Events und Missionen » groin injury Sunday against Florida

NEW YORK -- It was advantage Rangers on Saturday in the off-ice gamesmanship that is running parallel to the Eastern Conference final between New York and Montreal. There has been no shortage of storylines in this series, which has already featured one surgery and two suspensions in three games. And with two days off between Games 3 and 4, the old adage that idle hands are the devils workshop was proved true at Madison Square Garden when two New York assistant coaches showed up to watch Montreal practise. The intrusion seemed squarely aimed at getting under Montreals skin. When Canadiens goalie coach Stephane Waite noticed the break in protocol, he told head coach Michel Therrien. As the players stretched, Therrien moved down the rink and had words with Rangers assistant Ulf Samuelsson. Observers said the exchange was somewhat prickly. Samuelsson, no stranger to antagonizing rivals during his playing days, and fellow assistant coach Dan Lacroix left soon after. Therrien told reporters later there was a "gentlemans agreement" that rival coaches dont attend practices on non-game days. The idea is to allow coaches to make changes or test out new strategies in private. "When we saw those assistant coaches there, they were not supposed to be there, so we let them know," Therrien said pithily. New York president and GM Glen Sather watched the practice from one of the top rows of the lower bowl at Madison Square Garden, seemingly more interested in his phone than what was happening on the ice. Game 4 is Sunday night. The Rangers lead the series two games to one. While coaches seemed hot and bothered over the presence of the Rangers coaches, Canadiens defenceman P.K. Subban was oblivious. "I get in trouble when Im looking up in the stands," he said, drawing laughs. The Canadiens, coming off a bitter seven-game battle with their rival Bruins, are finding themselves down and dirty again in the trenches with the Rangers. The series has already left an ugly trail. Montreals Brandon Prust has been suspended two games for the Game 3 hit that broke Derek Stepans jaw. Rangers agitator Dan Carcillo has been banned for 10 games for jostling a linesman in the wake of the Prust hit. And Stepan was recovering in hospital Saturday from surgery to repair his jaw. Carcillo has requested that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman review the 10-game suspension, according to the NHL Players Association. "I think its building," Habs forward Brendan Gallagher said of the animosity between the two teams, which he has helped grow by throwing his five-foot-nine, 180-pound body around with reckless abandon. "Last game, it certainly took a big step forward," he added. Gallagher looks like his mum still packs him a lunch. But he is fearless, a hockey Smurf full of grit and attitude. While his assistants were stirring the pot Saturday, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault -- the picture of calm normally -- was still burning over the missed call on the Prust hit and the domino-effect mayhem that ensued. "At the end of the day if the right call is made on the ice, that whole situation doesnt happen," he lamented. The war of words continued on the Rangers website, which noted Stepan was New Yorks second-leading playoff scorer while fourth-liner Prust "has had trouble keeping up with the speedy Rangers through the first three games of this series." The good news for Vigneault was word that Derick Brassard is healthy. The New York centre left early in Game 1 with an upper body injury after being checked by Canadiens defenceman Mike Weaver and has not played since. Brassard told reporters after practice that he was good to go. That brought a smile to the face of Vigneault. "I was told he cleared himself," Vigneault said with a laugh. "Thats good to know. He didnt tell me." As one might expect, Vigneault said Stepan was "unlikely" to play Sunday. The 23-year-old centre has not missed a game since coming into the league in the 2010-11 season. Carcillo declined to speak to reporters Saturday. But Vigneault said the player knew he needed to have kept control of himself. "I cant begin to tell you how bad he feels about the whole thing," the coach said. "His situation, his personal future, the team. Theres nothing he can do about it now and theres nothing we can do about it." Forward Brad Richards called the abrasive Carcillo "a great teammate." "I heard a lot about him before but I dont have one bad thing to say about him." The New York players, for the most part, had little to say about the length of the ban to Prust, a former Ranger. But goalie Henrik Lundqvist said that hot spots in the playoffs usually cool down in the off-season. "Especially during the playoffs, you dont see your opponents as friends, even though youve played with them. Right now I dont have any friends in Montreal," the stylish Swede said with a chuckle. "Theyre just enemies and you play it that way. Thats your approach. "But you also have to understand this game, you know, theres a lot of players that play on the edge. Thats their role, thats what they do. Theyre always going to play it like that and sometimes things happen and maybe they take it a little too far. As it comes to relationships, as friends, in the summertime you move past it. "But right now, do I like what happened? Absolutely not. But its on the ice, it happens on the ice. It is what it is." Michael Bournival slotted into Prusts place on Montreals fourth line in practice. Francis Bouillon was skating in place of Nathan Beaulieu on defence. Subban and other Habs said, despite the Game 3 overtime win, the Canadiens have more in the tank. "I dont think weve played our best hockey yet this series," said Subban. And they acknowledged that they cannot rely on young goalie Dustin Tokarskis heroics, as they did last time out. "We now we cant expect him to do that every game, so we want to be better in front of him," said Canadiens captain Brian Gionta. On the Rangers side, J.T. Miller was skating in place of Carcillo on the fourth line with Derek Dorsett and Brian Boyle. New York gave winger Chris Kreider a "maintenance day" off. That meant Dominic Moore skated with Rick Nash and Jesper Fast, filling in for Kreider. NOTES: Game 4 will be shown at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Canadiens officials say more than 20,000 tickets have already been snapped up. Air Max 97 2020 . New Zealand brushed aside England 26-7 to win the event and reclaim top spot in the overall standings. The All Blacks, the defending World Series champions, won their third tournament this season in style, running four tries past England to claim their 11th Cup championship in Hong Kong and first since 2011. Air Max 97 Plus Black Shock Orange . The ongoing funk on penalty kill and an unusually quiet night on home ice for the power play divided the Leafs from the Bruins at the ACC in a rare Sunday night affair. http://www.outletairmax97.com/air-max-97-mens-clearance.html. Asdrubal Cabrera had four hits and three RBIs, Michael Brantley also homered and the Indians beat the injury-riddled Minnesota Twins 9-4 Thursday for their first three-game winning streak this season. Air Max 97 Have a Nike Day . The 18-time champions, who havent won the title since 1990, moved two points behind Arsenal after the leaders were stunned 6-3 at Manchester City on Saturday. Defending champion Manchester United trails Arsenal by 10 points after winning 3-0 at Aston Villa to avoid a third successive league loss. Nike Air Max 97 Just Do It Black . Venus Williams advanced to the ASB Classic final in Auckland on a walkover when fellow American Jamie Hampton withdrew from their semifinal Friday with a right hip injury.DALLAS -- Patrick Sharp is having a big season -- and thats just counting his stats against the Stars. Sharp extended his domination of Dallas with two more goals that sent the Chicago Blackhawks to a 6-2 victory Tuesday night. Brandon Saad also scored twice for Chicago, which has won three of the four games between the teams. One victory was in a shootout. Sharp has four goals and four assists against the Stars this season, with one goal at home and the other seven points in three games at Dallas. In his last eight games versus the Stars, he has eight goals and seven assists. "Weve had some success here, but its still a tough place to play and the Stars are a tough team to play against," Sharp said. "I thought we did a good job of sending a lot of pucks on net. Not too many prime chances, but the ones we had, we made sure we capitalized on them." Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks. Defenceman Michael Kostka returned after missing 24 games because of a foot injury to score Chicagos first goal. The Central Division-leading Blackhawks (22-6-5) reached six goals for the fifth time this season, and second in a row. They defeated Florida 6-2 on Sunday. Dallas has given up six goals in three different losses. Antoine Roussel scored in the second period for the Stars (14-10-5) to end Antti Raantas shutout bid. Roussel was credited with another goal when he deflected Sergei Gonchars drive into the net with 19 seconds remaining in the game. "I thought when we scored our first goal, we kind of got the momentum. But then they bounced back again. Theyre a hard team to play against," Roussel said. Three of Roussels seven goals have come against Chicago. "Hes the one bright spot," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "They hate playing against him, and he showed why. He wasnt afraid to get into dirty places and he got rewarded for being in the right place. I admire the way he plays the game." Ruff couldnt find much else to say about his team that was positive. "We just got flat-out outworked. Youre not going to win like that. That was something weve taken a lot of pride in, but we got outskated," he said. "If we want to be one of the best teams, weve got to beat the best." Raanta finished with 27 saves for his fourth win. Dan Ellis replaced Stars starter Kari Lehtonen after he gave up four goals in the first 28:20.dddddddddddd Chicago dominated the first period, with 14 shots on goal to four for the Stars. The defending Stanley Cup champions scored barely 2 minutes into the game. Kostka drove the puck from the top of the right circle toward a crowd in front of Lehtonen. The deflected puck slid toward the right post. Lehtonen smothered the puck with his glove, and the goal light did not go on. After a video review, referee Kelly Sutherland announced that the puck had crossed the goal line. Kostka had his second goal of the season, in just his third NHL game this season. He also played on a conditioning assignment at Rockford of the American Hockey League. "Its always good to be able to get right back in the action after a little bit of a time off there," Kostka said. "It was good also to be able to go down to Rockford and get a few games in. I had to get my timing back." Seconds after the Stars Dustin Jeffrey sent a close-in attempt wide left, the Blackhawks quickly moved the puck up ice. Kane skated in on a breakaway and beat Lehtonen at 12:05 for his 17th goal and a 2-0 lead. "When we let go of coverage and give Kane a breakaway, thats inexcusable," Ruff said. The Blackhawks went up 3-0 on Saads first goal 2:46 into the second period. Kostka took a shot from a narrow angle, Dallas couldnt control the rebound and Saad poked the puck in from in front of the net. "Its good obviously when you start like that, you can build off it," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Had a good second period and were in the right spots. It was a real nice win. It was nice to see us play so well on the road." Sharp then scored two goals less than 3 minutes apart for a 5-0 lead, giving him 14 goals this season. The period ended 6-1 after Roussels first goal and Saads second, at 19:15. NOTES: Raanta started in goal because Corey Crawford reportedly sustained a groin injury Sunday against Florida. Raanta replaced Crawford in the first period vs. the Panthers and earned a victory. The Blackhawks recalled rookie Kent Simpson from Rockford to back up Raanta; Crawford did not travel to Dallas. ... The Stars failed to score on their five power plays, dropping their home success rate to 1 for 47 (2 per cent). Chicago was 1 for 5 with the man advantage. The Blackhawks have killed each of the last 10 power plays against them. ' ' '