Neues » by Matt Irwin

MALMO, Sweden -- As the minutes ticked down on Canadas victory over the United States, the overwhelmingly Canadian crowd of 3,882 at the Isstadion chanted "Foo-KAL-eh!" That was for goaltender Zach Fucale, the key man in Tuesdays 3-2 win that gave Canada first place in its preliminary round group and a date with Switzerland in the quarter-finals of the world junior hockey championship. Cam Bedrosian Angels Jersey . "It gave me a lot of energy," the 18-year-old said. "It was very special. "It just lifts you and you sort of play in the moment. It was good for me and the team." Fucale, given a second straight start after helping Canada to a 5-3 win over Slovakia on Saturday, couldnt recall ever having his name chanted quite that way. "Maybe a couple of thousand chanting against me," he offered with a laugh. "In Quebec City it happened. Maybe tonight a little louder." Connor McDavid and Curtis Lazar scored in the third period and Fucale stoned Connor Carrick on a breakaway. Stefan Matteau scored for the Americans with 2:15 left to play on a shot that eluded Fucales glove, but Canada shut the door the rest of the way to pull off a win in their toughest, most emotionally charged game of the tournament. American captain Riley Barber and Canadas Nic Petan traded goals in the second frame, after Fucale shone in a scoreless first period in which the Americans controlled the play and had a 13-6 shot advantage. Only a regulation time win would give Canada (3-0-1) first place over the U.S. (3-1-0). The Canadians will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals on Thursday at the Isstadion. As usual, coach Brent Sutter wasnt offering much insight about his teams upcoming opponent. "We now have 48 hours to prepare for our next opponent. Our focus over the next two days needs to be on this game and only on this game," was all he would say. The Swiss pulled off a 4-3 shootout win over Finland, but it didnt lift them out of fourth place in their group. What the win did, however, was give the Americans a very tough quarter-final opponent in Russia. The Canadian squad got all it needed to win -- solid goaltending, timely scoring and strong special teams play. The Americans went into the game with a whopping 58 per cent power play success rate (11-for-19), but were held scoreless during all three man advantages. Canada answered with Lazars power-play marker in five opportunities. "It was the first time weve been minus on special teams in four games and that was the difference," said American coach Don Lucia. Technically, Barbers goal at 3:29 of the second was short-handed. The teams were each down a man and Barber came around the net and caught Fucale moving the wrong way one second after Canadas Taylor Leiers slashing call expired. Some hard work by Anthony Mantha produced the tying goal at 12:49, as he used his long reach to push the puck to the left side where Petan trailed in late to beat Jon Gilles to an open side. Petan had scored the game-winner and an empty-net goal in Canadas 5-3 win over Slovakia on Monday. Mantha picked up his team-leading 10th point in four games. Canada killed a penalty to start the third and then got one just as their own power play ended 3:54 into the third when Josh Morrissey got the puck to the net and McDavid had two chances to slide it past Gilles. The 16-year-old McDavid was under pressure since his benching in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Czech Republic, and scoring a goal could go a long way to restoring confidence in the highly skilled Erie Otters forward. "Maybe a little bit," said McDavid. "As a hockey player you have to stay even keeled. Things happen in the game. The highs, the lows. You have to remain pretty confident. I think Ive done a pretty good job of that." Lazar was camped in front for the re-direct on a power play at 6:13 as the puck went from Derrick Pouliot to Jonathan Drouin to the Edmonton forward for his second goal in as many games. "Im really getting into my element," the Ottawa Senators prospect said. "Coach Sutters been moving me around. Ive played centre, right and left wing. Im still getting used to things, but it feels good to contribute." The game also saw big forward Frederik Gauthier moved from left wing to centre, where he drew praise from Sutter for winning several defensive zone faceoffs. But most of the post-game attention was on Fucale, the chatty goaltender who backstopped the Halifax Mooseheads to a Memorial Cup last spring. Fucale was dropped to backing up Jake Paterson after the first of three pre-tournament exhibition games, but it looks like hes Sutters man now. "Hes a confident young man and he stood tall," said Sutter. "We need that." Fucales teammates laugh about Fucales non-stop talking, even when hes by himself in the net during games. "I try to stay low key, but maybe I talk a lot," Fucale said. "I love Zach," said forward and fellow Montreal Canadiens prospect Charles Hudon. "I played with him peewee and bantam (in Boisbriand, Que.) and he had the same swagger. "He was always cocky. It was a good for him and I think the crowd loved it too." "It was unbelievable standing on the blue-line at the end of the game with the fans chanting Fucale," said McDavid. "I had chills and it wasnt for me, so I cant imagine how he felt. "You see a lot of goalies and theyre pretty weird. They have their routines and you cant talk to them, but hes really relaxed and honestly, he does have that swagger." Canada also got a boost with the return of big defenceman Griffin Reinhart after serving a four-game suspension for a slash at last years world juniors. Reinhart was counted on to be the leader on defence and he showed it with 20 minutes of ice time, mostly paired with Matt Dumba. He finally got to play at a world juniors with his younger brother, forward Sam Reinhart. The two were on the ice together a lot, especially while penalty killing. Cody Allen Jersey . After Mondays comments by Coach Claude Noel that its work first and skill second, and that more “A” games are needed, the Jets responded with a 47-shot effort. If not for terrific goaltending by Braden Holtby the Jets would have had two points in regulation. Cody Allen Angels Jersey http://www.baseballangelslockroom.com/justin-bour-angels-jersey/ ." Also, defencemen "were found to be at a higher risk of suffering a concussion than other players, perhaps due to turning their back to retrieve pucks along the boards, which leaves them vulnerable.LOS ANGELES -- The puck was sitting underneath Sharks goalie Alex Stalock when Justin Williams whacked at his pads and the narrow space between them. Like a magic trick, the puck popped out behind Stalock in the San Jose net. While Sharks coach Todd McLellan decried the legality of the tiebreaking goal, the Los Angeles Kings celebrated their latest, greatest escape yet. Down 0-3 just a few days ago, the Kings squeezed through that minuscule opening and emerged in Game 7. Williams scored the go-ahead goal with 8:04 to play, and the Kings beat the Sharks 4-1 in Game 6 on Monday night, rallying all the way back from a daunting series deficit. Williams and Anze Kopitar each had two goals and an assist, and Jonathan Quick made 25 saves as the Kings became just the ninth team in NHL history to force a seventh game after losing the first three. "We certainly didnt want to go away quiet," Kopitar said. "Were only thinking about one more step now. Were going to have to play our best game of the series up there." Just three teams in NHL history have rallied from an 0-3 deficit to win a series, and Los Angeles has earned a shot to join them. The winner of the California rivals third playoff meeting in four years will face the top-seeded Anaheim Ducks in the second round. After watching three Kings goals and several violent scrums in the final minutes, Los Angeles fans roared with an intensity that likely hadnt been reached since the Kings Stanley Cup run two years ago, sending their team back to the Shark Tank on Wednesday night. A tie game turned when Williams whacked home Robyn Regehrs shot at Stalock, using the opportunistic scoring sense that has made the two-time Stanley Cup champion into a clutch playoff performer. "Maybe we got a break, maybe we didnt," Williams said. "But nobody blew the whistle." San Joses bench loudly protested the call, saying the puck should have been blown dead under Stalock, but it was upheld on video review. "We got cheated," McLellan said. "Simple as that. I was told that you could see the puck laying behind his feet the whole time." McLellan said the Sharks couldnt see the puck on video review. Kings coach Darryl Sutter thought replays showed the puck was loose. Kopitar followed with two goals 1:15 apart for the Kings, who have outscored San Jose 13-4 in the last three games after San Jose dominated the first three by a combined 17-8. Stalock stopped 26 shots in his first NHL playoff start, and James Sheppard scored on a double deflection in the second period for the spiraling Sharks. Justin Upton Angels Jersey. . After utterly dominating the first two games, San Jose has scored just one goal against Quick in the last 128:24 in the series. "In my mind, if it gets to Game 7, it doesnt matter how it gets there," Sharks forward Logan Couture said. "It gets there, and youre going for one game. We played all year for the home ice. Im sure our building is going to be loud. Weve got to turn this thing around and win that game." McLellan changed starting goalies after Stanley Cup winner Antti Niemi was pulled from each of the last two losses. McLellan took a risk on Stalock, whose NHL experience consists of 27 regular-season games and 57 minutes of scoreless relief in this series. Drew Doughty had two assists for Los Angeles, which lost the first three games of the series in discouraging fashion before rallying with resounding victories at home in Game 4 and at the Shark Tank in Game 5 on Saturday night. Doughty set up the Kings first goal with a sharp pass to Williams, who has four goals in the Kings last two home games. San Jose got a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:38 early in the second period, but the Kings killed it off. The Sharks finally tied it moments after a third fruitless power play when Sheppard deflected Justin Brauns slap shot out of midair and off Regehr. After Williams go-ahead score, Kopitar got loose on a 2-on-1 rush with Williams, who set him up perfectly. Kopitar added a power-play goal. The Philadelphia Flyers are one of the three teams to accomplish what the Kings hope to do, rallying from three games down to beat Boston in 2010 with a roster including current Kings forwards Jeff Carter and Mike Richards. The Sharks played without key defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who left Game 5 early with an upper-body injury. The Canadian Olympic gold medallist was replaced by Matt Irwin, while streaky forward Marty Havlat also was in San Joses lineup for the first time in the series, replacing Mike Brown. NOTES: Los Angeles lost D Willie Mitchell to an undisclosed injury during the second period. ... The Sharks hadnt changed their starting goalie during the playoffs since 2001, when Miikka Kiprusoff took over for Evgeni Nabokov during a series. ... Vlasic had played in all 84 possible playoff games since joining the Sharks for the 2006-07 season. ' ' '