Milton Keynes

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The Rangers earn an overtime win and Patrick Kane comes alive in the third period to give Chicago a victory in Game One. Scott Cullen has notes on Brassard, Pouliot, Crosby, Kane, Bickell, Hossa and more. RANGERS TAKE OT WIN Derick Brassard scored at 3:06 of overtime to give the New York Rangers a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game One. The Rangers third line made the most of their opportunities for the night, as Benoit Pouliot scored the Rangers first goal as well as assisting on the game-winner. Brassard and Pouliot also had the Rangers best possession stats for the game, on the ice for 60% of the shot attempts at 5-on-5. The most notable story for the Penguins is that Sidney Crosby was held off the scoresheet, but also was on for all three Rangers goals. Its been a rough start to the postseason for Crosby. Even though he has six assists in seven games and his puck possession numbers are strong, Crosby is minus-5 and still seeking his first goal of the postseason. Hes still getting chances -- his 3.14 shots on goal per game is barely below his regular-season average of 3.24 per game -- but until he gets that first goal, hes going to be under more scrutiny than usual. Penguins wingers Jussi Jokinen and James Neal were on the ice for more than 70% of 5-on-5 shot attempts and Neal scored Pittsburghs second goal, but the ice was tilted favourably in their direction -- they started more than 75% of their shifts in the offensive zone. Rangers D Dan Girardi chipped in a couple of assists. Only once in 81 games during the regular season did Girardi record two assists in a game. The bad news for the Penguins is that they won the puck possession battle, which doesnt fit the profile of these teams entering the postseason, but that still wasnt enough to get away with the win. Getting beat by the Rangers third line is all the more troubling because the Penguins depth and goaltending are areas in which they would expect to have a deficit when compared to the Rangers and thats exactly how Game One played out. KANE PUTS ON A SHOW Blackhawks wingers Patrick Kane and Bryan Bickell each scored a pair of goals and Chicago knocked off the Minnesota Wild, 5-2, in Game One. Kane broke a 2-2 tie with 11:38 remaining in the third period, on a highlight-reel goal, then added another with 3:13 remaining to settle the matter before Bickell added an empty-netter. Kane now has five goals and eight points in seven games this postseason, while Bickell has four goals and five points in seven games. Blackhawks RW Marian Hossa had three points (1 G, 2 A), giving him more points already in this series than he managed in six first-round games against St. Louis. No matter, no one in this years playoffs has more than Hossas 118 career playoff points. LW Patrick Sharp, who had one point in Round One, added two assists in Game One against Minnesota, while D Brent Seabrook contributed two more assists, giving him eight points (2 G, 6 A) in four games. To their credit, the Wild didnt wilt after falling behind 2-0. They outshot the Blackhawks 17-3 in the second period, then scored twice in the first seven minutes of the third to even things up; not for long it turned out. Wild D Jonas Brodin had the best possession numbers for Minnesota at 5-on-5, 73.7% of shot attempts, but it was a rough night for him, as he had six minutes in penalties and was in the box for Chicagos first two goals. D Clayton Stoner also had an eventful game for the Wild, getting credited with a goal (knocked in by Johnny Oduyas skate) and delivering a game-high six hits, including one that knocked Blackhawks RW Andrew Shaw out of the game in the first period. This game showed just how difficult the task at hand is for the Wild. They fought hard to come back, outshot the Blackhawks 32-21 (48-37 in 5-on-5 shot attempts), but they couldnt contain the Blackhawks power play or prevent Kane from getting loose. On top of that, the Wild were fortunate enough to have a Blackhawks goal disallowed in the first period, so there is some work to be done if they are going to make a series out of this. On the plus side, the Wild did show that they can take the play to the Blackhawks at times, so they will have to continue doing so because its difficult to expect Ilya Bryzgalov to get the better of Corey Crawford in the goaltending matchup. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Ashley Williams Wales Jersey . - On the night Dirk Nowitzki overtook Dominique Wilkins on the career scoring list, Brandan Wright was a human highlight film all by himself. Joe Ledley Wales Jersey . The second-ranked Jayhawks will play the Miners of Texas-El Paso at Imperial Arena in the Bahamas. The game can be seen live on TSN2 starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. http://www.soccerwalesstore.com/aaron-ramsey-wales-UEFA-EURO-jersey/ . Last year, Matt Kuchar closed with a 4-under 68 to beat Kevin Chappell by two strokes for his second win of the 2013 season and sixth of his career. Wales Soccer Jerseys .Y. - Everyone expected Clayton Kershaw to pitch a shutout, and he did — a unanimous choice for the NL Cy Young Award. Ashley Williams Jersey . -- With his team down 16 points in the second quarter and headed for another blowout loss at home, Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson yelled out to his players to keep shooting and keep fighting on defence. VIENNA, Austria -- Canadian Vasek Pospisil dropped a 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-2 decision to Robin Haase in second-round play Thursday at the Erste Bank Open. Pospisil, the seventh seed, saved match points in each of the last two sets before falling to the unseeded Dutchman. "I wasnt very happy with the way I was playing,"said Pospisil. "He played well and went for his shots. Im aware that I didnt and its something Ill work on. "I wasnt feeling that great today in general, even in the warmup. But thats the way it goes. You have to do the best you can with what you have." Pospisil jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first-set tiebreaker before dropping seven straight points. The 23-year-old Canadian faced a match ball in the last game of the second set before pulling even and taking the tiebreaker. However, Haase overwhelmed Pospisil in thhe deciding set on the cramped secondary court of the Statdhalle, completing the win in two hours 19 minutes.dddddddddddd. Pospisil, a native of Vernon, B.C., had nine aces and kept the pressure on Haase with 12 break points, but the Dutchman saved 10 of them. The Canadian had his serve broken four times. Pospisil is looking to close out the season strong so that he can achieve his goal of earning a seed for the Australian Open in January. Pospisil is currently ranked 40th in the world. "Ive had a great season," said Pospisil, who reached the Rogers Cup semifinals last August in Montreal. "Myself and my coach have set a goal of trying to get a seeding for Melbourne. "Its a tough ask and I have to beat some good players to get there." Pospisil defeated Lleyton Hewitt -- a former world No. 1 -- in the first round. ' ' '

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