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r will remain a Duck. "TABBOTSFORD, B. Blue Byron Maxwell Limited Mens Jersey .C. -- The Grand Rapids Griffins are back atop the Western Conference thanks to a gritty come-from-behind win Saturday night. The Griffins scored five unanswered goals to defeat the Abbotsford Heat 5-2 in American Hockey League action. With his club down 2-0 after 20 minutes of action, head coach Jeff Blashill made a goaltending change that seemed to spark his club. Tom McCollum allowed two goals on 10 shots, but Petr Mrazek came in and stopped all 13 shots he faced. "It wasnt Tommys fault for the goals, but it was one of those things where you want to change it up to change the momentum," said Griffins captain Jeff Hoggan. "Petr came in and did well. It was huge for us." David McIntyre gave the Griffins the lead for the first time in the game at 8:39 of the third when he redirected Nick Jensens point shot from the side of the net. "The play was started by Jordan Tootoo, getting the puck into the zone," said McIntyre. "It was a great pass from Nick Jensen. It was right on the tape, it was real easy for me." Andrj Nestrasil, Teemu Pulkkinen, Hoggan and Tootoo also scored for Grand Rapids (35-17-5), which has won five consecutive games and moved past Texas - whos game Saturday was suspended - for first in the Western Conference. "Weve been up and down since the All-Star break," said Hoggan. "We were flat in the first but stuck with it. It was a big win for us (because) thats a good team over there." Max Reinhart had two first-period goals for Abbotsford (33-18-6), which is winless in four games. Joey MacDonald made 37 saves in the loss. "They do a great job in the offensive zone of forechecking, and in the neutral zone - theyre sound system-wise," said Heat captain Dean Arsene. "We just had too many turnovers, and a skilled team like that in transition, they just ate us up." Reinhart got the Heat on the board early, deflecting Arsenes point shot past McCollum at the 1:23 mark. The North Vancouver, B.C., native scored his second of the night with just 12 seconds to go in the first period when he finished off a give-and-go with Corey Locke, beating McCollum short side, top corner. Thats when Grand Rapids changed goaltenders. "I would have probably done the same," said Abbotsford head coach Troy Ward of his counterparts decision. "He needed a change, a spark. We got to McCollum. We (previously) beat him (in Grand Rapids), so (Blashill) probably felt it was time for that change. They did a good job of keeping the game 2-0. We had a couple of looks to go up 3-0 but we didnt make those things happen, even when Mrazek was in net." Nestrasil got Grand Rapids on the board at 13:20 of the second period. After a pair of Abbotsford players failed to clear the puck it bounced right to the Czech Republic native, who quickly beat MacDonald glove side for his seventh of the season. The Griffins tied the game at 4:34 of the third period. From behind the net, Hoggan quickly stuffed the puck between the post and MacDonalds skate. It was just the second goal the captain scored since Christmas. "We racked up a lot of shots, we just kept getting pucks to the net," said Hoggan. "Joey Mac played the puck behind the net but I ended up having some space to walk out front." McIntyre scored to put the visitors up four minutes later. "It was a good pass from Jensen, backdoor," said Hoggan. "We were struggling to score goals, so it was nice to get five tonight." Tootoo scored an insurance marker with 4:09 to go in the game, picking the corner with a wrist shot from the face-off dot. "Obviously (Tootoo) is a grizzled veteran," said McIntyre. "Hes played a lot of big games so he knows what it takes to win. That was a great shot." Pulkkinen added an empty netter with less than two minutes to play, giving him five goals in three games. Richard Sherman Jersey . - Hall of Fame centre Bill Russell was arrested this week at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport after Transportation Security Administration officials found a loaded gun in his luggage. Jermaine Kearse Authentic Jersey . The IceHogs scored three unanswered goals, capped by Jeremy Morins third-period goal, to beat the Marlies 3-2 in American Hockey League play Wednesday.ROME -- Canadian Daniel Nestor and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic claimed a second consecutive clay-court title Sunday as they won the Italian Open 6-4, 7-6 (2) over Dutchman Robin Haase and Spains Feliciano Lopez. The victorious sixth seeds backed up their Madrid trophy of last weekend with Masters 1000 success at the Foro Italico, claiming the title in 84 minutes with eight aces and three breaks of serve. The pair have now won 27 trophies as a team. They lifted their first of 2014 in January in Sydney and added Madrid and Rome to head into the French Open starting next weekend as favourites. "Were playing mentally tough right now," said Nestor. "Weve faced a lot of good opponents but weve found a way to win with all the ups and downs. "On clay there are a lot of momentum chances. Weve been doing a good job of playing relaxed on clay, a lot of momentum chances, doing a good job of playing relaxed and staying with our game plan. Wev been playing well these last few weeks and we are confident going to Paris." Torontos Nestor has won four Roland Garros titles since 2007, the last one two years ago with former partner Max Mirnyi of Beelarus. Mens Two Tone Bobby Wagner Limited Jersey. "Its always nice to go back to back, especially the way weve been winning." said Nestor. "Weve shown a lot of resilience. We are dealing well with any situation on court, thats a feeling going into a grand slam. We hope to keep this up in Paris, but nothing is easy. If we stay mentally strong, we give ourselves a chance to win (in Paris). "Well continue training, we have to adjust to longer matches. Well keep building and try to be as ready as possible for Roland Garros." Nestor, 41, now owns 85 doubles titles from 140 finals and remains in third place in the post-1968 Open era doubles title leaderboard behind Mike Bryan (100) and Bob Bryan (98). Nestor and Zimonjic came back quickly after Nestor was broken in the third game of the match, recovering the break for 3-3. They earned the set after 36 minutes with a concluding break. Zimonjic lost serve early in the second set but two double-faults from Lopez set up break-back points, which were converted for 2-2. Nestors team hung onto their clay momentum as the set moved into a tiebreaker. They earned the victory on the first of four match points. ' ' ' |
