Support-Forum » ne perfect hop, and the catcher had plenty

(SportsNetwork.com) - Just when the sun brightens a bit for the Vancouver Canucks, it is followed up with a torrential downpour. The Canucks will be without their leading goal scorer for the rest of their road trip, one that resumes on Friday night against the Washington Capitals. Wednesday should have been a night that left the Canucks feeling good about themselves. They snapped a seven-game road losing streak with a 3-2 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets in the opener of a four-game swing and saw forward Alexandre Burrows net his first two goals of the season. Of course, the good came with the bad as Ryan Kesler left in the game following a knee-on-knee collision and went back to Vancouver for further tests. It is not known how long he will be out, but head coach John Tortorella did admit that Kesler will not play for the rest of this trip, one that includes games versus the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. Kesler was mentioned in a number of trade rumors before last weeks deadline, but the Canucks did not pull the trigger on a deal to move the forward, who has 22 goals on the season. Keslers 40 points are tied with Daniel Sedin, currently out with a strained left hamstring, and one back of Henrik Sedin for the team lead. Minus the forward, Eddie Lack made 32 saves through overtime before stopping all three skaters he faced in the shootout. Vancouver then earned the extra point on Chris Higgins third-round tally. "We lose (Kesler) before the third and we get down, so yeah, I thought we played hard right on through. And thats two out of the last three games that we have played well in the third period, so good for them," Tortorella said. "Theyve hung in there, theyve hung together. Losing a big guy like (Kesler), I thought they stuck together as a group. It was really nice to see." So was the production from Burrows, who scored his first goals since April 15 of last year. That gave him a gap of 40 games between goals in the regular season. "It was one of those nights it seemed the puck was finding me around the net," said Burrows, who hadnt scored a goal in his first 35 games of the season. "I had a lot of chances. Honestly, I think I had four real good looks." Vancouver picked up its first road win since Jan. 21 in Edmonton and sits four points back of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Lack, meanwhile, rebounded after giving up six third-period goals in a 7-4 setback to the visiting New York Islanders on Monday and is likely to face Washington tonight for the first time. The Capitals are looking to put their own struggles behind them as they were just swept in a home-and-home set by the Pittsburgh Penguins. That gave the club five losses in its past six games and Washington sits three points out of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. After losing a 3-2 decision at home on Monday, the Capitals were blanked 2-0 in Pittsburgh the following night. Jaroslav Halak made 32 saves, but the Penguins Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 32 shots he faced. "We were on our heels the whole first period, no question," said Capitals coach Adam Oates. "We turned it over too many times -- probably a little hangover from (Monday) night." Evgeny Kuznetsov failed to record a point in the two games, the first of his NHL career after signing an entry-level deal on Saturday. He was the 26th overall pick of the 2010 draft and the Russian-born forward had been playing in the Kontinental Hockey League. It has also been a rough few games for Caps forward Alex Ovechkin, who leads the NHL with 44 goals but does not have a point in his past four games. He is a minus-4 over that span. Halak, acquired from the Buffalo Sabres before the trade deadline, started both games versus the Penguins and is 4-3-1 lifetime with a 2.12 goals against average versus the Canucks. Fellow Washington netminder Braden Holtby has never faced them. The Capitals have lost four straight and nine of their last 10 meetings with the Canucks, including a 3-2 setback in Vancouver on Oct. 26. The Canucks have won four of their last five trips to Washington and are eligible to have forward Zack Kassian back in the lineup tonight. He finished serving a three-game suspension for a hit-from-behind versus Dallas last Thursday. Raheem Sterling Jersey . - David Tomasek had two goals in regulation time and was the lone scorer in the shootout as the Belleville Bulls upset the Oshawa Generals 6-5 on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. Fernandinho Jersey . Jones, from Winnipeg, built a 3-0 advantage after three ends by scoring two in the second and one in the third. Chinas skip Bingyu Wang cut that lead to 3-1 in the fourth before Canada added another three in the fifth for a 6-1 lead. http://www.authenticmanchestercityshop.com/Authentic-John-Stones-Manchester-City-Jersey/ . Pekovic had an MRI test Tuesday on his right ankle that revealed bursitis, which is inflammation of the fluid-filled pad that cushions the joint. Ederson Moraes Manchester City Jersey . Rookie Christian Vazquez got his first three major league hits and drove in three runs, while David Ortiz had three RBIs to break open the game in the sixth inning and lead Boston over the Houston Astros 8-3. John Stones Manchester City Jersey . After losing a shutout bid in the dying seconds of Sundays win over the Colorado Avalanche, Luongo would not be denied against the punchless Oilers and is now just one back of Patrick Roy for 14th on the all-time list. NEW YORK -- Carlos Beltran felt he was finally emerging from a miserable start to his career with the New York Yankees. One swing Friday night made him certain of it. The slumping slugger launched a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning, giving New York a 5-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. "Thank God the past couple of days I would say Ive been feeling more comfortable at the plate and Ive been putting good at-bats together," Beltran said. "I just felt confident that I was going to do something positive." Beltran signed a $45 million, three-year contract with New York this winter after an All-Star season with the St. Louis Cardinals. But he has struggled with inconsistency and an elbow injury has limited him to the designated hitter role since early June. Beltran began the game batting just .221. But right after Brian McCann lined an RBI single, Beltran hit a drive off Zach Britton (3-1) far over the left-field wall. It was the first time this year that the Yankees won in their final at-bat at home, and it was their fourth straight victory overall. "Its been somewhat of a struggle then he got hurt. But you can just see him starting to square the balls up," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "That was a tremendous at-bat." The Yankees kept coming up empty with runners in scoring position until the ninth. Brett Gardner led off the inning with a single, then Derek Jeter struck out looking and Jacoby Ellsbury flied out. Mark Teixeira followed with a walk and McCann singled home a run, setting up Beltrans first walkoff homer since 2008, for the New York Mets. Britton was already off the field by the time Beltran made it to home plate, where he was mobbed by his teammates and then got doused during a postgame interview. "He just had a couple of sinkers up and they made him pay for it," Orioles manager Buck Showlater said of Britton. "I cannot really fault him, all things considered. He let it rip and it did not work for him tonight." David Huff (1-0) gave up Steve Pearces RBI single in the ninth but got the win. Leading 3-1 heading into the ninth, the Orioles missed a chance to pull even with the Yankees for second place in the AL East. "It is frustrating. These are games we want to win right now but you just have to turn the page," said Britton, who has two blown saves in 11 chances.dddddddddddd"You cannot just sit here and mope about it. Go out there and make the adjustment." Coming off a decisive three-game sweep of the division-leading Toronto Blue Jays, New York jumped out to a quick lead on Teixeiras RBI double. Then they fizzled, wasting three chances with the bases loaded and failing to capitalize on a career high-tying six walks from Ubaldo Jimenez. "We just couldnt seem to get the big hit when we needed it," Girardi said. Centre fielder Adam Jones threw a runner out at home plate in the second and hit an RBI single in the sixth, helping the Orioles take a 2-1 lead. Nick Hundley doubled for the Orioles first hit off Hiroki Kuroda leading off the sixth and scored on Pearces one-out double. Pearce had an RBI single in the ninth three batters after third baseman Yangervis Solarte made a fielding error to open the inning. The Yankees loaded the bases for the first of three times in the second but Beltran, who doubled leading off, tried scoring on Gardners fly to medium centre field. Jones throw reached Hundley on one perfect hop, and the catcher had plenty of time to apply the tag for the double play. Jimenez loaded bases in the fifth with three straight two-out walks. He needed one pitch to get out of the jam: Teixeira grounded to first base on the first pitch he saw, keeping it 1-0. The Yankees loaded the bases again with two outs in the sixth -- a single and two walks -- but this time Jimenez wasnt given a chance to quash the rally. T.J. McFarland was brought in to face Gardner. Second baseman Ryan Flaherty got the save, though, ranging deep behind second base to field Gardners hard one-hopper and making a swift, backhand flip to shortstop J.J. Hardy covering for the forceout. NOTES: Yankees 2B Brian Roberts singled in the second for his 1,500th career hit. He had 1,452 with the Orioles before signing with New York this off-season. ... Yankees RHP Michael Pineda (60-day, right shoulder muscle) could begin throwing soon. Pineda says he feels good but he had an MRI to make sure the muscle is fully healed before he starts a program, Girardi said. ... Up next: Orioles RHP Bud Norris (6-5) goes against Yankees LHP Vidal Nuno (1-3). ' ' '