Gästebereich » uts, giving the pitcher a scouting repo

BOSTON -- After putting only five shots on goal in the first period, the Boston Bruins took aim against Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo in the second and third. Three of their shots got past Luongo and although only two of them counted for goals, that was more than enough offence for the Bruins to beat the slumping Canucks 3-1 on Tuesday night. "The first period was a little bit of a tough period for us. I thought our puck management or how we move the puck around wasnt great," Boston coach Claude Julien said. "It wasnt really sharp, but it got better in the second and third period and that made a big difference." Boston led 1-0 after the first on Milan Lucics goal despite being outshot 9-5. Jarome Iginla and Daniel Paille added goals in the second period for the Bruins, and Tuukka Rask kept the Canucks from rallying with several saves on short-handed opportunities that could have invigorated Vancouver. The biggest was stopping Daniel Sedin on a breakaway, which led to Iginlas goal that put Boston up 2-0 with 12:01 left in the second period. "Its always good when they get a chance and you make a save and then your team scores right after that," Rask said. "That was a good sign." Rask made 27 saves against the road-weary Canucks, who were coming off 2-0 loss in Detroit the night before and dropped their fifth straight. Sedin and his twin brother, Henrik, extended their goal-scoring droughts to 17 games. "Me and Danny have got to step up and score goals. Thats No. 1. Thats the difference right now," said Henrik Sedin, who returned to the lineup Monday night after missing six games with an upper-body injury. "Weve got to be the difference-makers and were not right now." Raphael Diaz scored the only goal for Vancouver, pulling the Canucks to 2-1 on a slap shot with 8:32 left in the second period. Luongo stopped 29 shots for Vancouver and tried to take responsibility after the Canucks lost for the sixth time in seven games. "I think this ones 100 per cent on me. I wasnt too good out there tonight," he said. Canucks coach John Tortorella, in his second game back from a 15-day suspension, thanked Luongo for the sentiment, but said Vancouvers struggles go much deeper. "I appreciate Louie saying that, but this is a team thing here that were going through and well go through it together," Tortorella said. The Canucks kept it close until Paille scored on a breakaway late in the second period, then Boston controlled the final 20 minutes for its sixth win in seven games. "Weve been in a pretty good stretch. Weve had a goal leading up until the Olympic break to try and go in the right way," Iginla said. "We have two left, then some of the guys will go and well enjoy watching them." Vancouver had won the last two meetings since the Bruins beat the Canucks in seven games in the 2011 Stanley Cup finals. Boston appeared to take a 3-1 lead just 2:21 after Diaz scored, but Brad Marchands goal was waved off after officials ruled Bostons Torey Krug interfered with Luongo. The goalie immediately protested and gave Krug a shove, which led to a crowd in front of the net but nothing further. Luongo had no argument after the next goal. Paille took a long pass from Johnny Boychuk at the blue line for a breakaway and beat Luongo on a backhand with 2:54 left in the period. Rask stopped a pair of short-handed chances during Bostons first power play, then Daniel Sedins breakaway in the second that led to the Bruins second goal. Zdeno Chara slipped a crossing pass to Iginla for a one-timer past Luongo on the glove side with 12:01 left in the second. Lucic, who gave Boston a 1-0 lead 5:12 into the game, also got an assist on the play. NOTES: Iginlas assist on Lucics goal was the 600th of his career. ... Diaz made his Vancouver debut after he was obtained from Montreal for forward Dale Weise on Monday. ... The Bruins improved to 27-3-0 when leading by two or more goals this season. ... Chara played his final game for the Bruins before leaving for Russia to carry Slovakias flag during the opening ceremony at the Winter Olympics on Friday. Craig Conroy Jersey . -- Each time the Utah Jazz threatened Memphis lead, the Grizzlies responded with defensive stops. Doug Gilmour Jersey .A. Dickey, even though he was coming off a Cy Young Award in 2012. Many felt the Jays would regret giving up righthanded pitcher prospect Noah Syndergaard and catcher Travis DArnaud over the long haul. http://www.flamessale.com/authentic-miik...-flames-jersey/. Detroits powerful offence made that unnecessary. Scherzer allowed two hits and struck out seven, and the Tigers backed their star right-hander with three early homers in an 8-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night. Gary Roberts Jersey .com) - Nicolas Colsaerts fired an 11-under 60 on Thursday and grabbed a 3-stroke lead with the opening round of the Portugal Masters suspended by rain. Jarome Iginla Jersey . Mueller is the grandson of the late Ron Lancaster, the Hall-of-Fame quarterback and longtime head coach in the CFL. Last season, Mueller was quarterbacks coach of the University of Regina Rams, his alma mater.TORONTO - Jose Bautista entered Wednesdays play at or near the top of most of baseballs important offensive categories. The 33-year-old is the league leader with 34 walks. His 1.058 OPS and 191 OPS+ are the best in the game. Bautistas hit nine home runs, which ties him for fourth in the majors. Hes reached base safely in each of the Blue Jays 33 games to begin the year. Thats a club record. "I think Ive had a pretty strong first month, as strong as I might have had ever in my career," Bautista told TSN.ca during a conversation in Philadelphia. "But the seasons long and its hard to look at small samples and how thats going to portray into a complete season. I try not to pay attention to those things and just focus on the preparation and the work and my effort and hopefully at the end of the year everythings taken care of itself." As teams around the league rely more heavily on spray charts and advanced offensive data, Bautista, like most sluggers around the league, often hits with three infielders on the left side of second base. The percentages show that if Bautista hits the ball on the ground, most of the time hell pull it. With that in mind, hitting coach Kevin Seitzer has encouraged Bautista to occasionally take pitches the other way. Manager John Gibbons believes the approach helps Bautista stay on breaking pitches down and away. He sees those often as opposing pitchers often work around him or, at least, are particularly careful about keeping the ball out of the middle of the strike zone. "The only difference I see with him is hes taking some hits the other way and I think its making him a tougher out," said manager John Gibbons. "You hear some people who complain about, well, hes a home run hitter, youve got to do it this way. Well, you know what? His home run numbers havent suffered one bit." Bautistas coaches and teammates took notice of his approach in the 10th inning of Tuesday nights 6-5 win over the Phillies. Melky Cabrera led off with a single. Bautista worked a 2-2 count and with the infield pulled around to the third base side he pushed a 93 miles per hour fastball through the gaping hole where the second baseman would usually stand. Cabrera advanced to third on the play and one out later scored the game-winning run on Juan Franciscos sacrifice fly. Manager John Gibbons called it "winning baseball." "Its good to see, thats what winninng players and winning teams do, the little stuff," said Jose Reyes.dddddddddddd "In that situation he didnt try to hit a two-run home run and pop it up to the infield or something. He just tried to move Melky over, he saw that huge space there at second base and he hit the ball that way, first and third and we win the game right there." Outfield coach Tim Leiper paid Bautista the ultimate praise last week, equating his pregame preparation and in-game adjustments to that of a coach. Bautista doesnt want the label but he is involved in every pitch. From the dugout hes studying the opposing pitcher, watching for tendencies that may indicate which type of pitch will be thrown. Not a base stealer himself, Bautista tries to help his faster teammates get a read on a pitchers move. Defensively, hell involve himself in outfield positioning based on his extensive knowledge of hitters. "I try to pay attention to things like that and I share all kinds of information with my teammates," said Bautista. "I also encourage them to share stuff that they know and information that they have with me. I like to listen to that kind of stuff and put it into my database, I guess." Gibbons recalls a game in Kansas City early last year when injuries to Jose Reyes and Brett Lawrie forced Bautista from his usual spot in right field and in to play third base. Bautista would frequently hover around the mound in between outs, giving the pitcher a scouting report on the next hitter. "Joses not just out there playing," said Gibbons. "He studies this and hes paying attention to whats going on. Hes played against a lot of these guys over the years so hes got a pretty good idea of what they do." The Blue Jays entered Wednesdays action with a record of 16-17 following a 4-4 road trip to Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Like on their previous road trip, they left some games on the table due to poor, late-game pitching. Bautista isnt panicking, however, because the American League East remains tight six weeks into the season. Torontos just a game and a half back of first-place Baltimore. "The only thing that would matter if we were 15 games back," said Bautista. "That would mean wed dug ourselves a big hole to come out of. From that perspective it doesnt really matter. What matters is how we play from here on out and weve got to focus on that." ' ' '