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| The Anaheim Ducks open the playoffs as the Wests top seed and hope to get a quick start on Wednesday when they host the Dallas Stars at the Honda Center for Game 1 of a best-of-seven series. You can catch all of the action live on TSN with coverage beginning at 9:30pm et/6:30pm pt. Few teams looked as unbeatable as the Ducks at the start of the season. But after a dominating effort for a good part of the season, Anaheim started to slip a bit heading into the Olympic break and had posted a mark of just 14-12-3 during a 29-game span from Jan. 17-April 6. The Ducks then capped the regular season with four straight victories, but presumed playoff starter Jonas Hiller was not in net for any of those games. Hiller, in fact, did not play in seven of Anaheims final eight games and has not won since March 26. Still, head coach Bruce Boudreau is likely to go with Hiller over the inexperienced Frederik Andersen and John Gibson, neither of whom have ever played in an NHL playoff game. Hillers postseason numbers are not terrible, with the 32-year-old pending free agent having gone 10-10 with a 2.31 goals against average, .935 save percentage and three shutouts in 20 games. Given the fact that the Ducks led the NHL with 3.21 goals per game this season, Boudreau may be able to roll the dice with Hiller and hope the netminder can recapture the form that saw him post a club-record 14-game winning streak from Dec. 6-Jan. 12. Forward Corey Perry was second in the league with 43 goals to go along with a plus-32 rating, while center Ryan Getzlaf finished fifth in the NHL with 56 assists and second to only Pittsburghs Sidney Crosby in points with 87. Ducks winger Teemu Selanne is expected to retire at seasons end and the 43- year-old could have some extra juice for this postseason. He comes into the series having totaled 42 goals and 82 points in 118 career playoff games. "This is the best time for hockey players," Selanne said. "Youve got to enjoy every day and every moment. Every little thing matters. Even a little thing can turn the whole series around." The Stars overhauled their identity this past offseason in an effort to reach the postseason for the first time since 2008. It worked. Under the guidance of first-year coach Lindy Ruff and offensive threat Tyler Seguin, the Stars claimed the Western Conferences second wild card position. Sure, they got some help from a slumping Phoenix Coyotes club, which had lost seven straight before beating the Stars in a meaningless regular-season finale, and Dallas did just enough by going 3-4-0 down the stretch, but the results are in the bottom line. And what a line it was for Seguin, who the Stars acquired this past offseason from the Boston Bruins. The 22-year-old brought rumors of immaturity with him to Dallas, but with the Stars all he did was show the skill that led to him being the second overall pick of the 2010 draft. Seguin led Dallas across the board with 37 goals, 47 assists and 84 points -- all career highs -- and now brings 42 games of playoff experience to the Stars. Seguin has six goals and 12 assists in the postseason and was part of the Cup- winning 2010-11 Bruins club. His presence also helped Stars captain Jamie Benn soar to new heights. The winger set new career highs with 34 goals, 45 assists and 79 points in 81 games, and the duo of Seguin and Benn was a big reason that the Stars finished 10th in the NHL with 2.82 goals per game. Six other Dallas skaters reached double figures in goals, including Ryan Garbutt (17 goals) and Cody Eakin and Erik Cole, who had 16 goals apiece. Rookies Valeri Nichushkin (10th overall pick of the 2010 draft) and Alex Chiasson also were steady contributors and Dallas has veteran depth in Ray Whitney and Shawn Horcoff. Defensively, Alex Goligoski had an excellent campaign, with his 42 points a career high and his best total since logging 37 points with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009-10. However, inexperience could be an issue in net with No. 1 Kari Lehtonen, who owns just two career playoff games to his resume and none since 2006-07 with the Atlanta Thrashers. He was solid this regular season, going 33-20-10 with a 2.41 goals against average and .919 save percentage. Should Lehtonen struggle early, Ruff will have the option of going to veteran Tim Thomas, acquired at this years trade deadline. Thomas didnt wow in eight games with Dallas, but has outstanding playoff numbers at 29-21 with a 2.07 GAA, .933 save percentage and six shutouts. Of course, he also won the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe Trophy with Boston in 2011. The Stars won two of their three meetings with the Ducks this season, with the clubs exchanging 6-3 home victories before Dallas claimed a 2-0 win at Anaheim on Feb. 1. Lehtonen did not face the Ducks this season and is 9-7-3 with a 2.41 GAA against them in 19 career meetings. Hiller went 0-2 with a 3.91 GAA in three meetings this season, pulled in the first meeting in Anaheim back on Oct. 20. "We know them well and we?ve had some success against them," said Goligoski. "Theyre fast and theyre a bigger team, and they obviously had a great season. Were looking forward to the challenge." This marks the third all-time playoff meeting between these clubs and first since the Stars bested the Ducks in six games during the 2008 Western Conference quarterfinals. That avenged a six-game series loss to Anaheim in the 2003 semifinals. Anaheim also will host Game 2 of this series on Friday. The Ducks were 29-8-4 as the home team this season, while Dallas was just 17-20-4 as the visitors. Projected Ducks Lines Beleskey - Getzlaf - PerryWinnik - Bonino - PalmieriCogliano - Koivu - SilfverbergMaroon - Perrault - Selanne Lindholm - BeaucheminFowler - Lovejoy Allen - Robidas Anderson starts Projected Stars Lines Benn - Seguin - NichushkinRoussel - Eakin - GarbuttCole - Fiddler - SceviourWhitney - Horcoff - Chiasson Goligoski - DaleyNemoth - BennRome - Gonchar Lehtonen starts NCAA Jerseys . "If we could score a six in every game, obviously I would be pretty excited," Jones said. "Its a long week but a short week. Its a pretty short round robin from what were used to so you dont want to get behind the eight ball early. Cheap NCAA Jerseys . Trailing by a goal after 20 minutes of play, Joe Pavelski responded with three goals and an assist as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. https://www.cheapncaajerseysjustwholesale.com/ . Span, Danny Espinosa and Adam LaRoche had two hits apiece as Washington won the final two games of the series. The Nationals improved to 3-7 against Atlanta. They increased their division lead over the Braves to 1 1/2 games. NCAA Jerseys For Sale . First, Ivan Nova decided to have season-ending Tommy John elbow surgery. Then Michael Pineda was suspended for 10 games for using pine tar. Cheap NCAA Jerseys China . According to the Red Wings Twitter feed, Zetterberg plans to practice with the team on Thursday and is aiming for a second round comeback.MONTREAL -- Speculation on Jim Popps future with the Montreal Alouettes has been put to rest, at least for now. The only general manager the CFL club has had since it returned to Montreal after a 10-year hiatus in 1996 signed a three-year contract extension on Thursday that runs through the 2017 season. There was concern that the 49-year-old, who was in the final year of his contract, was ready to move on. But the Elkin, N.C. native said: "I plan to be here and fulfil my contract." He did not say if his deal includes an out-clause if he is offered an NFL job. He drew interest ahead of last season from the Indianapolis Colts and rumours of a move south have arisen periodically throughout his tenure with the Alouettes. Its assumed Popp would jump at the chance, but he said hed be just as happy to stay in Montreal until he retires. "I cant foresee the future," said the married father of six children, all born in Montreal. "I have to work. "I dont know if Ill ever retire, with six kids. But I love the job, the city and the team, so if it happens that way, youll find a very happy person. I dont dwell on whether (an NFL job) will ever happen. I know Im very fortunate to have a job. Theres really only two pro football leagues and there are 41 jobs. I have one of those." Popp was GM of the defunct Baltimore Stallions for two years, winning a Grey Cup in 1995, before the team moved to Montreal. He is 233-129-1 as a CFL general manager, adding Cups with the Alouettes in 2002, 2009 and 2010. In Montreal, his teams have never missed the playoffs and never won fewer than eight games in a season. But it looked like his stay was coming to an end lasst winter when owner Robert Wetenhall did not let him keep the head coaching job, left him out of the decision to hire Tom Higgins as coach and did not immediately extend his contract as GM.dddddddddddd Popp took over as head coach for the third time in his career when Dan Hawkins was fired only five games into the 2013 season. He is 14-18 in the regular season as a coach. If there was any bitterness about not being allowed to coach, Popp said he is over it. "I have no hard feelings about anything," said Popp, who is also vice-president and director of football operations. "Its business. Its (Wetenhalls) team. "He makes the decisions. It was a real roller-coaster in the off-season, especially for me personally with different things that went on, but I knew the entire time that I might not be the head coach. I also want to make it very clear that my relationship with Tom Higgins is very good." Team president Mark Weightman said Wetenhall did not attend the news conference because he was ill. Weightman hopes the move will end talk of a rift among management. "For us, there wasnt a lot of doubt that it would play out this way," he said. "I understand how perception wasnt always that clear, so to have this done early, if it silences the critics or closes the door on that conversation, great. "We can focus on the season and winning some games. Having Jim secured for many more years is a big part of ensuring the stability of our club." Popp said that talks on his contract extension lasted only a week. "There was never any doubt or worries from my end that those discussions would take place," he said. ' ' ' |
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