Stars und Sternchen! » B.C.s Cameron de Jong 11-4; and Manitobas

LIVERPOOL, N.S. - B.C.s Kalia Van Osch locked up a semifinal berth in womens competition at the Canadian junior curling championships Thursday with a 7-6 extra-end win over New Brunswicks Jessica Daigle. After going 4-2 in the preliminary round, Van Oschs rink won all four matches in the championship round to advance to Saturdays three-team playoff round. "Winning all four of our games was a pretty big bonus, and its a bit of a load off," said Van Osch. "We dont have to worry about playing a tiebreaker; we know were in the semi. We had a couple close games this week that we didnt win where I didnt make the last shot, so it was really nice to go out there and have to make that last shot and deal with the pressure -- thats whats going to be coming in the playoffs." Alberta has qualified for the playoffs. Meanwhile, in mens championship round play, Albertas Carter Lautner beat Ontarios Ryan McCrady 4-2; Saskatchewans Tyler Hartung downed B.C.s Cameron de Jong 11-4; and Manitobas Braden Calvert turned back Nova Scotias Robert Mayhew 8-2. Manitoba has already qualified for the mens final. Nike Sb Cheap Wholesale .S. Olympic hockey management team have been making what he called "ghost rosters" since August. Nike Sb Shoes For Sale . -- Martin Kaymer never lost sight of opportunity even amid so much evidence of trouble in the closing stretch Sunday at The Players Championship. http://www.cheapnikesb.net/. Mako Vunipola was promoted from the reserves, with Matt Mullan called up to the bench on Thursday. "It is important that Joe is with his partner at this exciting time," England coach Stuart Lancaster said. Nike Sb China Wholesale . "I love the game, its the best job you can have," he explained Tuesday as the players left Joe Louis Arena for the summer. "Ill sit down with my wife and well go from there. Cheap Wholesale Nike Sb Shoes . -- Fresh off their surprising run in the playoffs, the Portland Trail Blazers have signed head coach Terry Stotts to a multi-year contract extension. UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- With points at a premium for the playoff-chasing Washington Capitals, rookie Evgeny Kuznetsov was the difference for his struggling team. Kuznetsov scored in regulation and had the only goal in the shootout to lift the Capitals to a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday and keep Washingtons flickering playoff hopes alive. Nicklas Backstrom and Joel Ward scored to tie the game midway through the second after the Islanders took a 3-1 lead. Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby stopped all three Islander attempts in the shootout after making 35 saves and Washington snapped a five-game losing streak to move within two points of Columbus for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. The Capitals are 9-2-0 in their last 11 games at Nassau Coliseum. "We battled back, thats the key," said Backstrom, whose 15th goal of the season at 12:45 of the second made the score 3-2. "We had to do whatever was necessary to get those two points." Both teams had chances in overtime. Holtby denied Brock Nelson point-blank at 3:35 and Evgeni Nabokov stopped Alexander Ovechkin in the closing seconds of the five-minute extra session. John Persson and Frans Nielsen had given the Islanders a 3-1 lead midway through the second, but the Capitals fought back to tie it 3-3 heading into the third. Perssons goal was his first in the NHL, coming in his fifth game since being recalled from AHL Bridgeport on March 27. The goal at 4:16 of the second was assisted by defencemen Travis Hamonic and Calvin de Haan. "Its a great feeling, thats for sure," said the 21-year-old Persson, one of nine rookies in the Islanders lineup. "I wish we had come out on top, but we played a strong game. The effort was there." The Islanders came out swarming, playing the same hard-edged game theyve exhibited in recent weeks with the rookie-laden lineup. Despite playing without its top two forwards, John Tavares and Kyle OOkposo, New York came in with a three-game winning streak.dddddddddddd New York is 5-0-2 in its last seven games and 7-2-2 in its last 11 contests. But once again, the Islanders allowed a two-goal lead to slip away as they fell to 31-35-11, last in the Metropolitan Division. Cal Clutterbuck opened the scoring at 12:55 of the first, firing his 12th of the season past Holtby with assists from Casey Cizikas and Michael Grabner, who returned after missing nine games with concussion symptoms but left again after only seven shifts. The Islanders kept the pressure on the Capitals throughout the first, outshooting the visitors 17-8. Washington tied the game at 2:36 of the second on Kuznetsovs goal. The 21-year-old Russian centre was the Capitals first-round draft pick in 2010 and made his NHL debut on March 29. Nielsen put New York ahead 3-1 with a power-play goal at 9:55 of the second, one-timing a slick pass from Josh Bailey past Holtby from the top of the right circle. Matt Donovan also assisted on Nielsens career-best 24th of the season. But Backstrom cut the lead in half before Ward tied it was his 23rd at 15:01 after a giveaway in front by Islanders defenceman Thomas Hickey. The Capitals (35-30-13) have been struggling to stay in the playoff race. They lost 2-1 to the Devils in New Jersey on Friday and are 2-3-3 in their last seven games. "All we can worry about is ourselves," Backstrom said. "You cant control anything else, but how you play as a team. We feel like we have our confidence back after this win." The Capitals have four games remaining. NOTES: Ovechkin needs one goal for 50 this season. He would be the 11th player in league history to score 50 goals or more five times. . The Islanders are 25-10-4 when they score at least three goals and are 6-25-7 when they do not. ... Following the game, the Islanders recalled defenceman Scott Mayfield from Bridgeport after de Haan left the game with an upper body injury. ' ' '