back from rocky start

Three Game Sevens provide thrilling moments and three heartbroken teams. Notes on Carcillo, Mason, Heatley, Niederreiter, Kopitar, Thornton and more. RANGERS GET PAST FLYERS One night after getting soundly beaten by the Philadelphia Flyers, the New York Rangers bounced back with a 2-1 win in Game Seven, giving the Blueshirts the victory in the first-round series. With the series on the line, it wasnt the big names getting the job done. The Rangers first goal came from Daniel Carcillo, back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch for a couple games. Carcillo, who had four goals and an assist in 57 regular season games, picked up two goals in three games for the series. The Blueshirts other goal in Game Seven was provided by Benoit Pouliot, who contributed two goals and four points in the series. New Yorks third defence pairing -- John Moore and Kevin Klein -- were on for more than 70% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts in Game Six and Seven. They were getting chewed up early in the series, but were much more effetive later in the series. Philadelphias only goal of the deciding game came from rookie RW Jason Akeson, his second of the series. G Steve Mason was terrific for the Flyers, stopping 31 of 33 shots in Game Seven, giving him a .939 save percentage for the series. Tough to end up on the losing side with those numbers, but Mason didnt appear until Game Three because he was recovering from a concussion suffered late in the season. For all the trials he has endured throughout his career, this has been the best year of Masons career and if the 25-year-old has found a new level of play, then thats a win for the franchise going forward. Of course, well only have some idea if this improvement is legit when we see how Mason plays next season. In the end, the Rangers held the puck possession edge and, even though he didnt score a goal in the series, Rick Nash was at the forefront of driving play. The Rangers deserved their win, though the strong goaltending performance by Mason made it a close series. The Rangers move on and ought to have a fair chance against a Pittsburgh team that tends to rely on their high-end talent to carry the day. WILD FINISH Despite losing their starting goaltender, Darcy Kuemper, to what looked like a knee (and possibly head) injury and facing a deficit four different times in Game Seven, the Minnesota Wild ultimately prevailed with a 5-4 overtime win against the Colorado Avalanche. Perhaps the most remarkable story for the Wild in Game Seven -- well, aside from G Ilya Bryzgalov getting credit for the win after stopping one shot -- is that Minnesotas offence was driven by the supporting cast. Kyle Brodziak, Dany Heatley and Nino Niederreiter each had three points, with Niederreiters second goal of the game counting as the game-winner in overtime. Heatley, whose career has been on a steep decline in Minnesota and was scratched early in the series, finished the series with five points for the Wild, while Brodziak, also a healthy scratch, finished with five points in the series. Those are valuable contributions from players that might not be expeccted to do all that much. The tying goal, which forced overtime, was buried by D Jared Spurgeon, from Niederreiter and Brodziak, with just 2:27 remaining in the third period. Colorado didnt get that same contribution from the supporting cast. Paul Stastny, who scored in Game Seven, finished with 10 points, tied with rookie Nathan MacKinnon and Wild LW Zach Parise for the playoff scoring lead. Avalanche veteran winger Maxime Talbot had a rough go in the possession game. With Talbot on the ice at 5-on-5, the Avs had 49 shot attempts for and 113 against with Talbot on the ice (30.8%). Without Talbot on the ice, the Avalanche had 45.3% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts -- not great, but clearly better. This series had the most lopsided possession stats of any first-round series, with the Wild getting 61.3% of unblocked shot attempts when the score was close (within a goal in first two periods, tied in the third). The Avalanche, as they had all season, relied too much on G Semyon Varlamov, who had an ordinary game at the worst possible time. Now the Wild get to increase their level of difficulty in Round Two, facing the defending-champion Chicago Blackhawks. ROYAL RALLY Facing a three-games-to-none deficit, the Los Angeles Kings chipped away at the San Jose Sharks lead and, by the time Game Seven arrived Wednesday night, there was little doubt that the Kings could complete the improbable comeback. This doesnt mean it was a sure thing -- the Sharks scored first in Game Seven -- but the Kings were poised to make this rare comeback. Then D Drew Doughty tied the game, and C Anze Kopitar gave the Kings the lead, then it was Tyler Toffoli and the outcome was become evident. With a pair of points, Kopitar moved into a tie for the playoff scoring lead, with 10 points. Toffoli (57.4 Corsi%) and Doughty (54.8 Corsi%) had the best possession stats on the Kings. Another Kings rookie, in addition to Toffoli, LW Tanner Pearson, picked up a goal and an assist in the clinching game. Blowing a 3-0 series lead will hit the Sharks hard. They were, undeniably, a Stanley Cup contender stuck with a very difficult first-round opponent. The main criticism will fall on C Joe Thornton and LW Patrick Marleau because it always does, but also because theyve been around a while, through all the previous disappointments. Shut out in the deciding game, Thornton finished the series with three points in seven games, while Marleau led the Sharks with seven points. On the other hand, the Sharks fourth line ran into trouble. There were times when their physical play seemed to be helpful but, in the bigger picture, they werent effective. LW Raffi Torres, for example, was one for 41 shot attempts for and 69 against (37.3%). With Torres off the ice, the Sharks got 50.7% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. On the Kings fourth line, by comparison, they frequently had C Mike Richards running with the fourth line and Richards had eight shots on goal in Game Seven. The difference in the series, between two dominant possession teams, was expected to be in goal and thats how it turned out. Jonathan Quick got lit up early, but he stopped 130 of 135 shots (.963 SV%) in the final four games to lead the Kings comeback. While the Sharks ponder this crushing defeat, the Kings move on to take on Anaheim, a good rivalry series, though one in which the Kings, a superior possesion team with a more experienced goaltender, should be favoured. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Tom Brady Jersey Nike . Rinehart joins safety Darrell Stuckey and linebacker Donald Butler as potential unrestricted free agents who are remaining with the team. Sports Jerseys From China . Will Venable and Ryan Ludwick drove in a run each for the Padres, who have taken six of their last seven contests and clinched their third straight series win after winning the first two in this set. Clayton Richard (4-9) allowed five hits and a pair of runs over seven innings, while fanning five. https://www.sportsstarsjerseys.com/tom-brady-jersey/.ca. Kerry, In Mondays Habs/Bruins game, there were three questionable/brutal calls against the Habs late in the game - Tomas Plekanec, then Douglas Murray, then Brendan Gallagher. Wholesale Sports Jerseys . Or, for that matter, the aged. Sale Tom Brady Jersey . PAUL, Minn.SAN DIEGO - Rookie Jesse Hahn gave himself a nice present on his 25th birthday and his teammates gave him far more run support than he needed. Hahn held St. Louis to one run and four hits in seven innings and Jedd Gyorko and Will Venable each homered and drove in four runs to lead the San Diego Padres to a 12-1 victory Wednesday night. Yangervis Solarte, obtained from the New York Yankees in the trade for Chase Headley, had four hits and the Padres tied their season high with 16. The Padres fell one run shy of their season high. "To get a win on your birthday is awesome," Hahn said. His seven wins in nine appearances are the most in Padres history and tied for the third-most by a big league pitcher since 1914. "We havent had it enough," manager Bud Black said of the scoring outburst. "But its great to see. It starts with starting pitching, and Jesse pitched a great game. Hes not a secret, even though hes facing teams for the first time. Theres video, theres scouting reports. Hes being talked about because hes made a number of starts and his innings are getting up there a little bit." Hahns latest impressive start put the Padres, buried in third place in the NL West, in position to sweep the series with a win Thursday. The Cardinals are in the race for the NL Central crown a season after going to the World Series. "It was probably our ugliest loss of the year. Thats the best way to describe it," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. Hahn (7-2) struck out three and walked two in winning his third straight start. The lanky righty retired the first seven batters before Tony Cruz beat out an infield single. Hahn was acquired in a seven-player trade with Tampa Bay on Jan. 22. Hahn took a shutout into the seventh before allowing a one-out RBI single by Peter Bourjos singled in Matt Adams. "I was a little mad but at that point I was going for the double play to get out of the inning," Hahn said. "It was a good pitch; unfortunately the runner scored. Venable hit a 379-foot, three-run homer to right to cap the eight-run seventh. It was his fourth. The Padres had five hits, three walks and a hit batter off three relievers in the inning. Gyorko hit a three-run double, his third hit. Gyorko, who returned Monday from a 44-game stay on the disabled list with plantar fasciitis, homered to left on a 1-0 pitch from Joe Kelly with one out in the fourth to give San Diego a 3-0 lead.dddddddddddd It was his sixth. Yonder Alonso followed with a triple and came in on Venables single. "It obviously feels good to swing the bat the way I wanted to," said Gyorko, who has struggled since the Padres gave him a $35 million, six-year contract extension on April 14, based on his strong rookie season. "It feels a lot like how I was swinging it there at the end of the year last year. Its something to build on but I still have a long way to go." Alexi Amarista had three hits and scored three runs, and Solarte also had three hits. Kelly (2-2) went five innings, allowing four runs and seven hits while striking out five and walking one. "Kelly was OK," Matheny said. "It looked like good pitches were getting hit hard. It should have worked out a little better for him." Overall, "Thats not the kind of baseball weve played all year," Matheny said. No excuses. We were terrible." TRAINERS ROOM Cardinals: Manager Mike Matheny said the sound of pinch-hitter Daniel Descalso getting hit on the knee by a pitch from Joaquin Benoit in the ninth inning Tuesday night was "as loud as a hit batsman as Ive heard. It sounded terrible. But I was happy to see him get up, walk around." Descalso was replaced by a pinch-runner. Padres: RHP Andrew Cashner threw another bullpen Wednesday and is scheduled to throw a simulated game during the weekend. He could begin a rehab assignment next week. Hes on the disabled list with soreness in his right shoulder. ON DECK Cardinals: Shelby Miller (7-8, 4.20) is 0-1 with a 5.19 ERA in one career start and two appearances against San Diego, both at Petco Park Padres: Odrisamer Despaigne (2-2, 1.66) tries to bounce back from rocky start in 5-3 loss to Atlanta, when he lasted only 3 2-3 innings. RBI MACHINE Solarte has eight RBIs since joining the Padres on July 23 and has knocked in at least one run in seven of eight games. TRADE The Cardinals acquired RHP Justin Masterson from Cleveland for minor league OF James Ramsey. Masterson is scheduled to start Saturday against Milwaukee in St. Louis. ' ' '