The Athenaeum Forum

Minnesota Wild 3, Winnipeg Jets 2 (Shootout) - At 15-5-4 and 12-2-1 in their last 15 games, the Minnesota Wild continue to be one of the best teams in the NHL. The Winnipeg Jets have now lost three one-goal games to the Wild; two in Minnesota and Saturdays game at MTS Centre. That, plus the way they lost Saturdays game overshadowed a pretty good effort by the Jets. They had 39 shots on goal; the most the Wild have surrendered this season. Josh Harding was supposed to start but was injured in warm-up, so Niklas Backstrom - just off injury - took to the nets and was terrific. As was Ondrej Pavelec in the Jets net. Backstrom was first to keep his team in the game, as the Jets outshot the Wild 14-4 in the first. In the second, it was Pavelec who kept the game scoreless as the Wild outshot the Jets 17-11, dominating the early part of the period. The games first goal was scored by Michael Frolik; his sixth of the season and the ninth time this season the Jets scored first. Frolik banged home a loose puck after Backstrom couldnt handle a shot from Matt Halischuk. The line of Mark Scheifele, Frolik and Halischuk was probably the Jets best line. Minnesota tied the game in the third with Nino Niederreiter scoring his fifth. He was moved onto the top line with Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu to start the third and jammed home a rebound after Pavelec stopped the initial shot from Marco Scandella. But 2:14 later, the Jets regained the lead with Halischuks second of the year; Frolik and Scheifele with the assists. At 14:02, Scandella went off for hooking and the Jets power play that has been very good over the past four games (38.5 per cent) had the opportunity to put the game away. A tough play on a rolling puck along the boards in the Wild zone lead to a three-on-two for the Wild and a great feed by Koivu to Parise tied the game. It was Parises 17th point in the last 15 games and his first - and the Wilds first - shorthanded goal of the year. The Jets have now given up four. The Jets outshot the Wild 4-1 in overtime, with Grant Clitsome having a great chance to end it as he was one-on-one against Backstrom, but another great save by Backstrom sent the game to a shootout. A shootout that went like this - Blake Wheeler no, Parise no, Andrew Ladd no, Koivu yes, Bryan Little yes, Jason Pomminville no, Devin Setoguchi no, Charlie Coyle yes. It was Coyles first career shootout goal. The Jets are now 5-3 in shootouts. The Jets end the three-game homestand at 0-1-2. Little and Dustin Byfuglien saw their point streaks come to an end; Little at three games (1-4-5) , Byfuglien at four games (5-2-7). Byfuglien also had a four-game goal streak come to an end. Olli Jokinen led the Jets with seven shots on goal; a season high. He also won 14 of 21 face-offs. James Wright was best in the face-off category at 73 per cent winning eight of 11. Captain Ladd felt "the effort was good, but we needed a better effort on the power play. Pav made some huge saves. But we did a lot of good things." Coach Claude Noel agreed. "We had good efforts from a lot of players. Its a fine line between winning and losing for us. For the most part we played pretty well. A lot of descent players in the game. Theyve been the best team in the NHL in November and we have been in position twice to win. Our team worked hard. Gave it our all." Jets now leave on a six-game Eastern Conference road trip that starts in New Jersey on Monday, then the Islanders on Wednesday, followed by Philadelphia Friday morning. All games are on TSN Jets and TSN 1290. The following week, its the New York Rangers, Florida and Tampa. New Orleans Saints Jerseys . With the results, North America claimed 2.5 of the three available points, opening up a 17.5-12.5 lead in the overall standings. A total of 60 points are available, meaning the first team to 30.5 points will win the Continental Cup. Adrian Peterson Jersey . TSN Hockey Insiders Pierre LeBrun and Bob McKenzie both reported Thursday that there have been ongoing trade discussions between the Oilers and Los Angeles Kings over forward Sam Gagner. http://www.shoptheofficialsaints.com/El ... -Jersey/.C. -- Tony Stewart will not race Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, the third Sprint Cup race hes skipped since his car struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. Archie Manning Jersey . The Kings paraded the Stanley Cup through downtown Los Angeles on Monday to celebrate their second NHL title in three seasons. Chase Daniel Jersey .A. Dickey earned an American League Gold Glove on Tuesday to become the first Toronto Blue Jays pitcher to win the award.Some of us are morning people while others are night owls. In golf some are early season performers and others wait until the fall. So far in his career, David Hearn is most definitely not someone who enjoys the early part of the calendar. At least not when it comes to logging high finishes. "For whatever reason, Ive never had much success early in the year," said Hearn. "The West Coast just hasnt been good for me." In the four tournaments hes played since the calendar changed years, Hearn as two missed cuts, a T58 and a T38. Its a slow but not unexpected beginning. A year ago, in five West Coast starts, he missed three cuts. A year prior to that, he posted a tie for 10th at the SONY in Hawaii before missing the next two cuts. "Id like to be in a better spot, obviously," said Hearn from Florida where he was getting in some practice before heading to Los Angeles for his next start. "Hopefully that will happen at Riviera." Hearn isnt worried about his spot on the money list just yet. In fact, hes quite optimistic about where things are headed. He says his game is coming together faster than in any previous years, adding theres no glaring holes in his performance - its just a matter of tightening everything up. There hasnt been much down time for the Brantford, Ont., product of late. He played four times before Christmas on the new wrap-around schedule and then teamed with Brad Fritsch to represent Canada in the World Cup in Australia in late November. There was a little time spent at the TaylorMade test centre dialing in his new gear as well as some family time back in the snow in Ontario. And he made the trek to Ann Arbor, Mich., to watch his beloved Toronto Maple Leafs play the Detroit Red Wings outdoors at the Big House. But shortly after, it was back to work. Hearn enjoyed his best year as a professional in 2013, earning more than $1.1 million. The highlight of his season came at the John Deere Classic where he lost in a playoff. That performance didnt surprise him in any way; he always believed he had the talent to play at that level. And it provided a taste of what hed like to experience more often. "Thats what IIm trying to accomplish each and every week," he said.dddddddddddd "You just want to put yourself in that position as much as you can." Rather than being known as a long driver or a pure ball-striker or a great putter, Hearns strength has always been his consistency with every club in his bag, his all-around game. Its something hes been focused on in the early part of this season. "My stats are not that great but if I can just improve the numbers a little bit Ill be happy," said Hearn, who will continue to use his long putter this season. "It really just boils down to being competitive. Im always trying to improve." Hearn has always been an ardent flag-waver and senses an up-tick in the play of Canadian professionals on various tours. He thinks some of that is awareness caused by his best friend out on tour. "I think Canadians are getting highlighted and inspired thanks to how well Graham [DeLaet] is playing," he stated. "Its fun to watch him play these days. It doesnt seem to matter what he does on Thursday and Friday, he just finds a way to get into contention on the weekend." For Canadian golf, Hearn said, that builds momentum. Its something thats been missing for a while, since the days Mike Weir was seemingly in the hunt to win every week. "When Mike was in his prime, I dont think people realized how good he was," Hearn stated. "It wasnt just the Masters win, it was major after major, week after week, he was in contention. "That definitely inspired me and I think thats happening again. We have a lot of good players right now." For the next couple of weeks, Hearn will be in the cheering section, watching Canadas athletes at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Obviously hockey will be at the forefront of his viewing schedule but he also said hell follow almost any sport and is amazed at such endeavours as biathlon. "It will be disappointing being in the U.S., though," he laughed. "Ill have to watch mostly U.S. athletes." If his play continues to improve, two years from Hearn might be representing Canada at the Olympics in Rio rather than watching from a distance. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '