especially defensively.Backstrom

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VANCOUVER -- If the Calgary Flames were looking to provoke Vancouver head coach John Tortorella into losing his cool again, this time he wasnt taking the bait. Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. It was the first meeting between the teams since a fierce line brawl broke out two seconds into a game on Jan. 18 that saw 150 penalty minutes assessed. Tortorella had a meltdown that night and went after Flames head coach Bob Hartley by storming Calgarys locker-room during intermission. Tortorella, furious at Hartley for icing his fourth line to start the game, served a 15-day suspension and the struggling Canucks have been in free fall ever since. Hartley started tough guy Brian McGrattan again on Saturday night, but this time the gloves stayed mostly on. "We didnt even talk about it in our locker room," Tortorella said of Hartleys starting line. "We needed to play. We have to scratch, claw and grind and find pints anyway possible." Darren Archibald also scored for the struggling Canucks, who snapped a four game slide and came into Saturday as losers of 11 of their last 12 games, including Thursdays dispiriting 6-1 drubbing in Texas that defenceman Kevin Bieksa called "rock bottom" for the team. McGrattan had the only goal for Calgary, which had won its last two and three of its last five games. The teams played nice until six minutes into the game when Vancouvers Bieksa got the better of Calgarys Mark Giordano with a mean right hand after the two dropped gloves. Giordano headed to the dressing room after, but returned later in the period. "I could tell that Gio was good," said Hartley. "It was just a gash that needed to be fixed." The Canucks had their chances early, including a 2-on-1 against Flames goalie Joni Ortio, but David Booth fired the puck wide to keep his goal drought in tact. Booth hasnt scored since Dec. 17. The absence of Canucks stalwart goalie Roberto Luongo -- traded on Tuesday to Florida -- was sharply felt at 2:13 of the second when a harmless looking slap shot by McGrattan near centre ice somehow eluded new No. 1 Eddie Lack. The crowd groaned and Tortorella shook his head in disbelief. "I just wanted to throw one on net. I was at the end of my shift and fortunately it went in," said McGrattan. "It was a muck and grind game. A lot of sloppy plays at both ends; the puck was bouncing everywhere. Those are good tests to see what youre made of." Lack says he didnt let the bad goal take him mentally out of the game. "I am just telling myself to get going again, and try to focus on the next save," he said. "And the guys got a goal really quick and that took the pressure off." Vancouver evened the game three minutes later with a goal almost as ugly. With three Canucks crowding Ortio in the crease, Archibald whacked in the puck for his first career NHL goal. It breathed some life into the Rogers Arena, which didnt have much to cheer with only eight Vancouver shots compared to the Flames 14 through two periods. "Its never a bad play to stuff it and crash the net and get a greasy one," said Archibald. "Thats part of my game -- win battles down low -- and I kind of won a battle and stuffed it from behind the net and pitchforked it in." Action picked up in the third as Canuck Ryan Kesler was stopped by Ortio on a point-blank shot in the slot, while at the other end, Lance Bouma missed on a wide-open net with Lack way out of position. Bouma has seen increased playing time lately as Hartley grows more confident in young winger. "Im gaining confidence every game," said Bouma. "The coach is putting a lot of trust in me and playing me in key situations. Im just trying to learn as much as I can, and I feel like its been going pretty well." Weber scored the go-ahead goal five minutes into the third when he banged home a rebound off a shot from new teammate Shawn Matthias, who came to Vancouver from the Panthers in the Luongo trade. "Maybe it wasnt the prettiest goals, but thats how we have to get out of our slump," said Weber. "We played a gritty game, and got some ugly goals and thats the way we have to play." Calgary had a chance to tie the game with two power-play chances thanks to Vancouvers Chris Higgins in the final five minutes, but the Flames couldnt capitalize. Higgins had three straight penalties in the third period. Despite Vancouvers recent hard times, the team is still only four points out of a playoff spot after Dallass 4-3 win against Minnesota on Saturday. Calgary (25-32-7) remains second last in the Pacific Division. Lack finished with 22 saves, while Ortio stopped 12 at the other end for Calgary. The Canucks (29-27-10) eclipsed their season-low of 20 shots. Notes: Saturday night marked the 10-year anniversary of former-Canuck Todd Bertuzzis on-ice attack on Steve Moore. The former Avalanche forward, who never played again in the NHL, filed a $38-million dollar lawsuit against Bertuzzi and the Canucks. A trial date has been set for Sept. 8. ... Canucks forward Zack Kassian served the first game of his three-game suspension after boarding Stars defenceman Brenden Dillon on Thursday. ... Attendance was 18,910. <a href="http://www.shop49ersofficial.com/Women-Joe-Staley-49ers-Jersey/">Joe Staley Jersey</a>. - Brent Burns kept waiting to see a replay of his shot that struck Martin Brodeur in the back of the neck and left the New Jersey Devils goalie flat on his back on the ice. <a href="http://www.shop49ersofficial.com/Women-Arik-Armstead-49ers-Jersey/">Arik Armstead Jersey</a>. -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. <a href="http://www.shop49ersofficial.com/Women-Ronnie-Lott-49ers-Jersey/">http://www.shop49ersofficial.com/Women-Ronnie-Lott-49ers-Jersey/</a>.That doesnt apply to late-game situations. They know those minutes will belong to Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. <a href="http://www.shop49ersofficial.com/Youth-Kenneth-Acker-49ers-Jersey/">Kenneth Acker Youth Jersey</a>.com) - Kevin Durant had 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Orlando Magic 127-99 on Sunday. <a href="http://www.shop49ersofficial.com/Youth-Erik-Pears-49ers-Jersey/">Erik Pears Youth Jersey</a>. Pavalec made 39 saves in a 3-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Saturday, and coach Paul Maurice knows his goalie has been on a hot streak. "Hes played the same way, believe it or not, prior to.DENVER - Alex Ovechkin has scored plenty of pretty goals in his career. He even throws in some scrappy ones from time to time.Ovechkin scored late in the third period, Braden Holtby stopped 27 shots, and the Washington Capitals beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Thursday night.Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and an assist, Jason Chimera also scored, and Ovechkin added an assist for the Capitals. Washington won the last two games of its three-game trip.Winning on the road, it feels like a bigger moral victory than winning at home, Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. Winning on the road brings a team closer together.Ovechkin broke a 2-all tie when he skated past defenceman Jan Hejda and put a shot on Reto Berra. The goalie didnt cover up the loose puck, and Ovechkin poked it just over the goal line with 5:56 left. It was his ninth of the season and first in four games.It was a lucky bounce (to get the puck back), Ovechkin said. I was skating and put the puck on net. It was a huge goal and gave us the points.Hejda took responsibility for Ovechkins goal.Its a game about mistakes, he said. I made one, and we paid the price.The Avalanche played half the game short-handed after Alex Tanguay was hit in the face on a shot by Ovechkin. Tanguay immediately skated off the ice and went into the locker room. The Avalanche announced that Tanguay sustained a jaw injury.Tanguays former teammate, Peter Forsberg, watched from a suite three days after being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. The Avalanche played a highlight video of Forsbergs career on the big scoreboard as he watched with his wife and two children.Forsberg said before the game he enjoyed his time with the Avalanche, which included two Stanley Cup titles.There was no other goal in this organization than to win the Cup, he said. I didnt think about the Hall of Fame or anything, it was just winnning games.ddddddddddddColorado, playing its first home game in two weeks, tied it on Tyson Barries second goal of the season at 6:44 of the third period. The defenceman pinched in from the blue line and tipped in a pass from Gabriel Landeskog for his second goal of the season.I got over there a little late and should have read it better, Holtby said.Daniel Briere had a goal, and Berra finished with 20 saves for Colorado.Colorado pulled Berra for an extra skater with 1:28 left. The Avalanche had several scoring chances but couldnt get the tying goal past Holtby.Too bad we could not score toward the end, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. We had our chances, plenty of looks. I thought we had a great third period, as well. Its a tough situation losing a game where you think you played a good game but sometimes those things happen.We need to stick to it because I think theres a lot of positives in the way weve been playing, especially defensively.Backstrom gave Washington a 1-0 lead with his fifth goal 1:04 into the second period. The Capitals nearly scored again a minute later when a puck sat in the Avalanche crease, but they couldnt get a stick on it.Colorado responded with Brieres third of the season when he wristed Nathan MacKinnons rebound by Holtby at 2:53.MacKinnon had two assists.The Capitals went ahead 2-1 when Chimeras shot from the top of the right circle beat Berra over his left shoulder at 12:10 of the second.Im not really happy with that game, Berra said. I couldve stopped each of these goals.NOTES: Colorado G Semyon Varlamov is day-to-day with a groin injury. He missed three games in October with a similar injury. ... Ovechkin has played in 698 career games, all with the Capitals. 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