WASHINGTON — Evgeni Nabokov stopped 17 shots to hand the Washington Capitals their first shutout of the season, and the New York Islanders got two goals from PA Parenteau in a 3-0 victory Tuesday night.
Down but not out: Dallas' Radek Dvorak (bottom) tries to clear the puck as Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg gives chase on Tuesday. APThe last-place Islanders ended Washington's seven-game home winning streak and denied the Capitals' bid to move past idle Florida into first place in the Southeast Division.It was the 51st career shutout for the 36-year-old Nabokov and first with New York. He has 301 career wins, including eight this season.Playing the last of back-to-back games and for the fourth time in six days, the Islanders converted three of 28 shots against Tomas Vokoun, who came in 14-3 with a 2.03 goals-against average in 17 starts at home.John Tavares extended his point streak to a career-best 10 games with a power-play goal at 12:05 of the first period.
Rangers 3, Predators 0In New York, Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and the Rangers stayed atop the NHL standings with a victory over Nashville that stopped the Predators' winning streak at five.John Mitchell scored midway through the second period and defenseman Dan Girardi had a goal in the first. Ryan Callahan was awarded a goal when he dived to try to knock the puck into the empty net in the final minute, and Martin Erat dived on top of him.New York leads the NHL with 62 points.
Lightning 5, Bruins 3In Tampa, Dominic Moore scored a tiebreaking goal with 3:45 remaining, and the hosts beat Boston.Steven Stamkos added his NHL-leading 31st goal into an empty net during the final minute.
Flyers 5, Wild 1In Philadelphia, Sean Couturier scored a short-handed goal to lead a balanced attack, and the Flyers topped Minnesota.Kimmo Timonen, Scott Hartnell, Braydon Coburn and Jakub Voracek also had goals, and Jaromir Jagr had two assists for Philadelphia, which got points from 12 players.Darroll Powe scored against his former team for the Wild's lone goal.
Devils 5, Jets 1In Newark, New Jersey, Ilya Kovalchuk scored two goals, giving him seven in six games, and the Devils routed Winnipeg.Patrik Elias had a goal and two assists, and Petr Sykora and David Clarkson also scored to give New Jersey its third straight win and fifth in six games.
Blue Jackets 4, Oilers 2In Columbus, Derek MacKenzie scored 32 seconds into the third period to help Columbus rally from a two-goal deficit and beat Edmonton.Ryan Johansen and Derick Brassard also had goals, and Derek Dorsett added an empty-netter for the Blue Jackets.
Senators 3, Maple Leafs 2In Toronto, Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza scored, Craig Anderson made 37 saves, and Ottawa edged the Maple Leafs.
Penguins 2, Hurricanes 1 (SO)In Pittsburgh, James Neal beat Cam Ward on the stick side in the shootout to lift the Penguins over Carolina.Evgeni Malkin netted his 22nd goal of the season for Pittsburgh, and then scored to lead off the shootout as the Penguins won their third straight.
Red Wings 3, Stars 2 (SO)In Dallas, Jiri Hudler scored in the second round of the shootout, Detroit's Ty Conklin was perfect in all three rounds, and the Red Wings beat the hosts.
Kings 3, Canucks 2 (SO)In Vancouver, Justin Williams and Mike Richards scored in the shootout, and Los Angeles handed the hosts their second straight home loss.
Sharks 2, Flames 1 (SO)In San Jose, Michal Handzus and Brent Burns scored in the shootout, and the Sharks rallied to a victory over Calgary.
View the original article here
Fans will fawn, opponents will reflect and the media will pay tribute to a career more than worthy of high praise.In a way, it's Kanemoto's final big hit for Hanshin. Because while 'Aniki' will be missed, the star outfielder's decision makes the rest of Hanshin's year a farewell tour, instead of the slow, desolate march to nowhere it was.The bigger picture is Kanemoto's retirement signals the end of a decently successful era (2003-2012) in Tigers history that saw the team finish in the top three six times and capture a pair of Central League pennants.Closer Kyuji Fujikawa will probably follow Kanemoto out the door, likely headed for the majors, and Takashi Toritani may decide to head to the States as well. So Hanshin could be losing three major pieces, not to mention that signs are not looking good for Craig Brazell's return after the team took him off the active roster Sunday.Hanshin will enter a period of transition this winter. At the forefront will be new general manager Katsuhiro Nakamura, whose first order of business will be to figure out how many zeros it will take to entice Fujikawa and/or Toritani to stick around a few more seasons.The new GM also has to decide if manager Yutaka Wada warrants a second season after the way the team has underperformed during his first year in the dugout. On the bright side, history bodes well for the former Tigers star. Each of the last three Hanshin managers finished outside the top three in their first seasons in charge. Two won the pennant the very next year, with the other finishing second.If Wada remains and the above-mentioned players depart, the Tigers will have a chance to build the type of roster that fits the small-ball style Wada seems to want to play at times.Identifying who fits into Wada's style may be the catalyst to jump-starting an offense that's sputtered for the past two seasons.At the same time, the team has a chance to get younger in a few places, though to do that, the front office needs to resist the urge to chase the high-priced major leaguers they're rumored to be tracking.The exception to that would be if the Tigers were able to lure Tsuyoshi Nishioka back to Japan.
The long goodbye: Tigers great Tomoaki Kanemoto homered in what was likely his last career game at Tokyo Dome on Sunday. KYODOThe Minnesota Twins infielder is an Osaka native, and his speed would make him an ideal fit with Keiichi Hirano at the top of the order — provided of course the Tigers get the Nishioka who hit .346 with 11 home runs and 59 RBIs for the Chiba Lotte Marines in 2010, and not the version who has batted .215 with no homers and 20 RBIs in 71 games across two MLB seasons.Upgrading the offense will be vital, though the team could do with one more solid arm in the rotation to join Jason Standridge, Randy Messenger, Atsushi Nomi and Minoru Iwata, who have all pitched better than their records suggest but have been weighed down by the Tigers' offensive struggles.Hanshin has a number of problems, and Nakamura will have to be smart, as opposed to tossing money around in a reactionary fashion, in order to get the Tigers roaring again.The shine of Kanemoto's victory tour will cover up some of the warts the rest of the way, but once he's out the door, the pressure to build a winner for the team's rabid supporters will mount very quickly.
Milestone man: Ichiro Suzuki singles in the first inning to collect the 2,500th hit of his major league career against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday in Phoenix. KYODOIchiro led off the game with his 2,500th career hit and finished 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored and the Seattle Mariners outlasted the Arizona Diamondbacks 12-9 in 10 innings on Tuesday night."If you look at me now and if you look at me when I first got here in 2001, if I said my first day that my goal is to hit 2,500, on that day people would say that I was crazy," Ichiro said through an interpreter. "Now looking at (it), things do come true."Between his nine seasons in the Pacific League and his 12-plus seasons in Seattle, Ichiro has 3,781 hits, the third most among professional players in either country, trailing only Pete Rose (4,256) and Ty Cobb (4,191)."I was there when (former All-Star Roberto) Alomar got his 2,500th hit, and I remember thinking at the time that it was an astronomical figure," Ichiro said. "So to have come this far means something to me."The milestone came the night after Seattle manager Eric Wedge had given Ichiro his second day off of the season."Yesterday was tough for me," Ichiro said. "It was very regrettable because you want to go out there and perform but I understand the skipper's situation. It depends from here on how I will be given the day off."Wedge had no doubts spending a night in the dugout helped his right fielder."You saw the way he swung the bat today," Wedge said. "From his first swing in his first at-bat when he fouled that pitch back, that got my attention right away. Then he dropped a couple in there and hit a couple hard."It is something that he has to understand that it's not a bad thing if you get a day off now and then. I know what he is conditioned for and that he wants to play every day but what we are looking for is getting the most out of everybody over 162 games."Ichiro capped the Mariners' three-run 10th inning when he used his classic inside-out swing to slice a double just inside the left-field line that easily scored Casper Wells and put Seattle in front 12-9.Wells had hit a pinch-hit, two-run single off sidewinding right-hander Brad Ziegler to give the Mariners an 11-9 lead.J.J. Putz (1-4) walked Justin Smoak leading off the 10th, Dustin Ackley looped a single to center, moving pinch runner Munenori Kawasaki to second and Brendan Ryan advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt before Wells came to the plate."I was kind of picking up where he released from, which basically was the dirt," Wells said. "I was looking for a pitch that I could handle and hit it hard. You have to have your focus."Smoak, Ryan and Kyle Seager homered for the Mariners, who have won three of their past four.Aaron Hill, Gerardo Parra and Paul Goldschmidt homered for Arizona, which saw its six-game home winning streak snapped.
Parting touch: Phoenix's Steve Nash, who will become a free agent, exchanges high-fives with fans after the Suns lost to 110-106 to San Antonio in their final game of the season. APAs a meaningless 110-106 loss to the depleted San Antonio Spurs wound down on Wednesday night, the crowd stood and chanted "We want Nash" over and over.First it was just a few fans. Then it spread through the whole building.Finally, coach Alvin Gentry sent the 38-year-old point guard back onto the court for a few plays before Nash left to rousing cheers."It was obviously amazing to get that type of reception and support," Nash said. "It's very special because it's not something I asked for or imagined to get that type of spontaneous reaction. It means it's authentic, the relationship that I thought we had."Nash, a free agent at the end of the season after eight years with the Suns, said he will take time to explore his options."I'm in no rush," he said. "I think it's important to take my time and just gain some perspective on what's happened in my career and what the future may hold. It's just a lot of speculation at this point."Gentry said he put Nash back in the game to get the ovation he deserved."He was a guy that made guys better," said Gentry, who was with the Suns for all eight of Nash's seasons, either as an assistant or head coach. "It was fun to watch him play and to be with him for eight years, and what he has accomplished here, and what he has done for this franchise and for my coaching career, is priceless."Patty Mills scored 27 points in San Antonio's ninth win in a row.The Spurs sent Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili — as well as coach Gregg Popovich — home earlier in the day. The four will also miss San Antonio's regular-season finale at Golden State on Thursday night.Phoenix was eliminated from playoff contention with a loss at Utah on Tuesday night.Nash had eight points and seven assists in just 18 minutes, all of his points coming in the third quarter. The two-time league MVP left the game with 3:08 to go in the third quarter and probably would have stayed on the sideline had the crowd not demanded his return.As he left the court the final time to cheers, Nash looked down but waved his right index finger briefly to the crowd. Bulls 92, Pacers 87In Indianapolis, Kyle Korver scored 20 points to help Chicago beat Indiana and remain tied for the best record in the league with one game to play. Nuggets 106, Thunder 101In Oklahoma City, Ty Lawson scored 25 points, Kenneth Faried added 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Denver beat the Thunder to avoid the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference.Kevin Durant scored 32 points to extend his lead in the NBA scoring race, leaving Kobe Bryant in need of 38 points in his season finale Thursday night against Sacramento to claim his third scoring title and prevent Durant from becoming the seventh player to win three in a row. Knicks 99, Clippers 93In New York, J.R. Smith scored 21 points to help the Knicks hold off Los Angeles and close in on the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. Magic 102, Bobcats 95In Orlando, J.J. Redick had six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points as Orlando sent Charlotte to its 22nd consecutive loss. 76ers 90, Bucks 85In Milwaukee, Evan Turner scored a career-high 29 points and Philadelphia beat the Bucks. Wizards 96, Cavaliers 85In Cleveland, John Wall had 21 points and 13 assists to help Washington extend its longest winning streak since 2007 to five.
Second chance: Tomoaki Makino (right) has joined Urawa Reds on a season-long loan after a frustrating year at Cologne. KYODOUrawa, Japan's best-supported team and J. League champions in 2006, began preparations for another campaign in the first division over the weekend, with everyone at the club simply happy to be there. Reds avoided relegation to J2 only on the final day of last season, with defeat in October's Nabisco Cup final rubbing salt into the wounds of a club that has been in steady decline since winning the Asian Champions League in 2007.For Makino, 2011 was hardly a bed of roses either. The 24-year-old left Sanfrecce Hiroshima for German side Cologne in January after making the 2010 J. League team of the season, only to find that life in the Bundesliga was not what he had anticipated. Makino made just eight appearances for the Rhine club, prompting Cologne general manager — and former Urawa boss — Volker Finke to seek a solution with a 12-month loan deal with his previous employers.With the turning of the calendar wiping the slate clean, Makino is confident the arrangement can benefit both parties."There are a lot of players here that I knew beforehand, so already it feels quite natural for me," he said at Urawa's training ground over the weekend. "Urawa Reds are the standard-bearer club of Japanese football. The image I had before I came here was that this is Japan's big club, and it needs to get back to the level that it belongs at."This is the biggest club in Japan, so we need to be up fighting among the top positions. We want to make sure this is a season that doesn't leave us all disappointed."Despite the unfamiliar surroundings, Makino should feel right at home at Saitama Stadium. Former Sanfrecce manager Mihailo Petrovic has been chosen to lead Urawa into the new campaign, and Makino says the appointment was key to his own arrival."I know the manager very well, and for me this was a very big thing," he said of the Austrian, who left Sanfrecce last season after 5? years in charge. "Petrovic helped me to grow as a player, and that is something that will stay with me."So for me to be able to work with him again makes me very happy. He is my manager, but we are very close. He is like a father figure to me."There was no such familiarity for Makino to fall back on during his time in Germany, however. The defender made only a handful of appearances under manager Frank Schaefer in the months following his arrival, but when Norwegian Stale Solbakken took over in the summer, even a place on the bench slipped beyond his reach."I wasn't able to show what I could do over the course of a year," Makino said. "I felt a bit lost in German football. Solbakken had a very difficult philosophy and he wanted to play direct football. I wasn't able to live up to that, and that was very disappointing for me."But that does not mean Makino is prepared to turn his back on Europe for good."I know that being there for a year was a long time, but I haven't given up on it yet," he said. "I still want to challenge myself and that's what I intend to do. I took a lot of positive things from my time in Germany. It's not something I can explain in words, but hopefully it's something I can express on the pitch."Makino will have to stand out at Urawa if he wants to secure a return to Europe, but then catching the eye has never been much of a problem. The attack-minded defender's flamboyant style has always been as much a part of his game as his rampaging runs forward, with Sanfrecce's elaborately choreographed goal celebrations the product of his fertile imagination."First of all I want to contribute to the team and get results," he said. "Playing with teammates who I had a great relationship with at Sanfrecce was something that gave me a lot of pleasure personally, and I can't wait to play in front of the Urawa Reds fans. I want to put on a performance for them."The goal celebrations, however, will have to wait."It would be nice to do that," he said. "But first we have to get results."
Steady production: Patriots defensive end Andre Carter (right), seen congratulating teammate Vince Wilfork after a play against the Colts on Sunday, has nine sacks this season. AP PHOTOA much better player as a lineman, Carter moved to the New England Patriots this season and already has nine sacks. He can increase that Sunday against his former team, the Washington Redskins."Throughout my whole career, I've always played defensive end," he said Wednesday. "I was just very blessed that the New England Patriots came to me and said, 'this is what we need, this is what we're looking for.' And I was game."Carter spent his first five seasons with San Francisco where the 49ers switched to a 3-4 alignment in his last year, 2005, under new coach Mike Nolan. The following March, Carter left as an unrestricted free agent for Washington and its 4-3 setup.That worked well and Carter was coming off his best season with the Redskins with 11 sacks in 2009. Then, when Mike Shanahan became coach, he installed the 3-4. That meant Carter, who had played right end most of his career, would move to left outside linebacker."It was definitely a tough pill to swallow because . . . it was actually my second time doing the position change," he said, "because I did it in 2005 and that's the reason why I came to Washington in '06 to play defensive end — the irony behind that. But you've got to have a sense of humor."Last season, Carter started just five of the 16 games he played and managed only 2? sacks. When it ended, he expected to move on. And he did after becoming an unrestricted free agent on March 1.Shanahan called Carter "the most accountable guy you could be around" and isn't surprised by his success with the Patriots."He wanted an opportunity to go some place," Shanahan said. "We let him go just because he was such a class guy. Obviously, he landed in a great organization and he's doing a great job for them."New England signed him for his 11th NFL season on Aug. 8 and he's fit in quite well now that he's again at right defensive end."He's a very professional guy that's smart, a well-conditioned athlete. He really works hard at football and things are really falling into place for him here. I know the 3-4 is probably a tough fit for him," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, "but I think in our system in a four-man line, he fits right in. He's really done a great job for us. I think the system is definitely part of it."With a long wingspan and quickness rushing from the edge, Carter has been the Patriots' most intimidating defensive lineman. He had 8? sacks in a five-game span, including four in a 37-16 win over the New York Jets. But he doesn't have any in the last two games while making a total of just three tackles.For Belichick, though, numbers are just part of the story."Statistics sometimes can be a little bit misleading," he said. "What's more important is their play-to-play consistency and their performance. And his has been very good. The numbers are there with it, great, but there are a lot of players that play well on a down-to-down basis that don't necessarily have the numbers to show for it."The numbers for Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman aren't very good — one of the NFL's worst passer rating at 69.8, at least one interception in each of the last eight games and just 10 touchdown passes in nine starts.A quarterback, who tends to throw risky passes, he has been sacked 18 times, a number Carter would like to increase."It takes a lot to just kind of sling it out, especially when it comes to the big plays," Carter said, ""because some time it may be successful, but at any given moment when you're trying to win a game you've got to take a shot. So that's one thing I admire about him."