SAN JOSE, Calif. -- When Tommy Wingels scored a fluky, short-handed goal in the opening minutes, it was clear this was going to be San Joses night. Wingels scored two goals and Antti Niemi shut Montreal out for the second time this season in the Sharks 4-0 victory over the Canadiens on Saturday night. Wingels opened the scoring with a short-handed goal after Peter Budaj misplayed a shot from centre ice and added another on a deflection to lead the way for the Sharks. "That was a fortunate bounce for us," Wingels said of his first goal. "Well take it. It kind of gave us some momentum in the first there." Matt Nieto also scored and Logan Couture had a goal and two assists for the Sharks, who have won seven straight home games against Montreal since last losing here to the Canadiens in 1999. Niemi made 27 saves to follow up his 2-0 victory in Montreal in October with another shutout as San Jose moved within four points of first-place Anaheim in the Pacific Division. "We want to win our division," Couture said. "That was one of our goals from the start of the year and were close." Budaj was knocked out after allowing two goals in less than 22 minutes as Montreal lost for the third time in four games on a road trip to Arizona and California. "It was a frustrating game and a frustrating road trip," captain Brian Gionta said. "We wanted something better out of it." San Jose took control of the game in a dominant second period, getting goals from Wingels and Nieto in the first half of the period to go up 3-0. Wingels second goal of the game came when a point shot from Matt Nieto hit the inside of his leg on the way into the goal. That led coach Michel Therrien to give an early hook to Budaj, who allowed two goals on the first 11 shots. The change to Dustin Tokarski failed to generate the spark Therrien was seeking as the Sharks continued to attack with the two-goal lead and expanded it when Patrick Marleau set up Nieto for a one-timer from the slot midway through the period. Nieto set up Couture for his 18th goal in the opening minute of the third period to put the game out of reach. Niemi, making consecutive starts for the first time since Feb. 1-3, was not tested often but was up to the task when challenged, including an early pad save on P.K. Subban and on a short-handed breakaway by Tomas Plekanec late in the third. Niemi has struggled a bit of late and had his playing time cut back as San Jose started backup Alex Stalock in three of the first four games after the Olympic break. But he followed up a 5-3 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday night with another shutout against the Canadiens. "Nemo had to make some saves early, and then he had to make a couple late to maintain the shutout," coach Todd McLellan said. "I thought he was very calm, very solid again." The Sharks got a fortunate break to take a 1-0 lead early in the first period with James Sheppard in the penalty box for tripping. Couture shot the puck in from centre ice that got caught between Budajs pads. Instead of freezing the puck for a faceoff, Budaj stood up and tried to play it but Wingels raced in and poked it into the net for San Joses second short-handed goal in as many games. "We were on the power play and I wanted to play it right away to help and not have a faceoff in our own end," Budaj said. "I didnt have a look to see the player was coming. Thats my mistake." The Sharks werent nearly as effective on their three power plays that included 21 seconds of a two-man advantage. They struggled to get set up in the offensive zone and were sloppy with their passes, generating only one shot on goal in those three opportunities. The power play has been a problem for San Jose in recent weeks with the team going 2-for-48 over the past 15 games. NOTES: Sharks F Raffi Torres got called for boarding on a hard shoulder check into Lars Eller in the second period. Jarred Tinordi took exception and started a fight, negating any power play for the Canadiens. ... Montreal D Douglas Murray got a warm ovation in his first game back in San Jose since being traded by the Sharks to Pittsburgh last March. He delivered an early hit on Nieto and also was on the receiving end of one from Brent Burns. . Bouchard went down to a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat at the hands of Svitolina in her opening match at the Sony Open on Friday. Bouchard got the rivalry going two years ago when she won the junior Wimbledon title over Svitolina. . - The first sign that Kansas Speedway was going to be a heartbreaker for Hendrick Motorsports should have come during qualifying when Jimmie Johnson inexplicably spun and earned one of his worst starting spots since 2005.
http://www.customastrosjersey.com/custo ... 16y.html.Y. - Phil Varone was the lone scorer in the shootout as the Rochester Americans edged the Toronto Marlies 3-2 on Sunday in American Hockey League action. . "I honestly dont know," he said. Try this: 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds by Rajon Rondo, a 62-37 rebounding advantage by the Celtics and a horrible 4-for-30 shooting performance on 3-pointers by the Nets. .com) - The Dallas Mavericks had a five-game winning streak snapped last time out, but theyll try to get back into the winners circle Sunday evening when the Milwaukee Bucks pay a visit to American Airlines Center. KITZBUEHEL, Austria -- Bode Miller led a training session for the classic Hahnenkamm race by a huge margin on Thursday, leaving his World Cup rivals in awe just 17 days before the Sochi Olympics downhill. Miller was well ahead of the field from the first split time before finishing the challenging Streif course in 2 minutes, 2.93 seconds. Overall World Cup leader Aksel Lund Svindal came 0.96 back in second, while third-place Hannes Reichelt of Austria finished a massive 2.35 seconds behind the American. "Ive been focusing on this race all year," said Miller, who finished runner-up in 2008 and 11 but has yet to win the downhill in the Austrian resort. "I know its hard to win here. Ive put a lot of energy in being ready here ... And I think I had fast skis today, too. Obviously on this track you cant do much if your skis are not running." Last years winner Dominik Paris of Italy and Olympic downhill champion Didier Defago of Switzerland shared 10th, trailing Miller by 3.21 seconds. Canadas Erik Guay skipped the training run to rest his troublesome knee. The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., who leads Canada in career World Cup medals, underwent surgery in the summer to address a knee injury that bothered him at the end of last season. Conrad Pridy of Whistler, B.C., was the top Canadian in 24th. Manuel Osborne-Paradis of North Vancouver, B.C., was 25th, Ben Thomsen of Invermere, Que., was 39th and Morgan Pridy of Whistler was tied for 48th. Dustin Cook of Lac Sainte-Marie, Que., was 59th and Jeffrey Frisch of Mont-Tremblant, Que., was 60th. It was the only training run before Saturdays race after mild temperatures softened the snow and made runs earlier this week impossible. Organizers had to change the bottom part of the course to avoid the Hausbergkante, one of the marquee sections, where snow conditions were still insufficient. Miller mastered the steep upper section by choosing a different race line, allowing him to take more speed coming out of the Steilhang curve. "I was higher through the Steilhang and exited it much better than where the tracks were," Miller said.dddddddddddd "The tracks were done before me, no one was up high where I was. That makes a huge difference. You cut off the line but you also carry speed onto the road." Miller drew praise from his competitors, who acknowledged they had been left with some homework before Saturdays race. "Bode was fantastic," Reichelt said. "My run wasnt great and I am definitely going to watch a video of Bodes run." His Austrian teammate Max Franz added "Bode had a very clean run. We have something to analyze." Christof Innerhofer, who is chasing his first downhill podium of the season, said he was unable to ski like Miller did. "He is crazy, he raced a killer line. I tried that line as well but I just didnt succeed," the Italian said. "I am not having a great season so far. But I felt well on the snow today and I want to attack here." Even Svindal, winner of two downhills and two super-G races this season, said he was going to study footage of Millers performance. "You know Bode can pull off that kind of thing," the Norwegian said. "When I think about my run, I am not surprised that someone can be a lot faster from the top. I wasnt able to stick to my plan because I got bumped out of my line. I have the speed but I need to clean up the first part. I will definitely watch Bodes run on video." The changed bottom section caused many racers troubles. Where they usually go right into the Hausbergkante coming off a fast straight part, they now faced a sharp left turn left. To Miller, it didnt make much of a difference. "Its a different set of skills thats tested," the American said. "The cool thing is no one skies that so its pretty even for everybody. No one has had a change to ever have a run like that so I think its OK." Saturdays race is the penultimate downhill before the Olympic race on Feb. 9. The Hahnenkamm event starts with a slalom Friday and concludes with a super-G and a super-combined race Sunday. ' ' '
