Gäste-Forum » the repeated comeback attempts

Alec Martinez scored 5:47 into overtime of Game Seven, giving the Los Angeles Kings a 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks, capturing the Western Conference crown. Martinez doesnt play a lot, playing more than 18 minutes once in the past 11 games, but hes been remarkably effective. In the series against the Blackhawks, during 5-on-5 play, Martinez was on the ice for 115 shot attempts for and 74 against (60.8%). He now has four goals and nine points in 21 games during this years playoffs. Mr. Game Seven, Justin Williams, contributed a goal, as well as setting up Martinez for the winner. Williams now has 18 points in the postseason, ranking fifth, behind Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Patrick Kane and Marian Gaborik. Over the past three years, Williams ranks fourth in playoff scoring, with 42 points in 59 games. Kings rookie RW Tyler Toffoli continued to produce, picking up a goal and an assist in Game Seven, giving him six points (4 G, 2 A) in the series. He was also strong in terms of puck possession, on the ice for 59.9% (112 for, 75 against) of 5-on-5 shot attempts. Kings captain Dustin Brown had a productive game, with two assists giving him six points (2 G, 4 A) in the past four games after he had one point in the previous eight. Something about playing with Anze Kopitar works for Brown. Brown also registered a game-high eight hits and 13 shot attempts in Game Seven. Kings LW Dwight King had a couple of assists in Game Seven, giving him five points (1 G, 4 A) in the series. He had three points in 14 games through the first two rounds of the series. Chicago jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and it looked like their big guns were firing. Kane had a couple of assists, giving him 10 points in the past four games and a team-leading 20 points in 19 playoff games. In the last six seasons, there have been two players to score at least 14 points in four different playoff years; one is Kane, the other is teammate Marian Hossa. Kanes linemate, LW Brandon Saad, had a goal and an assist in Game Seven, giving him nine points (4 G, 5 A) in the series. In the last six games, Saad was on for 62.1% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. Blackhawks LW Patrick Sharp was dangerous in Game Seven, more than most if not all of this years playoff games, scoring a pair of goals. It was a rough postseason for Sharp, who finished with 10 points (5 G, 5 A) in 19 games and was on the wrong end of the possession game, 39.4% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts in the series. This was quite a series, played at a very high level, yet undermined at times by subpar goaltending. Blackhawks G Corey Crawford had an .878 save percentage, stopping 187 of 213 shots, in the series. Three of the goals against in the series-deciding game were the result of ineffective blocked shots by Chicago defenders, so blame cant be pinned solely on Crawford, but its tough to win stopping under 88% of the shots faced. Its not as though Jonathan Quick was dramatically better in the Kings net. Quick had an .889 save percentage (184 saves on 207 shots against), leaving him with a .906 save percentage in this years playoffs. The series was also a survival of the fittest and it was clear, in Game Seven, that there were individual players that couldnt be entrusted with ice time. For the Blackhawks, that included LW Brandon Bollig and RW Kris Versteeg, both on for zero shot attempts for and six against in limited ice time, under four minutes each, while C Michal Handzus was only on for two for and nine against in a little under seven minutes. The Kings had their own liabilities. LW Kyle Clifford was on the ice for zero shot attempts for and 10 against, in less than three minutes of ice time, and RW Trevor Lewis was only slightly better (three attempts for, 12 against) in under six minutes of ice time. They were the only Kings forwards to go scoreless in the series. It has been anything but easy for the Kings, who have won three straight seven-game series, but they will be favoured against the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Final. As the leagues top puck possession team, its fair for the Kings to hold favoured status, but they will need Quick to play better than he has in the playoffs -- and most definitely better than he did against Chicago -- in order to win the Cup. Theres more to break down before that series starts, so lets give credit to the Kings for their hard-fought win over Chicago. It was a memorable series played between two outstandin teams and the victors ought to be applauded. 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. Bryce Love Youth Jersey . The Senators return from a lengthy layoff caused by Wednesdays attack on Parliament Hill to host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. Terry McLaurin Jersey .J. -- The Houston Astros had the No. http://www.redskinsrookiestore.com/Redsk...claurin-Jersey/. - The RBC Canadian Open will return to Glen Abbey Golf Club next year, marking the 27th time that the national open championship will be played at the Oakville, Ont. Sam Huff Youth Jersey .com) - The Buffalo Bills will return to the friendly confines of Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday when they welcome the upstart Cleveland Browns to town. Russ Grimm Redskins Jersey . A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. BOSTON -- A year after the Boston Marathon bombings, the Red Sox had plenty of chances to make a special day even more memorable. They almost succeeded. Boston scored one run in each of the last three innings -- stranding runners in scoring position in all of them -- -- in a 7-6 loss to the Baltimore Orioles in Mondays traditional Patriots Day morning game Not bad, though, considering the Red Sox trailed 6-0 after three innings. "Our guys battled and fought and did a good job of making a game of it and it came down to the last pitch," David Ross said. "We did a good job of representing Red Sox baseball today. We just want to win, obviously, for the fans and the whole situation." Boston beat Tampa Bay 3-2 in last years Patriots Day game. About 40 minutes after the final out, two bombs went off near the marathon finish line a little over a mile from Fenway Park, killing three spectators. This year, Mondays game began at 11:09 a.m., 12 hours, 28 minutes after Bostons 6-5 win ended Sunday night. "Once you show up here, we have a job to do," Baltimores Adam Jones said. "It doesnt matter what time it is." The game started about an hour before Meb Keflezighi crossed the finish line as the first American man to win the Marathon since Greg Meyer in 1983. A long, loud cheer went up when the result of the race was shown on the centre field video screen. Bostons Mike Napoli called Monday "a special day." "Of course, you want to go out there and win," he said. That seemed unlikely when Baltimore scored six runs off Clay Buchholz in the third inning. The Red Sox, who overcame a 5-0 deficit Sunday, started to come back again. "It never seems to be enough against these guys," said Baltimore first baseman Chris Davis, who fielded Mike Carps grounder and stepped on first for the last out. "They claw and battle and continue to score runs and put pressure on us to score more runs." Boston loaded the bases with one out in the ninth on a single by Brock Holt, a double by Dustin Pedroia and an intentional walk to David Ortiz. One run scored on Napolis groundout to second before Tommy Hunter escaped with his fifth save. Nothing special for Hunter. "Its another inning, another game," hee said.dddddddddddd "I was actually pretty calm." Wei-Yin Chen (3-1) and five relievers pitched well enough for Baltimore to gain a split of the four-game series. Baltimore started the third with consecutive singles by Steve Lombardozzi, David Lough, Nick Markakis, Nelson Cruz and Davis that produced three runs. Jones drove in another on a forceout at second base before a run-scoring double by Steve Clevenger and an RBI single by Jonathan Schoop made it 6-0 and knocked out Buchholz (0-2). Buchholz had slept over at Fenway Park after Sunday nights game and doesnt regret the decision. "Id have had to wake up earlier than I did here to get here this morning," he said, "so that had nothing to do with it." Boston cut the lead in half with three runs in the fifth on RBI doubles by Jackie Bradley Jr. and Pedroia and a sacrifice fly by Holt. In the seventh, Boston made it 6-4 on Ross first homer and then had a chance to go ahead after Holt singled and Pedroia walked. But Ortiz hit an inning-ending groundout. Ryan Flahertys RBI single in the eighth made it 7-4 before Napolis solo homer in the bottom half. Singles by Xander Bogaerts and Daniel Nava put runners at first and second with one out, but pinch-hitter Jonathan Herrera struck out as the runners took off and Bogaerts was tagged between second and third. "It takes some added energy," Boston manager John Farrell said of the repeated comeback attempts. "Wed certainly like to get the offence going a little bit earlier rather than having to dig out of a hole." NOTES: Marc Fucarile, who lost his right leg in last years Boston Marathon bombing, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. He was married in Fenway Park last Thursday. ... Bostons jerseys had the word "BOSTON" on the front instead of the usual "RED SOX." ... Davis singled and walked twice and tied his career-high by reaching base in 17 straight games. ... The Red Sox send Jon Lester (2-2) to the mound Tuesday night for the start of a three-game home series against the Yankees. Masahiro Tanaka (2-0) pitches for New York. The Orioles will start Miguel Gonzalez (1-1) against R.A. Dickey (1-3) of the Blue Jays in the opener of a three-game series at Toronto. ' ' '