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oal of the playoffs. Lundqvist rec
« on: Apr 29th, 2015, 4:14am » |
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SEATTLE - Eventually, the paths of Green Bay and Seattle were going to cross again.After they opened the 2014 NFL season in early September, it seemed inevitable that Aaron Rodgers would get a second chance to throw at Richard Sherman — if he wanted to. That Russell Wilson would have to avoid Clay Matthews trying to chase him down. And that the Packers would get another opportunity to topple Seattle and be the elite of the NFC.They were the two best teams in the conference in the second half of the regular season. So its only fitting the Packers and Seahawks meet Sunday for the NFC championship and a trip to the Super Bowl.Its just the way it should be. It should be just like that right now, Seattle coach Pete Carroll said.Dont be mistaken by their recent prowess, this wasnt a smooth ride for either franchise. Whether it was Rodgers telling Packers fans to R-E-L-A-X early in the season, or Seattle dealing with the expectations of being a Super Bowl champion, along with the stunning midseason trade of Percy Harvin, this was no cruise.It was a process throughout the year, Green Bay linebacker Julius Peppers said. You get better and better each week. That is the main thing you want to do each week, get better than you were before, and I think we accomplished that over the season.Green Bay has added one more obstacle in the post-season: Rodgers left calf injury that has limited his mobility. But Rodgers showed in last weeks divisional-round win over Dallas he can manage just fine, throwing for 316 yards and three touchdowns in the 26-21 victory.Now All-Pro Rodgers gets his first shot at an NFC title since winning at Chicago in January 2011. A Super Bowl victory over Pittsburgh followed.Its a different team, Rodgers said. I think its less than 20 guys still here from that team. Its only four years ago. But we have confidence that we can win on the road.Heres what else to watch for as Seattle tries to become the first defending champion in a decade to reach consecutive Super Bowls:CALF WATCH: Rodgers injury is slowing him from scrambling before throwing, one of his strengths. His right arm is just fine. Rodgers got hurt during the Dec. 21 game against Tampa Bay. He still completed 74 per cent of his passes in his last three games, including the win over Dallas. Coach Mike McCarthy has had Rodgers operating out of shotgun formations to help limit his movement.Perhaps just as importantly for the Packers has been the solid work of the offensive line much of the year. All-Pro fullback John Kuhn, an excellent blocker, has also seen more time of late. Rodgers will need top-notch protection against Seattles tough defence.SILENT SHERM: Sherman, another All-Pro, was bored when Green Bay visited in the season opener. Through the entire game, Rodgers refused to throw at the cornerback, instead turning to the other side of the field. Sherman took Rodgers approach as a sign of respect. It also left him frustrated. He described it as being a 12 on a 1-10 scale.Everybodys like, Man, thats cool, nobody threw to your side, Sherman said. But if youre a player, you want to make plays in the game, you feel you can help your team, you want the ball coming your way more.Sherman doesnt expect it the same this time.Im not surprised either way, Sherman said. But I expect them to execute their game plan, whatever that may be. Not sure what theyre going to do.ATTITUDE: Linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers draw the headlines and make big plays on the Packers defence. Lineman Mike Daniels supplies the attitude. A mainstay up front, Daniels demeanour sets a stern tone on game day.Theyll need Daniels and fellow lineman Letroy Guion to slow down bullish running back Marshawn Lynch just enough to allow linebackers Matthews and Sam Barrington, and safety Morgan Burnett to try to finish off tackles up the middle. Daniels has 14 tackles and two sacks over his last four games.COMING OF AGE: When Green Bay visited in Week 1, centre Corey Linsley, wide receiver Davante Adams and tight end Richard Rodgers were all making their NFL debuts. Now theyre integral parts of the offence. Adams was the star of Green Bays win over Dallas last week with seven catches for 117 yards and a touchdown.You expect those guys to hit some sort of lull during the year, as the college season is usually 12 or 13 games, Aaron Rodgers said. After the preseason, youre looking at midway through the season, thats a normal college season for these guys, and you havent seen it.THANKS BUFFALO: Seattle ultimately owes thanks to Buffalo for Sundays title game being played at CenturyLink Field. The Bills victory over Green Bay in Week 15 was the difference in Seattle winning the tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Instead of Seattle being forced to deal with the freezing temperatures of Wisconsin, the Packers are about to enter the Seahawks cauldron of noise — certain to be even more amped than when Green Bay visited to open the season.Any time we get the home games, especially the NFC championship at home, and we get to play in front of the 12s, its exciting, Seattle safety Kam Chancellor said of the teams fan base. Its exciting for us, exciting for them, and I think we deserve it and they deserve it, as well.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Johan Franzen Authentic Jersey . Louis Cardinals 5-3 on Friday night and tightened the top of the NL Central. The Reds moved within three games of the second-place Cardinals, who have won seven of their last nine games while staying right behind the division-leading Brewers. Henrik Zetterberg Jersey . He was willing to play on a one-year deal, he was willing to work out a fair price and his only significant requirement was finding another star quarterback who could get him the ball. http://www.hockeyredwingsstore.com/authentic-danny-dekeyser-red-wings-je rsey-sale/. Liverpool is at the top at Christmas for the first time since 2008 after scoring 42 goals. Only Manchester City has been more lethal in front of goal, with the team — a point behind Liverpool and Arsenal in third — scoring 51 goals in 17 games. Jimmy Howard Red Wings Jersey .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. Danny DeKeyser Red Wings Jersey . -- The Tim Hortons Brier will be held at Calgarys Scotiabank Saddledome in 2015, the finale of a new Triple Crown series unveiled Wednesday by the Canadian Curling Association.NEW YORK -- It was a goal literally years in the making, thanks to a shot Martin St. Louis works on day in day out. "The goal he scored tonight is exactly what you see him practise every time hes on the ice," said Rangers coach Alain Vigneault. "Like 100 pucks, hes trying to put it right there." On Sunday night, St. Louis top-shelf snap shot from just below the faceoff dot was a dagger to the heart of the Canadiens. The goal, which came at 6:02 of overtime, moved New York within one win of its first Stanley Cup final in 20 years with a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. The win, which gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference final, marked the first time the home side had triumphed in the series. "I felt I had room (on the glove side), and I tried to trust what I saw, and obviously Ive gone to that side quite a bit that last few games and hes made some good saves on me," St. Louis said of Habs goalie Dustin Tokarski. "Sometimes you just have to keep trusting what you see and I was fortunate to get it by him." Said Tokarski: "I obviously gave him some room and he took advantage of it." Game 5 is Tuesday night in Montreal, with the Rangers looking to put the Canadiens to the sword for a third straight game at the Bell Centre. Carl Hagelin and Derick Brassard also scored for the Rangers, both on breakaways generated by stretch passes. Francis Bouillon and P.K. Subban -- who played 33:16 on the night -- scored for Montreal. The Rangers outshot the Canadiens 26-24 in regulation. Montreal had a 5-3 edge in overtime. The Canadiens will fly home full of regrets, especially after coming back twice to force overtime. The Montreal power play was one-for-eight and yielded a Rangers short-handed goal. "We had the opportunity on the power play and we didnt take advantage of it tonight," said coach Michel Therrien. "Yes, we scored a goal. It was a timely goal, but we gave up one and that was the (story) of the game. I thought our power play had to be better." And Montreals defensive play on the winning goal was shocking. The Canadiens had several chances to get the puck out of their defensive zone but couldnt do it. St. Louis had so much room he could have parked a Winnebago in the faceoff circle as tired defenders Andrei Markov and Alexei Emelin were caught on the wrong side of the play. "Well, we got a few chances to get out of it and move the puck harder in our own end, and it cost us the game," lamented Therrien. It was the third goal of the series for St. Louis, who attended the funeral of his mother between Games 1 and 2. He was buzzing all night, leading the Rangers with five shots on goal in 21:01 of ice time. The goal was his first playoff overtime winner since Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final on June 5, 2004 at Calgary as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning. In a largely empty dressing room, the Canadiens looked for positives. They will have a rabid home crowd -- the best in the world, according to goalie Tokarski -- at their back Tuesday as they look to stave off elimination. "I dont think frustrated is the word," said Tokarski. "We had some chances, hit a post late and had a power play (in OT). Its a game of inches and we came short." Said Montreal captain Brian Gionta: "I thought Tokarski played great for us, gave us a chance to win that game. Were not out of the series by any means." History favours the Rangers, who are 12-1 in the 13 best-of-seven playoff series in which they led three games to one after Game 4. Montreal is 2-16 when trailing 3-1 in a playoff series. The last time they overturned such a deficit was in 2009-10 against Washington. But the Canadiens have already staved off elimination in these playoffs, reeling off two straight wins to defeat Boston four games to three in the previous round. "This is far from over," said Rangers forward Brad Richards. "I remember sitting in here down 3-1 against Pittsburgh. They will feel bad tonight, but tomorrow they will wake up in front of their home crowd and once that game starts 3-1, you throw that out the window and it is back in the battle again. "We have to realize the longer it goes the more life and more belief they get, so its going to be a very important start to the next game." Sundays win came 20 years to the day that the Rangers defeated New Jersey 4-2 in Game 6 of the Eastern ffinal.dddddddddddd New York captain Mark Messier, who had guaranteed the win, scored a natural hat trick that night. The Rangers went on to beat Vancouver for the Cup. Goalie Mike Richter and five other members of that championship team were in the stands Sunday. New York was 0-for-3 with the man-advantage but scored shorthanded through Hagelin. The Rangers took nine penalties -- including three straight in the third period and overtime -- to four for Montreal. Vigneault did not dispute any of the calls. "We put ourselves behind the 8-ball a few times by taking, I think it was five penalties 200 feet from our net. Were going to have to do a much better job than that," he said. "But give credit to our killers and our goaltender. They did a real good job." After Subban tied it at 2-2 two minutes into the third, Montreal forward Alex Galchenyuk rang one off the goal post with a little over three minutes remaining. He thought he scored but play continued. Replays showed Lundqvist got his stick to the puck before it hit the crossbar and bounced down -- in front of the goal-line. With New Yorks Derek Stepan recovering from a broken jaw suffered on a Brandon Prust hit in Game 3, Dominic Moore moved up to centre Rick Nash and Chris Kreider. Brassard returned from injury to centre Mats Zuccarello and Benoit Pouliot. J.T. Miller took the place of the suspended Dan Carcillo on the fourth line. For Montreal, Michael Bournival stepped in for the suspended Prust on the fourth line and Bouillon replaced defenceman Nathan Beaulieu. As in Game 3, Montreal found itself down 1-0 after a first period which could have been worse on the scoreboard. New York came into the game not having allowed a power-play goal in its last eight games (22 times shorthanded). And the penalty kill produced offence. The short-handed Rangers went ahead 12 seconds into a Pouliot penalty thanks to a Brian Boyle stretch pass from the blue-line. The speedy Hagelin broke in alone, faked a shot and tucked a backhand through the legs of Tokarski at 7:18 for his sixth of the playoffs. Montreals David Desharnais failed to corral a pass behind the New York goal and Ryan McDonagh poked the puck to Boyle to trigger the play. It was the Rangers first short-handed goal in 70 playoff games, dating back to April 9, 2008. The penalty count was three to one against the Rangers by the 10-minute mark, but the Canadiens power play was sputtering. Montreal began to push back after the goal and Brian Gionta had a glorious chance 12 minutes in on a Lundqvist rebound at the doorstep, but the puck bobbled and Lundqvists pad was there when the Montreal captain finally got control. Tokarski was buried by a sliding Nash five minutes into the second period but survived the collision. That prompted the officials to warn both benches about not crashing the crease. The New York-born Bouillon tied it up with a blistering shot from the top of a circle on a two-on-one with Desharnais after a nifty Rene Bourque pass between his legs. Lundqvist got a piece of it with his shoulder, but the puck still went in top corner glove side at 8:08. At times, the game was like table hockey with both sides looking to open up the other with long passes. Tokarski robbed St. Louis on a breakaway late in the period, catching the puck with his glove as if it was spring-loaded. The Rangers went ahead with 56 seconds remaining in the second when Dan Girardi found Brassard with a superb stretch pass from deep in his own end. Brassard raced in and unloaded a slapshot from the slot to beat Tokarski. Lundqvist picked up an assist, the first by a Rangers goalie in the playoffs since Richter on May 11, 1997. An early Montreal power play in the third -- its sixth man-advantage -- finally paid off when Subban hammered home a slapshot from the blue-line two minutes in. It was Subbans first point of the series -- and first in six games -- but also his fifth goal of the playoffs. Lundqvist recorded his 41st career playoff victory, tying him with Richter for first on the teams all-time playoff wins list. NOTES -- Stepan missed a game for the first time in his four-year NHL career (294 regular-season and 54 playoff games) ... Celebs in the house included New York Knicks president Phil Jackson, ex-Rangers Rod Gilbert and Eddie Giacomin, ex-Giant Justin Tuck, Matt Harvey of the Mets, singer Harry Belafonte and actor Susan Lucci. cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '
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