ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Last year, the Chicago Blackhawks gave the Minnesota Wild a quick exit from the playoffs. This year, the Wild are giving the defending Stanley Cup champions all they can handle. Jason Pominville and Matt Cooke scored first-period goals and Darcy Kuemper made 33 saves and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 on Thursday night. After losing a five-game series in the first round of last years playoffs, the Wild have won three of four against the Blackhawks this season. "I know we get geared up to play that team," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "I think the fact that weve played them as much as we have, I think our guys are confident going into the game knowing we can play with them. "Obviously theyre such a great team, and we have so much respect for them, we havent taken any nights off against that hockey team." Kuemper was making his sixth consecutive start as Minnesotas top two goalies, Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom, have been sidelined with health problems. The Wild are 5-3 with rookie in the net this season. "Im pretty confident right now," Kuemper said. "Obviously I just want to go in there and every time I get a chance, help the team win. And when youre getting wins like this, obviously its easy to keep rolling and come to the rink every day with a smile." Patrick Kane spoiled Kuempers shutout bid when he scored his 24th goal of the season with 31.2 seconds left to bring the Blackhawks to within one. But Kuemper stopped one final flurry in the last 10 seconds and Zach Parise cleared the puck from Minnesotas zone to run out the clock. Pominville opened the scoring at 8:08 of the first period. Dany Heatley carried the puck across the Chicago blue line and passed to Mikael Granlund near the goal mouth. Granlund spun back around and slid the puck across the slot, where Pominville was waiting to send it in the open net for his 20th of the season. "Hes the type of player that doesnt really need to know Im there," Pominville said of Granlund. "He just has a feel for it." The Blackhawks killed off a 5-on-3 power play, but Minnesota doubled its lead late in the first period. Justin Fontaine won a race to a loose puck and tipped it to Cooke, who slipped it past Antti Raanta from the left faceoff circle. "They made a decent play," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "After the big kill that was a deflating goal, but there was still a lot of hockey left." Raanta, who entered the game with a 12-1-3 record this season, was upset with himself after the game for putting his team in a 2-0 hole early. "Their first goal was pretty nice, tic-tac-toe, but the second one was too easy," Raanta said. "When they get two goals in the first period youre behind all the time. Its much harder to play because Minnesota was defensively so good. Every goal counts and today there was one easy goal so thats not a good thing." Kuemper got a little help from his defence to keep it 2-0 late in the second. During a Minnesota power play, Pominville tripped at the Chicago blue line and Marian Hossa pounced for a short-handed breakaway. But defenceman Ryan Suter caught up to Hossa just in time to prevent him from getting a clean shot. Kanes goal prevented them from being shut out for the first time in 120 games, but the Blackhawks lost in regulation for only the second time since Dec. 15. "Theyre the best team in the league and ... theyre going to see every teams best game. Its pretty impressive what theyre doing, even this year," said Parise, who returned to the lineup after missing 14 games with a broken left foot. "For whatever reason, our game elevates when we play them. And I thought ... we did a good job of containing their top players. Other than Kane getting that one at the end, we did a pretty good job of neutralizing them." Notes: Blackhawks D Duncan Keith missed his first game of the season Thursday. He was a pregame scratch due to illness. ... Blackhawks senior adviser Scotty Bowman is scheduled to have right knee replacement surgery Friday in Tampa, Fla. The 13-time Stanley Cup champion has a residence about an hour from Tampa. ... Kuempers mask broke during the second period, and he used Backstroms mask for about 10 minutes while it was being fixed. . The Canadiens captain, who underwent surgery on his injured biceps in the off-season, had been skating with the team in a non-contact capacity since last week. . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two.
https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/. New York Red Bulls. TSN primes Vancouver fans for the start of the 2014 season with MLS on TSN: Season Preview Special airing tonight at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt on TSN2 (encore Friday at 3:30pm et/12:30pm pt on TSN2). .The Canadiens will visit the Boston Bruins at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on New Years Day 2016, taking hockeys oldest rivalry outside.It was special in 2010 just to be there with the history behind Fenway Park and all that, Bruins centre Patrice Bergeron said. . But when it was all over they had wasted another lead, seen another pitcher flame out on the mound and lost their fourth straight at home.Final score of last years Grey Cup: Saskatchewan 45, Hamilton 23. What a disaster right? No, far from it. I thought last year for the Tiger-Cats was an immense success, not the ultimate success, but immense in my evaluation. Ending the season at 10-8 was the first time the Ticats had a 10 win season since 2001. Getting 10 wins has a psychological comfort about it in that it means you are not great but by no means are you a disaster. And then you consider in support of those 10 wins the team made it to the Grey Cup, first time since 1999, the 45-23 loss has to be put into rational perspective against the season. The Ticats had a good season last year, a type that leads to the inevitable feeling of impending improvement. Consider playing the season basically on the road at University of Guelph. To be clear, that city receives my praise for embracing the Ticats with both arms and not letting go. All adversity considered, we all thank them for what they did both on and off the field. Sure, I am positive the revenue they received enhances the quality of what it was invested in, but my attitude is "thank you for being there." If not for you, not sure what the league could do. But, this year could be different with the building of Tim Hortons Field. I live about 15 minutes away and have keep my eye on its progress month after month. It is coming, may not yet be 100 per cent ready, but its mold gives me a feeling that this could be unique. A home field advantage could finally be a tangible aspect of winning football. What needs to improve? Well, like all teams there is always room. First and most importantly, continuity of personnel. Hamilton went through 57 different starters over the course of the year; some due to injury but also some due to simple evaluation of whether this player can play productively and consistently. Given those two factors, this year cant be another 57 player year; way too many. Also a 1-4 start is hard to overcome. I always hear about how the real CFL season doesnt start until September and it is a false observational claim. Toronto finished 11-7, Hamilton 10-8; if their 1-4 start was 3-2 or 4-1, the Ticats could have been a first place team in the East. Improvement points are everywhere though when you look at the overall statistical package. Finishing eighth in protecting the quarterback and eighth in getting to the quarterback has to improve and will. Improviing on their only 14 interceptions is also a priority when you compare that to Montreals 27.dddddddddddd Red zone offense was just sixth best, as was red zone defence. Point being Hamiltons 10 wins were done the hard way, not the dominate way. Major point of optimism? Ticats finished second best in total yards, averaging 373 a game. Which brings us to the most important names in priority of performance: Zach Collaros, Dan LeFevour or maybe even Jeremiah Masoli. That battle through training camp will be entertaining and interesting. Entertaining in that all three are good athletes that can adapt exceptionally well when the situation regresses. Interesting in that Kent Austin will give the job to the guy who is the smartest under stress; a quality not always recognizable from the outside looking in. When you play a position in football you truly know the position because you have played it under pressure. I know the left tackle position. I can recognize a good one, an average one, and everything in between very quickly. The exact same can be said for Austin as a quarterback. Whichever player can take the pressure Austin puts on him - and he will - and respond, will be the starter. When you have played the position you know the position and the Hamilton Tiger cats are fortunate their head coach is a former successful CFL quarterback. Now as much as quarterback is the man in football, Hamiltons second best move this off-season was getting Justin Medlock back as kicker, punter and kickoff specialist. He was an 89 per cent kicker and 41 yards-per-punt punter. So many CFL games come down to a kick or a moment the kicker can control. Getting Medlock back is a big deal in the world of off-season football moves. Interesting time if youre a Hamilton Tiger-Cats fan. A 20-year agreement with a new stadium, a team that knows how to win through experience and yet still has a lot to improve upon. It will be entertaining and interesting to see how the new season unfolds. Entertaining as a new era of football begins in the exact physical area of history and respect. And interesting in that given the avoidance of injury disaster, this is a team that should progress on many fronts. I will miss Ivor Wynne, it was a big part of my childhood. But I will embrace Tim Hortons Field as it becomes part of my adulthood. Everything changes, but this may be easier to adapt and enjoy than anticipated. ' ' '
