|
WINNIPEG -- Dustin Byfugliens versatility is proving to be highly valuable to the Winnipeg Jets. Anthony Rizzo Cubs Jersey . Byfuglien, who was moved to forward from defence earlier this month but sometimes plays both positions in a game, scored the winner in a 5-4 overtime victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. The six-foot-five Byfuglien took a pass from captain Andrew Ladd and fired a wrist shot over goalie Jonathan Berniers glove 2:44 into the extra frame for his 12th goal of the season. "They (the Leafs) backed off a little bit," Byfuglien said. "They didnt know we were trying to regroup type of thing. "It was tough for them, but I just got the puck on the net." Rookie Mark Scheifele, defenceman Zach Bogosian and both Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little on the power play scored for the Jets, who outshot the Leafs 31-27 after regulation play and 32-28 following overtime. Little also had an assist and Ladd added two assists for Winnipeg (24-24-5). Toronto (27-21-6) got a power-play goal from defenceman Dion Phaneuf, centre Troy Bodie scored his second of the season and defenceman Tim Gleason marked his first goal of the year. Jets coach Paul Maurice said Byfugliens versatility is a big plus for the team. "Its a huge, huge luxury," Maurice said. "It makes us run our bench. It makes my pairs right coming off the bench up front. You get all your best offensive players on the ice that way." Byfuglien was moved to forward by former coach Claude Noel in his last game before he was fired and replaced by Maurice on Jan. 12. The Jets are 5-1 under Maurice, but they let a 4-1 second-period lead get away that seemed a little reminiscent of the past. Phil Kessel tied the game 4-4 with 1:33 left in the third period on a sharp-angled shot that beat goalie Ondrej Pavelec. "I know the scoring progression is going to say we blew a 4-1 lead, but I didnt feel we didnt generate anything and that they were all over us," Maurice said. "They had some flurries, they have some real good players. And we had some great chances, too." Little said his team didnt lose its confidence as the scoreboard shifted. "Its never fun when you start to let a team back in the game," Little said. "When they scored that fourth (goal), I tell you we handled it real well. We stayed pretty level-headed. Even if it took longer than 60 minutes, I thought we felt we were going to get the job done." Pavelec stop 24 of the 28 shots he faced. James Reimer started for the Leafs, but let in four goals on 18 shots and was replaced by Bernier midway through the second period. Bernier stopped 13 of the 14 shots he faced. "We felt that it would be the decision to let a guy play in his hometown," Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said of the decision to go with Reimer, who was born in Morweena, Man. The Jets went up 2-0 early in the first period after scoring on their first and fourth shots of the game. Toronto coughed up the puck in its own end and Jets forward Evander Kane got it and sent a pass to Scheifele. Reimer got a piece of Scheifeles shot, but not enough as the Jets went up 1-0 at 3:10 on the rookies 10th goal of the season. Winnipeg made good on its first power play of the game, courtesy of a hooking penalty on Leafs defenceman Morgan Reilly. Pavelec got things started with a pass out to defenceman Jacob Trouba, who then sent the puck to Wheeler just outside Torontos blue-line. Wheeler raced in alone on Reimer and put a shot through his pads at 6:34. "Obviously, the first two goals were goals that I thought that were scored in the middle of the net and those are tough ones," Carlyle said. "I contemplated whether to do something at that point, but I felt get him through the period and give him an opportunity to fight and battle himself back. "And then he did that because he came out in the second period and made some big stops. He made a stop on a breakaway. He battled hard for our hockey club." A five-goal second period saw each team scoring twice in a span of 3:01. The Leafs used a power play for Phaneufs fifth goal of the season, a long one-timer straight at the net through traffic at 6:13 while Jets defenceman Keaton Ellerby was in the box for boarding. Littles 17th goal of the season came just over a minute later as he redirected a shot by Toby Enstrom to make it 3-1. Bogosians shot 37 seconds later beat a partially screened Reimer and sent the goalie to the bench in favour of Bernier, who entered his 100th career game with his team down 4-1. "Well, it was more mercy because one was a deflection and the another one was posted in," Carlyle said. "We just needed a little bit of a change." Toronto made it 4-2 on Bodies goal 61 seconds later at 9:14 and then made it a one-goal deficit at 16:44 when Gleasons shot hit Trouba and went through Pavelecs pads. James van Riemsdyk assisted on Kessels goal and saw a silver lining in falling just short of a successful comeback. "We got down and were able to battle back and showed character," van Riemsdyk said. "But again, well take the point." Ron Santo Authentic Jersey . Salamida, 29, has played the last four seasons with the Goldeyes. Returning to the team halfway through last season, he went 7-1 with a 2. Starlin Castro Cubs Jersey .J. -- Before his team took the ice to face the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday, New Jersey Devils forward Ilya Kovalchuk spoke to head coach Peter DeBoer about the possibility of taking a penalty shot.If I ever needed a brain transplant, Id choose a sportswriter because Id want a brain that had never been used.- Norm Van Brocklin When I was 13, I transferred to a new school for the first time. I had spent ten years from junior kindergarten through Grade 8 at the northwest corner of Bathurst Street and Viewmount Avenue in midtown Toronto. It was my home court advantage. I knew the roll of the rims and the carom of the walls and which teachers were lax at taking attendance. It couldnt last forever. At some point a promotion was coming, and my record setting minor league career wouldnt matter once new maths and makeup-laden girls challenged all that I had honed. I was heading to St. Andrews Junior High. Grade 9. The Show. Embarking on my first day in the wilds of the public school system, I knew I had to make my mark early. Mr. Pelech, my clever English teacher, noticed my t-shirt just minutes into the first class. It was a tattered, ink-drenched Grateful Dead concert tee. He remarked that "Grateful Dead" was an example of a contradiction. Contra what now? Coach tapped my shoulder and I hopped the boards. I proceeded to argue with a shellshocked Mr. Pelech for several minutes. My arguments were lithe, varied and completely illogical, but I had been trained to stand my ground no matter how ridiculous my position. Eventually, a hapless Mr. Pelech scanned the class and sputtered, "Just who is this guy?" Each one of my classmates shook their heads sheepishly as if to say uh, dont look at me. Mark made. Within two weeks I owned that school. They didnt realize the repressed explosiveness that ten years of private school Yiddish lessons would unleash. It is in this brazen spirit I introduce myself to you now, Dear Reader, as your new weekly columnist for Bardown. Why was I chosen as The One to guide you through the international sports landscape, particularly with so many scribes vying for your sports-saturated eyeballs? Commence the elucidation (AKA bring da noize): Basketball. This is my wheelhouse. I know all the lyrics to Kurtis Blows Basketball and I have for decades. I own a Sweet Georgia Brown-humming Harlem Globetrotters pinball machine from 1979. I still play pickup every week at a local high school against stiff competition in their very extremely late twenties. Also, I was an associate producer for the Toronto Towers of the NBA for nearly 500 games, post-games, pre-games and exactly five playoff games. Ooh, another thing, I call the Toronto Raptors the Toronto Towers because I have some self-respect. Baseball. I spent five teenage summers selling peanuts outside the Dome under the alias Mike Simmons. Despite a promising career as a sidearm Eephus pitch-throwing specialist, the leagues advanced scouts were never able to unravel the mysteries of my potential, because apparently throwing over the plate was a "prerequisite for success". Racists. I submit that using the All Star Game to decide home field advantage in the World Series is akin to the winner of the submission portion of Americas Funniest Home Videos determining the nominees for The Oscars Best Picture award. Also, you can thank me for getting the old Blue Jays logo back, as days after writing this piiece, the marketing director for the Jays was following me on Twitter, and months later a new logo was born. Jeff Samardzija Authentic Jersey. Also, my therapist says I have something called a narcissistic personality disorder. Football. In 1998, I moved to Los Angeles to pursue the dream of being rich and famous which is why you know me so well today. That same year I became a fan of an upstart outfit known as the Baltimore Ravens because I thought Ray Lewis was almost definitely innocent of murder and I am obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe. Fifteen glorious seasons later I have two championship rings (made of foil and buttons) as my testament. I have correctly predicted, in pre-season, the Super Bowl participants for 13 consecutive years and I defy you to prove otherwise. (Note: Please dont reference my Twitter feed. Just be cool. This claim is all I have.) Hockey. I worked camera on the 2003 documentary A Day in the Life of the Maple Leafs so I know a thing or two about hockey. Well, exactly two things. One, when I was eight years old, my teenage neighbour convinced me his Mats Naslund rookie card could be mine for the extremely low price of my 1979 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gurtski rookie card. (Note: I have forgotten how to spell that particular Edmonton Oilers name. At least my night terrors have subsided.) Two, I have developed an algorithm demonstrating the NHL to be the worst run league in the history of Industry. It involves a complicated geometric measurement involving my eyes and common sense. (A fact I will gladly prove over and over again until they, oh I dont know, realign the conferences to have an equal amount of teams. Lets start there.) Fantasy Sports. I Am Legend. In its heyday of 2001, my sprawling website, mikegallay.com, was a sports fantasy powerhouse boasting 16 writers covering all sports, catering to an audience of nearly 16 unique daily readers (and fans of ravines who misspelled mygulley.com). Chances are, if you were a Canadian sports fan in the early 2000s, you were reading articles about topics we also covered on mikegallay.com. The Professor And Mary Ann. I will happily cover all the secondary sports every time a participant either murders someone, is attacked by a spouse using the tools of their own sport, has sex on camera on TMZ, or breaks an important racial, cultural or gender barrier while also keeping our interest for more than eight minutes. Thats my pledge. Am I the precisely correct author to bring you whimsical, satirical, deadly accurate analysis of the sports that matter to you? Absolutely. And can I say that with total sincerity because part of my contract stipulates I have no editor? Two for two. Have I earned your attention to read my column next week? Lets put it this way. My topic will be 23 Ways to Make Over 7K a Week Working Part Time From Your Couch. My third column will be Bardown Seeks New Columnist, No Experience Required. Gallays Poll #1 What would you like to see Gallay write about in his next column? a) A 20,000-word essay conclusively proving Mike is the third Williams sister. b) Doug Gilmours Secret Recipes for 3am Snacks. c) My Weekend In The Hamptons With Barry Bonds. d) No column, just use this space to expand Badminton coverage. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
