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BOSTON -- A dominant first period gave the Chicago Blackhawks plenty of momentum. Jerry Rice 49ers Jersey . Then it disappeared. Theyve come to Boston to find it and get the upper hand over the Bruins in a very tight Stanley Cup final series. "I guess the main thing is to always keep it simple," Chicagos Patrick Kane said Sunday soon after arriving at the arena where he hopes to do that. "If you can do that, usually you can take away some of their momentum. I think right now they do have it, especially after the last overtime period where it seemed like they had a lot of chances compared to ours." Chicago outshot Boston 19-4 in the first period and led 1-0 in Game 2 on Saturday night. But the Bruins held a 24-15 lead the rest of the way and won 2-1 in overtime to even the series at one game apiece. The team that scored first also lost the opener. Boston led 2-0 and 3-1 then allowed two goals in the last 12 minutes of regulation. Chicago went on to win 4-3 in three overtimes. "Might be an unusual stat," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said, "but theres nothing wrong with scoring first." The Bruins physical play might have taken its toll. They outhit the Blackhawks 50-34 and dominated overtime. "Im used to getting hit back there quite a lot," Chicago defenceman Niklas Hjalmarsson said. "I know how to take a hit or two. I think for the most (part) we might not be the most physical D corps in the league, but were trying to move the puck quick. Sometimes you have to take a good hit to deliver a pass." Any momentum Chicago gained by winning Game 1 carried over into Game 2 despite two days between games. The Blackhawks started aggressively, pressuring goalie Tuukka Rask and stifling the Bruins offence with tight checking. "We played a perfect first period there," Quenneville said. "In the second, we were going along fine, too, but I thought we slowed down a little bit in that period." The Blackhawks have struggled on the power play throughout the playoffs, and their inability to score after Bostons Johnny Boychuk was penalized for holding at 8:15 of the second period may have turned the momentum in the Bruins favour. Less than seven minutes later, Chris Kelly tied the game with his first goal of the post-season. "On the power play, if youre not going to score, you always want to at least build momentum somehow by getting chances," Kane said. "You see with special teams in this playoffs, you can either get a lot of momentum off a big (penalty) kill or some momentum off a good power play or scoring a goal on the power play. "Our penalty kills been great all year, to the point where weve won a lot of games because of it. Its given us a lot of momentum. It would be nice to see the power play return that." The Blackhawks are scoreless in six power play opportunities against the Bruins and in 14 over their last five games. Theyve scored just once in the last 24 times theyve had the extra skater. "Theres not a lot of high-quality chances" when the teams are at even strength, Quenneville said. "Weve got to look to maybe simplify it and play anything at the net. "The pretty plays arent there. If we think the pretty plays are there with power plays, they evaporate quickly." Just like momentum. In a series in which both teams take extra care to play disciplined hockey and avoid risks that could lead to costly mistakes, all it takes is one play -- a big hit, an intercepted pass, a goal -- for control to shift from one team to the other. "We got away from what made us successful in the first period" Saturday night, Quenneville said. "You know your opponents are going to get their turn." Dwight Freeney Chargers Jersey .Y. - Forbes ranks the New York Yankees as baseballs most valuable team for the 17th straight year and lists the Tampa Bay Rays with the lowest valuation. Michael Roos Titans Jersey . 2 Ohio State to a 64-35 drubbing of Texas-Pan American on Saturday. Buckeyes sophomore forward Jared Sullinger missed the game with back spasms, but that didnt stop Ohio State (8-0), as Deshaun Thomas dropped 11 points to go with five rebounds, while Scott Shannon and Jordan Sibert contributed seven points apiece.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Al Jefferson laughed when told he finished three stitches shy of a triple-double. "I have to call my agent because Im done with my modeling career," Jefferson said. Jefferson had seven stitches in the first half to repair a gash above his right eye, but returned to finish with 19 points and 11 rebounds, helping the Bobcats overcome an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit and defeat Washington 100-94 Monday night. The win prevented the Wizards from clinching their first playoff berth since 2008. Jeffersons put back off an offensive rebound with 3:30 left in the game helped the Bobcats take the lead for good at 93-92. Kemba Walker had a big second half, finishing with 21 points and 10 assists, and rookie Cody Zeller scored a career-high 15 points on 4-of-4 shooting and added eight rebounds for Charlotte. Walker scored nine points in the final quarter and the Bobcats erased a 16-point halftime deficit and pulled within two games of the Washington in the race for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs Both teams have eight games left and will meet again on April 9. "We made big shots and played well defensively in the second half and really came together as a team," Walker said. "It shows our resiliency. That was a big win for us." Bradley Beal had 20 points for the Wizards, who missed 11 of their last 14 shots from the field. "It (stinks) man," Washingtons Al Harrington said of not clinching a playoff spot. "Because obviously we played a great first half. We really thought tonight was our night, but to have them come out and play the way that they played and beat us -- thats tough." Washington still would have clinched a playoff spot if the Utah Jazz had defeated New York later Monday, but the Knicks won 92-83. The Wizards (38-36) came in looking to snap the third-longest playoff drought in the NBA -- and for a while it looked like they would. The Wizards shot 59 per cent in the first half, at one point hitting 10 straight shots from the field and scoring on 14 of 15 possessions to close the first half on a 30-7 run. The Bobcats could do little right in what Jefferson called an "embarrassing" first half. But he was confident they would battle back. Cam Thomas Steelers Jersey. . Jefferson walked to the scorers table at the start of the third quarter and told whoever was in earshot, "Hey, watch this comeback." "Everyone looked at me like I was crazy," Jefferson said. "At the end of the game though people were pointing at me saying, You said it. You said it." Charlottes defence was the big difference. Coach Steve Clifford also went to a pick-and-roll with Walker and Jefferson. "The Wizards did a good job of taking away the post," Clifford said. The momentum turned four minutes into the fourth quarter when Walker came up with the loose ball off a Washington turnover and fed Chris Douglas-Roberts for a fast-break layup in traffic with 7:38 left in the game. Douglas-Roberts had to adjust in midair to get his body from one side of the rim to the other to avoid defenders and get the shot to drop. Douglas-Roberts made a 3-point play and then knocked down a long-distance 3 to cut the lead to one before Jeffersons put back gave the Bobcats the lead for good. Jefferson hit a 16-footer to push the lead to three. Walker followed with a backbreaker when he scored on a driving layup to make it 97-92 after a Bobcats possession that took more than a minute off the clock. Charlotte twice came up with key offensive rebounds, allowing Walker to bring the ball back out and reset the offence and milk time off the clock. "When you give a team two to three looks one time down the floor, theyre going to make one," said Wizards forward Drew Gooden. "I would say we lost the game giving them second and third possessions offensively." Jefferson left the game briefly at the end of the first quarter to head to the locker room to get the stitches above his right eye after taking an inadvertent elbow from Trevor Booker. "I had to get a shot to numb it and I hate needles," Jefferson said. NOTES: Gary Neal returned to action for the Bobcats after missing two games with an ankle injury. He had nine points ... The Bobcats have won four of six against Washington, but have split their two games this season. ... The Bobcats have won 11 of their last 13 at home. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
