|
(Sports Network) - An intriguing matchup between Western Conference powers is on tap tonight in Minnesota, where the Wild entertain the Chicago Blackhawks in a battle of division leaders from Xcel Energy Center. Jimmy Wilson Womens Jersey . Catch the action live on TSN2 at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Wild lead the Northwest Division and look to get back into the win column after having a season-high seven-game winning streak cut short with Tuesdays 2-1 loss at Winnipeg in the finale of a five-game road trip (4-1-0). Guillaume Latendresse scored the lone goal and Niklas Backstrom turned aside 25 shots for Minnesota, which had a seven-game road winning streak halted as well. "Thats not really indicative of how weve had our success," said Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo. "I thought we were pretty loose in a lot of areas, in particular with how we played with the puck. We just left a little too much open ice for them and a little too much back and forth. When you do that you turn it into a 50/50 game." Minnesota was aiming for its first eight-game winning streak since a franchise-best nine-game run from March 8-24, 2007. It has still won 12 of its last 15 games. Dany Heatley played in his 700th career game and has recorded a point in seven straight games for the Wild, who will also host the New York Islanders on this brief homestand and are 10-4-1 in St. Paul, MN this season. The Wild lead the NHL in wins (20) and points (43). Center Mikko Koivu has recorded a point in 12 of the last 13 games (6g, 11a), while Latendresse returned to the ice last night after missing 15 games (concussion). Wild goaltender Josh Harding (head) is still out and center Matt Cullen (flu) missed Tuesdays game. Cullen could return this evening. Chicago will shoot for its fifth straight road win when they pay a visit to the Wild tonight, and is tops in the Central Division -- just one point ahead of idle Detroit in the standings. The Blackhawks have won back-to-back games, both in overtime, and recorded a 3-2 victory versus San Jose on Sunday. Patrick Sharp scored with 34 seconds left in overtime and both Andrew Brunette and Marcus Kruger lit the lamp in the win, Chicagos sixth in its last eight tries. Goaltender Ray Emery stopped 35 shots for the 100th regular-season victory of his NHL career. "He was great tonight," Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville said of Emery, whose 35 saves were a season high. "They put everything at the net, including bodies, and he was fighting through it all." Quennevilles team is 9-6-1 on the road this season. Captain Jonathan Toews leads the Western Conference with 20 points (10g, 10a) on the road this year. Sharp has delivered consecutive overtime winners and has nine goals in his last eight games, while Patrick Kane has tallied eight points (1g, 7a) over his last six contests. Four of Chicagos last five games have reached overtime. The Blackhawks and Wild are playing the first of four meetings this season. Chicago is 6-1-1 in the series since the start of the 2009-10 campaign and is unbeaten in its last three visits to Minnesota. Mike Wallace Jersey . Earlier Monday, Indy re-signed linebacker Justin Hickman and promoted quality control assistant Brad White to assistant linebackers coach. Moala was the Colts second-round pick in 2009 and matched a career high with 26 tackles last season. Randy Starks Dolphins Jersey . Rask stoned Max Pacioretty and Alex Galchenyuk on first period breakaways and went on to help the Bruins stretch their winning streak to six games with a 4-1 victory over the Canadiens on Wednesday night.ST. LOUIS -- Derek Roy needed less than 2 minutes to redeem himself Thursday night. After taking what he called a "stupid" penalty, the St. Louis centre scored a power-play goal to start a four-goal blitz that led the Blues to a 5-1 win over the struggling New York Islanders. St. Louis won for the sixth time in eight games. The Islanders have lost eight straight overall (0-6-2) and eight in a row on the road. David Backes, Jay Bouwmeester, Magnus Paajarvi and Brenden Morrow also scored for the Blues, who improved to 12-1-2 at home and tied Boston (12-3-2) for the most home wins in the NHL. Jaroslav Halak made 22 saves and upped his record to 15-4-2. Andrew MacDonald scored for the Islanders, who are 2-11-2 in their last 15 games. Roy took a tripping penalty that led to MacDonalds tying power-play goal at 5:19 of the second period. "I was pretty mad about the penalty," Roy said. "And they ended up scoring on it. When I got out of the box, I wanted to redeem myself -- and luckily I got the chance to." Roy pounced on the rebound of a shot from Kevin Shattenkirk to give the Blues a 2-1 lead at 7:02. "I think he felt better about himself," St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said of Roy. "His goal seemed to energize us." Just more than 2 minutes later, Backes scored a power-play goal on a wrist shot from the top of the circle. Paajarvi increased the advantage to 4-1 with his second of the season, capping a three-goal burst in 7:57. "It was a huge period for us," Paajarvi said. "The whole team really came back to its game." St. Louis was 3 for 6 on the power play after managing one goal in its previous 10 chancees. Dan Marino Womens Jersey. "The power-play goals really put us in a hole," New York centre John Tavares said. "Its the same thing again. (Were) just not good enough." St. Louis power play struggled in back-to-back losses to San Jose and Los Angeles, the teams first two-game regulation losing skid of the season. Shattenkirk, who assisted on two man-advantage goals Thursday, said the club made it a point to shore up the unit. "We just got back to simple things, getting pucks to the net and working on winning the battles," he said. "We got back to what we do best: shooting pucks and getting bodies out in front." New York goalie Anders Nilsson lost for the first time in regulation in his third start of the season. He made 21 saves. "We all know in the locker room that we have to step it up," Nilsson said. "Everybody has got to look in the mirror and see what you can do better." The Islanders, who are 3-10-0 on the road, have given up a league-high 27 power-play goals. "Its tough what were going through," Tavares said. "The only thing that is going to get us out of it is better execution." NOTES: The Blues are 11-0-1 when leading after the first period. ... Islanders G Evgeni Nabokov, who is out with a groin injury, practiced Wednesday and could rejoin the team in a week. ... New York started a five-game road swing that will end Dec. 12 in Phoenix. ... Paajarvi was back in the lineup after missing the previous game with the flu. ... St. Louis won the previous meeting between the teams 5-1 on Feb. 16, 2012. ... The Blues killed off 15 successive penalties at home before MacDonalds power-play goal in the second period. ' ' ' |
