Medien Diskussion » the most promising centres in worl

The Montreal Canadiens are going to the Eastern Conference Final and the Los Angeles Kings force a Game Seven; Scott Cullen has notes on Daniel Briere, Dale Weise, Nathan Beaulieu, Carey Price, Trevor Lewis, Jake Muzzin, Ryan Getzlaf and more. HABS HEADED TO CONFERENCE FINAL The Montreal Canadiens scored early in Game Seven, built a lead and protected it well on their way to a 3-1 series-clinching win over the Boston Bruins. While this game or series isnt necessarily a referendum on the value of fourth lines, the Canadiens certainly benefitted from production lower down their forward depth chart. In Game Seven, the scoring was opened by Dale Weise, who has been a nice surprise for the Canadiens, contributing three goals and five points in 11 playoff games. The last goal of the game came from Daniel Briere, and while it was a power play goal, Briere did centre the fourth line (with Weise and Brandon Prust) and his two-point effort in Game Seven left Briere with six points in 10 playoff games. With two points in Game Seven, Briere moves past Sidney Crosby for fifth place among active playoff scorers. No Canadiens forwards have averaged less time on ice in this postseason than Briere and Wiese, but their contributions cant be ignored. Canadiens RW Brendan Gallagher had two assists in Game Seven, giving him nine points in the postseason, tied with Lars Eller for most points among Montreal forwards. Another depth player that made a useful contribution for Montreal was rookie D Nathan Beaulieu, the rookie who replaced Douglas Murray in the lineup and while he hasnt played much, hes been effective. In Games Six and Seven, Beaulieu had two assists and was on for 63.8% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts when he was on the ice. Michel Therrien thinks Murray is hard to play against? Beaulieus harder. The supporting cast was valuable for the Habs, but so too was their franchise goaltender. Carey Price stopped 219 of 234 shots he faced in the series (.936 SV%), outdueling his Boston counterpart, Tuukka Rask, who stopped 177 of 196 shots (.903 SV%). Its not as though Rask let in glaring bad goals -- Brieres goal in Game Seven was banked in off Zdeno Charas skate -- but Price stopped more pucks and, in a series this close, that made the difference. While RW Jarome Iginla scored Bostons only goal, that didnt erase the trouble that Bostons first line experienced in the postseason. David Krejci, who far-and-away, had more playoff points than anyone in the past three postseasons, finished this years playoffs with no goals and four assists in a dozen games. LW Milan Lucic had points in the first three games of the series against Montreal, but was held off the scoresheet in the last four games, registering two shots on goal, total, in the final three games. Iginla did lead the Bruins with five goals in the playoffs, but seven points in a dozen playoff games is hardly earth-shattering production. Such is the nature of an upset in the playoffs, though. The lower-seeded Canadiens got better goaltending, some unexpected production from players on the low-end of the depth chart and that was enough to overcome a Bruins team that held a consistent territorial edge throughout the seven games. This may result in some changes for the Bruins, but not likely anything drastic. They had the best record in the league this season and, while improvements are needed, they will be contenders again next year. As for the Canadiens, they are in their second Eastern Conference Final since 1993, when they last won the Stanley Cup. That season, the Canadiens had a fortunate path once the New York Islanders eliminated the Cup-favourite Pittsburgh Penguins. This time, the Habs bounced the top seed and take on a New York Rangers team that may be favoured, but not by much, making for what should be a competitive series. KINGS AND DUCKS GOING SEVEN With their season the line, the Los Angeles Kings locked down against the Anaheim Ducks, taking a 2-1 decision in Game Six to force a seventh game in the Freeway Series. While the final shot count in the game barely favoured the Kings, 23-22, they dominated at score close, with nearly two-thirds of the 5-on-5 shot attempts and not one Kings player was on the ice for less than 50% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. The winning goal in Game Six was scored by Kings RW Trevor Lewis. Soft as it may have been (a wrist shot from the top of the circles), Lewis now has four goals in 13 playoff games after scoring six goals in 73 regular season games. In the past four games, Lewis has been on the ice for 65.4% of the shot attempts when hes on the ice at 5-on-5. More contribution from unexpected sources. Los Angeles first goal came from D Jake Muzzin, his third of the playoffs and Game Six was the second straight game in which he played more than 25 minutes in regulation. In the past three games, Muzzin has been on the ice for 74 of 108 (68.5%) of shot attempts at 5-on-5. It wasnt all unheralded performers getting the job done for the Kings, though. C Anze Kopitar had an assist, to give him a playoff-leading 17 points. On the other side, Game Six was the first game in the series in which Ducks C Ryan Getzlaf didnt register a point; it was also the first time in the playoffs that Getzlaf didnt register a shot on goal. That probably means some credit is due to the Kings defence tandem that matched up against Getzlaf, so, take a bow, Jeff Schultz and Slava Voynov. Schultz, who spent the entire season in the AHL, isnt exactly driving play, but has been on the ice for more than 55% of the shot attempts at 5-on-5 in five games since being inserted into the lineup. Lewis questionable goal aside, its not as though the Kings found a great secret to beating Ducks G John Gibson, who has still stopped 86 of 92 shots (.935 SV%) in three games against the Kings but, with the Kings season on the line, two goals was enough to force Game Seven. 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. Yeezy Sale .ca NBA Power Rankings. Winners of 15 straight, with a healthy roster, the Spurs have overtaken the Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder for the number one ranking. Air Jordan Sale . 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. https://www.wholesaleshoesforcheap.com/. Speaking on TSN Radio 1050s TSN Drive with Dave Naylor on Monday, Colangelo said he had no intention of tanking the shortened 2011-12 season, but definitely wanted a high pick in the draft. "I wish that word wasnt used for headline reasons," said Colangelo, "but the story behind it was: how can we fix the system? How can we tweak the system to make it less likely that teams are rewarded for losing records? "I do believe that if youre as transparent as we were at the time - with our season seat holders, our fans, the market place and the media - everybody knew what the plan was and what we were going through. NMD Sale . Its been two seasons in one for both parties and neither will look back on the first 18 games fondly. "I think I took the fall for a lot of things," said Gay, reflecting on his short time in Toronto ahead of Wednesdays game against his former club. Air Jordan 1 Sale .5 million contract with the right-handed reliever. Ziegler revealed the agreement via Twitter, saying hes "really excited to stay in Arizona for a couple more years, at least.PARIS -- Centre Wesley Fofana scored one try and helped create another as France beat Italy 30-10 on Sunday to further boost its chances of winning the Six Nations title following last weekends dramatic victory against England. Last years wooden spoon is now just a bad memory for France, with Sundays convincing win following the 26-24 success against England -- further raising hopes ahead of a crunch match against title-holder Wales. A turgid first half riddled with poor kicking ended 9-3. But France scored three tries inside the first 15 minutes of the second half through burly No. 8 Louis Picamoles, Fofana and a debut try from left-winger Hugo Bonneval, whose father Eric Bonneval helped France win three Five Nations titles. "We havent won two matches in a row since 2012, so thats important," France coach Philippe Saint-Andre said. "We wore the Italians out a lot in the first half, even though we didnt vary our play enough. In the second half we played very, very good rugby. We went from 9-3 to 30-3 in no time at all." Right-winger Tommaso Iannone got a late converted try for Italy, which has lost twice and next hosts winless Scotland at home. The loser of that match is set for the wooden spoon, while a victory in Cardiff will have the French dreaming of an unexpected Grand Slam. After losing on its last two visits to Rome, they were determined to make amends at Stade de France. But in chilly, somewhat windy conditions, only the sharp bite of the weather prevented the fans from falling asleep in a scrappy opening half bereft of attacking rugby, and where four out of 10 kicking opportunities were taken. Scrumhalf Jean-Marc Doussain missed two penalties and flyhalf Jules Plisson was wide with a dropped goal attempt. Italy got its first chance when lock Pascal Pape was penalized for an offside and centre Gonzalo Garcias penalty from just over the halfway line fell short. With the forwards battle pretty even, Italy had anotheer chance to take the lead midway through the first half, but this time Garcias kick from nearly the same distance sailed wide.dddddddddddd. After fullback Brice Dulin was held up near the line, Doussain slotted over from just in front of the posts, but Italy levelled through flyhalf Tommaso Allans three-pointer from 20 metres out, but he then missed a similar chance. After Italy collapsed the scrum, Doussains kick cannoned over off the right post and he landed a better effort to put France 9-3 up. Then, the tries came thick and fast. "Its a strange feeling, because for 60 or 70 minutes we were close to Frances level and at times even got on top," Italy coach Jacques Brunel said. "But those 10 minutes or so (in the second half) totally changed the game." Picamoles burst out of a rolling maul and was brilliantly tackled by left-winger Leonardo Sarto close to the line. He then hauled himself up before planting the ball on the line, and the try was awarded following a video replay, with Doussain getting the extras. Fofana showed once again why he is one of the most promising centres in world rugby. Picking up a loose ball following a ruck, he broke two tackles with brute strength before sprinting down the blindside for a converted score. "Hes an exceptional player. He scored an incredible try and he has the ability to break tackles," Saint-Andre said. "We ask Wesley to talk a lot on the field, and we have a young generation who are starting to assert themselves." The third try was well worked. Fofanas scorching pace took him clear from midfield, and he fed right-winger Yoann Huget, who in turn popped a simple pass to give Bonneval a try in the left corner. Doussain landed a tricky conversion to make it 30-3. As tempers frayed, props Rabah Slimani and Michele Rizzo were sent off after butting heads in a maul. Italys persistence finally paid off when Iannone scurried into the left corner. ' ' '