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' national 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.
AP
BOSTON - Scott Walker delivered the final knockout punch to the Boston Bruins.
His overtime goal sent the Carolina Hurricanes into the Eastern Conference finals and eliminated the top-seeded team in the process.
Four days after decking Aaron Ward with his right fist, Walker flipped his first NHL playoff goal over Tim Thomas 18:46 into overtime to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 win in Game 7 Thursday night and foil the Bruins hopes to recover from a 3-1 series deficit.
“I just went to the net and whacked one in,” Walker said after his 25th career NHL playoff game. “Didn’t take much skill.”
The Hurricanes will open the East finals on Monday at Pittsburgh against the Penguins.
Thomas stopped Ray Whitney’s shot with his upper body, and the puck dropped in front of him. Walker, with Bruins defenseman Dennis Wideman beside him, shot just as the goalie reached out with his stick, too late to stop Walker from putting the puck over Thomas’ left shoulder.
The red light went on and Thomas sped from the net toward his bench while the Hurricanes celebrated.
“I saw the guy coming down the lane, laying up for the shot,” said Thomas, a finalist for the Vezina Trophy. “I saw the shot. I made the save and left the rebound up in the air.”
Carolina, which beat New Jersey in the first round, will now take on the fourth-seeded Penguins, who beat the Washington Capitals in Game 7 of that series on Wednesday.
“Just because we won these series doesn’t mean we are going to change our approach against Pittsburgh,” Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. “If we try to trade goals with them, it will be a short series.”
Boston was trying to accomplish what no other Bruins club has done — win a series it trailed 3-1. They won 4-0 in Game 5 which was marred by Walker’s late-game punch. Then they won 4-2 in Carolina on Tuesday night, giving them a chance to advance in front of their home fans.
Instead, they are 0-21 in those series, with only two going seven games. The other came last year in the first round against the Montreal Canadiens.
Walker’s goal “sucks the life out of you,” said Milan Lucic, who tied the game 2-2 at 6:19 of the third period. “We worked hard to get back in the series and don’t get rewarded.”
The Bruins were upset that the NHL rescinded an automatic suspension for Walker, who was fined $2,500. Ward and Carolina’s Matt Cullen faced each other during a stoppage in play and Walker skated over and knocked Ward to the ice.
“We knew it would be a tough night for Scotty coming back to this building,” Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward said. “He’s such a valuable player to this hockey team, and it’s nice to see he was rewarded.”
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“It doesn’t matter who scored,” forward Shawn Thornton said. “The season’s over.”
Byron Bitz gave Boston a 1-0 lead at 7:42 of the first period, and Carolina captain Rod Brind’Amour tied it six minutes later. Sergei Samsonov put the Hurricanes ahead 2-1 at 7:45 of the second 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.
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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.
Doron Lamb hit a 3-pointer with 3:18 left to put No. 1 Kentucky ahead to stay, and the Wildcats took a big step toward a Southeastern Conference regular-season title by beating Vanderbilt 69-63 Saturday night for their 17th straight win.
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.
