MILAN - Defending champion Juventus took advantage of Romas loss at Napoli to move three points clear at the top of Serie A with a 2-0 win at Empoli on Saturday.Andrea Pirlo broke the deadlock with a trademark free kick on the hour mark and Alvaro Morata sealed the result on the day Juventus celebrated the 117th anniversary of its foundation.It was the 35-year-old Pirlos first goal of the season following a spell on the sidelines with injury.Im improving, Im working hard during the week and I feel better every match, Pirlo said. It was a difficult match but we risked little, we grew in the second half and closed the match.Empoli also had Lorenzo Tonelli sent off in stoppage time for bringing down Carlos Tevez as the Juventus striker was clear on goal.Earlier, Gonzalo Higuain scored again to help Napoli beat title hopeful Roma 2-0 amid high tension at the Stadio San Paolo.I think that today everyone pushed hard to get this result, playing with a really high tempo, Napoli coach Rafa Benitez said. Today we could have done even better, but creating so many great chances against such a strong opponent shows that we really performed well. We still need to be a bit more clinical. Its a question of time and confidence. This victory will certainly help.Higuain, who hadnt scored in the opening seven rounds, netted his fifth goal in six days as Napoli got off to a blistering start.The Argentine turned provider to help Jose Callejon seal the result late on.Napoli moved provisionally third ahead of the rest of the weekends fixtures.We went behind in the opening minutes and the deficit could have been worse at halftime, Roma coach Rudi Garcia said. We had very few chances after the break but that means Napoli was stronger than us in this match and the best team won.Elsewhere, Paolo De Ceglie scored his first career brace to hand bottom club Parma a surprise 2-0 win against Inter Milan, which will increase the pressure on Nerazzurri coach Walter Mazzarri.Parma had lost its previous six matches to equal its worst ever run in the top flight.Juventus knew it had a chance to restore its three-point advantage after being caught by Roma midweek when it lost 1-0 at Genoa in its first defeat of the season.With that in mind, Juventus was surprisingly sluggish in the first half although Sebastian Giovinco — who spent a season on loan at Empoli — had two decent opportunities blocked in the opening 10 minutes.Juventus stepped up a gear after the restart and had a series of chances before free kick specialist Pirlo broke the deadlock with a precise effort over the wall and into the bottom left corner.It was Pirlos 26th free-kick goal in Serie A and sees him close in on Sinisa Mihajlovics record of 27.Empoli almost levelled immediately but Gianluigi Buffon pulled off a one-handed save to deny Manuel Pucciarelli.Juventus should have doubled its lead but Tevezs effort was parried by Bassi and Claudio Marchisio turned the follow-up onto the right upright.It did score a second moments later when Morata curled an unstoppable shot under the crossbar and into the top left corner.The match between Napoli and Roma was considered high-risk as it was the first time the two teams had met since clashes that led to a fans death from a shooting before the Italian Cup final in May.Napoli fan Ciro Esposito died 50 days after he was allegedly shot by a Roma fan. An investigation over the shooting is ongoing.Roma fans were barred from travelling to Naples for the game but there were still concerns of reprisal attacks and there were tight security measures put in place.Napoli, which could have been 3-0 up inside the opening 12 minutes, took the lead in the third minute when Higuain acrobatically volleyed it in Lorenzo Insignes deflected effort with a scissor kick.Inisgne then drilled the ball just wide of the left upright before unleashing a curler which Roma goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis did well to fingertip around the base of his post.Moments later, Callejons fierce strike crashed off the crossbar.Marek Hamsik also hit the crossbar shortly before halftime after De Sanctis had denied Higuain.Napoli doubled its lead six minutes from time as a delightful diagonal pass from Higuain allowed Callejon to slot past De Sanctis. .C. Lions 35-14, was named the CFLs offensive player of the week Tuesday. Sheets recorded his ninth 100-yard rushing performance of the season to tie the Riders club record. . Despite 11-1 records, theyre out and Big Ten winner Ohio State is into the national semifinals.
http://www.avalancheauthority.com/authe ... he-jersey/. Cleary also had two assists and Patrick Eaves added two goals for the Red Wings, who also ousted Phoenix in seven games during the first round of the 2010 postseason. Todd Bertuzzi had a goal and an assist for Detroit, which got a goal apiece from Tomas Holmstrom and Niklas Kronwall and suffered no shortage of offense despite the absences of Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen. . Ferrer was unable to find his rhythm in losing 6-4, 6-2 to Teymuraz Gabashvili in his opening match while Nadal struggled past fellow Spanish player Albert Ramos 7-6 (2), 6-4. Nadal eventually overcame his 103rd-ranked opponent to reach the third round, rebounding from a surprise loss to Ferrer in the Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinals. . The Kelowna, B.C. rink made the announcement on their facebook page on Thursday night.WASHINGTON D.C. – The hole was three goals deep after just eight minutes and 44 seconds. And it would ultimately prove too daunting for the Maple Leafs to overcome in the U.S. capital. Doomed by the drudge of a sleepy start they fell in regulation Sunday afternoon for just the fifth time in the past 23 games (15-5-4), their comeback attempts sullied a 4-2 loss to the feisty Washington Capitals. Coming off a successful swing through the California triangle – they won twice – Toronto mustered just two shots in a stunted opening 20 minutes back east, down 3-0 before the frame was even halfway over. Washington scored twice on its first two power-play attempts, adding another from Jason Chimera at even-strength. “It looked like we were still in for our afternoon nap,” mused head coach Randy Carlyle of the period with some frustration afterward. “We werent good enough in the first 10 minutes,” added James Reimer, appearing in his third straight game. “You cant spot a team three goals. We just werent sharp, myself included, and it cost us. I thought we dominated the second and the third was anyones game, we just couldnt quite climb out of the three-goal hole.” The Leafs did dominate the middle period with the same emphasis as the Capitals did the first. They outshot the home-side 10-1 in the opening 11 minutes and 20-6 overall. But with three power-play opportunities and a slew of chances to score they could only get one by Jaroslav Halak, the eighth this season from Dion Phaneuf. David Clarkson had maybe the best opportunity to even the proceedings at three. Stuck with just one goal in the past 21 games and only four this season, the 29-year-old thought hed beaten Halak only to see the puck trickle off the goaltender and out. “Thats been the story this year,” Clarkson said. “I think even if I didnt celebrate it was still laying there for me to poke in.” Never coming closer he and the Leafs fell for the second time on a season-long road trip that wraps up Tuesday in Detroit against the hurting Red Wings. The momentum of emphatic wins in Anaheim and L.A. failed to carry over on the road back east. Knowing that first place in the Atlantic division is lost – Boston is up 15 points – Toronto has set its sights now on securing second spot and home-ice advantage in the first round. With 13 games to go they have 80 points, one up on Tampa and Montreal, who each carry games in hand. “If we wouldve won this one we wouldve been in a great spot,” said Carl Gunnarsson of the road trip at large. “Weve got a big one coming up here in Detroit to make it a good one.” Five Points 1. First Periods A nemesis on Sunday afternoon and all season for that matter, first periods have been a regular sore spot for the Leafs. Washington scored three unanswered in the opening frame on this day. Troy Bodie added a late goal to cut the deficit to two, just the second of two shots in the period for Toronto. Utterly displeased with his teams performance, Carlyle gathered the entire team for a chat during the second TV timeout. “It was more or less just get going,” Bodie said of Carlyles message. “We didnt have our feet going. We werent ready to play.” The Leafs boast a minus-15 goal differential in first periods this season, by far the worst of the three stanzas. Scoring their second of the night while out-shooting the Capitals 20-6, they improved to plus-13 in second periods. “I think finally we got our legs under us,” said Clarkson. “We started going and we kind of put them back on their heels a little bit.” 2. PK Stumbles The rising Leafs penalty kill entered the day with an 88 per cent success rate in the previous 14 games, turning the corner from an awful first half. “We knew we couldnt give up on it,” Jay McClement told the Leaf Report before the game. “We just had to keep working and wed get better because virtually its the same group of us from last year. I dont know what the reason was [for our struggles], but now it seems like weve got the confidence back.” That is until they faced the second best power-play unit in the league at the Verizon Center. Shadowing Alex Ovechkin, who leads the league with 19 power-play goals, the Leafs gave up a pair on Washingtons first two opportunities with the man advantage, once from an open Troy Brouwer in the slot, a second from Joel Ward on the back-door. “We missed assignments on our coverage,” said Carlyle. “You cant let Troy Brouwer shoot the puck from 10 feet in front of your goaltender. Theres obviously a missed assignment and missed coverage in that situation.dddddddddddd.” 3. Man Advantage Yields Little Boasting just two goals now in the past 11 games – 7 per cent in that span – the Toronto power-play meanwhile continued its dry spell. The Leafs grappled with three consecutive power-plays in the middle period, but failed to score even once. “We believe in our power-play,” said Joffrey Lupul prior to the game. “And theres going to be stretches when you dont get those goals, but as long as we keep doing things right with some of the scorers we have on the team eventually the power-play opportunities are going to turn into goals.” Punch-less on many recent nights, the Leafs did have their opportunities against the Capitals, mustering eight shots. Sneaking in from the right point Cody Franson had maybe the best opportunity to beat Halak, but was ultimately turned aside. The unit currently sits in a four-way tie for third overall at 20.7 per cent. 4. Goalies James Reimer made his third straight appearance Sunday, starting in place of the injured Jonathan Bernier. Fighting the puck early, Reimer yielded three goals on the first five shots, but settled as the night wore on. He made key stops in the final frame, including one on Jason Chimera breaking in partially alone.Citing the now 26-year-olds rebound trouble in that opening frame, Carlyle said he considered pulling Reimer in favour of Drew MacIntyre after the third Washington goal. “We did think about that,” said Carlyle. “But I didnt want to throw Drew into that type of situation without giving him a heads up …Weve got Reims here and weve got to show the confidence for him to fight through some of those situations. We know that Reims is going to start the next game in all probability.” Carlyle had little to offer as far as an update on Bernier, who remained with the team in Washington Sunday ahead of the trip to Detroit. Its clear the 25-year-old will miss his second straight game against the Red Wings Tuesday, the clarity of lower-body injury yet to be fully revealed. 5. Kadris Evolution Nazem Kadri said recently that “I want to become a complete player that this team can trust” and among coaches and teammates that desire for evolution has been seen on the ice. “I think hes maturing as a player,” said Carlyle of the 23-year-old, who established a new career-high for points in Los Angeles this past Thursday night. “I still think theres some room for Nazzie to grow. But I still think youve got to give the kid credit. Hes under a microscope. Hes under a lot of pressure to come in as a young player and play those minutes. We have all kinds of confidence [in him]. [But] maybe not as much confidence as he has if you know what I mean.” “Hes better in his defensive zone for sure,” added Lupul. “Just positioning and using his body and his stick down low. I think everyone probably saw the offensive talents [which] have always been there, but now – Ive been playing on his line for a while now – hes pretty reliable defensively. And as a winger he gets in a spot where youre able to find him, get him the puck.” For Lupul, thats the indicator for when Kadri is at his best. “I think thats one thing for me that when hes playing really well thats what I notice about being on his line is hes putting himself in a spot where hes basically demanding the puck and that he gets it. That shows his confidence and thats how you can kind of tell when hes on the top of his game.” Kadri finished with two shots in 20 minutes against the Capitals. Stats-Pack 35-40 – Toronto penalty kill over 14 games preceding Sunday in Washington. 54 – Consecutive games missed by Dave Bolland, who is still recovering from a left ankle injury, his return status as yet unknown. 15-5-3 – Leafs record in the past 23 games. 2-28 – Toronto power-play over the past 11 games. 29 – Points this season for Dion Phaneuf, eclipsing the mark he set in 48 games last season. Fighting the flu, Phaneuf had a goal and an assist in defeat against the Capitals. 42-57 – Goal differential for the Leafs in first periods this season, favouring the opposition. 8-15-4 – Leafs record this season when trailing after the first period. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-3Season: 20.7% (T-3rd) PK: 2-4Season: 78.4% (28th) Quote of the Night “It looked like we were still in for our afternoon nap.” -Randy Carlyle, on his teams performance in the opening period Sunday. Up Next The Leafs conclude their five-game road trip with a division battle against the Red Wings on Tuesday. ' ' '
