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SANDY, Utah -- A feral second-half attack led to an improbable comeback for the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Whitecaps scored two goals in the final eight minutes to steal a 2-2 tie at Real Salt Lake on Saturday night. Nicolas Mezquidas first career goal in the 86th minute cut the deficit in half and set the stage for fellow Uruguaian Sebastian Fernandez, who scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time to stun the home crowd and earn the result. Real Salt Lake (3-0-5), the leagues remaining unbeaten team, jumped ahead 2-0 in the games first nine minutes on goals by Joao Plata and Alvaro Saborio. But the Whitecaps (2-2-4) again showed some second-half magic. "Its a get out of jail card, I believe," Vancouver coach Carl Robinson said. "We were 2-0 down and dug ourselves a hole, but we learned from that. Weve shown if we go behind, the games not over." Fernandezs shot from about 40 yards out beat goalkeeper Nick Rimando in the lower right corner of the net. It was a dramatic capper to an unlikely turn of events that began moments earlier when Saborio held possession. The Salt Lake forward dribbled in space near midfield, in what appeared to be the start to an offensive rush that would, if nothing else, run out the games final seconds. But Vancouver defender Steven Beitashour tackled the ball away and to the foot of Fernandez, who scored his second goal of the season. "I got the ball and knew it was going to be one of the last plays of the game," Fernandez said through an interpreter. "I got it, hit it, and it went in." Said Beitashour: "I was on the floor when I saw Seba take it, and hes got a rocket. I think everyone behind him was yelling Shoot! Shoot! I had a good angle from the floor, and that ball moved on (Rimando)." Vancouver, which earned a point for the first time in four games, was stunned by the early deficit and "played fearful" in the first half, according to Robinson. After the break, the Whitecaps sent wave after wave at Rimando, and looked to be a different squad. Robinson went to his bench to provide a spark, sending Fernandez and Mezquida each in shortly after halftime. Vancouvers challenge now comes in finding consistency throughout a full 90 minutes -- a task Robinson acknowledged after the game. "Its a challenge when youve got a group of young players, which is what I have," Robinson said. "They played with fear in the first half. I dont want them to play with fear. I put demands on players because I know how good they can be, but theyve got to start believing. Were touching the surface at the moment." . Thats the feeling that eight Canadian Football League teams are experiencing right now in advance of the expansion draft to stock the Ottawa Redblacks. ... maybe even more than that. Maybe all season I have to take a few blows. . The Blue Jays lost to the New York Yankees 3-1 Tuesday night, their seventh defeat in 10 games. Rasmus was put on the 15-day DL on May 15 because of a sore right hamstring. Hes hitting .222 with nine home runs and 19 RBIs. . The appointment of Boullier continues the behind-the-scenes restructuring at McLaren, who recently brought back former team principal Ron Dennis as its new chief executive. . Funny, they looked like longtime friends during Pittsburghs 5-1 demolition of Dallas on Tuesday night. Quick to the puck and even quicker to the net, the Penguins top line overwhelmed the suddenly struggling Stars as Pittsburgh bounced back from a dismal weekend sweep at the hands of Philadelphia by jumping on Dallas early.If Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray had to guess, goaltender Ryan Miller would prefer not to wear the only NHL jersey hes ever played in past the March 5 trade deadline. Speaking to reporters before the Sabres first game since the Olympic break on Tuesday, Murray said more than two teams, but "less than 10", have inquired about the goaltender and that Miller probably wouldnt mind a fresh start. "I dont think signing here is his first choice at his age, where were at," he said. "Were the 30th-place team." And although Murray says re-signing Miller is realistic, its the clubs current position at the bottom of the standings that appears to be forcing the rookie GMs hand. "Its not the route were looking at right now. The route were looking at is to get value for him," he said. After a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in which Miller made 36 saves and had two assists, the goaltender didnt disagree with anything his general manager said. "The things that theyre going to have to do are probably going to come during the trade deadline, and maybe Im one of them," he said. "I dont want to close anything off right now, but I know theyre kind of looking around for opportunity. I think thats probably best for everybody." The 33-year-old was selected by the Sabres in the fifth round (138th overall) of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. He has been the teams starter for the last nine seasons. Miller is the Sabres all-time leader among goaltenders in games played (540), wins (284) and trails only Dominik Hasek in shutouts (28). His tenure and accomplishments in Buffalo are not lost on Murray when he fields calls from other GMs. "Players that treat you right and have played hard for you over the years, you try to do whats best for them too, as long as it fits into what youre doing," he said.dddddddddddd "And by trading Ryan to a contender, a good team that maybe is lacking only his position, I think that weve certainly not done a disservice to him and weve helped the organization in our own right. Our goal, I think from both sides, is to pursue a proper trade." A proper trade, according to Murray in "a perfect world" would give the Sabres young players a few years into their development. Murray says he doesnt necessarily want to start from scratch with draft picks, but that he will if need be. "I dont think teams are going to bend over backwards to make life easier for us, so its going to be the determination to be made on what the best deal is offered and if its draft picks, its draft picks and well turn them into assets and players," he said. Another Sabre that Murray says is attracting a fair bit of attention is captain Steve Ott. Both Miller and Ott are impending unrestricted free agents. Once again, Buffalos dismal record has handcuffed Murray into making a decision on a player he feels could help any team. "The way (Ott) plays the game, the way he conducts himself, thats not the type of player that I want to trade away, thats the type of players I want to bring in, he said. "Its the type of player weve been trying to bring into the teams Ive been with and were not a playoff team so that changes the dynamic, obviously." Murray also confirmed hes had talks with interim head coach Ted Nolan about a contract extension. "Were along that path," Murray said. Nolan took over behind the bench in place of Ron Rolston last November. ' ' '
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