Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans title chances now.
CFT: Jordan Jefferson makes it clear he wasn't happy with LSU's game plan in the Tigers' BCS Championship Game loss to Alabama.
Move over, Hollywood and NFL types, golf's two real A-listers take center stage Sunday at Pebble Beach, both in need of a win.
The United States swept favored Switzerland out of the Davis Cup on Saturday when Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan beat Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Luis Suarez's refusal to shake hands with Patrice Evra overshadowed Manchester United's 2-1 win over rival Liverpool that lifted the defending champions to first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
Marlies Schild of Austria won her sixth World Cup slalom of the season Saturday after overall leader Lindsey Vonn and defending champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch crashed out in the opening run on the windy Pyrenees course.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
MONTREAL - Michael Ryder put his past behind him and the Boston Bruins one win from their first playoff series win in 10 years.
Ryder scored late in the second period against his former team and Tim Thomas made 23 saves to lead Boston to a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night.
Phil Kessel, Shawn Thornton, Chuck Kobasew also scored for Boston, which increased its lead in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal to 3-0 despite the absence of left wing Milan Lucic, who sat out a one-game league suspension.
Ryder, a healthy scratch for all but four of Montreal’s 12 playoffs games last season, put Boston ahead 17:21 into the second period.
“I’d forgotten about last year. I don’t really think about it,” said Ryder, who signed a three-year, $12-million free agent contract with Boston. “It feels like I’ve been here for so long now, actually, and the guys are great and they’ve welcomed me in and it’s good just to be a part of the team. We’re rolling good right now.”
The former Canadiens left wing jumped on a rebound of Dennis Wideman’s shot from the right point and beat Carey Price with a shot into an open left side.
“I’m sure everybody would like to hear the word ’justice’, but that’s not for me to say,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien, who was himself relieved of his duties behind the Canadiens’ bench midway through the 2005-06 season by Montreal GM — and current head coach — Bob Gainey.
“I think we’re just kind of happy we were able to sign him,” Julien said of Ryder, “and he’s played a big role for us this year.”
Kobasew scored into an empty net with 37 seconds remaining.
Chris Higgins and Yannick Weber scored for Montreal, which has lost seven in a row, including its last four games of the regular season.
“At this point, there’s not too much positive there,” Canadiens Saku Koivu said. “Every game, there are things you try to build on but what we’re doing right now is not enough. We have to find a way to get the goals. It doesn’t matter how you do it, to get the win.”
Price, pulled Saturday after allowing five goals through the first two periods, made 26 saves in his third straight start.
The Bruins, who haven’t won a playoff series since 1999, are poised to beat the Canadiens for only the eighth time in 32 playoff matchups between the longtime rivals.
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Lucic was suspended Monday by league disciplinarian Colin Campbell after he was assessed a match penalty for cross-checking Montreal’s Maxim Lapierre late in Saturday’s 5-1 win in Boston.
Left wing Alex Tanguay and defenseman Mathieu Schneider were both injured and unable to play for Montreal. The Canadiens, already without injured top defenseman Andrei Markov, announced moments after the opening faceoff that both key players were sidelined by upper-body injuries.
“I didn’t even know they weren’t playing until pretty close to warmups,” Higgins said. “To miss those guys, that’s a lot of skill that you’ve got to replace.”
Weber, who made his playoff debut Saturday, remained in the lineup and collected two points, including an assist as Higgins gave the Canadiens’ their first lead of the series when he opened the scoring with his second goal 11:52 in.
Buoyed by a sold-out Bell Centre crowd of 21,273, Montreal pressed hard in the opening period, creating a number of scoring chances that drew the fans out of their seats.
“We liked the way we came out,” Canadiens right wing Tom Kostopoulos said. “The crowd was a huge part of the first period.”
Ryan Callahan scored three goals as the New York Rangers beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Saturday for their seventh straight win over the Flyers.
Mike Smith stopped 38 shots for his third shutout this season and the Phoenix Coyotes beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-0 Saturday night.
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Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
Jeremy Lin had the most astounding performance of his remarkable week, scoring a career-high 38 points and outdueling Kobe Bryant as the New York Knicks held off the Los Angeles Lakers 92-85 on Friday night.