Gäste-Forum » But the Spitfires opened the 2009 tournament

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Carolina Hurricanes are continuing to make their poor start to the season a distant memory. The suddenly-streaking Canes eye up a fifth straight victory on Saturday night as they visit the rival Washington Capitals. Carolina got off to the worst start in franchise history with eight straight defeats to open the campaign. However, the Hurricanes have now countered that 0-6-2 start with a four-game winning streak, one that was extended with last nights 3-2 overtime victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Elias Lindholm scored the winning goal with 38 seconds left in overtime. That came after Carolina had failed to score on its first six chances on the man advantage in the game. Victor Rask and Jeff Skinner scored for the Hurricanes, while Cam Ward stopped 29 shots in the win. We knew they were going to come back hungry, and they were, said Carolina forward Eric Staal. They played hard. It was physical and tight at times, but I liked the resiliency we showed. We stayed with it and continued to battle. Carolina now has a chance to win five straight for the first time since Dec. 31-Jan. 9 of last season and will give Anton Khudobin the start tonight. He is 3-1-0 lifetime versus the Capitals with a 2.74 goals against average and .913 save percentage. Washington will take aim at a second straight win as it halted a five-game slide with Friday nights 3-2 triumph over the Chicago Blackhawks. Braden Holtby made 38 saves and the Capitals scored three late goals in the second period. Joel Ward, Andre Burakovsky and Marcus Johansson scored in the final five minutes of the second period for the Capitals, who had posted an 0-4-1 mark over their slide. It just goes to show how fast things can turn around in a game, said Ward, whose winning goal came with 4.4 seconds left in the frame. It kind of got switched around for us because weve had a few games where weve had the lead and given it up. It is unknown if Holtby will start again tonight or if the Capitals will turn to former Hurricanes second-round draft pick Justin Peters. Holtby is 5-3-0 with a 2.23 GAA and .940 save percentage in his career versus the Hurricanes, who took drafted Peters in 2004. Peters made 68 appearances with 58 starts over parts of five seasons with Carolina. He played in a career-high 21 games last season, going 7-9-4 with a 2.50 GAA and .919 save percentage. The Hurricanes won three of their five meetings with the Capitals a season ago, with all three wins coming in Washington. They have won five of their past seven trips to D.C. overall. Air Max 270 React Bauhaus AT6174-002 . Once again, the third baseman delivered in a big spot. Ramirez kept up his torrid hitting with a two-run homer to help back Wily Peraltas solid start, and the Brewers extended their winning streak to seven with a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night. Nike Air Max 270 Discount . Ive said it before, Ive worked with top pros and I could have made my own program. http://www.max270cheap.com/nike-men-s-ai...ao1023-005.html. Englands only win in the four most recent trips north had been tight, and Scotland was expected after losing 28-6 to Ireland six days ago to show some venom against its archrival. Nike Air Max 270 Ispa White . It led to his downfall on Tuesday. The Major League Soccer club fired Rennie after a second straight up-and-down season that saw the Whitecaps start strong before limping across the finish line. Nike Air Max 270 Black And White . A larger-than-life personality known for his intimidating style in the 18-yard box, Schmeichels career spanned some 20 years -- including a memorable tenure at Manchester United.LONDON, Ont. -- The London Knights elimination from their third straight Memorial Cup stung because it was their earliest exit of the three. The host team of the 2014 MasterCard Memorial Cup was a true contender among the four teams in it. With seven Knights forwards who helped the Knights win the last two Ontario Hockey League championships and with a team that scored over 300 goals this season, London was a threat to win the Cup on their third try in as many years. But the hosts were eliminated by the Guelph Storm in a 7-2 loss Wednesday. The Knights went 0-3 through the preliminary round and needed a win against their OHL rival to get into a tiebreaker game. "We thought for sure wed have a better chance of winning it this year," Knights forward Josh Anderson said. "We didnt have the bounces we wanted. Its too bad it had to end this way. "We wanted to have the Memorial Cup championship. I thought our organization really deserved one after the hard work weve been putting through these past three years. Looking at it now, Im glad I got the opportunity to come here and play for the London Knights." The Knights lost the 2012 final 2-1 in overtime to the host Shawinigan Cataractes. They fell in last years semifinal to the Portland Winterhawks in Saskatoon. The Storm were the first team since the Windsor Spitfires in 2010 to go 3-0 through the preliminary round. The OHL champions had already secured a berth in Sundays championship game after their second win. "It gives us confidence to know we can beat every team in the tournament," Storm forward Scott Kosmachuk said. The Val-dOr Foreurs, 2-1, and the Edmonton Oil Kings, 1-2, meet in Fridays semifinal in a clash of the Quebec and Western league champions. The winner faces the Storm for the Cup. Kosmachuk is a Winnipeg Jets prospect and led Guelph with a hat trick. Detroit Red Wings draft pick Tyler Bertuzzi scored twice. Marc Stevens and Dallas Stars prospect Jason Dickinson added a goal apiece for an explosive offence thats churned out 18 goals in three games in the tournament. The Storms Justin Nichols held off London when they pressed late in the first period and midway through the second. He made 45 saves for the win. Anderson, a Columbus Blue Jackets prospect, and Brett Welychka replied for the Knights. London mustered just four goals in three games. Two were scored by defencemen. The Knights were stopped on two penalty shots in the tournament and they scored once on 12 power-play chances. London outshot the Foreurs 51-28 in the first game of the tournament, but lost 1-0.dddddddddddd "Its a bad time to get cold for offence and for scoring goals," Knights forward Max Domi said. London goalie Anthony Stolarz stopped 14-of-17 shots and was replaced by Jake Patterson early in the second when he inadvertently kicked the puck into his own net. Patterson allowed four goals on 21 shots. Guelph also ousted London from this years OHL playoffs on Apr. 11. The Knights had five weeks without a game, which may explain their lack of touch around the net. "Its not easy being off for that long and coming back and playing at the high level these guys have been playing through the whole thing and winning championships," Knights forward Bo Horvat said. "Weve been practising the whole time, but theres no excuses." Londons goaltending felt unsettled as well. Because of an eight-game playoff suspension in March, Stolarzs hiatus prior to the Cup was even longer. In his first game in seven weeks, he made 27 saves in the loss to Val-dOr. But the Philadelphia Flyers prospect was replaced by Patterson both Wednesday and after two periods of Sundays 5-2 loss to Edmonton. Wednesdays round-robin finale featured a pair of frightening knee-on-knee collisions, although the players in each case escaped major injury. Storm assistant captain Zack Mitchell was tossed at 6:56 of the first period for kneeing London defenceman Dakota Mermis. The CHL suspended his Storm teammate Chadd Bauman for the rest of the tournament Wednesday for the same hit on Val-dOr defenceman Guillaume Gelinas on Monday. Knights defenceman Nikita Zadorov took a tripping minor in a second-collision with Bertuzzi, who limped off the ice. But both Mermis and Bertuzzi stayed in Wednesdays game, whereas Gelinas was unable to play the following night against Edmonton. Londons frustration boiled over in the final minutes and Stevens scored Guelphs fourth power-play goal of the game on a two-man advantage at 17:14. The Windsor Spitfires of 2010 went 4-0 en route to the Cup that year. But the Spitfires opened the 2009 tournament with a pair of losses and ran the table to claim the trophy. For that reason, Guelph wanted London gone so the Knights couldnt come back to haunt them Sunday. "This team is a team that once they get this city and this building behind them, they can really do some damage," Guelph captain Matt Finn said. "We didnt want to let them back in because theyre a dangerous team. "We wanted to be the team that was 3-0 and knock London out of this tournament." ' ' '