nor is he quick enough to defend wings effectively. from miao1234's blog
MONTREAL -- The Montreal Canadiens looked to be in trouble when goaltender Carey Price got injured just after helping Canada win gold at the Sochi Olympics. Cyrus Kouandjio Womens Jersey . But back-up Peter Budaj has put up two wins and an overtime loss while starting three games in four nights since Price went down with a suspected groin injury. Budaj was sharp when he needed to be as the Canadiens bounced back after blowing a third-period lead to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Max Paciorettys second goal of the game, 3:28 into overtime on Saturday night. "Hes been unbelievable" U.S. Olympian Pacioretty said of Budaj, who played for Slovakia at the Winter Games. "Hes kept us in all three games hes played and hes made key saves at key moments. "Thats probably the most important thing a goalie can do. Hes one of the hardest working goalies Ive ever seen and its good to see him get rewarded." Alex Galchenyuk scored in the first period and P.K. Subban tied the game and forced OT with a power-play goal at 10:52 of the third frame for Montreal (34-21-7), which is 7-1-2 in its last 10 games. James van Riemsdyk had two and Phil Kessel also scored for the Leafs (32-22-8), who were coming off an overtime loss to the Islanders in New York in their first post-Olympic action on Thursday night. Budaj, now 4-1-0 against Toronto in his career, made 22 saves for the win after backstopping Montreal to a 6-5 OT decision Thursday in Pittsburgh and a 2-1 OT loss to Detroit on Wednesday. He may face even tougher action if he continues to get the starts as the Canadiens leave Sunday on a four-game West Coast road trip. Price is listed as day to day and may be able to return during the trip. Against the Leafs, Budaj and the Canadiens were on a roller coaster as Montreal went up 2-0, but then saw Toronto roar back to take the lead, only for Subban to tie the game. Along the way were unusual penalties, including two delay of game calls against the Leafs and one against Budaj. Paciorettys game-winner, when he beat Jonathan Bernier with a high shot from close range that gave Andrei Markov his third assist of the night, came after Bernier slid well out of his net and was called for a delay as he smothered the puck with his glove. Toronto had started overtime shorthanded when Kessel was called for flipping the puck over the glass. Leafs captain Dion Paneuf would not pin the loss on the officials. "Im not going to stand here and say the calls were right, wrong or indifferent," he said. "If you start complaining about that, thats an excuse. "We showed a lot to come back. JVR (van Riemsdyk) made an unbelievable individual effort and Phil had a great shot, but our team overall, we fought back. We got a point. Were disappointed we didnt get another one, but we did a lot of good things." There were plenty of Leafs fans at Bell Centre, but the atmosphere didnt peak until the third period. It took the Leafs until 14:38 of the first frame to get their first shot on goal, but they held Montreal to a 2-1 first period lead. Galchenyuk put a spin-around shot from the slot past Bernier 12:38 in and Pacioretty scored on a backhander at 14:02. After Joffrey Lupul hit a post, Kessel slipped a pass that van Riemsdyk deflected at the net, only to see it go in off Budaj at 17:34. The third period saw van Riemsdyk get his second goal of the game on a short-handed breakaway at 5:28. Then Tyler Bozak snuck a pass through traffic that sent Kessel in on a breakaway to beat Budaj at 7:43. "Bozak made a spin-around, behind-the-back pass and it went through two skates, a couple of sticks and ends up right on Kessels stick for a breakaway," said Pacioretty. "I was right there with Kessel but I didnt see the puck coming until the last second." Montreal coach Michel Therrien called a time out to settle his players and it seemed to work as Subban tied the game to force overtime. "We got on our heels after (Torontos) third goal, and we just needed to calm down," said Therrien. "I felt the bench was really down and I just wanted to say there was still a lot of hockey to be played." The Canadiens and Leafs have split their four meetings this season, with their last regular season game set for March 22 in Toronto. The Leafs return home to face Columbus on Monday night with their top line still hot. In their past seven games, Kessel has six goals and eight assists, while van Riemsdyk has five goals and six assists. The Leafs are 6-1-1 in their last eight games. Five of van Riemsdyks 26 goals this season have come against Montreal. Notes: Montreals Ryan White missed a second game with a flu, while Carey Price (lower body), Brandon Prust (upper body) and Michael Bournival (concussion) are sidelined. Francis Bouillon was scratched. . . The Leafs called up Peter Holland from the AHL and he centred the third line, bumping Nikolai Kulemin to the wing. Dave Bolland remains out with an ankle inury. Colton Orr, Trevor Smith and Paul Ranger didnt dress. Sammy Watkins Blue Jersey .9 million in 2013. Thats up $2.2 million from 2012. The Bombers say season-ticket sales and revenue hit a record high with some 24,620 sold for the first season at Investors Group Field, generating $8. Ross Cockrell Bills Jersey . -- Stephen Curry erased a forgettable first half for the Golden State Warriors with a fourth quarter to remember.The Toronto Raptors got a couple of pieces from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for a veteran with a contract that will be bought out. Numbers Game looks at the deal that brings Lou Williams to the Raptors. The Raptors Get: SG Lou Williams and C Lucas Nogueira. Williams, 27, has been a productive scoring guard off the bench for much of his career, but he struggled last season, posting his worst Player Efficiency Rating (PER of 14.24) since his rookie season of 2005-2006. Williams shot 40.0% from the field, including 342% on threes, his worst in both categories since 2008-2009, so hes not exactly at peak value. Three times in his career, including in 2012-2013, Williams has averaged better than 14 points per game, yet hes come off the bench in 500 of his 554 career games. Hes a perimeter player who is taking fewer two-point shots. Last season, Williams took 4.3 twos per game, compared to 3.9 threes and his 3.0 free-throw attempts per game was his lowest since 2006-2007; these are signs of a player who isnt getting to the rim. Defensively, Williams is below average; a shooting guard in a point guards body, he doesnt have the physique to handle stronger guards, nor the height to deal with bigger guards. Williams does have quickness and can use that to his advantage but hes consistently rated as a subpar defender. Despite those limitations, Williams can be a useful second-team gunner and theres room for that in the Raptors rotation. Williams is going into the final year of a contract that pays him $5.45-million in 2014-2015. Taken with the 16th pick in last summers draft, Lucas Nogueira is a skinny 7-footer who, as might be expected, has potential as a shot blocker, but the Brazilian they call "Bebe" is considered raw, not unlike the Raptors first-round pick in this summers draft, Bruno Caboclo, who also happens to be Brazilian. Playing in Spain for Estudiantes last season, Nogueira put up 6. http://www.authenticbillsshop.com/Ross-Cockrell-Bills-Jersey. points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in 16.0 minutes per game. He turns 22 this summer and could still use time to develop, but is a nice upside play for the Raptors. Nogueira has a contract with Estudiantes that runs through next season, so that will give him additional time to round out his game before worrying about how he might fit into the Raptors plans. The Hawks Get: SF John Salmons. Salmons is a 34-year-old swingman whose best days are well behind him. He hasnt shot 40% from the field in the past two seasons, and shot a career-low 36.3% from the field last season on his way to scoring 5.2 points per game, his fewest since 2004-2005. Hes showing the wear and tear of playing 874 career games. Salmons can still knock down a three, but hes no longer quick enough to get to the basket, nor is he quick enough to defend wings effectively. This could very well be the end of the line for Salmons. The value to the Hawks is that Salmons has a $7-million contract that only requires a $1-million buyout, leaving the Hawks with lots of room to maneuver as the NBA free agent market gets into full swing. Carmelo Anthony, Luol Deng and Lance Stephenson could be among the more appealing wings that the Hawks may try to lure with more than %15-million in salary cap space. This is a case where the Hawks got what they were after, increased cap space, and the Raptors got a few assets in return for providing it. Williams offers some immediate help, and is a trade chip with an expiring contract if the season goes awry, while Nogueira presents some upside for the long run. As it stands today, the Raptors are a better team for having made this trade. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '
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