Dein erstes Forum » r penalties for the Leafs in the period. "Not

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Chicago Bulls have been playing sensational basketball since early December and theyll try to continue that Wednesday night when they welcome the Utah Jazz for their annual trip to the United Center. The Bulls have won three straight, but that doesnt tell the full story. Since Dec. 10, Chicago is 13-2 and vaulted into second place in the Eastern Conference, 1 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Hawks. All three of the Bulls victories during this streak came at home. Wednesdays tilt will end a homestand, then, its a quick jaunt to Washington on Friday and back home for three straight. On Monday, the Bulls dispatched the Houston Rockets, 114-105. Chicago has scored over 100 points every game during this run, but its also allowed over the century mark in all three. Pau Gasol had 27 points and 14 rebounds as the Bulls used a strong fourth quarter to beat the Rockets. Jimmy Butler added 22 points and three steals for the Bulls, who outscored Houston by a 31-16 margin in the final period. Derrick Rose contributed 19 points and nine assists, Nikola Mirotic tallied 17 points and eight boards and Kirk Hinrich scored 10 points. I think we were solid, just good defensive positioning on the floor, Gasol said. The Jazz have alternated wins and losses over their last six and begin a tough, three-game road trip Wednesday. Utah will also visit the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets on this trek. The Jazz left Salt Lake City with a bad taste in their mouth after a 105-101 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Monday. Derrick Favors posted 27 points and 11 rebounds, while Gordon Hayward tallied 24 points and seven boards for Utah, which has dropped two of its last three games. Rookie Dante Exum, who started for the sick Trey Burke, had 13 points in a shade under 30 minutes. He didnt register a single turnover, but also didnt have an assist. Trevor Booker (12) and Rudy Gobert (11) rounded out the double-digit scorers. Utah erased a 19-point first half deficit and trailed 101-100 after Favors capped a 13-4 Utah run with a pair of free throws with 9.5 seconds remaining. C.J. Miles sunk a pair of foul shots at the other end and Hayward split two bonus shots after he was fouled along the right baseline with 5.7 ticks on the clock. Solomon Hill hit two free throws to seal the outcome with 4.8 seconds left. The Jazz went 4-for-23 from long range. For the most part I think we played extremely hard, we just seemed to miss a lot of shots, Hayward said. Burke is expected back on Wednesday, but starting center Enes Kanter is going to be out a little while with an ankle injury. The Bulls beat the Jazz in Utah on Nov. 24 and have taken seven of the last eight meetings. Chicago has won four straight as the host in this series. Bert Blyleven Angels Jersey . He had even more fun Friday. Coming off a sensational rookie season, Spieth opened the new year by never coming close to bogey and making a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 7-under 66. Taylor Cole Angels Jersey .com) - Intrastate rivals collide Saturday as the Texas State Bobcats hit the road to take on the eighth-ranked Texas Longhorns in a non-conference battle at Frank Erwin Center. https://www.cheapangels.com/ . Though the 26-year-old said he was able to participate, coach Dwane Casey kept Johnson out as a precaution. Mike Trout Angels Jersey . Toronto has lost six of its last eight games but is coming off Thursdays 7-3 victory at Kansas City. Juan Francisco and Colby Rasmus both went deep for the Blue Jays, who are second in the American League with 34 home runs on the season. Cam Bedrosian Jersey . Mitchell first announced on Twitter that he has signed with the Steelers and his agent Brian Hamilton confirmed the signing to The Associated Press. Financial terms were not released. The Steelers have not announced the addition of Mitchell.NEW YORK – Jonathan Bernier had one thing running through his mind amid an avalanche of shots in what was a wildly tilted second period for the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. "I thought Bernie stood on his head and gave us a chance to steal another point," said Randy Carlyle after the 2-1 shootout defeat, the teams 10th loss in the past 11 games on the road. Nudging a puck past the pads of rookie Cam Talbot, Nazem Kadri evened the score at one with less than two minutes to play in regulation. His efforts would have been for not if it wasnt for the sterling play of the 25-year-old between the pipes. The Rangers outshot the Leafs 22-5 in a penalty-filled second frame, firing 18 shots in a span of just 12 minutes. "We had a bit of a rough stretch there," Kadri said, "but thats why weve got great goaltenders. We werent worried because we know Bernie can hang in there and make some big stops for us. Obviously weve got to find a way to tone that down, but he gave us a chance to win the game." Toronto goaltending has been that kind of rock through hard times all season, the lone bit of solace amid continued spurts of inconsistency. The bookends of Mondays performance were solid for the Leafs, nearly undone though by a second frame under siege. "Im just trying to keep it close," said Bernier of the experience in the second. "I know were going to score one goal and Im just trying to do my job and go shot by shot." It was the fourth 40-plus save performance for Bernier in 22 starts this season. He now boasts a .929 save percentage on the year, good for seventh-best in the NHL. But the Quebec native wouldnt go so far to say hell stole a point for his team. In fact, he couldnt help but lament the two goals that snuck by in the shootout. "I didnt steal one," he said. "I didnt get the extra point. When you give up two goals in the shootout most of the time youll lose so Ive got to be better in shootouts." Five Points 1. Bernier Shootout Struggles Bernier dropped to 3-8 lifetime in the shootout and 2-4 this season. His career .500 save percentage is amongst the worst of any active goaltender (tied for 68th in a class of 77). He was beaten on this night by Mats Zuccarello, who flipped a shot over his left shoulder, and Derek Stepan, who potted the eventual winner. "I thought the first two I was a little bit impatient," said Bernier. "Ive got to go get that extra point for my team." 2. Road Woes The road has offered nothing but misery for the Leafs since the start of November. With Mondays shootout defeat, theyve now dropped 10 of the last 11 games away from the ACC (1-6-4), outscored 36-20 in that span. Their lone victory in that stretch came on Dec. 7,, a 4-3 shootout triumph over the Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.dddddddddddd Now 6-8-4, the Leafs have the fourth-worst road mark in the Eastern Conference. 3. Means to Victory Saved often by the efforts of Bernier and James Reimer, the Leafs now sit 13-1-2 on the year when theyve yielded two goals or less. Conversely, their record is just 5-15-3 when theyve allowed three goals or more. 4. Christmas Break "This is the dog days of hockey when you get close to the 40-game mark," said Carlyle. And with a three-day break lying in wait for the holidays, he and the Leafs are just hoping to reset with an increasingly taxing second half ahead. "Its been a real hectic schedule here for the last three weeks, Ill tell you that," Carlyle said of a stretch which saw his team play 12 times in 23 days. "It seems like we play every second day and theres no relaxing time and then theres very limited practice time." With just one regulation victory in the past 18 games, theyll need to find a path towards improvement. "You just cant look at all the negatives," said Kadri, who scored his 11th goal of the year in defeat. "Youve got to look at the positives. I know thats a bit cliché, but its the right thing to do. You also point out the negatives and you go to the chalkboard and you work on it. But I think a few of those games weve played some of our better games of the year and still come out with losses. Thats just how this league works." 5. Lengthy Shift For one stretch in the Rangers dominant second frame, Dion Phaneuf was caught on the ice for a taxing two minutes and 56 seconds. New York fired five shots on goal before Peter Holland was finally whistled for roughing, the first of four penalties for the Leafs in the period. "Not very good," said Phaneuf, asked how he felt during the near-three minute shift. "When you get stuck out that long its tough. "I was trying to change obviously. I wouldve liked to not get stuck out there for that long, but its part of what happens. Sometimes teams are able to hem another team in and thats what happened tonight." Stats-Pack .929 – Save percentage for Jonathan Bernier this season, seventh-best in the NHL. 3-8 – Career record in the shootout for Bernier. 1 – Regulation victory for the Leafs since Nov. 19. 1-6-4 – Leafs record on the road in the past 11 games. 5-4 – Shootout record for the Leafs this season. 13-1-2 – Leafs record when yielding two goals or less this season. Special Teams Capsule PP: 0-4Season: 22.4 per cent (4th) PK: 4-4Season: 78.4 per cent (26th) Quote of the Night "I didnt steal one. I didnt get the extra point. When you give up two goals in the shootout most of the time youll lose so Ive got to be better in shootouts." -Jonathan Bernier, following his 42-save performance. Up Next The Leafs are off three days for the Christmas break, returning to host Buffalo on Friday night. ' ' '