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LOS ANGELES -- Martin Jones has done something even Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy never did -- win his first eight NHL games. cheap nfl jerseys . Roy watched Jones become the second goalie to accomplish that feat -- from the other bench -- as the 23-year-old phenom made 23 saves for the Los Angeles Kings and stopped all three shots in the shootout for a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Jones has allowed eight goals on 234 shots while filling in for the injured Jonathan Quick, and has posted shutouts against Montreal, Edmonton and the New York Islanders. The only other goalie to win his first eight games was Philadelphias Bob Froese in the 1982-83 season. "Honestly, I dont even know what the record is," Jones said. "Its a good start and its something to build off of. I just wanted to make sure I came in here and did the things that made me successful in the past. "Every night our guys come to play, and the pride they take in their defensive game is pretty impressive. So I cant give them enough credit." This was the second shootout involving Jones, who in his NHL debut on Dec. 3 stopped all nine shots in the tiebreaker against Anaheim. In this one, he stopped Matt Duchene, PA Parenteau and Ryan OReilly. "These guys can put together a pretty good shootout lineup, so you know youre going to face some skilled players," Jones said. "I just try to stay patient and try not to bite on the first move all the time." The only goal in the shootout was by Anze Kopitar, the Kings second shooter. Kopitar has scored the deciding goal in four of the Kings six shootout wins. "Any goalie for us that is back there, we have a lot of confidence in them," Kopitar said. "Its up to the shooters to get a couple." Jeff Carter and Justin Williams scored for the Kings (25-8-4), who are off to their best start after 37 games and have won nine of 10. They are 22-1-2 when allowing fewer than three goals. OReilly and Erik Johnson scored power-play goals, and Duchene had two assists for the Avalanche, 4-4-2 in their last 10 following a 17-5-5 start. Semyon Varlamov made 37 saves, one day after prosecutors in Denver dropped a domestic violence case against him. Down 2-0, Colorado cut the deficit in half at 14:02 of the second with Johnsons fifth goal and third in four games. He got a cross-ice pass from Duchene in the left circle and one-timed it to the short side past Jones glove while Jarret Stoll was off for tripping. "It was a good play by them, a low lateral play," Jones said. "I got a decent read on it, but I just wasnt able to extend my blocker out far enough. I thought we deserved to win in regulation. We needed one more big save that we didnt get." The Avalanche, 2 for 39 on the power play in their previous 13 games, cashed in again with 9:33 left in regulation while Mike Richards served a delay-of-game penalty. OReilly, playing in his 300th regular-season game, converted a pass from behind the net from Duchene for his 12th goal. "I thought we showed a lot of character. Being down 2-0 in L.A. is not easy," Roy said. "We had a big break on that power play, and you see how important it is to score on it. That was a big point for us, no doubt about it." Los Angeles came in having allowed six goals in 77 short-handed situations over its previous 21 games. The Kings, who needed almost eight minutes to get their first shot, opened the scoring 32 seconds before the end of the first period. Varlamov made a glove save on Drew Doughtys one-timer from the top of the left circle, but Carter beat defenceman Cory Sarich to the rebound and tucked his 11th goal past the goalies outstretched left leg. Williams made it 2-0 at 5:25 of the second, batting a fluttering puck over Varlamovs left shoulder for his team-high 12th goal. NOTES: The in-house camera crew showed a fan holding up a handmade sign with a photo of Jones and the words: "Glory to the newborn King." ... The Kings have been shut out only once this season -- when the Avalanche beat them 1-0 at Staples Center on Nov. 23 with an overtime goal by Jamie McGinn and 33 saves by Varlamov. cheap jerseys. The 11-year NBA veteran scored 18 of his 28 points in the third quarter and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Phoenix Suns 104-96 Tuesday to match their season best of five victories in a row. wholesale jerseys . The German canoeist says she is suffering from a heart muscle inflammation and has been told by doctors that she cannot compete.AUSTIN, Texas -- Back in Texas for the second time in four days, the Oklahoma State Cowboys had to leave star guard Marcus Smart back home under orders of the Big 12. Without him, they didnt have a chance against the No. 19 Texas Longhorns. Smart served the first of a three-game suspension for shoving a Texas Tech fan and the Longhorns sent the reeling Cowboys to their fifth straight loss, 87-68 Tuesday night, as guard Javan Felix erupted for 27 points and made six of Texas 11 3-pointers. "Were going through a tough time right now. Were not down, not blaming anybody else," Oklahoma State centre Kamari Murphy said. "Theres no excuses." The Cowboys didnt have any answers either. Texas stormed through a 54-point first half and had four players score in double figures despite missing leading scorer Jonathan Holmes, who sat out with an ankle injury. When the teams met in early January, Smart had 24 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in a Cowboys victory. Back then, his defence also helped limit Felix and Longhorns guard Isaiah Taylor to 14 total points. Without the muscular Smart in their face, those two combined for 43 points Tuesday night. "This has nothing to do with Marcus Smart," Cowboys coach Travis Ford. "He wasnt here tonight. Weve got to play with what weve got." LeBryan Nash scored 23 points to lead the Cowboys (16-8, 4-7). Sharp-shooting guard Phil Forte, who was Smarts high-school teammate when they won a Texas state championship on the same court, was just 2-of-7 shooting and never got a chance to open up from long-range. Forward Brian Williams was 0-8 and the Cowboys shot justt 36 per cent for the game. nfl jerseys china. Smart still must sit out games against Oklahoma and Baylor before he can return for a rematch with Texas Tech. "We just waited until the second half to start playing ... which was too late," Murphy said. Texas (19-5, 8-3) didnt miss a beat without Holmes, its best all-around player. Felix, who missed a game a week ago with a concussion and was just a 30-per cent shooter from long range coming in, scored eight consecutive points that pushed the Texas lead to 22 in the first half. Texas led 54-33 at halftime. "I know I can make those shots. Its a matter of me taking them," Felix said. Martez Walker scored 12 and Cameron Ridley had his sixth double-double of the season for Texas with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Texas outburst came three days after the Longhorns scored just 18 points in the first half of a loss at Kansas State that ended a seven-game winning streak. Back home, Texas made eight 3-pointers and shot better than 50 per cent for most of the first half. Conner Lammert, who got just his second start of the season in place of Holmes, made three 3-pointers in the first half. Felix made two 3-pointers and a layup that put Texas ahead 36-14. Felix opened the second half with two more 3-pointers. He followed the first one with a steal that set up his second in transition. The run ended any chance of a Cowboys rally. Ford noted that Texas came in as the second-worst shooting team from 3-point range in the Big 12. "They go out and make 11," Ford said. "You cant sit around and hope a team misses, youve got to do something about it." cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
