Stars und Sternchen! » season, they made

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins forechecked aggressively, cleared the puck easily and dominated the Washington Capitals. Tuukka Rask got the 22nd shutout of his career -- probably one of the easiest -- Gregory Campbell and Loui Eriksson scored second-period goals and the Bruins shut down the Capitals 3-0 on Thursday night. "We did a great job of getting on them quickly and not giving them opportunities to make too many plays," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. For the second straight night, the Capitals managed just eight shots in the first two periods, not the kind of offence they need as they try to move into the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. So where do they go after being outshot 43-16 by the Bruins? "Up. You cant get much lower than that, I guess," Capitals defenceman Karl Alzner said. "The killer instinct isnt there right now and it needs to be there because we are running out of time." Washington is one point out of the eighth playoff spot with 18 games left. Boston finished the scoring on Brad Marchands empty-net goal with 1:34 left and moved one point behind Eastern Conference-leading Pittsburgh, which played at San Jose. Rasks NHL-leading sixth shutout of the season came just five days after the Capitals beat him 4-2, also in Boston. But since then Washington is 0-3 and Boston is 3-0. Rask was 0-3-3 against the Capitals in his career, but was rarely challenged on Thursday. Boston didnt even have to worry about Washingtons power play, the second best in the NHL. No penalties were called in the game. "Youre kind of afraid of those guys when they get a power play because theyve got so much firepower and they are so disciplined," Rask said. Capitals goalie Braden Holtby played well but suffered his first loss against the Bruins after winning the first four matchups of his career. "It was frustrating, but its no more frustrating to me than it is to the other guys in the room," Holtby said. "A goalie cant rely on offence. You have no control over that. You control your game and what you can contribute to the team." Washington has lost all its games since beating Boston on Saturday for its fourth straight win. It lost to Philadelphia twice, 5-4 in overtime then 6-4 on Wednesday night, before getting blanked by Boston. "We talked about that before the game, how theyre probably going to be a little tired and we need to take advantage of that," Bruins defenceman Matt Bartkowski said. "I think we did a good job of it." Campbell gave the Bruins a 1-0 lead at 3:05 of the second period when he tipped in Patrice Bergerons shot. Bergeron fired the puck from the top of the left circle and Campbell, standing just to the right of Holtby, deflected it in for his seventh goal of the season and fourth in four games. Eriksson got his seventh at 8:20 after missing one game with an infected heel that he said he sustained at the Winter Olympics in Russia where he played for Sweden. Carl Soderberg passed the puck from behind the net to Eriksson, whose short shot from the left side beat Holtby. That was more than enough for the Bruins, who gave the Capitals little room to operate. "They played last night," Julien said. "It was important for us to get on them physically and make them throw pucks away and guys did a great job." Alex Ovechkin, who leads the NHL with 44 goals, had just one shot after scoring two power-play goals on nine shots in Washingtons win in Boston last Saturday. The Capitals took 31 shots in that game, while Holtby stopped 36 of the Bruins 38 shots. NOTES: Washington D Cameron Schilling played after being recalled from Hershey of the AHL on Wednesday. ... Boston D Andrej Meszaros and Corey Potter were healthy scratches one day after being acquired. Meszaros came in a trade with Philadelphia and Potter was claimed on waivers from Edmonton. ... Mark Recchi, a forward on the Bruins team that won the 2011 Stanley Cup, dropped the ceremonial first puck. ... Rask played in his 46th game, a new season high. ... G Jaroslav Halak, obtained from Buffalo on Wednesday, did not play for Washington. Adidas Shoes Discount Sale . Floundering in the English Premier League, United has delivered better performances in Europe this season and stunned Bayern by taking the lead against the run of play through Nemanja Vidics header in the 58th minute. Bayern had dominated possession but struggled to create a clear-cut chance before Schweinsteiger arrowed a half-volley high into the net in the 67th to give the German side a slight advantage ahead of the second leg in Munich next week. Adidas Shoes Cheap Sale . Ashley Wagner will skate in the womens short program for a U.S. team thats in seventh place. Davis and White won the silver medal at the Vancouver Games and are two-time world champions. http://www.cheapadidassale.com/ . -- Chad Labelle scored the winner 17:36 into the third period to give Medicine Hat a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos on Sunday and lift the Tigers into the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs. Adidas Shoes Clearance Sale . Now, the hottest team on the ATP are pointing their sights on qualifying for the eight-team season finals in London next November. Pospisil has now established the year-end World Tour Finals as the benchmark for a breakthrough season, with Pospisil and Sock provisionally standing ninth. Cheap Discount Adidas Shoes . QUARTERBACKS Carson Palmer (vs Colts)Last week: 30/42, 419 yards, 2 TDsWinners of their last three and now tied for the final wild card spot in the NFC, the Cardinals are worth keeping an eye on.The Boston Red Sox are without question the team of the last decade. Theyre won three World Series titles in the last 10 seasons. However the Bosox havent matched the dynastic run of their their most ferocious rivals, the Yankees, who won five Fall Classics between 1996 and 2009 in seven tries over a run of 14 seasons. The most amazing part of that run occurred between 1996 and 2000 when they won four times in five years. The genesis of this run began in 1994, when the Yanks had the best record in the American League going when the season was shut down in August due to a labour dispute that wasnt settled until the following April. In the slightly shortened 05 season, they made the post-season. After going 95-67 under Joe Torre, the Yanks were knocked out by the Angels in the division series. But that was only the beginning. Though their record fell off a bit in 1996 to 90-72, New York was the top team in the American League and ultimately beat Atlanta 4 games to 2 to win their first World Series title since 1978. Four constants in their everyday line-up would emerge in Tino Martinez at first, Derek Jeter at short, Bernie Williams in centre field and Paul ONeill in right. The Yankees starting rotation in 96 was largely made up of star pitchers culled from other teams, such as Kenny Rogers, Jimmy Key, Dwight Gooden and David Cone. The two homegrowns were Andy Pettitte and Ramiro Mendoza. That would change over the next few years as the Yankees developed some of their own and made some big international signings. In their glory years, the Yanks bench was always populated with veteran stars. In 1996, it was the likes of Tim Raines, Darryl Strawberry and Cecil Fielder. Their depth was extraordinary. Though they stumbled in 1997, the Yankees bounced back with their greatest season of this five-year run going 108-54 and sweeping San Diego in the 1998 World Series. By this time Jorge Posada had replaced Joe Girardi as the starter behind the plate, and Chuck Knoblauch had taken over as the second baseman. But Martinez, Jeter, Williams and ONeill were still driving the engine and Mariano Rivera had emerged as a star closer with 36 saves this particular season. The bench was populated with the likes of Chili Davis, Raines and Strawberry and the rotation featured three men who pitched over 200 innings in Andy Pettitte, David Wells and David Cone. They were augmented by Hideki Irabu of Japan and Cuban Orlando Hernandez. In 98, the Yanks had two players who drove in over 100 runs, another with 98 and yet another with 97. This team was loaded in every sense of the word. In 1999, the Yanks win total fell off from 108 to 98. But they were no less of a force. There was only a little bit of tweaking to the every day line-up, with Ricky Ledee supplanting Chad Curtis in left and Chili Davis taking over the bulk of the DH duties. Roger Clemens, who was searrching for that first World Series victory, was the new face in the rotation.dddddddddddd The Rocket had been picked up in a package deal with the Blue Jays that sent David Wells, Homer Bush and Graeme Lloyd to the Jays. Rivera chalked up 45 saves, and the big four of Martinez, Jeter, Williams and ONeill each drove in over 100 runs. The Yankees swept to a second straight World Series victory, taking out Atlanta for the second time in four years. In 2000, the Yankees were bidding to become the first team since the Oakland As from 1972-74 to win three straight World Series. Outside of Shane Spencer taking over the bulk of the DH duties, the Yankees starting line-up was basically unchanged. The starting pitching was starting to fade a bit though. Three of the starters finished .500 or below. David Cone was nearing the end of a fantastic career and finished 4-14. Lefty Denny Neagle strugged in the Big Apple, going 7-7 and Orlando Hernandez was only 12-13. Twenty starts had to be made by plug in pieces including nine by swingman Mendoza and five by Dwight Gooden. The Yankees as always had that power-laden bench. David Justice and Glenallen Hill combined for 36 homers and 89 runs batted in, with Jose Canseco nearing the end of his career and adding six homers and 16 RBI. The Yankees still had enough left in the tanks to get back to the World Series for a third straight year, where they defeated their cross-town rivals the Mets 4 games to 1. No team has even won back-to-back World Series since the Yankees scored their trifecta, though the Giants did win in 2010 and 2012. Ive just got a feeling with the ever-increasing local TV deals and the parity in the game, it will be a very long time if ever, before we see another three-peat. Wishful Thinking This is purely speculation and wishful thinking by the New York media, but Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York wondered aloud over the weekend if there was some way the Yankees could acquire Jose Reyes from the Blue Jays after the coming season to replace the retiring Derek Jeter. The theory being, if the Jays have another rocky season, they just might swing into rebuild mode and be willing to deal Reyes for a package of younger players. Reyes greatly admires Jeter and still makes his off-season home on Long Island, but trading him to the Yankees doesnt make much sense. If Reyes has a great season, you keep him. If he gets hurt again, or simply has a lousy season, his market value would be low and the Yankees wouldnt want or need him anyway. But as I said, stranger things have happened. Tanaka Watch Yankees skipper Joe Girardi has left the door open for Masahiro Tanaka to start either the third our fourth game of the regular season. If it is the third, its against the Houston Astros. However, if it is the fourth game Tanaka would make his Major League debut in the Blue Jays home opener at Rogers Centre. Heres hoping! 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