Gästebuch » get over the hump

WINNIPEG -- Blake Wheeler says his Winnipeg Jets are racing for a Western Conference playoff spot. Winnipeg got out of the post-Olympic starting blocks quickly with a 3-2 shootout win over the Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday night as Wheeler scored his 23rd goal of the season. "A vast percentage of the league is going to be pretty rested after a 2 1/2-week break," said Wheeler, who played for the United States in Sochi, but saw limited minutes as the Americans 13th forward. "I think its an all-out sprint. Theres no time to be tired." Wheeler was joined on the score sheet by Bryan Little. Olli Jokinen put away the shootout winner in the fourth round for Winnipeg (29-26-6). Devin Setoguchi also beat Coyotes goalie Mike Smith in the shootout, while Antoine Vermette was the only Coyote to solve Ondrej Pavelec. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Martin Hanzal scored in regulation for Phoenix (27-21-11) in the first game for both teams after a 19-day break for the Winter Olympics. The Jets continued their winning ways under new head coach Paul Maurice, improving to 10-3-1 since he replaced the fired Claude Noel. Despite some less-than-crisp play, the coach said he was pleasantly surprised by how well his team played after such a long layoff. "It was tough at times, but just from the stuff I watched the last two days (around the league), it was a better game than I thought I was going to see," Maurice said. Winnipeg pulled within one point of the Coyotes as both teams chase a wild-card playoff spot, although Phoenix has two games in hand. Dallas sits in the final spot with 66 points, one better than Phoenix and Vancouver, and two ahead of Winnipeg. Pavelec made 34 saves for the Jets, with two of his toughest stops coming in overtime. "It wasnt an easy game for both teams. It was the first game back and we didnt know what to expect a little bit," said Pavelec, who stopped Mike Ribeiro to end the shootout. Smith stopped 27 shots for the visitors, including a pair of scoring chances in the final seconds of regulation. "For the most part I felt not too bad," said Smith, who was a member of Canadas gold medal-winning team in Sochi but didnt see any playing time. "But like I said, it doesnt matter how you feel, you need to come out on the better side of things." Hanzal put away a rebound to tie the game at 2-2 with Jets centre Jim Slater in the penalty box 6:40 into the third period. Winnipeg took advantage of a giveaway by Coyotes defenceman Zbynek Michalek to take the lead late in the second period. With Ekman-Larsson in the penalty box, Little intercepted Michaleks pass in the low slot and beat Smiths glove hand to make it 2-1. The teams wasted no time reminding fans of one of the differences between international hockey and the NHL game. Winnipegs Zach Bogosian and Phoenixs Rob Klinkhammer dropped the gloves just 78 seconds into the game after Klinkhammer shoved Bogosians defence partner Toby Enstrom into the boards. The Coyotes opened the scoring with an Ekman-Larsson wrist shot from the high slot that went in off the post 12:17 into the first period. It took the Jets less than three minutes to respond, as Wheelers shot from the corner hit Coyotes defenceman Michael Stone in the leg and bounced into the net. Smith was distracted earlier in the sequence by Winnipeg forward Dustin Byfuglien, and the Coyotes argued for an interference call. Smith and Coyotes coach Dave Tippett both said they disagreed with the non-call in their post-game comments. "Personally, I think if theres incidental contact in the net and then the puck goes in after, it shouldve been not a penalty, but it shouldnt have been allowed," Smith said. Notes: Jocelyne Larocque of Ste. Anne, Man., a defenceman for Canadas Olympic gold medal-winning womens hockey team, performed the ceremonial puck drop. a The Jets welcomed back Slater, who missed 52 games with a sports hernia, and left-winger Evander Kane, who sat out the last six games before the Olympic break with a hand injury. a The Jets head to Nashville for a one-game road trip on Saturday, while the Coyotes play in Denver Friday night before heading home. a The teams have one remaining meeting, April 1 in Arizona. Markus Naslund Jersey . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Jaromir Jagr Jersey . TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie tweeted that its believed the Flames are working towards a new contract with the defenceman. https://www.cheappenguinsjersey.com/781q...nguins.html.com) - Fair Grounds commences its road to the Kentucky Derby Saturday with the 71st running of the $200,000 Lecomte Stakes. Ron Stackhouse Jersey . Having won the first leg 1-0 in Barcelona, Madrid entered the match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium already in control and quickly sealed its place in the semifinals when Jese Rodriguez scored in the seventh minute. Dave Schultz Jersey . -- Those impatient for the Stanley Cup to return to Canada will have just one team to root for in the NHL playoffs -- the Montreal Canadiens.Rome, Italy (SportsNetwork.com) - Juventus will shoot for a fourth consecutive win across all competitions on Saturday when the three-time defending Serie A champions return to league play to face Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico in a top-five clash. The Old Lady enters Saturdays clash on top of the Serie A table with 28 points, three clear of second-place Roma, and coming off a 7-0 drubbing of Parma in league play prior to the international break. The Bianconeri opened the scoring against Parma after just 23 minutes through Fernando Llorente and Stephan Lichtsteiner doubled the advantage six minutes later. Llorente completed his brace in the 36th minute to give Juve the comfortable 3-0 lead at the intermission. The second half was more Juve as Carlos Tevez found the back of the net in the 50th and 58th minutes to make it a 5-0 game. Youngster Alvaro Morata put the exclamation point on the rout with goals in the 76th and 88th minutes to complete the drubbing and send Parma to its seventh defeat in the last eight matches. Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri urged his team to focus solely on the task at hand and not look ahead to Wednesdays Champions League clash against Malmo. Its our duty to focus solely on tomorrows game, Allegri said. We didnt get out of the blocks after Octobers international break, so we must take heed of that and burst out of the traps right away tomorrow, enabling us to be ready for Wednesdays match. Do we have the potential to get into Europe?s top eight? Yes, but now the aim is to get through the group stages. Let?s get six points and win the group before speaking about anything else. Lazio, meanwhile, enters the clash in fifth place in Serie A with 19 points hoping to bounce back from a 2-1 loss to Empoli in league play prior to the international break. Afteer a scoreless opening half, Lazio fell behind in the 52nd minute thanks to a goal from Federico Barba and Massimo Maccarone doubled the lead for Empoli three minutes later.dddddddddddd. Lazio pulled one back in the 66th minute through Filip Dordevic, but it wasnt enough and Empoli held on for all three points. Despite the setback, Lazio head coach Stefano Pioli implored his club to play without fear against the defending champions on home soil. We want to win and the desire to bring home three points needs to be greater than the fear of losing. It will be a useful yardstick which will tell us how far weve come, Pioli said. Our clear goal is to get back into Europe and I keep reiterating my belief that this team is capable of doing so. It will be a tough fight and if we want to keep improving our standing each week we also need to make the most of tomorrows opportunity. Also in Serie A on Saturday, Atalanta welcomes Roma to the Stadio Atleti Azzurri dItalia. Sundays marquee contest pits AC Milan against Inter Milan in the latest installment of the Milan derby. Both clubs come into the derby fixture in need of three points as AC Milan is coming off a 2-2 draw with Sampdoria, while Inter is also coming off a stalemate against Hellas Verona. Also on Sunday, Torino welcomes Sassuolo to the Stadio Olimpico di Torino, while Cesena hosts Sampdoria at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi. Hellas Verona returns to Serie A play hoping to snap a string of three straight draws with a win over Fiorentina at the Stadio M.A. Bentegodi, while Parma hosts Empoli at the Stadio Ennio Tardini. Napoli welcomes Cagliari to the Stadio San Paolo and Udinese hosts Chievo at the Stadio Friuli. Mondays match sees Genoa, winners of three of their last four matches, face Palermo at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. ' ' 'nd the rest of the 2010 runners-up finally get over the hump? Click here for the Netherlands team preview At number-56 in the world, the Socceroos are the lowest-ranked team in the entire World Cup field. Is Australia out of its element in Brazil or will its scrappiness be enough to prove that it can hang with the big boys? Click here for the Australia team preview ' ' '