Diskussionsbereich » month of December and lifted

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks watched as their championship banner rose to the rafters at the United Center. They took another look at the Stanley Cup, and soaked in the applause from the sellout crowd. Then Johnny Oduya and Co. went out and reminded the rest of the NHL how they won that title. Oduya, Brandon Saad and Marian Hossa scored in the third period, and the Blackhawks kicked off their title defence with a 6-4 victory over Mikhail Grabovski and the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night. "We wanted a good start. I think we got that," Oduya said. "Maybe in the second we came down a little bit, the win is the key thing to that, and to keep building on that. Theres a lot of games this year, so weve got to stay strong and get better." Patrick Kane, Brent Seabrook and Brandon Bollig also scored for Chicago, which won its first game for the second straight season. Corey Crawford made 28 saves, including a couple of huge stops when the Blackhawks killed off a late 5-on-3 power play. Chicago ruined Los Angeles title celebration with a 5-2 victory in last seasons opener and then set an NHL record by recording at least one point in its first 24 games. The fast start played a key role in the Blackhawks run to the Stanley Cup, and coach Joel Quenneville made it clear in training camp that another opening surge is a priority. "The guys have always been in a good place since Day 1 of the season," Quenneville said. "Youve got to commend them on how they prepared themselves." Grabovski had three goals and an assist in his first game since he signed with Washington in August. Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist, but the Capitals dropped their opener for the second straight season. "They got a little bit lucky today," Grabovski said. "We need to learn from our mistakes what we did. We just need to play better the next game." Grabovski had consecutive power-play goals in the third, lifting Washington to a 3-2 lead with 14:44 left. But Saad finished a beautiful give-and-go with Michal Handzus, and Oduya converted a long slap shot at 13:53 to put the Blackhawks ahead to stay. Oduya caught a fortunate break on his 32nd birthday when his fluttering shot went in off the glove of goalie Braden Holtby on its way to the net. "It just completely fooled me," Holtby said. "I had a clean look at the shot, it was just one of those sinkers. It happened. It was one I would love to have, but I think there are a couple of others in the game that I should have done a better job on, more than that one." Hossa finished the scoring when he was dragged down from behind as he skated toward an empty net in the final minute, prompting the officials to award him with an insurance goal. Cheered on by the rollicking crowd of 22,158, the Blackhawks staged one last celebration of the franchises fifth title. The team handed out special wristbands that lit up during parts of the pregame ceremony, making the rows of seats look like a clear night sky full of stars. The wristband lights were joined by camera flashes as a group of youth hockey players presented the championship banner to the 19 returning players from last years squad, who carried it to the spot for its trip to the rafters. Front office staff and players posed for a picture with the banner hanging just over the ice. It was then raised to the top while the crowd roared. "It was amazing," Hossa said. "So much light in the stands. To stand on the ice and look at 20-something-thousand people just celebrating. Its going to stay in my heart for the memories." Chicago then brushed aside any concern of a letdown caused by the banner ceremony and grabbed the lead when Bollig stuffed home a rebound 4:06 in for his first career regular-season goal. After Ovechkin tied it with a power-play goal, Kane sent a wrist shot past Holtby to make it 2-1 at 11:06. Kane won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP when the Blackhawks made their run to the championship. Holtby made 29 saves in Washingtons first regular-season game in Chicago since March 18, 2012. NHL teams played games strictly within their own conference last season after the lockout cut the campaign nearly in half. "The first 40 minutes I thought that we played pretty good hockey," Capitals coach Adam Oates said. "If anything, our turnovers gave them momentum and gave them some life. Theyve got a good hockey team. Its hard to play that way." NOTES: Chicago beat Washington twice during the preseason, including a 4-3 overtime win on Saturday night. ... The teams will meet again in Washington on April 11. ... NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was booed during the pregame ceremony. Mark Thompson Jersey . The All Blacks played their best rugby of recent years when they beat South Africa 38-27 in Johannesburg two weeks ago, clinching the Rugby Championships in a match which has been hailed as one of the best ever played. Dante Bichette Jersey . It was considered unlikely that Rielly would be loaned to Canada for the tournament, which begins Dec. 26 in Malmo, Sweden, though a stretch of three straight games in the press box made it something of a debate. https://www.cheaprockiesjerseys.us/414t-...ey-rockies.html. Zimmermann became the National Leagues first 16-game winner, pitching seven solid innings to lead the Washington Nationals past the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 Wednesday night. Custom Colorado Rockies Jerseys . -- Jerel Worthy and his Michigan State teammates charged across the field, holding four fingers in the air while celebrating another sweet victory over their biggest rival. Bryan Shaw Jersey . Less than 24 hours after the Wolves lost at home to the Mavericks, 100-98, NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn announced Tuesday that Kevin Love was fouled on his right arm by Shawn Marion in the closing seconds and should have been awarded two free throws. NEW YORK -- It was an average performance from Jabari Parker, and it drew praise worthy of another stellar effort by the Duke freshman. "Hes a natural," Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said after Parker had 23 points and 10 rebounds in an 80-63 victory over UCLA on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. "In different sports there are people who are naturals. Jabari is a natural. He can become even better. He embraces the moment." Bruins coach Steve Alford was impressed with the 6-foot-8 Chicago native. "Hes gifted. Hes got a lot of smoothness to him. He can be a big guard or post you," the first-year UCLA coach said. "You dont see a lot who are this polished 10, 11 games into the year." UCLA sophomore guard Kyle Anderson jumped in on the praise. "Its tough to say who is the best player on the floor, especially with that team and our group of guys, but he played really well," said Anderson, who had another all-around game for the Bruins. "We wanted to shut him down but hes tough." Parker was 7 of 13 from the field, including a 4-for-8 performance from 3-point range. He also was 5 of 5 at the free throw line and had five assists while scoring at least 20 points for the ninth time in his 11 college games. He hit a big 3 and had an impressive dunk during Dukes 16-4 run that broke open a tie game in the second half. "Im just going to do whatever it takes to win," Parker said. "I dont have to take 20 shots for us to win, I can as long as theyre good shots. Im just learning to play the proper role right now." The Blue Devils (9-2) poked and prodded UCLAs 2-3 zone from the perimeter, making 11 3-pointers in a season-high 32 attempts from beyond the arc. Rodney Hood and Quinn Cook both had 14 points for the Blue Devils. Cook had five assists and all eight of DDukes steals.dddddddddddd "We did a good job hitting Amile (Jefferson) in the middle of the zone and he became the toss-back guy," Krzyzewski said. "He got the ball right back to guys and they got rhythm shots." David Wear led the Bruins (9-2) with 16 points and Anderson, who has taken over at point guard, had 15 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. He entered the game averaging 13.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists. "Quinn Cook did a good job of pressuring the ball. That 94 feet of pressure is tough," said Anderson, who had six turnovers. "They didnt let us execute our offence. Dukes signature is the pressure defence, Thats what they want to do and we fell into it." UCLAs zone kept the Bruins in the game. Wear, who went 4 for 4 from beyond the arc, made a 3 to tie it at 43 with 17:58 to play. Duke suddenly began to connect from outside with consistency and Hood hit two 3s and Parker added another in a 16-4 run that put the Blue Devils up 61-49 with 11:33 to go. The Bruins twice got within eight points, but they got no closer in front of the crowd of 15,410. UCLA, which entered the game averaging 85.1 points, was 8 of 22 from 3-point range. Justin Adams, the Bruins leading scorer coming in with a 21.2 average, was held to 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting. "I thought they did a really good job on him," Alford said. "This was the first time this season hes been held like that, containing him and keeping him off the free throw line." The win was Dukes 23rd straight in the month of December and lifted Krzyzewski to an 8-1 record against UCLA. The Blue Devils are 2-1 at Madison Square Garden this season having beaten Alabama and lost to Arizona in the NIT Season Tip-Off in November. Dukes other loss this season was to Kansas. UCLAs other loss was at Missouri. ' ' '