Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/32062
2B Daily News – Friday, May 20, 2011 Sharks trying to regain composure SAN JOSE (AP) — The San Jose Sharks lost more than the first two games in the Western Conference final during a lost trip to Vancouver. They also lost their composure. From captain Joe Thornton challenging Ryan Kesler to a fight before the opening faceoff of Game 1 to enforcer Ben Eager’s parade to the penalty box late in Game 2, the Sharks have been on the wrong side of the aggression line too often the first two games and find themselves down 2-0 in the series. Led by Eager’s 20 penalty minutes, the Sharks commit- ted 53 minutes in penalties in a 7-3 loss in Game 2 on Wednesday night, leading to seven power-play chances and three man-advantage goals for the opportunistic Canucks. ‘‘That’s often a result of frustration,’’ coach Todd McLel- lan said Thursday. ‘‘It catches up with you. ... It wasn’t like we lost it when it was 5-2 or 6-2. We lost it at 3-2. That’s not the sign of a team that can win a series. That has to get bet- ter.’’ The Sharks held an optional workout Thursday as they look to get back into the series in Game 3 at home on Friday night. Eager was the biggest violator for the Sharks, committing four minor penalties and a misconduct in the final 21 min- utes of the game. He also scored San Jose’s third goal and was praised by McLellan for his forechecking and skating — a sign that he likely will stay in the lineup despite the penalty-filled game. The Canucks believe that shouldn’t be San Jose’s choice. Coach Alain Vigneault was upset there wasn’t more pun- ishment from the NHL for Eager’s hit from behind against Daniel Sedin in the final minute of the second period. Eager also got a roughing call for taunting goalie Roberto Luongo after scoring to cut the deficit to 7-3 and called Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa a ‘‘phony’’ for fighting Sharks top-line player Patrick Marleau instead of a more accom- plished fighter. ‘‘Obviously he’s on the ice to try and hurt people,’’ Vigneault said. ‘‘He ran Danny from the back, one of the NHL’s potential MVP, he ran our goaltender. Their coach goes out and says that’s the way he wants them to play. I just hope nothing serious is going to happen on the ice otherwise there will be some serious consequences to that.’’ McLellan and Eager downplayed Vigneault’s criticisms, with the coaching praising his fourth-line player one of his best players in Game 2 and saying he can be a force if he can limit his penalties. Eager has a history with the Canucks, having knocked them out of the playoffs the past two years while with Chica- go. ‘‘If you play a team three years in a row there’s going to be some dislike,’’ Eager said. ‘‘When it’s in the conference finals it’s that much more intense. Sometimes games end up like last night.’’ The Canucks were on the other side of that in last year’s second-round loss to Eager and the Blackhawks. The most notable loss of composure came from high-scoring Sedin, who uncharacteristically fought with Dave Bolland during that series. ‘‘You get frustrated when you feel their team is better than your team and this year we have a better team, that’s the bot- tom line,’’ Sedin said. ‘‘Chicago had a lot more depth last year and that’s what happens. It’s one incident, nothing I worry too much about. It’s the playoffs, sometimes things get out of hand.’’ The Canucks have been better at almost every aspect of this series, showing more speed than the Sharks, beating them to loose pucks, and most importantly, doing a better job of staying out of the penalty box after allowing seven power- play goals in 28 chances in the six games against the Black- hawks last year. Vancouver has been short-handed just three times this series, allowing goals all three times, but have controlled the five-on-five play for most of the series. ‘‘We learned our lessons the hard way,’’ Bieksa said. ‘‘At the time it really cost us and we talked about it a lot during the season and talked about it a lot before the playoffs, and have been very good at it all season, staying discipline and even keeled and staying away from the stuff after the whis- tle.’’ The Sharks have lost five of six games since taking a 3-0 lead in the second round against Detroit with the only win coming in Game 7 at home against the Red Wings last week. They have also lost eight straight games in the Western Con- ference finals, dating to 2004 against Calgary, after getting swept in this round a year ago against eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago. ‘‘This organization will always have the label of under- achieving until it wins the Cup,’’ defenseman Dan Boyle said. ‘‘We’ve been talking about it for three years now. We have to find a way to win and that’s it.’’ Sagan wins fifth stage PASO ROBLES (AP) — Slovakian Peter Sagan swung wide right in the final 100 yards and sped from fifth place to win the fifth stage of the Tour of California. Chris Horner remained the overall race leader Thursday. Sagan, of the Liquiqas-Cannondale team, claimed two consecutive stages in last year’s event. He won the 135.1- mile Seaside to Paso Robles road race in 5 hours, 16 min- utes, 3 seconds. The 21- year-old, second-year pro earned his 11th career victory. ‘‘It was tough because the race was so long, but my team- mates did a great job,’’ Sagan said through a translator. Leigh Howard (HTC-Highroad) of Australia was second, and Ben Swift (Sky) of Britain, the opening stage winner, finished third, both in the same time as Sagan. Horner (RadioShack), who took the race lead Wednesday with a solo uphill win, finished 11th in the main field and maintained his 1-minute, 15-second lead over teammate and fellow American Levi Leipheimer. ‘‘I had the best place in the race,’’ said Horner, the 10th- place finisher and leading American last year in the Tour de France. He rode Thursday surrounded by teammates. ‘‘I did- n’t need to be at the front. But when the gaps opened up toward the end, Levi pulled me up there.’’ Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) is third overall, trailing by 1:22. Several crashes involving at least a half-dozen riders occurred throughout the fifth stage, held in strong cross- winds. Gustav Larsson (Saxo-Bank) of Sweden, the former world time trial champion, and American Ben Jacques- Maynes (Bissell), who led breakaways in earlier stages, both left the race with unspecified, non-serious injuries. Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) of Norway, the reign- ing world champ and an eight-time Tour de France stage winner, also left the race because of illness. Durant, Thunder tie series DALLAS (AP) — Kevin Durant scored 24 points and James Harden added 23, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 106-100 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night, knotting the Western Conference finals at one game each. Durant was as tough to guard as ever, but the real difference was Harden and the bench com- ing up big, especially down the stretch. The bearded, left-handed guard had a four-point play in the final seconds of the third quarter that put Oklahoma City up by one. Then he and fellow reserves Eric Maynor, Nick Collison and Dae- quan Cook teamed with Durant to outplay Dallas’ crew of closers in the final period. The Thunder’s unusual set of finishers outscored the Mavs’ by five. They broke the game open with a 14-5 stretch capped by a tough jumper by Harden near the foul line; it put Oklahoma City up by 10 with 3:15 left. Dallas got as close as four points the rest of the way. ‘‘They’ve been playing hard all year for us and this was another example,’’ Durant said of his team’s reserves. Oklahoma City continued its streak of avoiding consecutive losses this postseason. The series shifts to the Thunder’s home court — about 200 miles up Inter- state 35 — for Game 3 on Satur- day night. Dirk Nowitzki didn’t dominate nearly as much as he did in the opener, scoring 29 points. He had 16 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough as Dallas was its seven-game winning streak end and dropped to 6-1 at home in the playoffs. ‘‘We made it a little tougher for him,’’ Durant said, referring to Nowitzki’s 48 points in Game 1. Nowitzki made 10 of 17 shots in Game 2, but had to earn every one, with bodies flying at him before and during every posses- sion. He was swarmed so tightly that he didn’t even score in the third quarter, taking just two shots in nearly 9 minutes. The Thunder also got physical without drawing many fouls. The big Ger- man took only 10 free throws, down from 24 in the opener. He even missed one, and it was a big- gie — part of a series of three shots with 36.7 seconds left. It could have put the Mavericks within three. Tyson Chandler had 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Jason Kidd added 14 points and seven assists for Dallas. However, the Maver- icks’ bench wasn’t up to its usual scoring punch. J.J. Barea scored 11 points, and Jason Terry and Peja Stojakovic both had eight. Maynor scored 13 points, Cook had eight and Collison six. Russell Westbrook bounced back from a tough opener to score 18 points, but he watched the fourth quarter from the bench. ‘‘I was surprised but Eric was playing a great floor game and was getting everyone involved,’’ Durant said of Westbrook not playing down the stretch. Oklahoma City’s reserves were so good that Durant scored only four points in the final quarter. Although he didn’t score 40 like the opener, he was still spectacu- lar, with a second-quarter dunk that’s worth going to YouTube to see again and again, and a behind-the-back dribble to clear space for another key basket in the third quarter. The Thunder shot 56 percent from the field, and again showed how much their youth and athleti- cism can hurt the older, slower Mavericks. Dallas came into this series not having allowed more than 97 points in any playoff game, and Oklahoma City has shattered that in both games. The first three quarters were widly entertaining, with each team going through spurts that seemed like they would be capa- ble of breaking things open. The Thunder came out of it leading 77-76 at the start of the final peri- od. Dallas got the fun started just a few minutes into the game, with a sweet drive and dish by Kidd to Nowitzki resulting in his first basket. The Mavs went on a 12-2 roll that included a full-court inbounds pass to an uncovered Shawn Marion for a dunk that drew a deafening cheer — and a timeout by the Thunder. Durant’s awesome dunk high- lighted Oklahoma City’s first rally. He soared high enough to touch the square on the backboard and roared so much afterward that he was hit with a technical foul, although he told official Tom Washington, ‘‘All I said is, ‘And one.’’’ Oklahoma City went back ahead 40-35 by scoring on 10 straight possessions. Durant was the No. 1 cheerleader on the bench during that run. With a towel over his head, he was up on his seat after almost every basket. The Thunder led 59-57 at half- time and stretched the lead to eight points, their biggest yet, when Durant dribbled behind his back to clear space for a jumper. Dallas put DeShawn Stevenson on Durant for a while, then Kidd, and it helped the Mavericks get back into the game. Stevenson tied it with a 3-pointer and the Mavs even went ahead by four. Oklahoma City regained the lead with 7.5 seconds left on a four- point play by Harden, courtesy of a silly foul by Terry. NOTES: Nowitzki’s missed free throw ended a stretch of 39 straight makes dating to Game 2 of the second round. ... Harden’s four-point play was the second of the postseason against Dallas, both on fouls by Terry at the end of a quarter. ... Portland star LaMarcus Aldridge, who grew up in the Dallas area, watched from the second row. ... Before the game, coaches Rick Carlisle of Dallas and Scott Brooks of Oklahoma City shared stories about being teammates — and roommates — on the 1987 CBA champion Albany Patroons. Thomas makes 31 saves in Bruins’ 2-0 win elbowing. TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tim Thomas rebounded from two tough games in grand fashion. Thomas made 31 saves for his first playoff shutout this season and second over- all, Andrew Ference and David Krejci scored and the Boston Bruins beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Con- ference finals. ‘‘That felt more like a normal game,’’ Thomas said. ‘‘That felt like the game we played most of the season. Playoffs are always faster and more energy and a few more scoring chances than a regular-season game, but that was Boston Bruins hockey.’’ Thomas, the favorite to win the Vezina Trophy as the top regular-season goalie, gave up nine goals in the first two games of the series. ‘‘As the game goes on, he keeps making saves, feels better about himself and is gaining confidence,’’ Light- ning right winger Martin St. Louis said. ‘‘We’ve just got make his game a little tougher and we didn’t do that. Chew on it for 10 min- A’s (Continued from page 1B) with the help of errors. He also got some help from Rivera, who threw out A’s leadoff hitter Coco Crisp try- ing to steal second after Crisp singled in the first. The A’s broke through for a run in the seventh but got little else. Matsui walked, took third on David DeJesus’ single then scored on Mark Ellis’ fielder’s choice grounder. NBA PLAYOFFS Conference Finals Thursday’s result Oklahoma City 106, Dallas 100 Series tied 1-1 Other series Chicago and Miami tied 1-1 utes and get back to work.’’ Ference made it 2-0 with a shot from point at 8:12 of the third when the puck trickled between goalie Dwayne Roloson’s legs and into the net. Game 4 is Saturday in Tampa. Patrice Bergeron returned to Boston’s lineup after missing two games because of a concussion sus- tained when he was hit by Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux in the final game of the second round. He had two shots, won 18 of 28 faceoffs and played 19 min- utes, 13 seconds. ‘‘You could see the dif- ference he makes,’’ coach Claude Julien said. Krejci was alone in the low slot and opened the scoring on a backhander just 1:09 into the first. Boston is 7-0 during the postseason when scoring the first goal of the game. ‘‘One big mistake,’’ Lightning coach Guy Boucher said. Krejci was briefly shaken up late in the first when he was hit in the neutral zone by Tampa Bay defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron, who received a minor penalty for The Twins head to Ari- zona for a three-game inter- league series with the Dia- mondbacks. Before that, however, Minnesota’s players and coaches will attend a funeral for Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew in Peoria, Ariz. Killebrew will be buried in a private service Monday in his hometown of Payette, Idaho. Note: Ross is the first A’s pitcher to leave after throwing seven pitches or fewer since Omar Olivares did it on June 16, 2000. ... NHL PLAYOFFS Conference Finals Tuesday’s result Boston 2, Tampa Bay 0 Boston leads series 2-1 Today’s game Vancouver at San Jose, 6 p.m.,VS Vancouver leads series 2-0 Both teams were looking to play tighter defense after combining for 18 goals in the first two games. Tampa Bay center Steven Stamkos said before the game that the Lightning wanted to avoid ‘‘run and gun hockey.’’ Boston center Brad Marchand added that both teams hoped to ‘‘buck- le down’’ on defense. Stamkos had three shot as the Lightning outshot Boston 10-8 during the first. Bruins captain Zdeno Chara made a nice defensive play during the period to break up a Tampa Bay 2-on-1. ‘‘We got some chances and their goalie made some good saves,’’ Stamkos said. ‘‘We’re not panicking. We’ve got to be ready for the next one.’’ Thomas made a strong save in the first on St. Louis’ shot from the low right cir- cle. The goalie stopped 15 shots in the third. Roloson finished with 23 saves. ‘‘Both goalies made huge saves,’’ Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said. ‘‘This just felt more normal. I think both teams got more towards the type of game Twins’David Valencia went 2 for 5 to snap an 0-for-19 streak. ... Morneau went 3 for 5 and is 19 for 38 (.500) with six home runs and 15 RBIs in his past 11 games in Oakland. ... A’s RHP Brad Ziegler allowed his first run in 17 appearances (13 2-2 innings). MLB West Division Texas A’s American League WL Pct GB 23 21 .523 — 22 22 .500 1 Angels 22 23 .489 1.5 Seattle 19 24 .442 3.5 East Division WL Pct GB Tampa Bay 25 19 .568 — New York 23 19 .548 1 Boston 23 20 .535 1.5 Toronto 22 21 .512 2.5 Baltimore 19 23 .452 5 Central Division WL Pct GB Cleveland 26 15 .634 — Detroit 22 21 .512 5 Kansas City 21 22 .488 6 Chicago 20 25 .444 8 Minnesota 15 27 .357 11.5 West Division National League WL Pct GB Colorado 23 19 .548 — GIANTS 23 19 .548 — Dodgers 20 24 .455 4 Arizona 20 23 .465 3.5 Padres 18 25 .419 5.5 East Division WL Pct GB Philadelphia 26 17 .605 — Florida 24 18 .571 1.5 Atlanta 25 21 .543 2.5 New York 21 22 .488 5 Washington 20 23 .465 6 Central Division WL Pct GB St. Louis 26 19 .578 — Cincinnati 25 19 .568 .5 Milwaukee 21 22 .488 4 Pittsburgh 20 23 .465 5 Chicago 19 23 .452 5.5 Houston 15 29 .341 10.5 ————————————————— Thursday’s results Minnesota 11, Oakland 1 San Francisco at Los Angeles, late Arizona 2, Atlanta 1 Boston 4, Detroit 3 Chicago Cubs 5, Florida 1 Chicago White Sox 8, Cleveland 2 Colorado 7, Philadelphia 1 Kansas City 2, Texas 1, 10 innings N.Y. Mets 1, Washington 0 N.Y.Yankees 13, Baltimore 2 Seattle 2, L.A. Angels 1 Toronto 3, Tampa Bay 2 Pittsburgh 5, Cincinnati 3 St. Louis 4, Houston 2 Milwaukee at San Diego, late Today’s games Oakland (Cahill 6-1) at San Fran.(Vogelsong 3-0),7:15 p.m. Cincinnati (T.Wood 3-3) at Cleveland (White 1-0), 4:05 p.m. Detroit (Penny 4-3) at Pittsburgh (Karstens 2-2), 4:05 p.m. PGA Colonial Thursday At Colonial Country Club Fort Worth, Texas Purse: $6.2 million Yardage: 7,204; Par 70 (35-35) First Round Leaders David Toms 31-31— 62 -8 Chez Reavie 32-30— 62 -8 Rickie Fowler 29-34— 63 -7 Brendon de Jonge 34-30— 64 -6 Stewart Cink 32-32— 64 -6 Brian Gay N.Y. Mets (Dickey 1-5) at N.Y.Yankees (F.Garcia 2-3), 4:05 p.m., MLBN Texas (C.Wilson 4-2) at Philadelphia (Halladay 5-3), 4:05 p.m. Washington (Marquis 5-1) at Baltimore (Undecided), 4:05 p.m. Houston (An.Rodriguez 0-2) at Toronto (Jo-.Reyes 0-3), 4:07 p.m. Chicago Cubs (D.Davis 0-1) at Boston (Lester 5-1), 4:10 p.m., WGN Tampa Bay (Sonnanstine 0-1) at Florida (Ani.Sanchez 3-1), 4:10 p.m. Colorado (Hammel 3-3) at Milwaukee (Greinke 2-1), 5:10 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Lilly 3-4) at Chi.White Sox (Humber 3-3), 5:10 p.m. Nathan Green 34-30— 64 -6 Charlie Wi 31-33— 64 -6 33-31— 64 -6 Rod Pampling 33-32— 65 -5 Mark Wilson 31-34— 65 -5 John Senden 33-32— 65 -5 St. Louis (Carpenter 1-3) at Kansas City (Francis 0-5), 5:10 p.m. Minnesota (Duensing 2-3) at Arizona (I.Kennedy 4-1), 6:40 p.m. Atlanta (T.Hudson 4-3) at L.A. Angels (E.Santana 1-4), 7:05 p.m. Seattle (Bedard 1-4) at San Diego (Latos 1-5), 7:05 p.m. they wanted. I think it was a lot more typical and expect- ed from us.’’ Okla. City 106 TIED Dallas 100 1-1 San Jose Sharks