Some thoughts from the NHL on TSN panel on Sunday night: The best goaltending story of the night was not Cory Schneider, it was Corey Crawford, the guy at the other end. We get so wrapped up in the Vancouver Canucks drama of whos playing, whos not playing, and who should be playing, but I thought Crawford was terrific in this hockey game and he only got better as the game wore on. He gave up one goal in the third period facing 10 shots and in overtime the ice was completely and totally tilted in favour of the Canucks. The Blackhawks couldnt get the puck out of their own end, and it wasnt spectacular goaltending in the sense of Wow look at that save that he made, it was just that he got on top of rebounds, he didnt kick them out; he was tight into the net and they werent able to get anything by him. Crawford faced 12 shots in overtime and really gave the ultimate give your team a chance to win performance. You just had to know that the longer it went with Vancouver not being able to score with all that pressure, the first time they go the other way theyre going to get a fortuitous bounce, and Chicago did. Great Accomplishments for Tootoo, Nashville Predators Jordan Tootoo, surprisingly, was the key [for the Nashville Predators, in their first-round series against the Anaheim Ducks]. Tootoo has always been an agitating type of player who can be a factor in a hockey game, and sometimes hurt his team with bad penalties. But Tootoo has been a new man in these playoffs, and he was absolutely terrific playing on that line with Jerred Smithson and Nick Spaling. He was really a key guy at both ends of the ice, going head to head with Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Bobby Ryan; terrific effort. Here is a player who, in midseason, entered the National Hockey League Substance Abuse and Behavioural Modification Program; checked himself in voluntarily. [Now] he says he just feels a world of difference emotionally and physically, sees the game differently, and plays the game differently. In a way its almost an analogy for the whole franchise. Remember it wasnt that long ago, four years ago when Jim Ballsillie was going to buy the Nashville Predators and try and move them to Hamilton. That was a franchise that looked like might not be in Nashville long term. And instead, what weve got is a packed crowd with everybody up during the TV timeouts chanting Go Preds Go! The atmosphere in Nashville is off the charts and they finally get to the second round, so for David Poile and Barry Trotz, the only general manager and coach the franchise has ever known, its a remarkable achievement. It will be great for hockey in Nashville to get that chance to go into a second round with a real legitimate threat to try and get to the conference final and generate momentum for that marketplace. cheap jerseys . Zito dove to catch a pop bunt in front of the mound by Arizona pitcher Joe Saunders in the second inning of the Giants 5-3 victory over the Diamondbacks on Saturday night. wholesale jerseys . It has only been a year since the Saints were 0-3, shrouded in scandal and going nowhere. It might as well have been a lifetime ago. Brees passed for three touchdowns to go with his scoring run and the Saints beat the Arizona Cardinals 31-7 on Sunday to improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2009, when they won the Super Bowl. http://www.cheapjerseyschina.cc/ . Greg Chase had a goal and an assist for the Hitmen (3-1-0), who have won three games in a row, while Brady Brassart scored once. Jaedon Descheneau led the Ice (2-2-1) by scoring twice and Jagger Dirk had the other. cheap china jerseys . The Real Madrid midfielder on Wednesday became the first athlete to amass 10 million followers on the social networking site, joining an elite group which previously contained mostly musicians. cheap jerseys from china . And yet he knows thats unlikely to happen. "That was felt when we got off the duck boats, knowing this was one last chance to celebrate with a million people in the city," Farrell said Monday, two days after the teams victory parade and hours before the deadline to make qualifying offers to four free agents who were key to the teams title.CINCINNATI, Ohio -- When Johnny Cueto starts for Cincinnati, Wilson Valdez knows the Reds might not need much offence. The veteran utilityman drove in the tying run and scored the go-ahead run to back Cuetos gritty pitching as the Reds wrapped up one of the best homestands in franchise history with a 2-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday. "You know Johnnys not going to give up many runs," said Valdez, acquired by Cincinnati from Philadelphia in an off-season trade. "You know you might only have to score a couple of runs." Cueto (12-5) matched his single-season career high in wins and lowered his ERA to 2.23 to lead the Reds to their eighth victory on the 10-game homestand. Its only the fifth time in franchise history that Cincinnati posted at least eight wins on a home stand of 10 or fewer games. The last time was in 1975, when the Reds went 8-1 on a homestand. First-place Cincinnati sandwiched three-game sweeps of NL Central Division-rivals St. Louis and Milwaukee around a split of a four-game series against Arizona and maintained its lead over Pittsburgh in the division. The Reds, who lead the Pirates by a half-game, are 5-2 since learning that All-Star first baseman Joey Votto needed arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Manager Dusty Baker would prefer a perfect homestand, but hell take what he got from this one, which boosted the Reds a season-high 15 games over .500 (55-40). "We got off to a great start with the sweep of St. Louis and got a great end with this sweep," said Baker, who savored sweeping division foes. "Thats real big. You know you can pick up ground or lose ground." Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke was chagrined about being swept in a series the fourth-place Brewers considered to be crucial for staying in the race. "Its not a good time to lose three games to these guys," he said. "It was a disappointing weekend. This sure set us back. When youre behind three teams, its hard to catch up." Cueto (12-5) overcame a 30-pitch first inning, which ended with Milwaukee leaving the bases loaded, to complete seven while throwing 117 pitches. He gave up eight hits and one run with one walk. He tied his season high with nine strikeouts and capped his day by getting NL home run-leader Ryan Braun to fly out to centre field with two outs and the potential tying run on third in the seventh inning. "I felt really well," Cueto saidd through interpreter and assistant trainer Tomas Veras.dddddddddddd "I was aggressive on every pitch. In the first inning, I threw a lot of pitches. I was trying to throw fewer pitches after that. I always want to go into the seventh or the eighth inning." Logan Ondrusek pitched the eighth inning. Aroldis Chapman allowed a two-out walk to pinch-hitter Carlos Gomez, who stole second, before Chapman earned his 17th save by striking out Braun. Neither team hit a home run, snapping the streak of consecutive games in which at least one homer was hit at Great American Ball Park at 74. It was the longest active streak in the majors. Milwaukee took a 1-0 lead in the third on Norichika Aokis leadoff double and, after strikeouts by Nyjer Morgan and Braun, a run-scoring opposite-field single to right-centre by Aramis Ramirez. The Reds capitalized on pitcher Mike Fiers throwing error to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning. Chris Heisey singled with one out, stole second, and scored on Wilson Valdezs single to right-centre field. Valdez went around to third on Fiers errant pickoff attempt and scored on Brandon Phillips sacrifice fly to centre. Valdez was going to third from the start, he said. "I was going to take a chance," he said. "They have to have perfect execution. They have to get to the ball, they have to pick up the ball, they have to get into position to make the throw, and they have to throw the ball." Fiers (3-4) lasted six innings, allowing five hits and two runs -- one earned -- with four strikeouts. He also hit a batter. "Its frustrating," Fiers said. "Youre trying hard to win. You get tired of losing. We didnt score a lot of runs, but Im trying to keep Valdez close, and throw the ball away. I feel like we should still be playing." NOTES: The Reds are 26-13 against Milwaukee over the last two seasons and 17-6 against the Brewers in Cincinnati over the last three seasons. ... RHP Mat Latos, who allowed a career-high 10 hits in his last start against Houston on April 29, gets a chance to improve on that when he faces the Astros on Monday at Minute Maid Park in the first game of Cincinnatis seven-day, six-game road trip. ... LHP Randy Wolf is scheduled to start for Milwaukee in the opener of a three-game series at Philadelphia. Wolfs win in his last start on Tuesday against St. Louis was his first in 13 starts since April 30. cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '