Medien Diskussion » i was pulled from each of the last two losses. M

Back in the sport as a works team for the first time since selling a majority stake in the Enstone squad to Genii Capital at the end of 2009, Renault have to deliver on track to justify the huge investment the French manufacturer have made. With the Renault name on the chassis and the engine there can be no hiding place, and while the team are already downplaying expectations, they certainly dont want to be embarrassed on their return.We need to be humble in our expectations for next year, explained Renault Sport boss Cyril Abiteboul. It is at least a team the firm know well. Not only did Renault previously own the team between 2000 and 2009 but they were also engine suppliers between 1995 and 2014 for the team during its various guises as Benetton, Renault and Lotus. That familiarity should accelerate the process of transition in 2016.This integration is not just measured in track performance, its measured by how you optimise the resources available. Its not an exercise in winning at all costs ; its an exercise in winning in a controlled manner, said chief technical officer Bob Bell. Renault felt they didnt get enough recognition for their contribution to Red Bulls dominance of F1 at the turn of the decade. Having had their reputation dragged through the mud over the past two seasons in a public war of words with Red Bull over power unit performance, they could have been forgiven for walking away from the sport.However, the board should be commended for wanting to prove they can compete at the highest level. Asked what the goals were for the season ahead Bell said: Merging the two operations towards becoming one entity, more than they have ever been before.There will undoubtedly be troubles in this year, though, given the lateness of the deal. Lotus ran Mercedes engines in 2015 and were contracted to the German marque for 2016. The car design is likely to be compromised by the late switch of engine to accommodate the Renault unit.But that will be the least of the teams worries if the power unit continues to lag a long way behind Ferrari and Mercedes. The team at the engine base in Viry-Chatillon must make giant strides for Renaults investment to make sense. Quite what impact Mario Illien has - and the deal for Red Bull to run TAG-Heuer branded Renault unit have - remains to be seen.The power unit guys have done a fairly decent job over the winter, Red Bull boss Christian Horner told Sky Sports during testing. I think what we are hopeful of is further down the line into the season when hopefully that power unit develops what it is saying it should do. Then we should be able to start competing with some of the teams ahead of us.In an ideal world for Red Bull they wouldnt have had Renault engines in 2016 due to the units performance and that can only be regarded as an embarrassment for a firm which pushed hard for the new regulations. Big steps are needed this year or there is the very real possibility of the works team receiving a sole supply by default rather than choice.Renaults own form in testing was mixed. While the opening two days of testing were blighted by unreliability, the team finished the eight days of running with over 2200 miles completed. But the RS16 was a regular cause of red flags throughout testing. The loss of Romain Grosjean is a major blow, and the team will head into 2016 with one of the least experienced line-ups on the grid in Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer.Palmer at least knows the team after a season as reserve driver, but as a rookie he cannot be expected to lead the team. That responsibility is likely to fall on the shoulders of Magnussen who has just one season of F1 under his belt and spent 2016 on the sidelines after being dropped by McLaren.And its McLaren who Renault could be battling in 2016 based on pre-season testing. The French firm seem to be quicker than Haas, Sauber and Manor at the rear of the field, but adrift of the Williams, Red Bull, Force India, Toro Rosso fight behind Ferrari and Mercedes.That could leave the team fighting for minor points places on occasion this year with McLaren - hardly ideal for one of only three works teams on the grid.This very much will be transitional year for Renault and expect focus to quickly shift towards their 2017 car as the French firm look to rebuild the Enstone team and return to the glory years of 2005 and 2006.Even if the results are not seen on track, the ground work laid this season could dictate how successful Renaults return to F1 is. The first race of the 2016 F1 season, the Australian GP, is exclusively live on Sky Sports F1. The race in Melbourne starts at 5am on Sunday March 20. Every race live in 2016 Sky Sports F1 brings you every race live in 2016. Fast and easy online upgrade - click here. Also See: A big year for... F1 in Europe A big year for... McLaren Reggie Wayne Jersey . MLB.com reported that the Dodgers locked the left-hander in for one year at $10 million with up to $4 million in incentives. Darius Leonard Youth Jersey . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork. http://www.coltsofficialstore.us/authent...r-colts-jersey/. Even if he is shooting 38 per cent from the field overall this season, the Utah Jazz rookie always feels like his final shot is going in. Rock Ya-Sin Colts Jersey . The Montreal Canadiens goaltender has won three of his four games since returning from a lower-body injury that kept him out from the end of the Olympic break until March 15. Johnny Unitas Jersey .C. - Alberta prop Andrew Tiedemann will captain Canada against Uruguay on Friday, the opening day of competition at the IRB Americas Rugby Championship.LOS ANGELES -- The puck was sitting underneath Sharks goalie Alex Stalock when Justin Williams whacked at his pads and the narrow space between them. Like a magic trick, the puck popped out behind Stalock in the San Jose net. While Sharks coach Todd McLellan decried the legality of the tiebreaking goal, the Los Angeles Kings celebrated their latest, greatest escape yet. Down 0-3 just a few days ago, the Kings squeezed through that minuscule opening and emerged in Game 7. Williams scored the go-ahead goal with 8:04 to play, and the Kings beat the Sharks 4-1 in Game 6 on Monday night, rallying all the way back from a daunting series deficit. Williams and Anze Kopitar each had two goals and an assist, and Jonathan Quick made 25 saves as the Kings became just the ninth team in NHL history to force a seventh game after losing the first three. "We certainly didnt want to go away quiet," Kopitar said. "Were only thinking about one more step now. Were going to have to play our best game of the series up there." Just three teams in NHL history have rallied from an 0-3 deficit to win a series, and Los Angeles has earned a shot to join them. The winner of the California rivals third playoff meeting in four years will face the top-seeded Anaheim Ducks in the second round. After watching three Kings goals and several violent scrums in the final minutes, Los Angeles fans roared with an intensity that likely hadnt been reached since the Kings Stanley Cup run two years ago, sending their team back to the Shark Tank on Wednesday night. A tie game turned when Williams whacked home Robyn Regehrs shot at Stalock, using the opportunistic scoring sense that has made the two-time Stanley Cup champion into a clutch playoff performer. "Maybe we got a break, maybe we didnt," Williams said. "But nobody blew the whistle." San Joses bench loudly protested the call, saying the puck should have been blown dead under Stalock, but it was upheld on video review. "We got cheated," McLellan said. "Simple as that. I was told that you could see the puck laying behind his feet the whole time." McLellan said the Sharks couldnt see the puck on video review. Kings coach Darryl Sutter thought replays showed the puck was loose. Kopitar followed with two goals 1:15 apart for the Kings, who have outscored San Jose 13-4 in the last three games after San Jose dominated the first three by a combined 17-8. Stalock stopped 26 shots in his first NHL playoff start, and James Sheppard scored on a double deflection in the second period for the spiraling Sharks.dddddddddddd. After utterly dominating the first two games, San Jose has scored just one goal against Quick in the last 128:24 in the series. "In my mind, if it gets to Game 7, it doesnt matter how it gets there," Sharks forward Logan Couture said. "It gets there, and youre going for one game. We played all year for the home ice. Im sure our building is going to be loud. Weve got to turn this thing around and win that game." McLellan changed starting goalies after Stanley Cup winner Antti Niemi was pulled from each of the last two losses. McLellan took a risk on Stalock, whose NHL experience consists of 27 regular-season games and 57 minutes of scoreless relief in this series. Drew Doughty had two assists for Los Angeles, which lost the first three games of the series in discouraging fashion before rallying with resounding victories at home in Game 4 and at the Shark Tank in Game 5 on Saturday night. Doughty set up the Kings first goal with a sharp pass to Williams, who has four goals in the Kings last two home games. San Jose got a 5-on-3 advantage for 1:38 early in the second period, but the Kings killed it off. The Sharks finally tied it moments after a third fruitless power play when Sheppard deflected Justin Brauns slap shot out of midair and off Regehr. After Williams go-ahead score, Kopitar got loose on a 2-on-1 rush with Williams, who set him up perfectly. Kopitar added a power-play goal. The Philadelphia Flyers are one of the three teams to accomplish what the Kings hope to do, rallying from three games down to beat Boston in 2010 with a roster including current Kings forwards Jeff Carter and Mike Richards. The Sharks played without key defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who left Game 5 early with an upper-body injury. The Canadian Olympic gold medallist was replaced by Matt Irwin, while streaky forward Marty Havlat also was in San Joses lineup for the first time in the series, replacing Mike Brown. NOTES: Los Angeles lost D Willie Mitchell to an undisclosed injury during the second period. ... The Sharks hadnt changed their starting goalie during the playoffs since 2001, when Miikka Kiprusoff took over for Evgeni Nabokov during a series. ... Vlasic had played in all 84 possible playoff games since joining the Sharks for the 2006-07 season. ' ' '