CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks were coming off an ugly loss, and they had the surging Los Angeles Kings coming to town for a rematch of last seasons Western Conference finals. Enter Jonathan Toews. The Chicago captain set up two of the Blackhawks three first-period goals, leading the defending Stanley Cup champions to a 3-1 victory over Los Angeles on Sunday night. "We got a great start and didnt really let up for the next 40 minutes," Toews said. "It was a much better effort tonight. It doesnt take us long to get back to our good habits." Rookie Antti Raanta made 21 saves to help Chicago bounce back from a 7-3 loss at Toronto on Saturday night. Marian Hossa had a short-handed score that snapped Los Angeles NHL-record streak of 18 games without allowing a first-period goal. "I just tried to keep on doing the right things and tried to find the puck all the time," said Raanta, who was pulled after two periods in the loss to the Maple Leafs. Raanta was working on his first career shutout before Alec Martinez scored at 16:06 of the third. The Kings then had a power-play opportunity when Andrew Shaw was whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct. But the Blackhawks managed to kill it off. "We didnt have the puck very much," Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter said. "So a lot of the shots were standing at the blue line or sneaking in. We werent in their zone much, so we werent very effective." Kris Versteeg and Patrick Sharp also scored as Chicago improved to 7-0-2 in the second half of games on back-to-back nights. It was win No. 684 for Joel Quenneville, tying Pat Quinn for fourth on the leagues coaching list. The Kings (22-8-4) had won six in a row and were hoping to complete a perfect four-game trip in the same building where their Stanley Cup title defence ended in June. But the matchup of the NHLs best offensive team and the leagues stingiest defence went to the high-scoring Blackhawks, who have won four of five and lead the NHL with 53 points. "It wasnt the start that we wanted and its hard to play catch-up," Kings centre Anze Kopitar said. "Its quite a bit to overcome when its that kind of team. Its no secret we lost the game in the first period." Ben Scrivens had 37 saves for Los Angeles in his first start since Dec. 2, keeping the Kings in the game with a handful of nice stops in the last two periods. Scrivens and Martin Jones have done a terrific job in goal since Jonathan Quick was shelved by a groin injury last month. The Blackhawks (24-7-5) also were without their top goaltender, Corey Crawford. The 29-year-old Crawford is out with a lower-body injury, and its unclear when he might return. Raanta has started every game since Crawford went down on Dec. 8. He made his best stop against Los Angeles in the second, sticking his right skate out to turn away Kopitar on a prime opportunity. "It shows a lot that a young rookie goaltender like him can come back and play with confidence like he did tonight," Toews said. Chicago beat Los Angeles in five games in the playoffs, and went on to win the title for the second time in four seasons. The series against the Kings culminated with a hat trick for Patrick Kane in the deciding game, including the decisive score in the second overtime off a pass from Toews. Toews picked up right where he left off in the first game of his season between two of the NHLs best teams. First, he won a battle for the puck with Los Angeles defenceman Jake Muzzin behind the Kings net, and then threw it in front for Hossas 14th goal at 5:45 of the first. After Versteeg scored on a 2-on-1 break, Toews made a great cross-ice pass to Sharp for a power-play goal that made it 3-0 with 29 seconds left in the period. "I think Jonathan Toews in the first period pretty much just said, OK boys, my time there," Sutter said. NOTES: It was Bryan Bickell bobblehead night, but the big forward remained out with a lower-body injury. Quenneville said Bickell probably will accompany the team to Nashville for Tuesdays game against the Predators, but its more likely he returns on Friday against Vancouver. "He did well today," Quenneville said, "so hes close." ... Kings D Willie Mitchell was scratched due to an illness. He played in each of Los Angeles first 33 games of the season. ... Quenneville said goaltender Jason LaBarbera "could be in the mix" with the Blackhawks soon. LaBarbera was acquired in a trade with Edmonton on Saturday and assigned to Rockford in the AHL.
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http://www.jerseyschinacheap.us.com/nike-nfl-jerseys-china_cleveland-browns-jersey-china/ . He says the team is further ahead than it was at the start of 2012, when they finished out of the playoffs with a 6-12 record, tied with Hamilton in the CFL cellar. "Definitely, offensively, were farther ahead than we were at this point last year," he says.
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Cheap Brooklyn Nets Jerseys .A. Dickey and the Toronto Blue Jays look to get even with the Baltimore Orioles tonight in the second game of a three-game set at Camden Yards.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In many ways, it was a dream, going from 2-14 and the first overall pick in the NFL draft to 11-5 and a spot in the playoffs. Yet it ended in just about the most nightmarish way possible, a second-half collapse and another round of post-season heartache. No wonder the Kansas City Chiefs had such a hard time summarizing their season in the minutes and hours after a gut-wrenching 45-44 loss at Indianapolis on Saturday. "You know, I certainly think you use this as drive," Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith said Sunday between wrap-up meetings. "I think its good to be playing in these types of games. I think these types of games are contagious. You go back to playing in just regular-season games, you want that itch. You have that urge to try to get to these types of games. "I certainly think that foundation has been laid for next year." The Chiefs have lost a record eight straight post-season games, their last victory coming after the 1993 season. Most of the current members of the team were in grade school, some of them still in diapers, the last time Kansas City tasted any success in games that truly matter. It appeared for most of three quarters Saturday that things would be different. Kansas City had raced to a 31-10 halftime lead, and then took advantage of an interception early in the third quarter to tack on a touchdown that several Chiefs would say later should have sealed the game. The problem was that they started playing as if the game was in hand, while Andrew Luck and the playoff-tested Colts started to play as though they had nothing to lose. The result was a furious second-half rally, one made possible by unconscionable breakdowns by a defence that was spectacular during a 9-0 start. Luck torched a secondary that wilted when it faced premier quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers, and his 64-yard touchdown pass to T.Y. Hilton with 4:21 left finished off the second-biggest comeback in NFL playoff history. "I sat there and talked to them this morning and there were a lot of long faces," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Sunday. &qquot;They had their hearts ripped out.dddddddddddd I can work with that. "They should hurt," Reid said. "Thatll make us better." The last time the Chiefs won a playoff game, Joe Montana was the quarterback and the Titans were still the Oilers. Since then, there have been all manner of playoff heartbreaks: -- The Chiefs missed three field goals against Indianapolis after the 1995 season, when they had gone 13-3 during the regular season and harboured championship aspirations. -- Two years later, the Chiefs lost a 14-10 heartbreaker to the Denver Broncos, who would go on to beat the Green Bay Packers and win the Super Bowl. -- After the 2003 season, the Chiefs lost again to the Colts in a game featuring two of the leagues premier offences -- and in which nobody punted. But the way that Kansas City melted down Saturday may trump all of those disappointments. "Its hard to put in words, to lose a game that we clearly had control over," said linebacker Derrick Johnson, who is now 0-3 in playoff games in his nine-year career. "Coming from having the first pick last year to making the playoff this year, we did accomplish some things," Johnson said. "At the same time, our standard is very high and this one hurts." While players were going through final meetings Sunday, Reid met briefly with reporters at the teams practice facility. He said that no changes are planned for his coaching staff, though he did acknowledge that some of his assistants would be pursued by other teams. Reid also said it was too early to discuss personnel issues. The Chiefs have most of their key players already under contract for next season. Their biggest loss figures to be left tackle Branden Albert, whom they gave the franchise tag to this season. But even he may be allowed to leave in free agency with viable replacements already in house. Theyll be seeking help at wide receiver and in the defensive backfield in free agency and the draft, but for the most part, the Chiefs should return intact next season. When they make another run at ending two decades of playoff futility.
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