 left. Arizona State had an 83-82 lead when Holmes grabbed an air ball by Javan Felix and scored while being fouled by Gilling. He made the resulting foul shot with 32 seconds to go. Gilling made two free throws on the other end, setting up the frantic finish. Gilling had four 3-pointers and 15 points for the Sun Devils, who lost their last four games of the season. "They just keep playing, theyve been a next-play, next-game team all season," Arizona State coach Herb Sendek said. "I can tell you right now its a very emotional, heartbroken locker room." The battle of at-large teams in the Midwest Regional featured a pair of coaches with a long history together. Barnes first met Herb Sendek at a 1978 basketball camp at the University of Pittsburgh, and Barnes had Sendek on his staff for one season when he was in charge at Providence. They also coached against each other for years in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Their only other meeting in the NCAA tournament occurred in 2006, when Texas beat North Carolina State 75-54 in the round of 32. Both teams got off to fast starts, with Bachynskis jumper for Arizona State tying it at 21 with 12:32 to go. But Texas responded with a 9-0 run, beginning with Walkers two free throws and ending with Walkers 3 from the wing. Walker added a layup with 31 seconds left to help the Longhorns to a 41-36 halftime lead. wholesale nfl jerseys ' ' ' |
