MINSK, Belarus -- Finland blanked the Czech Republic 3-0 in the semifinals of the ice hockey world championship on Saturday to set up a final against Russia.
Bobby Massie Bears Jersey . Earlier Saturday, Russia beat defending champion Sweden 3-1 in a matchup of the last two title
holders to advance to the title game. Finlands Jori Lehtera netted a backhand in
the first period before Jarkko Immonen scored on a power play in the second and
Lehtera added his second into the empty net in the third. Goaltender Pekka Rinne
stopped 20 shots for the shutout. Finland struggled in the group stage, losing
three games, and needed a help from Switzerland to advance before eliminated
Canada in the quarter-finals. "We had a tough time in the group stage and almost
every game was a must win for. Now, weve been able to enjoy the game, nothing to
lose" Rinne said. "As a team weve come together and its been great fun. Im
really excited about this opportunity." Russia meanwhile, has won all nine of
its games at the tournament, and is now one win away from its second title in
three years and has a chance to avenge a disappointing loss to Finland in the
quarter-finals in the Sochi Olympics. Finland last won the worlds in 2011. "Our
team has a character," Russia coach Oleg Znarok said. Showing off its attacking
power, Russia rebounded from an opening goal by Oscar Moller just 19 seconds
into the game as Sergei Plotnikov and Sergei Shirokov both scored later in the
first period. Defenceman Anton Belov drove a slap shot into the net on a rebound
to make it 3-1 in the second in front of roaring Russian fans. Russia outshot
Sweden 34-23, while goaltender Sergei Bobrovski made big saves to deny Moller
and Joakim Lindstrom in the middle period. Danis Zaripov and defenceman Evgeni
Medvedev had two assists each and star forward Alex Ovechkin got one assist in
his second straight game after recovering from a right leg injury. "I had a new
knee brace and felt much better," Ovechkin said. "I cant say I am 100 per cent
fit but the situation is that one must be ready for anything. We have one game
left and we must do everything to make sure we win." Plotnikov scored from the
right circle on a rebound after 13:25 and Shirokov wristed a shot past
goaltender Anders Nilsson to put Russia 2-1 ahead with two minutes left in the
period. "I dont think we came up to our best level," Nilsson said. "I think they
were better than us today, they had more chances and we didnt create enough
chances to win." Sweden pulled Nilsson with more than two minutes to play in the
third and their advantage increased to six-on-four when Denis Denisov was
penalized for interference with 1:40 remaining. But all Swedish hopes ended when
Mikael Backlund was ejected for a hit on Plotnikov. That incident prompted angry
exchanges between Znarok and a Swedish team official. Sweden and the Czechs now
have to recover for Sundays bronze medal game. "Its not the medal we wanted to
play for the last game but we dont want to go home empty handed," Sweden forward
Gustav Nyquist said.
Ray McDonald Bears Jersey .85 million contract with the two-time Gold Glove outfielder. Parra earned his second Gold
Glove last season when he set a club record with 17 outfield assists.
Marquess Wilson Jersey .A. Happ is coming off his first start of the year, a win at Philadelphia Monday. The former Phillie
allowed three hits in five scoreless frames of a 3-0 triumph.LOS ANGELES, Calif.
- Jamal Crawford never stews over statistics. As a prolific scorer, he knows hes
usually one shot away from triggering an offensive outburst.So it was easy for
him to shrug off his 20-of-62 shooting in five previous games and let things
fly. Crawford scored 21 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, and the Los
Angeles Clippers held off the struggling Denver Nuggets 102-98 Monday night for
their fifth straight victory.I wanted to be aggressive and try to open up stuff,
said Crawford, last seasons Sixth Man of the Year.Crawford scored Los Angeles
final five points and had a key save that led to a basket in the closing
seconds, when the Clippers completed their biggest comeback of the season after
trailing by 16 earlier in the game.During timeouts, Crawford kept telling his
teammates they were going to win.He was guaranteeing it, coach Doc Rivers
said.The usually soft-spoken Crawford said, I always have belief.Ty Lawson led
the Nuggets with 19 points and 11 assists. Arron Afflalo scored 18, Wilson
Chandler had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Jusuf Nurkic grabbed 10 rebounds in
Denvers seventh straight loss.Matt Barnes added 18 points for Los Angeles, and
Blake Griffin had 14 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists. Chris Paul scored 15
points.Griffin and Paul credited Crawford and the rest of the Clippers bench for
bringing them all the way back.He was huge, Griffin said about Crawford. His
scoring was unbelievable and it can come in a flash. Thats what he does for
us.The Clippers trailed by 10 early in the fourth before Crawford found his
shooting touch. He hit a tying 3-pointer, and then followed with another basket
that made it 94-92 with 2:30 remaining.Glen Davis exhorted the crowd, shouting
Lets go at fans and waving his arms.His energy can lift a whole building,
Crawford said. His energy is contagious. That can turn into wins for us.Afflalo
tied it again before Barnes go-ahead basket. Pauls pass was on its way out of
bounds before Crawford saved it and passed to Barnes as Crawford was running out
of bounds on the baseline. Barnes converted for a 96-94 lead.I knew if I saved
it, hed be right there under the basket, Crawford said.Crawford converted three
free throws to make it 99-94.Chandlers floater and two free throws by Darrell
Arthur drew the Nuggets to 99-98.Crawford made two trips to the line in the
final 5 seconds, going 3 of 4 to seal the victory.In the fourth quarter, I
thought we fell asleepp a few times when he was off the ball, and he was able to
get clean looks coming off a pick, Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said.
Dan Hampton Jersey. We rotated over to their lesser shooters a few times, and Matt Barnes was able to swing it over to
Crawford a couple of times.Denver led 77-69 going into the fourth, having padded
its lead with an 11-0 run in the third.The effort is there, but weve got to
develop some killer instinct, Shaw said.The Clippers defence started getting
stops with 5 minutes left in the second quarter, triggering their transition
game. They outscored the Nuggets 22-6 to take a 50-47 lead at the break. Griffin
hit a layup off an alley-oop pass from Paul after Griffin got the offensive
rebound. On the Clippers next possession, Griffin returned the favour with an
alley-oop pass that DeAndre Jordan dunked.The Nuggets came out strong to start
the game, shooting 59 per cent and building a 16-point lead in the first
quarter. Chandler hit back-to-back 3-pointers while scoring their first 10
points before Kenneth Faried and Afflalo teamed on a 12-0 run.___TIP-INSNuggets:
They lost their third in a row on the road, where they are 6-15.Clippers: Barnes
had a strained abdominal muscle, and re-aggravated it in the fourth quarter. ...
The previous largest deficit Los Angeles had overcome this season was 14 points
against Portland on Nov. 8. ... The Clippers evened the season series
1-all.NURKICS PROGRESSThe rookie centre made his 10th start in 33 games. He
finished with six points, and all 10 of his rebounds were on the defensive end
to go with three blocked shots. But the 7-foot Bosnian Beast committed four
fouls.He gets in foul trouble because the benefit of the calls are going to go
against the rookie most of the time, Shaw said. He plays a physical game and hes
fearless. His games been up and down, but hes had his moments.JORDANS BIDJordan
had seven points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots in the first half. The
Clippers centre will have to wait until Thursday to find out if he will be a
reserve pick for the All-Star game.That was a postcard to all the coaches,
Rivers said of Jordans blocks.Rivers said he called his peers around the NBA in
an effort to get Jordan a trip to New York along with Griffin for All-Star
weekend.Theres some begging, Rivers joked. I offer them food, drinks.UP
NEXTNuggets: At New Orleans on Wednesday.Clippers: At Utah on Wednesday in the
opener of their eight-game Grammy trip.
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