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SAN JOSE, Calif. Kroy Biermann Jersey . -- Joe Pavelski was being too creative in the shootout. He needed something different this time. Pavelski scored in the shootout and Antti Niemi stopped all three attempts to help the San Jose Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 on Saturday night. "You dont get a chance to do very much," Pavelski said. "Theres only a couple of moves you can do. You stop, the puck keeps moving, slow." Logan Couture scored his first goal in eight games. Patrick Marleau and Marty Havlat also scored for the Sharks, who finished a season-long five-game homestand unbeaten and won their eighth in nine overall. The Sharks got a scare when Joe Thornton caught a puck over his left eye. He was back on the ice after getting stitched up. "You hope its not serious and when we saw where it was, we knew hed be back," Marleau said. "He played with one eye for the most start." Thornton wasnt making too much of it. "I think it was just a ricochet. Im not sure if somebody tipped it or not, but it caught me right on," he said. "I just came in and got some stitches. But Im fine. Its what hockey players do. They get bumps and bruises and they come back out." Corey Perry, Alex Grant and Ben Lovejoy scored for the Ducks, who had won three of their past four. "We kept coming back at them," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We were always within reach. If we scored one, wed score two. We had our opportunities." Niemi stopped 28 of 31 shots for his 15th win. Jonas Hiller saved 32 shots in taking the loss. The Ducks have lost six of their past seven road games. Lovejoy tied it at 16:54 of the third with his first goal of the season, though he has three points in his past four games. Nick Bonino won a faceoff in the Sharks zone, tapped the puck to Lovejoy, who shot it to the right corner. "Its good to win but we made a lot of mistakes," Couture said. "After losing a faceoff we need to get into the shooting lanes. We need to do our job." Hiller stopped all 12 shots he faced in the first period, including several outstanding saves. Perry gave the Ducks the early advantage with a shot into the upper right corner 5:56 into the game. Ryan Getzlaf gave him a terrific pass to set up the goal. Niemi had a solid second period, allowing the Sharks to take the lead. Couture tied the game at 4:16 of the second. He redirected a shot from Marc-Edouard Vlasic over Hillers glove. The goal ended a season-long goal scoring drought for the centre. The Sharks took advantage of a poor pass from Hiller to score an easy goal midway through the period for the go-ahead goal. Hiller came out of the net to clear the puck, but flared it to Marleaus stick, who played give-and-go with Thornton and scored into an empty net at 10:13. Havlat picked up a rebounded shot and tipped it into the net with less than a minute remaining to put the Sharks up 3-1 entering the final period. "Thats a lot of character when you have guys step up in the third period like that, down two goals against a pretty good hockey team and able to fight back and get that point," Getzlaf said. Grant, playing in his first NHL game, scored his first goal with 7:10 remaining in the third to bring the Ducks within 3-2. The defenceman took a shot that Niemi blocked with his right shoulder, but was unable to control as it flipped in the air behind him and into the net. NOTES: Getzlaf recorded a point in his 10th straight game, his longest streak in four years. ... The Sharks and Ducks played the first of five games in their season series. It was their first meeting since March 27, a span of 249 days. ... Hiller went down for a few moments after teammate Kyle Palmieri accidentally hit him in the side of the head. ... Ducks F Dustin Penner has eight points in his past six games. ... Mike Brown recorded his first assist of the season and his second point. Brett Favre Black Jersey . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. Jonathan Massaquoi Red Jersey . -- Last month, Richie Incognito said severe repercussions would be warranted if the Miami Dolphins kept allowing sacks at such an alarming rate.ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Seattle Mariners quickly answered those critics who thought Robinson Cano wouldnt have enough support in the lineup to make a difference. James Paxton pitched seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball and Cano drove in his first run for the Mariners on Wednesday night in an 8-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels, completing a three-game sweep in the teams first series under new manager Lloyd McClendon. "The last couple of years, a lot of us guys were younger and going through battles and learning some things," first baseman Justin Smoak said. "Now its time for guys who have been here the last couple of years to step up." Smoak, Mike Zunino and Corey Hart all homered for Seattle, which outscored the Angels 26-8 while sweeping a season-opening three-game set for only the second time in their 38-year history. The other time was in 1985, when they started out 6-0 at home against Oakland and Minnesota before losing 12 of their next 13. "We had a lot of confidence coming in," Smoak said. "Weve got a great pitching staff. Paxton, Erasmo (Ramirez) and Felix (Hernandez) pitched their butts off and gave us a chance to win, and we were able to score some runs. Now we have to keep it going." It was the first time the Angels were swept in a three-game series to start a season since 1992, by the Chicago White Sox at Anaheim. "Thats obviously not the way we wanted to come out and open this thing up," said Angels third baseman David Freese. "They all count, but its a long season and well bounce back. Theres a lot of guys in this clubhouse that understand what a baseball season consists of, and sometimes this happens." Paxton (1-0) threw 99 pitches in his fifth big league start and struck out nine, including Josh Hamilton all three times he faced him. Hamilton also struck out against Nector Noesi for the final out after Noesi game up Mike Trouts RBI triple and Freeses sacrifice fly. Paxton stranded a runner at third base in the first with the help of centre fielder Abraham Almonte, who raced in to make a sliding catch on Freeses sinking liner for the third out. He escaped another jam in the fourth by fanningg Hamilton and Howie Kendrick with two men on, then struck out the side in the fifth. Jacquizz Rodgers Black Jersey. Paxton became the second pitcher in Mariners history to win four of his first five big league starts. The other was Michael Pineda, who did it in 2011. Paxton, a Canadian-born left-hander, was 3-0 with a 1.50 ERA four starts last September. "I just got in a groove and felt really good," Paxton said. "Probably around the third inning, I kind of found my rhythm and everything was coming together really well for me." Hector Santiago (0-1) was charged with four runs, four hits and three walks in five-plus innings. The 26-year-old left-hander, beginning his first full season as a starter, was acquired in December along with Tyler Skaggs from Arizona in a three-way trade with the Chicago White Sox that sent slugger Mark Trumbo to the Diamondbacks. Seattle scored 18 of their runs in this series with two outs. Cano, who left the New York Yankees after nine seasons to sign a 10-year, $240 million free agent contract, finished his first series in a Seattle uniform 5 for 11 with two intentional walks. "His presence definitely affects any lineup," Freese said. "I mean, you look up and down that lineup and its a complete lineup." Brad Miller, who homered twice for the Mariners in Tuesdays 8-3 win, legged out a double to right with two outs in the third and came home on Canos single. Miller drove in the second run with a two-out single in the fifth. The Mariners broke it open with four runs in the sixth, as Stefan Romero greeted Fernando Salas with an RBI double and Zunino hit his sixth big league homer. Smoak and Hart both homered with two outs in the ninth against Ernesto Frieri. NOTES: Santiagos only other start at Angel Stadium came with the White Sox on May 18, 2013, when he allowed three runs and four hits over 3 1-2 innings in a no-decision. ... The Angels begin a four-game series Friday night at Houston. The Astros won the season series 10-9 last year, despite finishing a major league-worst and franchise-worst 51-111 after switching over from the NL to the AL. ... Angels pitchers gave up 17 extra-base hits and 15 walks in the series. cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
