After winning Sundays Heritage Classic game in Vancouver, there is a sense that perhaps the Senators can use that victory as a springboard down the stretch. One would think that winning one of the NHLs signature events – with 50,000 fans watching in the stadium and a larger-than-normal television audience – could propel this team onto a much-needed winning streak. But looking at the brief history of these events, there is hardly any connection between winning an outdoor game and any subsequent success in the NHL. A few years ago, the 2008 Penguins and the 2009 Red Wings each made it to the Stanley Cup Final in the same year after winning the Winter Classic game – although that was more likely the result of having a powerhouse lineup than anything to do with playing in an outdoor game. For the Senators, a better comparable would be to look at some of the less dominant teams that have won an outdoor game and how that affected them immediately afterwards. This season, for example, the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Winter Classic in Ann Arbor – but then turned around and lost their next four games. In 2011, the Calgary Flames beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 in the Heritage Classic at McMahon Stadium. The Flames ended up losing three of their next five games, so any momentum they gained from winning the outdoor game was non-existent. The same can be said for the 2003-04 Montreal Canadiens, who beat the Edmonton Oilers in the first-ever outdoor game at Commonwealth Stadium. The Habs managed to win only two of their next five games – although they did manage a pair of ties as well. This season, we even saw the Anaheim Ducks stumble after winning the outdoor game at Dodger Stadium against the Los Angeles Kings. The Ducks lost four of their next five games – marking their worst stretch of the regular season. The same thing happened to the 2010 Boston Bruins and the 2011 Washington Capitals – each team lost four of their next five games after winning the Winter Classic. So in many cases, it seems like teams suffer a letdown – rather than an uplift – following a big win in an outdoor game. Heres a look at how every team that has won an outdoor game fared in their next 5 games: 2003-04 Montreal Canadiens – Won Heritage Classic 4-3 at EdmontonNext 5 games: 2-1-2 record 2007-08 Pittsburgh Penguins – Won Winter Classic 2-1 at BuffaloNext 5 games: 4-1-0 record 2008-09 Detroit Red Wings – Won Winter Classic 6-4 at ChicagoNext 5 games: 4-1-0 record 2009-10 Boston Bruins– Won Winter Classic 2-1 at BostonNext 5 games: 1-4-0 record 2010-11 Washigton Capitals – Won Winter Classic 3-1 at PittsburghNext 5 games: 1-2-2 record 2010-11 Calgary Flames – Won Heritage Classic 4-0 at CalgaryNext 5 games: 2-2-1 record 2011-12 New York Rangers – Won Winter Classic 3-2 at PhiladelphiaNext 5 games: 4-1-0 record 2013-14 Toronto Maple Leafs – Won Winter Classic 3-1 at Ann ArborNext 5 games – 1-4-0 record 2013-14 Anaheim Ducks – Won Stadium Series 3-0 at Los AngelesNext 5 games – 1-4-0 record 2013-14 NY Rangers – Swept Stadium Series 7-3 (Devils) and 2-1 (Islanders) at New YorkNext 5 games: 4-1-0 record . Earnshaw, 31, most recently spent time on loan in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv from Welsh club Cardiff City, which plays in Englands second-tier League Championship. Earnshaw began his career with Cardiff Citys youth program and turned professional in 1998. . According to bodog.ca, Cleveland moved up to grab the best odds to win the Larry OBrian trophy at 4-1 on Friday. By comparison, the Miami Heats odds plummeted from 3-1 favourites before LeBron left, to 50-1.
https://www.cheaphawks.com/1114r-moses- ... hawks.html. DeGrom outpitched Jake Peavy in a tantalizing hitless duel that carried into the seventh inning Saturday night before the New York Mets broke loose and beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2. .9 million deal Thursday. The 25-year McGinn had 19 goals and 19 assists in 79 games last season in helping the Avalanche tie a franchise record with 52 wins. .ca! Hi Kerry, Im sure youve received many emails wondering what your take is on the Spezza goal that looked like Neil blatantly kicked it in while standing directly in the middle of the crease where, you know, usually a goalie is to make a save but couldnt be due to Neil being there! Thanks! Jon - Westfield, MA Jon: Lets first ask Henrik Lundqvist what he thought of the scoring of the Sens second goal with .PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Trail Blazers made their first seven 3-pointers against Charlotte and from there it almost seemed too easy. "Making shots is contagious," said Wesley Matthews, who had 25 points, including five of Portlands 21 3-pointers, in a 134-104 rout of the Bobcats on Thursday night. The 21 3-pointers matched a franchise high, set in a 139-105 victory at the Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 14, and made Portland the first NBA team to have two games in one season with at least 20 3-pointers. Damian Lillard 24 points, making all six of his 3-point tries, and the Blazers finished by making 63.6 per cent of their 33 attempts. The NBA record for 3-pointers in a single game is 23. "It was a lot of fun," said Lillard, who has made at least four 3-pointers in four straight games. "Shots were falling." With the win, Portland upped its record to 26-7 and moved back into the top spot in the Western Conference. It was the season-high fifth-straight loss for the Bobcats, who were coming off a 112-85 loss to the Clippers the night before. Charlotte has lost six straight in Portland. Chris Douglas-Roberts came off the bench to lead the Bobcats with a season-high 20 points. Al Jefferson added 19. The 21 3s were the most the Bobcats had ever allowed in franchise history. "Our team is thinking too much about offence, we have individual guys who need to build their games around their defence and theyre worried about theyre offence," Bobcats first-year coach Steve Clifford said. "Were not built that way. Were not going to be outscoring people. If were not going to commit to defence and rebounding, then were limited in how good we can be." The Blazers were coming off a 98-94 come-from-behind victory at Oklahoma City on New Years Eve. The win snapped a two-game losing streak, the first back-to-back losses for Portland this season. Charlotte has been known this season for its defence. The Bobcats have held opponents to under 100 points 24 times this season, and they went into the game ranked third in the league for points allowed with an average of 93.8. But they couldnt sttop Portland, which led by as many as 32 points.dddddddddddd The Blazers went ahead 23-9 early after a 14-0 run that included four straight 3-pointers. Mo Williams 3 pushed Portlands lead to 33-13. Meyers Leonards dunk off a dish from Williams upped the lead to 49-29 and the Blazers were ahead 70-49 at the half. Matthews led all scorers with 17 points, while Jefferson had 11 for Charlotte. Matthews said hes just taking the shots that are there. "Im trying to focus on everything but shooting and it seems to be paying off for me," he said. Lillard hit a 3-pointer that gave the Blazers an 89-64 lead midway through the third, and Charlotte was essentially out of it. Portland led 100-77 going into the fourth quarter. "These are the games you love playing," said Williams, who had 15 points and 10 assists. LaMarcus Aldridge had 10 points and 15 rebounds for his team-leading 19th double-double of the season. Blazers coach Terry Stotts sat his starters early in the fourth quarter. "I knew about our record, I knew about the NBA record. But I didnt want to get caught up in that," Stotts said. "If we fell into it, then thats great, but I thought the guys who played in the fourth quarter played the game the right way. They were aggressive, they moved the ball. Defensively, they played hard. I think its bad karma to go out and try to do that." Clifford also rested most of his starters late in the game. "I dont feel we were ready to play," Douglas-Roberts said. "Theyre too good not to come out and give a 100 per cent effort. We kind of have to do some soul-searching and turn this thing around." NOTES: The Blazers have assigned guard C.J. McCollum to the Idaho Stampede, the Trail Blazers NBA D-League affiliate. McCollum, the 10th overall pick in last years NBA draft out of Lehigh, has been sidelined since fracturing his foot in training camp. ... Portlands 39 points in the first quarter matched their season high for this season. ... The Blazers have made at least eight 3-pointers in eight consecutive games for the first time in franchise history. ' ' ' last season, paired with Giroux on the Flyers top line, Voracek is going to have significant value, enough to fit as a No. 2 fantasy right winger. Offering similar value, though he doesnt score as much, Wayne Simmonds adds a physical dimension, with hits and penalty minutes supporting his increased scoring numbers over the last couple seasons in Philadelphia. Value Plays: There hasnt been any great decline in production for C Vincent Lecavalier, who has scored between 0.77 and 0.87 points per game in each of the last five seasons, but injuries have started to have an effect on how often he plays, as hes missed 44 games over the past three seasons. Still, hes going to have solid linemates as the Flyers second-line centre and has value as a No. 3 fantasy pivot, even with injury expectations. Prior to last season, LW Scott Hartnell was a bit of a fantasy darling, particularly for leagues that count penalty minutes, as he has scored 20 or more goals six times and recorded 100 or more penalty minutes eight times in his career. The normally durable winger had injuries and finished with just 12 points in 32 games, but that brings his value back to a more reasonable level. Though RW Matt Read doesnt necessarily have the highest upside, he does have 71 points in 121 games over the last two seasons and he plays 18 minutes a game for the Flyers. His versatility allows him to move from line to line, but if Read is going to have sustainable value, hell need to secure a regular spot in the top six. Brought in to upgrade the Flyers puck-moving skills on the blueline, D Mark Streit has been a productive point producer, but he comes with some concerns, notably that hes minus-41 in the last two seasons and is going to turn 36 midway through this season, so its likely that his performance is due to decline. Streits arrival takes some pressure off Kimmo Timonen, a 38-year-old who has been durable, consistent and productive throughout his career. Both Streit and Timonen can provide value if they are selected as No. 3 fantasy defencemen. Sleepers/Breakthrough: Part of the challenge facing C Sean Couturier is that hes such a good defensive player that he doesnt necessarily get the linemates or opportunity take advantage of his offensive skills, but the Flyers are deep enough that Couturier, as the third-line centre, could be quite productive. He didnt score much last season, with a low 5.3% shooting percentage, but hes a 20-year-old who has 192 points in 126 games in last two junior seasons and tallied 28 points in 31 AHL games last year. LW Brayden Schenn has been coming along slowly since he was the fifth overall pick in 2009, but scored a career-high 26 points (in 47 games) last season and figures to get a shot on Lecavaliers left wing to open the season, a decent spot for 22-year-old Schenn to build his offensive numbers. Braydens brother, D Luke Schenn, hasnt scored more than 22 points in a season, yet has value in leagues that count hits and blocked shots because he has 881 and 501, respectively in the last four seasons. The goaltending situation basically leaves the Flyers with two sleepers. Ray Emery should have the edge, but hes played more than 40 games only once in his entire career. Steve Mason, on the other hand, has played plenty but, among the 26 goaltenders to play at least 200 games since 2008-2009, Masons .905 save percentage is the worst. Rookies: The Flyers dont have a lineup with great openings for rookies, but C Scott Laughton started last year with Philadelphia for five games before returning to the Ontario Hockey League, where he had 56 points in 49 games for Oshawa. Hes a gritty, physical player, but not likely to have fantasy relevance. Scott Cullen can be reached at
Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. . - Jayden Hart scored once and set up two more as the Prince Albert Raiders downed the host Red Deer Rebels 5-3 on Tuesday to clinch the final Western Hockey League playoff berth. . - Gary Kubiak is John Elways No.
https://www.cheapmagiconline.com/778i-a ... c.html.com) - James Harden needed just seven made field goals to drop 35 points on the Philadelphia 76ers, leading the Houston Rockets to a 104-93 win on Monday. . He spent the rest of the game making up for lost playing time. Green scored a career-high 36 points, including eight in overtime, and the Phoenix Suns beat Denver 112-107 on Tuesday night to hand the Nuggets their fifth consecutive loss. .com) - Wayne Simmonds, Scott Laughton and Jakub Voracek each posted a goal and an assist as the Philadelphia Flyers thumped the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-1, on Saturday.PHILADELPHIA -- Strong defence makes St. Johns a tough opponent, even if the Red Storm dont get a win to show for it. Darrun Hilliard scored 18 points, Ryan Arcidiacono had 12 and No. 9 Villanova beat St. Johns 57-54 on Saturday. It was the second straight win for Villanova (24-3, 12-2 Big East) since its second loss of the season to No. 11 Creighton. "That was old-school, Big East basketball," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "Ugly. Great defence. Physical. You had to be physically and mentally tough to play that game. It was the Big East. Im glad to see our conference at that level. It was just the kind of game in the 80s when I was an assistant here." DAngelo Harrison had 15 points for St. Johns (18-10, 8-7), Rysheed Jordan scored 13 and JaKarr Sampson had 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Red Storms six-game winning streak ended. "It was a Big East battle right to the end," Red Storm coach Steve Lavin said. "We punched and counter-punched right until the end in a hostile environment." Though moral victories dont show up in the standings, games like this increase St. Johns NCAA tournament chances. "If you know basketball, our team is coming together," Lavin said. "Now its up to us how we play the last two weeks." Wright thinks the Red Storm should get an invitation to the field of 68. "I think we can get five teams in on a year when our conference is down," Wright said. "Rivalries are getting interesting. Im getting excited about this league." Arcidiacono banked a three-pointer from the top of the circle to give Villanova a 53-50 lead with 3:43 left. After the Red Storm missed a shot, JayVaughn Pinkston grabbed two key offensive rebounds for the Wildcats and Hilliard made a free throw. St. Johns went 3:36 without a point before Sampsons free throw with 1:14 remainingg.dddddddddddd Arcidiacono then threw away the inbound pass following a timeout, and Harrison made a driving layup to cut it to 54-53. Daniel Ochefu made one of two free throws to give Villanova a two-point lead with 34 seconds left. With a chance to tie or give the Red Storm a lead, Phil Greene IV was called for travelling with 14 seconds to go. Arcidiaconos free throw made it 56-53. But the Red Storm couldnt get a three-point shot off and Harrison was fouled going for a layup with 1.5 seconds left. He made the first free throw and purposely missed the second, but a lane violation gave the ball to Villanova. "We were trying to get a three, but just couldnt do it," Harrison said. Josh Hart made one free throw and the Red Storm missed a desperation three-point shot at the buzzer. "Its frustrating," Sampson said. "We knew it was a big game. We just have to look forward to the next one." St. Johns came in allowing the second-fewest points in the nation (68.0). They also had the top field goal percentage defence and three-point percentage defence. It showed as the Red Storm forced 15 turnovers and held the Wildcats 23 points below their average (80.7). The Wildcats tied for the fewest points they have scored in a win this season. James Bell hit a three-pointer to give Villanova its biggest lead, 44-38, in the second half. But the Red Storm answered with a 9-3 run capped by SirDominic Pointers driving layup that tied it at 47. After both teams traded misses and turnovers for two minutes, Bell drained another three for a 50-47 with 5:52 left. Villanova, which beat St. Johns 74-67 at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 11, jumped to an 8-0 lead behind two threes by Hilliard. The Red Storm scored the next nine points and the teams played a tight, defensive first half that ended with Villanova leading 28-27. ' ' '
