Following a pair of lopsided losses in San Jose to begin the Western Conference quarterfinals, the Los Angeles Kings will aim for a better showing in front of
the home crowd Tuesday at the Staples Center.
Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . Down 2-0 in the series, the Kings host Game 3 against a Sharks team that simply dominated them in the first two meetings of
the best-of-seven series at SAP Center. Los Angeles trailed 5-0 en route to a
6-3 loss in Game 1. On Sunday, the Kings actually led 2-0 before San Jose scored
seven unanswered goals to post a 7-2 blowout win and take a two-game lead in the
series. Although losing by wide margins in Games 1 and 2 did not look good, the
Kings and Sharks both know this series is far from over. Last spring, L.A.
managed to come back from down 2-0 to win its first-round series in six games
against the St. Louis Blues. In the next round, the Kings won all four of their
home tilts to outlast San Jose in seven games. Of course, the Sharks also went
3-0 at home in that series and hold home-ice advantage in the 2014 rematch.
Including the playoffs, Los Angeles has won eight straight and 10 of its last 11
home games against the Sharks. If the Kings fail to extend that home streak
tonight, the club will face a do-or-die Game 4 on home ice this Thursday. All
told, The Kings went 23-14-4 on home ice during the regular season. San Jose was
22-15-4. Kings forward Justin Williams did his best to sum up his teams
situation following Sundays setback. "It obviously stinks sitting here, talking
after another lopsided loss," said Williams. "But they did what they set out to
do and now its response time. Were going back to our arena. We won the first two
in our arena last year and they came back and won the next two in theirs. So
were looking to repeat that, but we need to start with one." Joe Pavelski
collected a goal and two assists to lead the way in San Joses Game 2 victory.
Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture added a score and a helper each for the
Sharks, who managed to score more in the first two games of this years series
(13) than in all of last years seven-game loss to the Kings (10). Mike Brown,
Raffi Torres, Joe Thornton and Justin Braun also recorded tallies, while
Antti Niemi shook off a shaky first period to record a 24-save victory. "Its
just been a couple of great nights for us offensively," Braun said. "Shored up a
few things defensively, Niemi has bailed us out a few times. But you cant be
that disappointed with that many goals in two games. Its been good so far at
home." Jake Muzzin and Trevor Lewis provided first-period scores for the Kings,
but L.A. failed to score over the final 50 minutes, 27 seconds of the game. "I
dont really know if its one thing in particular," Kings captain Dustin Brown
said. "Again, we gave up a lot of odd-man rushes. Even in the first (period)
when we were up 2-0, they had a lot of good chances. We need all 20 guys to be
on top of their game." Jonathan Quick was left in net for all seven goals on 40
shots. The Conn Smythe winner when L.A. won the Stanley Cup in 2012, Quick has a
dreadful 7.22 goals against average and .824 save percentage in the first two
games of this set. He was pulled from Game 1 midway through the third period,
but Kings head coach Darryl Sutter didnt blame his goaltender for Sundays
setback. "I thought he was fine tonight," Sutter said of Quick. "Hell tell you
that he struggled in the first game." The 28-year-old Quick entered this
postseason with a career playoff line of 29-21 with a 2.03 GAA and.929 save
percentage. Quicks GAA now stands at 2.19 through 52 career playoff games and
his save percentage has dipped to .924.
NFL Authentic Jerseys China . Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston was being investigated for sexual assault, and his Heisman Trophy stock was
falling.
Wholesale Authentic NFL Jerseys . In Winnipeg, the Jets kick off their exhibition schedule when they host the
Minnesota Wild at MTS Centre.PARIS -- The closest thing to intrigue or drama
involving Rafael Nadal on Saturday came after his 31st consecutive French Open
victory concluded. Thats when the eight-time champion revealed that a painful
back is slowing his serves -- and, all in all, giving him more trouble than his
opponents so far. For now, leave the on-court theatrics to others. Wimbledon
champion Andy Murray, for example, was clutching at aching hamstrings while
being taken to 7-all in the fifth set by No. 28 Philipp Kohlschreiber before
their third-round match was suspended for fading light. No. 23 Gael Monfils
acknowledged tanking a set en route to a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 victory over
No. 14 Fabio Fognini, who was docked a point for chucking his racket near a ball
boy. "They make a good show for the crowd," Nadal said. "Long match. Crowd
involved. Good for tennis." Well, aside from the fact that Monfils and Fognini
combined for more than twice as many unforced errors, 137, as winners, 66.
Nadals play was much, much cleaner: During the entire course of his 6-2, 7-5,
6-2 win against 65th-ranked Leonardo Mayer of Argentina, the No. 1-seeded
Spaniard made 10 unforced errors -- two in the first set, three in the second,
five in the third. Hes dropped a total of 19 games through three matches. More
worrisome would be his back, which also acted up in January during a loss to
Stan Wawrinka in the Australian Open final. "During my career, I had (a) few
problems. ... Hopefully will not be (the) case" the rest of the way in Paris,
Nadal said. Against Mayer, Nadal averaged only 102 mph (165 kph) on first
serves, with a top speed of 114 mph (184 kph). That was down from an average of
111 mph (179 kph) and top of 122 mph (197 kph) in the first round last Monday.
Through two matches, Nadal faced five break points and lost serve twice. He
dealt with eight break points Saturday, losing two. The last time Nadal won 31
matches in a row in Paris, he failed to get No. 32, losing in the fourth round
in 2009 to Robin Soderling -- a defeat that later was blamed, in part, on
injured knees. That remains the Spaniards lone setback in 63 matches at the
tournament. Next for Nadal is 83rd-ranked Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, who beat Jack
Sock of the United States 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.
Cheap Jerseys Wholesale. Another American, Donald Young, lost in five sets to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, leaving No. 10 John Isner as the last
U.S. man. Before this French Open, Lajovic had a 10-21 career record in
tour-level matches, never winning two in a row. "I saw him play a few times on
TV. Sure, its great to have new players on tour, young players on the tour that
are coming strong. Hopefully not too strong," Nadal said with a smile. "Well see
on Monday. I hope to be ready." Asked whether he would seek advice from another
Serbian, No. 2 Novak Djokovic, before facing Nadal, Lajovic joked: "Yeah, I will
try to ask everybody (for) some tips." That wont help if Nadal produces shots of
the sort he did when Mayer served at 5-all in the second set -- a stretching,
scooping backhand lob to break. As Mayer watched the shot sail overhead, he
waved his left hand to signal to the ball to go out, then rolled his eyes when
it curled in. Nadal pumped his fist, ahead 6-5 and on his way to reaching the
fourth round for the 10th time in 10 French Opens. Monfils will take on
Garcia-Lopez for a quarterfinal berth. Whoever emerges from Murray-Kohlschreiber
meets the winner of another suspended match scheduled to resume Sunday: No. 24
Fernando Verdasco led No. 12 Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2, 2-2. Womens fourth-round
matchups set up Saturday were No. 4 Simona Halep against No. 15 Sloane Stephens,
2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova against Lucie Safavora, 2012 runner-up Sara
Errani against Jelena Jankovic, and Andrea Petkovic against 148th-ranked
qualifier Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands. As the sun came out and the
temperature topped 70 degrees (20 Celsius) after several days of overcast skies
and occasional rain, Stephens eliminated No. 22 Ekaterina Makarova of Russia
6-3, 6-4, while Halep beat 55th-ranked Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor of Spain 6-3,
6-0. Halep is the highest seeded woman left, following losses by No. 1 Serena
Williams, No. 2 Li Na and No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska. Said Halep: "Thats a
surprise for everyone."
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