Post by jenny123 on Jan 7, 2014 22:54:47 GMT -5
HAMILTON, Ont. -- A healthy Martin St. Pierre found his scoring touch just in time to save his team on Friday. The 30-year-old centreman scored his first two goals of the season, including the overtime winner, as the Bulldogs defeated the Toronto Marlies 2-1 in American Hockey League action. The captain attributed his offence to his recent return to full health after missing time earlier in the season with an injury. "Its frustrating to go five games with no goals," said St. Pierre. "But my injury set me back and I didnt want to push too hard. "Im 100 per cent now and it felt great to get some goals and get going." Dustin Tokarski made 24 saves for the Bulldogs (5-2-2). Josh Leivo had the lone goal for the Marlies (5-3-1). Drew MacIntyre made 35 saves in a losing effort. St. Pierre scored his second goal of the game at 2:56 of the overtime period, with his team enjoying a 4-on-3 man advantage. Nathan Beaulieu and Magnus Nygren traded passes on the blue line before Nygren released a low slap shot that MacIntyre kicked into St. Pierres path on the right side of the net. The Bulldogs captain did the rest, placing a wrist shot in the top corner of the net with MacIntyre sprawling. Hamilton head coach Sylvain Lefebvre confirmed that his team had been looking to create more traffic in front of MacIntyre as the game wore on. "That was something that we talked about between periods," he said. "MacIntyre was seeing the puck really well, so we had to make a better effort to stand in front of him and get better screens." Neither team could piece together a scoring chance in the opening minutes, until a defensive lapse by the Bulldogs gifted the Marlies the games first goal. Greg McKegg pressured Hamiltons Morgan Ellis behind the Bulldogs net and forced a turnover before quickly sliding a centering pass to Spencer Abbott in the low slot. The puck deflected off of the well-covered forward and toward the oncoming Leivo, whose close-range wrist shot beat Tokarski over the glove hand at 5:01 of the first period. Toronto began to get the better of play as the period wore on, and Tokarski had to be sharp with four and a half minutes to play in the first, when a scramble in front of his net forced him to produce three saves in quick succession. It was MacIntyres turn to take the spotlight early in the second period, as the Marlies found themselves hemmed into their defensive zone eight minutes in. The goaltender stayed low as a crowd developed in front of him, and kicked aside two point-blank wrist shots from the slot to preserve Torontos lead. The second period wore on with few scoring chances for either side, but Abbott had the best chance when he snuck behind the Hamilton defence and received a pass in the low slot. He had little room to move, however, and could only slide a weak effort into the pads of Tokarski. A power play provided the spark that Hamilton needed to level the game, when Stuart Percy was whistled for hooking at 11:24 of the third period. The Bulldogs set up their cycle on the ensuing power play, and Beaulieu shifted the puck across the blue line to Nygren. His initial slap shot was blocked, but took a rebound and found St. Pierre in the right circle, who provided an easy finish with MacIntyre out of position at 11:56. Lefebvre argued that his teams equalizer was a just reward for its level of play. "For two periods, we did everything but score goals," he said. "We had some good chances, some good time in the offensive zone. We didnt give up many scoring chances. "I thought it was just a matter of time before we scored." Note: Toronto winger Jerry DAmigo left the game three minutes into the second period after falling awkwardly into the boards and did not return. Eric Fisher Jersey .K. Subban in the fold. While the team continues to negotiate with its restricted free agent defender, general manager Marc Bergevin expressed hope that the team could come to terms with one of its most popular players. Dwayne Bowe Jersey . Flat on his back, Bryzgalov held off one New Jersey push. Upright on skates, Brzy pushed aside a short-handed surge. www.jerseyalexsmith.com/Youth-Jamaal-Charles-Jersey/ . So when Josh Donaldson gave the As an early lead with a solo home run in the second inning, his teammates got a confidence boost. Marcus Allen Chiefs Jersey . The Bulls won the division by the widest margin in the Association, a more than comfortable 25 games in the standings over second-place Indiana. Brandon Flowers Jersey . -- Michigan was making a mess of another game against a heavy underdog, when Desmond Morgan snatched away Connecticuts chance for a huge upset. (Sports Network) - Tyler Hansbrough and the Indiana Pacers continue their push to the postseason Friday when they play host to the lowly Sacramento Kings at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Pacers now have a comfortable three-game lead over both Milwaukee and Charlotte for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after a 111-88 blowout win over the Bobcats in the Queen City on Wednesday. Danny Granger finished with a game-high 33 points in that one. Hansbrough, who has flourished since interim coach Frank Vogel has taken over for the unpopular Jim OBrien, finished with 24 points and Roy Hibbert posted 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Pacers, who have won three of four overall to seize control in the race for the Easts last slot. We knew that this was a team that we could defend, Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. We had defensive confidence all night, we knew that if we kept working we would get stops tthat would lead to easy buckets.dddddddddddd The Kings helped Indiana by playing spoiler in Milwaukee on Wednesday and improving 2-1 on a five-game road trip when Marcus Thornton tallied 27 points and six rebounds, as Sacramento held off the Bucks, 97-90. Beno Udrih added 25 points, six boards and six assists for the Kings, who had lost nine of 11 coming in. We made the shots we needed to down the stretch, said Udrih. You know, things worked out for us tonight. We grabbed the rebounds we needed to and made the free throws. DeMarcus Cousins donated 13 points and nine rebounds for Sacramento, which got 11 points and 12 boards from Samuel Dalembert. The Kings may also get a boost tonight with the possible return of Tyreke Evans to the lineup. Evans, last seasons Rookie of the Year, has been sidelined since Feb. 13 with plantar fasciitis. Indiana has won four of five over Sacramento. ' ' '