My Sports News Digest

NASHVILLE (NHL/Newsfeed) — By suspending wings Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn for Game 3 of their Western Conference Quarterfinal series with Phoenix on Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena (9 p.m. ET, CNBC, TSN), the Nashville Predators will be without two of their most skilled and most productive players in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Both players are pure scorers, known for deadly wrist shots. In their place, coach Barry Trotz said, will be two of the following three: rookie Craig Smith, veteran Jordin Tootoo and Matt Halischuk, who has 121 regular season games to his credit. While they might not possess the high-end skill of their Eastern European counterparts, Halischuk and Smith had 15 and 14 goals, respectively, while Tootoo, who had a career year with 30 points, brings more of the raw, physical element.

Predators captain Shea Weber was asked if the lineup changes would necessitate a stylistic change. He said the Predators, down 0-2 in the series, need to change their style, irrespective of who is in the lineup.

“I think we need to play a different style than we did in Game 1 and Game 2 — period,” he said. “Because we weren’t ourselves. We need to get back to the way we play, and that’s defense-first and our offense will piggy-back off of that.”

What the Predators did not need in the midst of their attempt to rally was drama. But Weber does not think the suspension will act as a distraction.

“No, I think we’re past that,” he said. “We’re putting it behind us. It happened and there’s nothing we can do to take it back.”

When Nashville was playing its best hockey of the season — from Dec. 28 through the end of January, as the Preds went 13-2 — it was with Halischuk, Tootoo and Smith in the lineup. Smith played in 72 games, Halischuk in 73 and Tootoo in 77.

In the first round, Tootoo complained publicly to The Tennessean newspaper about not being in the lineup. He has 37 career playoff games under his belt — all with Nashville — but only one this postseason.

“It’s what I’ve been waiting for,” Tootoo said. “I’m battling every day in practice. I come to work and prepare myself to get back into the lineup. Until that happens all I can do is keep preparing and be mentally focused. Physically, I feel great.”

Kostitsyn and Radulov are relative newcomers to Nashville. Kostitsyn was acquired at the trading deadline from Montreal for a second-round pick and Radulov returned from the KHL on March 12 against Pittsburgh after four seasons away. The Preds stumbled a bit through that final stretch, as they tried to achieve some chemistry with so many new acquisitions, which also included center Paul Gaustad and defenseman Hal Gill.

Consequently, coach Barry Trotz said he did not think the Preds would suffer from any chemistry issues on Wednesday from the decision to hold out Kostitsyn and Radulov.

“Your group of 25, 26 guys is always like a family,” he said. “You’re always going to do the right thing with the group. Chemistry-wise, the group that’s in there, this is the group’s that been together for 20-something games and playoffs. Some of the members going in have been with the group all year.”

Said All-Star defenseman Ryan Suter: “We won all year with everyone — it’s going to take everyone to continue to win. Tomorrow night — whoever is going to play — 20 guys that are in the lineup have to come out and play the way we’re capable of playing.”

Trotz said the situation was no different to that of Phoenix, which was missing two players for a time in Game 1 to injury: Rostislav Klesla, who was hit in the face by a puck, and Michal Rozsival, who wasn’t in the lineup after he was checked face-first into the boards in Game 6 of Phoenix’s first-round series.

Trotz also said Nashville is facing a true test of adversity and referenced how last year Western Conference champion Vancouver and eventual Stanley Cup champion Boston were pushed to seven games in the opening round. He talked about playing a 200-foot game, taking care of the puck on both offense and defense, and being relentless — elements that are integral to how the Predators play, but which have eluded them thus far.

“I do know this: Every team that has success in the playoffs, they have to go through some adversity,” he said. “We haven’t had to go through a whole lot of adversity yet. This a good test. When you go through adversity it really reveals your character. It reveals what kind of character you do have, so we’re going to find out what kind of character we do have.”

MySportNews іѕ a sports news digest publication that compiles real time, on demand sports news, articles, аnd resources. This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more NHL news see: Predators look past drama, try to get back in series.

NASHVILLE (NHL/Newsfeed) — By suspending wings Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn for Game 3 of their Western Conference Quarterfinal series with Phoenix on Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena (9 p.m. ET, CNBC, TSN), the Nashville Predators will be without two of their most skilled and most productive players in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Both players are pure scorers, known for deadly wrist shots. In their place, coach Barry Trotz said, will be two of the following three: rookie Craig Smith, veteran Jordin Tootoo and Matt Halischuk, who has 121 regular season games to his credit. While they might not possess the high-end skill of their Eastern European counterparts, Halischuk and Smith had 15 and 14 goals, respectively, while Tootoo, who had a career year with 30 points, brings more of the raw, physical element.

Predators captain Shea Weber was asked if the lineup changes would necessitate a stylistic change. He said the Predators, down 0-2 in the series, need to change their style, irrespective of who is in the lineup.

“I think we need to play a different style than we did in Game 1 and Game 2 — period,” he said. “Because we weren’t ourselves. We need to get back to the way we play, and that’s defense-first and our offense will piggy-back off of that.”

What the Predators did not need in the midst of their attempt to rally was drama. But Weber does not think the suspension will act as a distraction.

“No, I think we’re past that,” he said. “We’re putting it behind us. It happened and there’s nothing we can do to take it back.”

When Nashville was playing its best hockey of the season — from Dec. 28 through the end of January, as the Preds went 13-2 — it was with Halischuk, Tootoo and Smith in the lineup. Smith played in 72 games, Halischuk in 73 and Tootoo in 77.

In the first round, Tootoo complained publicly to The Tennessean newspaper about not being in the lineup. He has 37 career playoff games under his belt — all with Nashville — but only one this postseason.

“It’s what I’ve been waiting for,” Tootoo said. “I’m battling every day in practice. I come to work and prepare myself to get back into the lineup. Until that happens all I can do is keep preparing and be mentally focused. Physically, I feel great.”

Kostitsyn and Radulov are relative newcomers to Nashville. Kostitsyn was acquired at the trading deadline from Montreal for a second-round pick and Radulov returned from the KHL on March 12 against Pittsburgh after four seasons away. The Preds stumbled a bit through that final stretch, as they tried to achieve some chemistry with so many new acquisitions, which also included center Paul Gaustad and defenseman Hal Gill.

Consequently, coach Barry Trotz said he did not think the Preds would suffer from any chemistry issues on Wednesday from the decision to hold out Kostitsyn and Radulov.

“Your group of 25, 26 guys is always like a family,” he said. “You’re always going to do the right thing with the group. Chemistry-wise, the group that’s in there, this is the group’s that been together for 20-something games and playoffs. Some of the members going in have been with the group all year.”

Said All-Star defenseman Ryan Suter: “We won all year with everyone — it’s going to take everyone to continue to win. Tomorrow night — whoever is going to play — 20 guys that are in the lineup have to come out and play the way we’re capable of playing.”

Trotz said the situation was no different to that of Phoenix, which was missing two players for a time in Game 1 to injury: Rostislav Klesla, who was hit in the face by a puck, and Michal Rozsival, who wasn’t in the lineup after he was checked face-first into the boards in Game 6 of Phoenix’s first-round series.

Trotz also said Nashville is facing a true test of adversity and referenced how last year Western Conference champion Vancouver and eventual Stanley Cup champion Boston were pushed to seven games in the opening round. He talked about playing a 200-foot game, taking care of the puck on both offense and defense, and being relentless — elements that are integral to how the Predators play, but which have eluded them thus far.

“I do know this: Every team that has success in the playoffs, they have to go through some adversity,” he said. “We haven’t had to go through a whole lot of adversity yet. This a good test. When you go through adversity it really reveals your character. It reveals what kind of character you do have, so we’re going to find out what kind of character we do have.”

MySportNews іѕ a sports news digest publication that compiles real time, on demand sports news, articles, аnd resources. This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more NHL news see: Predators look past drama, try to get back in series.

NEWARK – A 3-0 lead and a Hall-of-Fame goaltender has your back.

What could go wrong?

For the New Jersey Devils Tuesday night at the Prudential Center, what didn’t?

By the time Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal between the Devils and Florida Panthers was finished, Martin Brodeur was gone, the lead was toast and the home team was wondering what just hit them.

The Panthers sloughed off a three-goal Devils lead before seven minutes had been played, and took back control of the series with a 4-3 victory. The Panthers are ahead in the best-of-seven 2-1, with Game 4 here on Thursday night.

Brodeur, looking every bit his 39 years, gave up three goals on 12 shots and was replaced by Johan Hedberg. That was just a bit better than Panthers starting goalie Jose Theodore, who was yanked for Scott Clemmensen after allowing three goals on six shots.

The Devils talked in the morning about establishing a presence on home ice in the playoffs. But they fell to 3-8 at the Prudential Center in the post-season and have lots of re-grouping to do at practice Wednesday.

It was the first time since May 2006 that Brodeur had been pulled in a playoff game. Who replaced him that time? Clemmensen, a former Devil, in his only other NHL playoff appearance. And it marked only the sixth time Brodeur started a playoff game and didn’t finish it.

Devils coach Peter DeBoer emphasized earlier that he had no interest in trading special-teams chances with the Panthers. But his players didn’t get the message, and a penalty-killing unit that led the NHL with an 89.6% success rate during the regular season continued to struggle mightily.

The Devils allowed three power-play goals, and the Panthers are 6-for-10 with a man advantage in the series.

Sean Bergenheim, Jason Garrison, Mike Weaver and Brian Campbell scored for the Panthers.

Zach Parise, Stephen Gionta and Patrik Elias scored for the Devils.

The Panthers began the second period where they left off in the first, and before many fans had returned to their seats, Brodeur was making his way to the bench.

Brodeur was pulled at 2:18 when Weaver, who did not have a single goal in 82 regular-season games, beat him from the point on a screen.

The Devils didn’t have a chance to settle down before the Panthers took their first lead of the game. Campbell skated in from the point and his wrist shot eluded Hedberg at 6:34.

New Jersey thought it had tied the game with under two minutes to play in the middle period when Marek Zidlicky’s shot from the blueline went into the net. But it was ruled immediately by referee Tim Peel that Steve Bernier had bumped Clemmensen, and the goal did not count. There was not a goalie interference penalty on the play.

The wild momentum swings that have been the hallmark of the series couldn’t have been better crystalized in the first period.

The Devils, perhaps inspired by a sellout crowd of 17,625 that was cheering enthusiastically before they hit the ice, chased Theodore quickly.

Ilya Kovalchuk set the tone when he ran into Campbell and Marcel Goc on the first shift, and that was in the 33 seconds before Parise opened the scoring.

Less than three minutes later, Bernier made a nifty play behind the Panthers net when he twisted away from Campbell and got the puck to Zidlicky at the point. Gionta, parked in the slot, got his stick blade on the shot to deflect it perfectly behind Theodore.

And at 6:16, Elias hit the top of the net over a prone Theodore. That was the Devils’ third goal on six shots, and Theodore’s night was over.

It was the punch the Panthers needed. They recorded the final nine shots of the period and scored two goals, both on power plays.

Bergenheim, with his 11th playoff goal in two years, beat Brodeur high at 16:11. With 7.4 seconds remaining in the period, Garrison fired a shot from the point that eluded Brodeur low to the glove side.

terry.koshan@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/koshtorontosun

MySportNews іѕ a sports news digest publication that compiles real time, on demand sports news, articles, аnd resources. This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more NHL hockey news see: Panthers claw back to take series lead.

VOORHEES, N.J. — Even the Broad Street Bullies couldn’t complain about the style of hockey the current Philadelphia Flyers are playing right now — not when the results are so satisfying.

The Flyers are leading the Penguins 3-0 in the teams’ Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series for many reasons, most notably because of the 20 goals they’ve scored, but also because they’ve become a team that is all about discipline, playing whistle-to-whistle, and not aggressively seeking vengeance for any one hit, play or goal.

“After whistles you’re used to seeing the Flyers start trouble,” Danny Briere said Monday, “and for the most part we’re staying away from it unless we have to protect our goalie, or protect each other from guys trying to take advantage of us.”

To be fair, they’ve had to do that on more than one occasion — including several times Sunday — but what you’re seeing from the Flyers is different because they are not at all acting like a team that led the NHL in total penalties and penalty minutes in the regular season.

By sending wave after wave of offensive attacks, the Flyers have goaded the Penguins into taking the so-called bad penalties (Chris Kunitz’s trip on Kyle Wellwood and slash on Braydon Coburn in the second period Sunday) only to get burned by the Flyers’ seemingly insatiable desire to score on the power play.

Philadelphia is has scored with the man-advantage six of ten times through three games, including four power-play goals in Game 3; they hadn’t scored more than two in a playoff game since at least 2004.

“I think we’ve obviously discussed a game plan of how to get them frustrated, get them off their game,” Hartnell said. “Obviously just getting after it, playing hard and playing smart between the whistles. I think we’ve won that battle of the discipline and it shows in the 3-0 series lead.”

If that’s not enough, the Flyers say they believe it shows in how the Penguins responded Sunday.

Two Penguins — James Neal and Arron Asham — will have hearings Tuesday with the Department of Player Safety. Neal will have two hearings, one each for third-period hits on the Flyers’ Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux. Asham has been offered an in-person hearing for his cross check on Brayden Schenn in the first period. Asham was issued a match penalty.

Neal was not penalized for the hit on Couturier, while the he was whistled for charging on the hit on Giroux. However, the Flyers were more offended by Neal’s hit on Couturier.

“Kind of a late hit, he jumped at the same time,” Giroux said. “I think it was a pretty dirty hit, but at the end of the day it’s not something you control. If he wants to go out there and throw them he can go out there and do that. We just have to make sure we stay focused on what we can do, and I think we did a good job of that in the first three games.”

Hartnell said the Flyers are just trying to play the game the right way. He doesn’t think the Penguins were doing the same Sunday.

“You look at some of the plays [Sunday], I think a couple of their guys took liberties on our guys,” Hartnell said. “They weren’t trying to hit to be effective; they were hitting to hurt. That’s not the game of hockey. That’s not the right way it’s supposed to be played.”

For years critics have been discrediting the Flyers for their brand of controversial hockey, but now they feel they’re up 3-0 against their cross-state rival in part because the shoe is on the other foot.

“Perception doesn’t really play into it for us,” Flyers coach Peter Laviolette said. “This is a new group. This is our group and our objective is to try and stay disciplined. I think we’ve done a good job.”

Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl

MySportNews іѕ a sports news digest publication that compiles real time, on demand sports news, articles, аnd resources. This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more NHL news see: Flyers believe discipline is big reason for series lead.

In two ways Sunday’s Heat victory over the Bulls summed up this young season.

First, the Bulls and the Heat are the two best teams in the East. Clear and away. Philadelphia, Atlanta and even Indiana are good, but these two teams are on another level and are destined for an Eastern Conference finals rematch. Which promises to be very entertaining.

Second, it was sloppy when it mattered. Even the referees were blowing plays at the end. Just like so much of this season.

Beyond that, this game was a measuring stick of where the teams are right now, and as we expected they are close. Miami gets the win 97-93, they got a big 35 points on 23 shots from LeBron James and their bench was good. Chicago got 34 points from Derrick Rose, Richard Hamilton caused the Heat trouble and scrapped back from double-digit deficits twice. All without Luol Deng.

Don’t try to project this game to the end of the season, because both will be different squads by then. The only thing you can project is that series is going to be very entertaining, very fun.

The other talking point out of this game is how ugly the ending was.

On two consecutive possessions late the Heat tried to isolate LeBron James, but he went Kobe Bryant style dribbling on the perimeter to create space then shooting a long jumper that was contested. One of those came with less than a minute to go and the Bulls, down 4 at the time, ran off the miss and Rose was able to draw the blocking foul and hit the shot to make it an and-one. Suddenly it was a one point game with 49 seconds left.

So the Heat run the clock down but it ends with another LeBron James contested miss, and once again Rose is off and running. Rose pushed it a lot at the end of the game to counter having LeBron on him when the Heat set their defense – he had to give up the ball a lot in standard sets the last few minutes, but in transition he was picked up by others who were backpedaling.

This time the pushing of the ball led to a Udonis Haslem foul and Rose going to the free throw line.

And he missed both. Down one the Bulls had to foul, and LeBron had the ball so they fouled him.

And he missed both.

Then the referees inadvertently blew the whistle on a live ball, so they had to stop play and have a mid-court jump ball. Which LeBron won and the Bulls fouled Mario Chalmers, who proceeded to only make one of two giving the Bulls one last chance.

Rose drove into the lane, the refs (wisely) let contact with Haslem go, and Rose went up with a last-second 10-foot floater to tie, and missed it. Game over (save for a couple Chris Bosh free throws).

Some people are going to jump on LeBron and/or Rose for their end of game play, but to me it just looked like the rest of the season.

LeBron James tweaked his shoulder in the first quarter and iced it during the game, but he returned and didn’t show any signs that this will linger. He was back to himself, and back in the post backing down Ronnie Brewer late in the game.

This game is a playoff preview and it lived up to the hype. And it lived up to the highlights. Rose slashed and showed off his body control, which is as good as the league has ever seen. The Heat were off and running early and that led to some fantastic highlights.

It means nothing about these teams in the playoffs, other than to whet our appetite.

Can we just start the Eastern Conference finals tomorrow?

MySportNews іѕ a sports news digest publication that compiles real time, on demand sports news, articles, аnd resources. This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more NBA news see: Miami holds on, beats Chicago. Can we just start their playoff series now?.

In two ways Sunday’s Heat victory over the Bulls summed up this young season.

First, the Bulls and the Heat are the two best teams in the East. Clear and away. Philadelphia, Atlanta and even Indiana are good, but these two teams are on another level and are destined for an Eastern Conference finals rematch. Which promises to be very entertaining.

Second, it was sloppy when it mattered. Even the referees were blowing plays at the end. Just like so much of this season.

Beyond that, this game was a measuring stick of where the teams are right now, and as we expected they are close. Miami gets the win 97-93, they got a big 35 points on 23 shots from LeBron James and their bench was good. Chicago got 34 points from Derrick Rose, Richard Hamilton caused the Heat trouble and scrapped back from double-digit deficits twice. All without Luol Deng.

Don’t try to project this game to the end of the season, because both will be different squads by then. The only thing you can project is that series is going to be very entertaining, very fun.

The other talking point out of this game is how ugly the ending was.

On two consecutive possessions late the Heat tried to isolate LeBron James, but he went Kobe Bryant style dribbling on the perimeter to create space then shooting a long jumper that was contested. One of those came with less than a minute to go and the Bulls, down 4 at the time, ran off the miss and Rose was able to draw the blocking foul and hit the shot to make it an and-one. Suddenly it was a one point game with 49 seconds left.

So the Heat run the clock down but it ends with another LeBron James contested miss, and once again Rose is off and running. Rose pushed it a lot at the end of the game to counter having LeBron on him when the Heat set their defense – he had to give up the ball a lot in standard sets the last few minutes, but in transition he was picked up by others who were backpedaling.

This time the pushing of the ball led to a Udonis Haslem foul and Rose going to the free throw line.

And he missed both. Down one the Bulls had to foul, and LeBron had the ball so they fouled him.

And he missed both.

Then the referees inadvertently blew the whistle on a live ball, so they had to stop play and have a mid-court jump ball. Which LeBron won and the Bulls fouled Mario Chalmers, who proceeded to only make one of two giving the Bulls one last chance.

Rose drove into the lane, the refs (wisely) let contact with Haslem go, and Rose went up with a last-second 10-foot floater to tie, and missed it. Game over (save for a couple Chris Bosh free throws).

Some people are going to jump on LeBron and/or Rose for their end of game play, but to me it just looked like the rest of the season.

LeBron James tweaked his shoulder in the first quarter and iced it during the game, but he returned and didn’t show any signs that this will linger. He was back to himself, and back in the post backing down Ronnie Brewer late in the game.

This game is a playoff preview and it lived up to the hype. And it lived up to the highlights. Rose slashed and showed off his body control, which is as good as the league has ever seen. The Heat were off and running early and that led to some fantastic highlights.

It means nothing about these teams in the playoffs, other than to whet our appetite.

Can we just start the Eastern Conference finals tomorrow?

MySportNews іѕ a sports news digest publication that compiles real time, on demand sports news, articles, аnd resources. This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more NBA news see: Miami holds on, beats Chicago. Can we just start their playoff series now?.

MySportNews іѕ a sports news digest publication that compiles real time, on demand sports news, articles, аnd resources. This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more golf news see: New from Cobra: AMP Series.

MySportNews іѕ a sports news digest publication that compiles real time, on demand sports news, articles, аnd resources. This article was distributed by Syndicated Sports news wire and aggregation service, For more golf news see: New from Ping: i20 Series.