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RALEIGH, N. Chris Harris Jersey .C. -- Having lost three straight, the Calgary Flames were looking for something positive when they visited the Carolina Hurricanes. Karri Ramo delivered just what they needed. Ramo made 22 saves in his first NHL shutout, and Mikael Backlund and Sean Monahan provided the offence in the Flames 2-0 win over the Hurricanes on Monday night The Flames snapped their skid and handed the Hurricanes their second straight shutout defeat. "It was probably our best team effort of the season," Calgary coach Bob Hartley said. "We had quite a good first period, and I felt we pressured them and gained the momentum. Carolina came hard at us, and we did a great job." Carolinas offence has been shut down for two games following a season-best, five-game winning streak. The Hurricanes failed to match Calgarys intensity at the start, and were shut out for the fourth time this season. "We spent too much time in our own end," defenceman Brett Bellemore said. "We didnt get off to a good start and they kind of got a lucky bounce off a skate or something (on their goal)." The Hurricanes now have a long wait before they host Florida on Saturday. "We didnt have that extra jump," Carolina coach Kirk Muller said. "Its disappointing. We have four days ahead of us to sit on it. When you play teams like Calgary, its going to be a game in the trenches. "They got the lead, and once they did, they were able to sit back a little bit and defend." Backland scored his seventh goal of the season for the Flames, who notched their second power-play tally in 26 chances. Backland gathered the puck in front after it bounced off the skate of Hurricanes forward Radek Dvorak. "It was nice to score first," Backlund said. "Its easier to play with some energy when you score than have to chase all the time like weve been doing lately." Monahan scored his 13th goal midway through the third period to add some insurance. He scored into an open net after goalie Anton Khudobin was unable to get back across the crease from the far post. Ramo improved to 8-8-3 as the Flames swept the two-game season games from Carolina. It was Calgarys first shutout in 117 games. "Its good that its out of the way," Ramo said. "Its nice to finish one without a goal. Obviously, everyone thinks about it and knows the situation but you just have to focus and play normally." Khudobin, who lost his second straight, did some of his best work in the first period when the Flames carried the play and held a 14-5 shots advantage. Khudobin made 27 saves overall. Carolina captain Eric Staal returned to the lineup after missing three games because of a lower body injury. NOTES: Calgary is 11-3-3 in games in which it scores a power-play goal. The Flames went 1 for 3. ... Carolina activated C Jiri Tlusty from the injured list, and he was in the lineup for the time since Dec. 23, before he was sidelined because of an appendectomy. ... The Flames have won three straight and four of five against Carolina. ... Calgary RW Kevin Westgarth returned to face his old team for the first time since being traded by Carolina on Dec. 30. Dennis Smith Orange Jersey . - The Chicago Cubs say they have agreed to one-year contracts with pitchers Jason Hammel and James McDonald. Von Miller Blue Jersey . -- The Buffalo Sabres got the lead for a change, and held onto it thanks to a stellar performance in goal by Jhonas Enroth. SEATTLE -- A couple thousand Seahawks fans were crowded in front of the television stage when Russell Wilson walked out of the locker room still in full uniform. Instantly, the chant started. "MVP! MVP!" Hard to argue against Wilson after a performance like Monday night. Wilson threw for 310 yards and three touchdowns, and the Seahawks became the first team to clinch a spot in the NFC playoffs with a 34-7 victory over the New Orleans Saints. More important than just wrapping up a spot in the post-season, the Seahawks (11-1) moved two games ahead on the rest of the NFC in the race for home-field advantage and hold the tiebreakers over New Orleans (9-3) and Carolina (9-3), the two closest pursuers. The rest of the top teams better get ready to visit the Pacific Northwest in January. After this rout, the road through the NFC playoffs is almost certain to go through Seattle. "For us to come out in that fashion and to win that game the way that we did was awesome," Wilson said. Wilson was outstanding, picking apart the Saints defence. He threw touchdown passes of 2 yards to Zach Miller and 4 yards to Doug Baldwin in the first half as Seattle built a 27-7 lead. Wilson added a pinball 8-yard TD pass to Derrick Coleman in the third quarter. Wilson completed 22 of 30 passes and finished with a quarterback rating of 139.6. He has 22 regular-season wins in his first two seasons, tied for the most ever by a second-year QB and is 14-0 at home. Michael Bennett had a 22-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the first quarter to give Seattle a 10-0 lead and the Saints never threatened. It was a dominating performance by the Seahawks, making up for a lacklustre effort the last time they were given a national television spotlight and were taken to the final yard and final play by St. Louis. Not this time. The most anticipated game in the NFC this season was a laugher. Drew Brees and the Saints were stymied the entire night as he lost for the first time on Monday night after nine straight wins, and continued the belief New Orleans cant win outdoors late in the season. New Orleans didnt crack 100 yards of total offence into midway through the third quarter. Jimmy Graham was nearly invisible outside of his franchise-record 12th TD catch of the season in the second quarter that pulled the Saints to 17-7. Brees finished 23 of 38 for 147 yards. Graham had three catches for 42 yards. Darren Sproles led New Orleans with seven catches, many of thosee check downs. Rahim Moore Jersey. The seven points matched the fewest scored by the Saints since Sean Payton became coach in 2006 and the 188 total yards were the fewest in his coaching tenure. "Lot of things to look at," Payton said. "Lot of things we didnt do well." It was K.J. Wrights job to shadow Graham and he hounded the Saints star all night. "The coaches told me Were going to let you hold (Graham). Just do your job, win on your leverage, trust your guys around you and just play your best game. Thats what I tried to do," Wright said. The Saints went three-and-out on their first possession and that was just the start of their struggles. On their next possession, Brees was hit from behind by Cliff Avril and fumbled into the arms of Bennett, who returned it for the touchdown. Brees was unable to take advantage of Seattles depleted secondary. The Seahawks were without Brandon Browner (injury) and Walter Thurmond (suspension) but Byron Maxwell and Jeremy Lane played well in their places. "We took one in the chin today," Brees said. "We got out played today. They played great. They made a lot of plays and we didnt." Seattle used the bye week to add wrinkles to its offence. Wilson was a threat not only passing but running with the zone read again becoming an addition to the playbook. Wilson carried five times in the first half, three of those designed keepers. But it was his passing that stole the show. Wilson was 14 of 19 in the first half for 226 yards and a rating of 148.1. He found Miller open for a 60-yard catch-and-run early in the second quarter, then capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Miller and a 17-0 lead. Wilson later hit Doug Baldwin for 52 yards. Seattle had seven pass completions of 12 or more yards in the first half. The Seahawks finished with 315 first-half yards, the most allowed by the Saints in a first half since 2005 against Minnesota. Baldwin said Seattle saw a specific blitz package from the Saints on film and the Seahawks knew theyd have chances to go downfield. "We wanted to be great against the blitz," Wilson said. " ... We knew they were going to bring some pressure and we like the sense of pressure because there is a lot of green grass behind it." Notes: Wilson averaged 10.3 yards per pass attempt, while Brees was at 3.9. ... New Orleans was 25th in the NFL in run defence, but held Marsahwn Lynch to 45 yards rushing on 16 carries. ' ' ' |
