#1 Chicago vs # 7 Detroit

Game 1– Wed, May 15, Detroit 1, Chicago 4

Game 2– Sat, May 18, Detroit 4, Chicago 1

Game 3– Mon, May 20, Chicago 1, Detroit 3

Game 4– Thu, May 23, Chicago at Detroit- 8 PM ET

Game 5– Sat , May 25, Detroit at Chicago- 8 PM ET

Game 6– Mon, May 27, Chicago at Detroit-Time TBD

Game 7– Wed, May 29, Detroit at Chicago -Time TBD

#5 Los Angeles vs #6 San Jose

Game 1– Tue, May 14, San Jose 0, Los Angeles 2

Game 2– Thu, May 16, San Jose 3, Los Angeles 4

Game 3– Sat, May 18, Los Angeles 1, San Jose 2

Game 4– Tue, May 21, Los Angeles 1, San Jose 2

Game 5– Thu, May 23, San Jose at Los Angeles- 10:30 PM ET

Game 6– Sun, May 26, Los Angeles at San Jose- Time TBD

Game 7– Tue, May 28, San Jose at Los Angeles- Time TBD

Eastern Conference

#1 Pittsburgh vs # 7 Ottawa

Game 1– Tue, May 14, Ottawa 1, Pittsburgh 4

Game 2– Fri, May 17, Ottawa 3, Pittsburgh 4

Game 3– Sun, May 19, Pittsburgh 1, Ottawa 2

Game 4– Wed, May 22, Pittsburgh 7, Ottawa 3

Game 5– Fri, May 24, Ottawa at Pittsburgh- 7:30 PM ET

Game 6– Sun, May 26, Pittsburgh at Ottawa- Time TBD

Game 7– Tue, May 28, Ottawa at Pittsburgh- Time TBD

#4 Boston vs # 6 NY Rangers

Game 1– Thu, May 16, NY Rangers 2, Boston 3

Game 2– Sun, May 19, NY Rangers 2, Boston 5

Game 3– Tue, May 21, Boston 2, NY Rangers 1

Game 4– Thu, May 23, Boston at NY Rangers- 7 PM ET

Game 5– Sat, May 25, NY Rangers at Boston- 5:30 PM ET

Game 6– Mon, May 27, Boston at NY Rangers- Time TBD

Game 7– Wed, May 29, NY Rangers at Boston- Time TBD

By Christian S. Kohl

With the Heat set to square off against the Pacers, the question on the mind of every fan is what, if anything, can manage to topple LeBron and his quest for a second title? As the feats, and really the legend of LeBron James grows ever larger, he has begun to transcend the game itself, much to the dismay of many fans. Consequently, is he, or Commissioner David Stern, the greatest villain currently in the NBA?

>>Watch More Sports Verdict Episodes Here

LeBron began truly ruffling the feathers of fans when he began his seemingly endless shopping trip of where best to take his talents. While his approach was undeniably abrasive, he has quieted any critics and answered all questions about his ability to perform at the highest level. In fact, he has done so to such a great extent, it is the sheer raw ability of James which not only irks rival fans, but has grown his legend into that of the Boogeyman. LeBron James is the looming figure every team must now overcome to have any hope of winning a ring. But let’s be honest. Of all outspoken and obnoxious figures in sports, James wouldn’t even make the top 10, and even if the irritating or even villainous aspects of his persona were magnified tenfold, every rival fan would donate a kidney to get him to sign with their organization. He has become so good that opposing fans simply have to vilify him.

In the debate between these two, in my mind there is no contest. David Stern is more a villain in the NBA than James could ever be. In the first place, the very job description of any Commissioner is to serve as the lightning rod for all league controversies – the common enemy fans, writers and owners alike can point to as the source of all blame. The longer one holds that post, the more demonized the Commissioner will become. David Stern has acted as NBA Commissioner since 1984, which is at least 20 years more than he needed to be the most evil figure in basketball even had he done everything right.

James also offers a tradeoff, which Stern cannot. Whether you love or hate LeBron, he still provides thrilling moments in the game, clutch shots, huge dunks, and a highlight reel that could run for an hour by the time his career ends. He brings unrivaled excitement and elevates the stakes of every contest. Stern can do no such thing. He is simply the Chief Suit of the NBA.

Worst of all, Stern’s actions of late simply terrify fans. His bungling of the Chris Paul trade, his sanctions against the Spurs, and his decision with the Kings leaves fans afraid his overreaching influence threatens the very integrity of the game they love. LeBron James is a superstar player who annually represents the possibility of ending the season of your favorite team. The series of controversial and erratic acts of Stern leaves fans frightened of the prospect that he may destroy basketball itself. There can be nothing so villainous or haunting as that notion. In a head-to-head comparison of the most reviled figure in the NBA, Stern wins by a landslide.

Christian S. Kohl is a sports contributor for CBS Local Digital Media.

St. Thomas won a total of 10 MIAC titles, six in men’s sports and four in women’s to sweep the conference’s All Sports Competition. It’s the sixth straight year they’ve won it on both sides, and it’s a mark that goes back to 2006-07, when St. John’s won the men’s title and Gustavus got the women’s. The 2012-13 year was arguably one of the most successful in the history of St. Thomas athletics.

It marked one of the most successful runs for St. Thomas sports teams when it comes to NCAA Tournament runs. The volleyball team, coached by Thanh Pham, finished 34-1 and won an NCAA title. John Tauer’s men’s basketball team finished 30-2, won a MIAC regular season and conference tournament title and got to the NCAA Final Four before losing to Mary-Hardin Baylor.

Glenn Caruso’s football program has gotten better every year since he took it over five years ago. The Tommies are 30-0 in the regular season the last three years, have won three straight MIAC titles and made four straight NCAA Playoff appearances. St. Thomas got to the NCAA championship game last fall before coming up short to Mount Union.

The women’s basketball team won the MIAC postseason tournament advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 before having its season end.

If you take an even broader look at St. Thomas athletics, the numbers are simply staggering. The men’s basketball program has won eight straight MIAC Playoff tournaments, the baseball program has won nine MIAC titles in 14 years, including two in the past four years. They also won the national championship most recently in 2009.

The men’s track team there has also won 26 of the last 31 MIAC titles, including one this year, while the women’s team has won nine straight MIAC titles.

It should come as no surprise that St. Thomas athletics has seen the boom that it has in the last few years. When the Anderson family donated more than $50 million for a new athletics facility on campus, suddenly St. Thomas had every resource it needed to continue its athletic excellence. Many programs had successful traditions before the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Center became a reality, now they can go to an entirely different level with new facilities. Take one tour through the athletic building and you’ll notice something: It’s better than any other facility in the MIAC, and it’s better than the University of Minnesota, the only Division I school in the state.

(credit: CBS)

Many student-athletes from Minnesota will choose Division I or Division II schools out of high school so they can play a sport on scholarship, then realize the full-time job of being a college student and athlete isn’t for them. When it’s time for a change of scenery, they look to St. Thomas because they can be an athlete, go to class and still have a life. The Tommies also are now starting to get that upper-echelon talent that might otherwise go to a larger division because they know at St. Thomas anything is possible.

The school has managed to find the right mesh of coaches who can motivate and get their messages across to athletes with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities to stay at the top of their game. The only catch is being a Division III school, St. Thomas doesn’t offer athletic scholarships and the student-athlete has to pay their own way for school.

St. Thomas has had eight teams who have won a total of 15 national titles. Women’s cross country leads the pack with five national titles, while men’s cross country, baseball and softball have each won two NCAA titles.

It should be interesting to see how the fall starts with the volleyball team coming off a national title and Caruso’s squad appeared in a national title game. It appears with the investment the school has made in its athletics facilities, St. Thomas fans and alumni shouldn’t expect anything less than playoff appearances and a few NCAA runs, potentially to trophis.

Here’s a look at, by sport, the St. Thomas teams that have won NCAA titles and the years they were national champions.

Women’s Cross Country (1981, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987)

Men’s Cross Country (1984, 1986)

Men’s Indoor Track (1985)

Women’s Basketball (1991)

Baseball (2001, 2009)

Softball (2004, 2005)

Men’s Basketball (2011)

Volleyball (2012)

But given their recent track record in close-out games, the Rangers may have a few more days left in their playoff lives.

The Bruins may be up 3-0 in the series, but have struggled to close things out under head coach Claude Julien. Just last series they let a pair of potential clinchers get away after jumping out to a 3-1 series lead against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and needed a miracle comeback in the final 10 minutes of Game 7 to get to the Eastern Semis.

Read: Bruins-Rangers Game 4 Preview

Then of course, there is that 2010 collapse against the Philadelphia Flyers, when the Bruins blew a 3-0 series lead.

But the 2013 Boston Bruins aren’t living in the past. They’re focused on the task at hand.

“I think we live in the moment. You learn from the past and you live in the moment, but you don’t live in the past,” head coach Claude Julien said on Wednesday. “Right now, we’re living in the moment and I like where our team is right now; the attitude and the approach.”

“We’re not looking at it the way other people are going to look at it and try to find reasons to give New York some hope,” the coach continued. “We’re not even going there. We’re looking at the present right now, and the present is getting prepared to play a real good game (in Game 4).”

CBS New York: Rangers Focusing On First Step

The Bruins have held a 3-0 advantage 18 times in their storied history, winning all but that 2010 series against Philadelphia. Boston is 13-5 in Game 4′s when going for the sweep, and they won’t be changing much as they look to accomplish that Thursday night.

“Same as always; we’re going to have to come out hard, get up early and get some momentum going,” said forward Shawn Thornton, whose fourth line scored both of Boston’s goals in Tuesday’s Game 3 win. “We have to play the full game; it’s not over until we finish it off. They’re going to give us their best and we’re going to have to be ready for that.”

Closing out the Rangers Thursday night would give the Bruins some much-needed rest before the Eastern Conference Finals, but they aren’t thinking about any potential rest. All they’re looking at is putting together a winning effort in the next game on the schedule.

Read: Seidenberg Says ‘There’s A Chance’ He Returns In Game 4

“(Rest) would be nice but we know and we’ve learned as a team that the last one is the hardest in past years, even the last series,” said forward David Krejci. “We’ve got to get ready for tomorrow and play it just like a Game 1.”

“It’s only been three games, and these last couple – (Game 3) could have went either way,” said Thornton. “We still have some work to do; the last one is always the toughest one.”

Tune in to every Bruins playoff game on 98.5 The Sports Hub — the flagship station of the Boston Bruins. Pregame coverage begins 30 minutes before every game!

Howard has held top-seeded Chicago to only one goal in two straight games, lifting seventh-seeded Detroit to a 2-1 series lead. He was the star of the end-to-end, high-paced Game 3 the Red Wings won 4-1 on Monday night, when he became their first goalie to face at least 40 shots without giving up more than a goal in the playoffs since Greg Stefan did it 1987.

“That was probably the fastest playoff game I’ve ever been a part of,” Howard said. “I expect it just to get faster Thursday night. They’re going to step it up. We need to come even harder.”

Detroit will host Game 4 on Thursday night, shooting for a surprising win that would put Chicago on the brink of elimination.

Howard’s glove, pads and mindset give the Red Wings a shot to win every time they put on sweaters with winged wheels. Since Detroit trailed second-seeded Anaheim 3-2 in the first round, Howard has won four of five games and is averaging two goals against and 34-plus saves.

“You have to have a good goalie to go anywhere in the playoffs and we have it,” Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said.

The Blackhawks seem confident they also have a netminder good enough to finish their season as strong as it started. Lately though, Corey Crawford has been shaky – or at least he hasn’t been able to overcome enough of his teammates’ mistakes in front of him.

Crawford won five of his first six games in the playoffs, shutting out Minnesota once and allowing a total of eight goals during his strong start. But he has given up a combined seven goals over the last two games after allowing one goal in the first period of the series opener.

When Chicago began its season-opening run of 24 games with at least a point backup goalie Ray Emery was 10-0 during the NHL record-breaking stretch while Crawford was injured. Emery finished the regular season 17-1 with a 1.94 goals-against average, leaving his last outing early because of a lower-body injury nearly a month ago at Edmonton.

Is Emery an option for Game 4?

“We’re not talking about that right now,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Monday night. And the next day, he was succinct when asked to assess how Crawford has played the past few games.

“He’s been fine,” Quenneville said.

The Blackhawks probably don’t want to put more pressure on Crawford, but they were likely looking for more than him being “fine” in his third postseason as their No. 1 goalie.

Chicago couldn’t afford to keep Antti Niemi after he was the franchise’s backstop when it hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2010 and he beat out Marty Turco for the job the next season.

Crawford has been an impressive 82-40-18 the last three regular seasons, but a lackluster 10-11 in the playoffs. The Montreal native sounds as if he’s ready to bounce back to help the team respond well enough to avoid their first three-game losing streak since the 2011-12 season.

“We haven’t had a lot of adversity this year,” Crawford said. “We just have to dig deep and battle.”

The Red Wings, meanwhile, barely made the playoffs and they leaned on Howard a lot because their team was challenged offensively because of injuries and the retirement of Nicklas Lidstrom.

Howard had to play in 42 of 48 games during the lockout-shortened season because he didn’t have a healthy, or capable, backup for much of the season. He was 21-13-7 and tied for the league lead with five shutouts, leading to him getting a $31.8 million, six-year contract to keep him off the market as a free agent this summer.

Like Crawford, Howard has been really good during the regular season – for four seasons as a No. 1 goalie – and average in the playoffs with a .500 record going into Game 4.

In a town where the goalie is in the spotlight, win or lose, Zetterberg said Howard has the perfect temperament for the job.

“Nothing really bothers him,” Zetterberg said. “If he lets in a goal, he just flushes it and moves on.”

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Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis also scored for Pittsburgh, and Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves. Down 2-1 after the first period, the Penguins scored twice in a 40-second span early in the second and added four goals in the first 10 minutes in the third.

Milan Michalek, Kyle Turris and Daniel Alfredsson scored for Ottawa. Senators goalie Craig Anderson was benched after Pittsburgh’s sixth goal, and Robin Lehner finished the game.

Game 5 is Friday night in Pittsburgh.

The Senators, coming off a double-overtime victory Sunday night in Game 3, opened the scoring on Michalek’s short-handed goal at 2:29 of the first period. With defenseman Sergei Gonchar in the penalty box, Alfredsson fed the puck up the middle to a streaking Michalek, who broke through the defense and beat Vokoun low on the glove side for Ottawa’s second short-handed goal of the series.

It was the Senators’ first lead of the series. It wouldn’t last.

Neal tied it with 5:04 left in the period, picking up the loose puck in the slot and putting it in the back of the net. Turris put Ottawa back in front off a rebound with 3:45 left in the first.

Pittsburgh tied it early in the second when Kunitz got behind the defense and went in alone to beat Anderson. Less than a minute later, Anderson gave up a rebound on Kris Letang’s shot that landed on the tape of Iginla’s stick to make it 3-2.

Neal started the third-period flurry with a power-play goal at 1:59. Dupuis added a short-handed goal at 8:07, Crosby followed at 8:39, and Iginla scored on a power play at 9:53.

Alfredsson finished the scoring with a late power-play goal for his 100th career playoff point.

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They have outclassed the New York Rangers all over the ice in surging to a 3-0 lead in a series that could be over Thursday.

If the Bruins start firing on all cylinders, the Rangers will have little hope of even forcing a Game 5 let alone entertaining thoughts of matching the greatest comeback in sports.

The Bruins could afford to relax Wednesday, and many of them did, as the team held an optional practice at Madison Square Garden — the site of Boston’s 2-1 comeback win a night earlier that pushed the Rangers within one loss of elimination.

HARTNETT: RICHARDS REDUCED TO PASSENGER ROLE

New York also got back on the ice at its suburban practice facility, and it was clear the sting of Tuesday night’s disheartening defeat lingered.

The Rangers are just over one week removed from back-to-back shutouts by Henrik Lundqvist in Games 6 and 7 against the Washington Capitals in the first round, but those good times feel a whole lot longer ago now.

Any kind of comeback now starts with Game 4 in New York. Three teams have recovered from an 0-3 hole to win an NHL series.

“We’re not looking at odds or anything like that,” Rangers captain Ryan Callahan said. “We’re looking at one game at home, and we’ll try to bring this thing back to Boston. That’s the only way we can look at it, to try to win one game in our building.”

The Bruins want to cut this short and not give the Rangers any reason to believe. New York trailed Washington 2-0 in the opening round and then 3-2 before advancing.

There is history hanging over Boston, including a blown 3-0 lead to Philadelphia in a series loss in 2010 and a squandered 3-1 edge in this year’s first round to Toronto before the Bruins rallied to win Game 7.

“You learn from the past, but you live in the moment. You don’t live in the past,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “I like where our team is right now. We’re certainly not looking at it the way other people will look at it — trying to find reasons to give New York some hope, saying ‘These guys have done this, these guys have had trouble doing this.’

“We’re certainly not even going there.”

Rangers forwards Darroll Powe and Arron Asham were on that Philadelphia team that stunned the Bruins with an epic comeback in 2010.

CBS BOSTON: BRUINS’ SEIDENBERG COULD RETURN

While several players said Wednesday they believe this series can still be won, the mantra was the same as it has been all season — following the words of coach John Tortorella that the focus must be completely on the next game.

“Obviously, we can’t win four games (Thursday) night. We have to focus on just the task at hand, which is coming out strong on our first shift,” said Powe, who is currently sidelined by injury. “We go shift by shift, we just chip away. You’ve got to try to win every shift. That’s how we’re going to get back in the series.”

The Rangers had been 3-0 at home in the playoffs and had won nine straight at Madison Square Garden, dating to the regular season.

Tuesday’s loss was their first in regulation in which they led going into the third period since February 2010.

A fluke goal with 3:31 remaining by fourth-liner Daniel Paille, who put in a puck Lundqvist never saw, made the disappointment that much greater. Boston defenseman Johnny Boychuk scored his fourth goal of the postseason earlier in the third with a shot that might have clipped forward Shawn Thornton — Paille’s bruising linemate along with Gregory Campbell.

That was enough to give the Bruins their second one-goal win of the series.

Paille had a goal and assist in Game 3 for his first points of the series. Thornton assisted on both goals, to get himself on the score sheet for the first time against the Rangers, and Campbell had an assist on the game-winner to go along with a goal he scored in Game 2.

“Hopefully it keeps going,” Thornton said of the production from the line that was put together during the 2010-11 season. “We’re trying to get back out there so we’ve got to give it everything we have. I have said it a million times, I am very fortunate to play with those two guys. They are extremely good hockey players and they would probably be on better lines than the fourth line on other teams.”

The Rangers would be happy to get offense from anywhere. After busting out in a 5-0 win in Game 7 against the Capitals, New York has been held to five total goals in three games against goalie Tuukka Rask and the rest of the Bruins.

New York seemed to lack the required energy and urgency to take advantage in Game 4. The Rangers have also failed to capitalize on an injured Boston defense that is using three rookies with success.

“I like our team,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said. “We’ve got good people. We need to have more people playing more minutes, consistently. We’ll be ready to play. I hope we get to another level of desperation. That’s not just running around all over the place, it’s about winning those battles at key times.”

While injured Bruins defensemen Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden continue to practice and move closer to returning, the Rangers are dealing with the loss of defenseman Anton Stralman, who got hurt when he was checked hard Tuesday night by Milan Lucic and left the game in the second period.

“Losing Stralsy is a big blow,” said Tortorella. “He puts himself in a situation there where he’s trying to make a play and gets hurt. He’s done that really through the playoffs here.”

His status for Game 4 is questionable at best. If he sits out, the Rangers could turn to Roman Hamrlik or Matt Gilroy. Marc Staal doesn’t appear ready to play because of an eye injury.

“To a defense that I think is lacking a little depth right now, it hurts us,” Tortorella said of Stralman’s injury. “We’re down 0-3. There’s no sense of feeling pressure. Players that get to play … grab a hold of it and let it happen.”

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(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

And if Quick needed any extra motivation to stop the Sharks again in the pivotal Game 5 on Thursday night, TJ Galiardi provided it.

Galiardi accused the Conn Smythe Trophy-winning goalie of exaggerating contact with opposing players Wednesday, claiming Quick attempts to draw undeserved penalties.

“What kind of bugs me about him, I don’t know if I should say it, but a little embellishment every now and then,” Galiardi said after the Sharks’ workout in San Jose. “You skate by and you don’t even touch him, or you barely even touch him, and he’s throwing his hands in the air. So that’s one of those things. It’s playoffs. Everyone is trying to draw a penalty. Whatever.”

Galiardi apparently was displeased by Quick’s reaction to an encounter during the Sharks’ 2-1 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday night, with Quick fruitlessly arguing for an interference call after Galiardi made contact with him. Galiardi’s comments added even more spice to this lively series heading back to Staples Center, where the Kings have won 12 straight games since March.

“The thing is, with video, something we like to say around here is, `Ball don’t lie,’” Galiardi said. “It’s an old basketball term, but when you watch the video, the video doesn’t lie. So I’m skating by and I barely touch him, and he’s throwing his hands in the air. It’s kind of one of those things. He looks bad on video, not me.”

Galiardi has never scored a playoff goal in his five-year NHL career, so he’s hardly the most likely candidate to challenge Quick’s postseason sportsmanship. Quick wasn’t in the Kings’ dressing room after practice at their training complex Wednesday.

The Los Angeles goalie turned in one of the most dominant playoff performances in recent hockey history for the Kings last year before following it up with another stellar postseason effort this spring. After holding St. Louis to 10 goals in the six-game first round, Quick has allowed just seven goals in four games against San Jose, stopping 122 of 129 shots in an otherwise frequently one-sided series.

Quick clearly hasn’t the problem during the Kings’ difficult defense, which now includes as many playoff losses as they took during the entire 2012 postseason. After consecutive 2-1 losses in San Jose, the Kings clearly haven’t backed up their star goalie’s efforts with consistent goal-scoring from their stars or contributions from all four lines, the offensive hallmarks of last season’s surge to the franchise’s first title.

“Recently, we all haven’t done the necessary things to score goals in the playoffs,” said first-line right wing Justin Williams, who has two goals in the postseason. “It’s pure broken record is all it is. Scorers have got to score. If they don’t score, they’ve got to create more offense. We’ve been outplayed so far, top line to top line, I feel in this series. We’re a proud bunch, but it’s still 2-2. We’re still in a good spot.”

Los Angeles has scored just one goal apiece in five of its 10 playoff games, and the Kings have managed just two even-strength goals in the last three games against San Jose. The Kings’ putative top line is struggling mightily: Captain Dustin Brown has just two goals – both on power plays – in the playoffs, and leading scorer Anze Kopitar has just one goal while getting outplayed by San Jose’s Joe Thornton.

“There’s a fine line between desperation and panic, and I’m thinking the guys we have in here will be a desperate group,” said Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi, a two-time Stanley Cup winner. “But we’re not going to do anything out of the ordinary or try to do it ourselves. … We were down 2-0 in the St. Louis series. I know it’s not as easy as everyone thinks it was last year, being up 3-0 in every series, but we have a good mentality in here, and we’re trying to stay upbeat and confident, and realize our best 60 minutes are ahead of us.”

The Kings figure they’re due to break out of their offensive skid, but Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter also is contemplating line switches to create more offense, shuffling the mix in practice Wednesday. Los Angeles has spent much of the series barely surviving against San Jose’s forecheck and high-volume offense, frequently pinned in its own end for long stretches of all four games, particularly in the opening period.

“We’ve got to come out and have a great start,” Kings defenseman Robyn Regehr said. “That’s where it all needs to be focused for us. Just come out and have a good start, play the way we know we can right off the bat, and go from there.”

The Sharks are radiating confidence with two straight wins following Los Angeles’ late heist of Game 2 with two power-play goals in the waning seconds. San Jose is two wins away from its third conference finals appearance in four years, but only if the Sharks manage to crack the Kings’ formidable advantage at Staples Center.

“They’re a great team. They’re the champs,” Thornton said. “They’ve been good on home ice all year, but we feel like our game is getting better and better, and each series keeps getting better. I don’t know if there’s an advantage or not. It’s just we’ve got to go into L.A. now and win one.”

While the Kings’ sellout crowds can be tough, the Sharks are confident they can pick up right where they left off with a few minutes to go in Game 2 before Los Angeles’ electric comeback.

“They stick around,” San Jose defenseman Dan Boyle said of the Kings. “That’s why going after that second and third goal is really important. It’s one of those teams where sitting on a one-goal lead is probably not going to cut it. We need to do a better job of scoring the next one, and the next one after that.”

AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow in San Jose, Calif., contributed to this report.

The ceremony will take place in the DQ Club Room at TCF Bank Stadium at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24. A social hour will take place before the ceremony.

This year’s inductees include Jon Andresen (baseball), Jim Carter (football), Natalie Darwitz (women’s hockey), Rick Naumoff (men’s tennis), Charlie Sanders (football), Krissy Wendell Pohl (women’s hockey) Gary Wilson (women’s cross country and track and field), Loyd La Mois (men’s track) Louis Lick (men’s golf) and Larry Ross (men’s hockey).

La Mois, Rick and Ross will be inducted to the Hall of Fame’s Pioneer Division, which honors those who attended the University of Minnesota before 1950.

The “M” club represents letter-winners from Gophers athletic teams. To be inducted into the “M” Club Hall of Fame, there must have been significant accomplishments by a former student-athlete, achievements by a former coach or administrator, significant contributions of time, talent or resources to the Gophers athletic department by somebody other than an athlete, coach or administrator and have a significant professional achievement by a former Gopher student-athlete.

Athletes are eligible for selection five years after their athletic eligibility has expired. Former coaches and staff must have served the athletic department for at least five years to be eligible.

The ensuing conversation would occasionally catch her off guard. Often times instead of congratulations being extended for leading her team to a second straight WNBA finals, the most common question she got was, “What happened?”

After steamrolling through the regular season at 27-7 in pursuit of their second straight championship, the Lynx lost to Indiana in the finals. For a franchise that for years was a league doormat, the newfound expectations have been eye-opening.

“It’s really been interesting,” Reeve said. “I’ve probably been a little more guarded this offseason in that I feel very defensive of our team. Yes we created the expectations and yes we want those expectations.

“But my goodness, we had the second best two-year run in league history and 27-7 and I still have people come up to me in the grocery store and say, ‘What happened?’”

Such is life when you have a roster with three Olympians. Such is life when you return four of the five starters from perhaps the most entertaining team in the league. It’s no longer good enough just to make the playoffs. It’s not even good enough to make it to the finals. This franchise, suddenly and startlingly, is being measured by championships.

“We want that. We embrace that,” Reeve said. “At the same time, internally, we’re making sure we celebrate our success. We don’t take anything for granted. What this team has done has been nothing short of greatness. So we celebrate those things and we brush off the external stuff.”

After helping Team USA to the gold medal in London last summer, Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen are all back in Minnesota for another run at a title. Leading rebounder Rebekkah Brunson is as well. Only Taj McWilliams-Franklin, the team’s emotional center, is gone from the starting five, replaced by Janel McCarville, who teamed with Whalen in college at Minnesota to lead the Golden Gophers to the Final Four.

Whalen is refreshed after returning home early this winter when her team in Turkey stopped paying her. The time off has helped the hard-nosed point guard gear up for another season, which begins on June 1 against Connecticut.

It turns out that training camp as the defending champions looks noticeably different than training camp as the team that fell just short of a repeat.

“I think that of course have given us all a lot of motivation to come back this year,” Whalen said. “Having gotten so close last year to bringing it back, that gives us extra motivation to get in here and work hard.”

One player who is no stranger to expectations is Moore, who comes from the championship-or-bust college powerhouse UConn. She followed up a celebrated college career with a championship as a rookie, and she’s anxious to get back to the top again.

“We finished one spot away from where we wanted to last year, and everybody knows that,” Moore said. “And I think it’s OK to use that as motivation to want to improve on last year. You also have to be careful to not get too far ahead of yourself. A championship is so far off. You really want to just take advantage of every day.”

In the interim, the Lynx are trying to strike a balance between being disappointed in not finishing the job last year and celebrating everything they did accomplish.

“We don’t want to think, ‘Oh we have to do things completely different,’” Moore said. “We want to be who we are and just crank it up a little bit. That’s what we’ve been trying to do.”

The road back to the finals figures to be even harder this year with No. 1 pick Brittney Griner and Phoenix standing in their way. But this proud, veteran group thinks it’s ready for the challenge.

“It’s a hungry group,” Reeve said. “There’s a bad taste that’s in our mouths. We’re anxious to get to work.”

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

With Game 3 tied 1-1 in the third period, Boston turned to it’s fourth line — dubbed the “merlot line” — for an injection of energy. The line’s havoc had already led to Boston’s first goal — a rocket off the stick of defenseman Johnny Boychuk — and their strong forecheck and desire to cause a downtown-like traffic jam in front of the net put Boston on top for good with just 3:31 left to play.

Gregory Campbell stepped up and delivered a slapper on Henrik Lundqvist, which deflected off the netminders mask and straight up in the air. When the puck returned to the ice it danced along the line, but changed directions before crossing into the goal. It looked as though it had taken a Rangers’ bounce, as Lundqvist had no idea where the puck was.

It nearly trickled out of harm’s way.

That was until Daniel Paille rushed in and took a swing at it, sending it to the back of the net and putting Boston on top 2-1.

“I felt the pressure when we were on them and had a perfect view of it from the corner. I thought it was going to bounce in but it went the other way somehow,” Paille explained after the game. “Lundqvist didn’t know where it was and I was able to come around the net and out-battle the player with it; I think we hit at the same time and it hit off my stick and went in.”

After less-than-stellar showings in Games 1 and 2, Lundqvist was on his game Tuesday night. He was stuffing breakaway bids and turned away nearly all rebounds, so those funky goals were Boston’s best chance to put one — or two — past him.

“It was one of those nights where he was on his game and you could see the confidence he had throughout the game,” said Paille. “The goals that went in, there really wasn’t much he could do; there was a screen on one and a redirect on another. We tried to do as much as we could but it wasn’t going to be one of those where you beat him clean.”

Now Boston finds themselves one win away from returning to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second time in the last three seasons. But after nearly letting a 3-1 lead slip away last series to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and that 2010 collapse against the Philadelphia Flyers still in the back of their minds, the Bruins know their work is far from over.

“We’re confident going in for the series, but it’s not over. I’ve been in this situation before and seen it go the other way,” said Paille. “For us, we have to have the instinct to play as hard as we did tonight. They’re going to be a team that does not want to lose that way.”

Game 4 is Thursday night in New York.

Tune in to every Bruins playoff game on 98.5 The Sports Hub — the flagship station of the Boston Bruins! Pregame coverage begins 30 minutes prior to each game.

The Braves stretched their winning streak to six games with their second straight series sweep, making things easy for starter Paul Maholm (6-4). The left-hander held the Twins to an unearned run in 7 1-3 innings.

With the Braves already leading 4-0, Gattis struck again less than 24 hours after his two-out, pinch-homer in the ninth allowed the Braves to pull out a 5-4 win over the Twins in extra innings.

He was swinging away on a 3-0 pitch with the bases loaded in the fourth and launched an opposite-field drive just inside the right-field pole for the 10th homer of his improbable debut season.

As Gattis rounded the bases, the theme from “The Natural” played over the speakers at Turner Field. In the Atlanta dugout, Upton looked on in disbelief, both arms in the air as if to say, “Is this really happening?”

Believe it. The 26-year-old Gattis made the team as a non-roster player in spring training after quitting baseball during college, working a variety of odd jobs, and dealing with bouts of depression that had him contemplating suicide. He still has a picture of his ID card from working as a janitor on his Twitter page.

He eventually returned to baseball after completing a spiritual journey. He got extensive playing time in April while the Braves battled injuries, earning the NL rookie of the month honors, and he’s making the most of his more limited chances in May.

Gattis’ dramatic homer Tuesday night was his third as a pinch-hitter, and it was the fourth time he’s hit a tying or go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later. He got the start at catcher for the series finale, giving Brian McCann the day off.

Vance Worley (1-5) had another dismal outing for Minnesota, failing to make it through the fourth as the Twins lost their eighth straight. He surrendered eight runs and 10 hits in 3 2-3 innings, also hitting two batters and walking two more. His ERA climbed to 7.21, and it would’ have been worse if Pena had not been thrown out at the plate in the first attempting to score on a flyout to left fielder Josh Willingham.

As it was, Worley’s horrendous problems in the first continued when he surrendered two hits and a walk, including Jason Heyward’s run-scoring single. In 10 starts, the right-hander has allowed 17 runs and 24 hits in the opening inning.

Atlanta made it 3-0 in the third. Pena hit his second homer of the season and, after Worley plunked a pair of hitters, Chris Johnson came through with a two-out single to bring in another run.

Atlanta blew it open in the fourth. Upton, hitting just .153 coming in, led off with a homer into the seats in left-center. After Maholm’s flyout, Jordan Schafer singled, Heyward singled, Freddie Freeman walked and Gattis went deep to finish off the Twins.

Minnesota’s only run off Maholm came after Johnson’s error at third base set up Justin Morneau’s RBI single in the sixth.

Aaron Hicks and pinch-hitter Oswaldo Arcia homered in the ninth off Cory Rasmus, who made his major league debut.

NOTES: The Twins placed 3B Trevor Plouffe on the seven-day DL with a concussion. He took a blow to the head in the 10th inning of Tuesday night’s game while breaking up an attempted double play. … Minnesota called up former independent league star Chris Colabello, who was batting .358 at Triple-A Rochester and leading the International League with 12 homers and a .659 slugging percentage. Colabello got the news after midnight on a bus ride from Allentown back to Rochester, just made an early morning flight to Atlanta and was in the lineup for the 12:10 p.m. start, playing right field and batting sixth. He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. … The Braves already have swept five series this season. … Rasmus is the younger brother of Toronto OF Colby Rasmus.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

DETROIT (AP) — Jimmy Howard’s cat-quick reflexes in net and easygoing nature out of it are big reasons the Detroit Red Wings are on a roll.

Howard has held top-seeded Chicago to only one goal in two straight games, lifting seventh-seeded Detroit to a 2-1 series lead. He was the star of the end-to-end, high-paced Game 3 the Red Wings won 4-1 on Monday night, when he became their first goalie to face at least 40 shots without giving up more than a goal in the playoffs since Greg Stefan did it 1987.

“That was probably the fastest playoff game I’ve ever been a part of,” Howard said. “I expect it just to get faster Thursday night. They’re going to step it up. We need to come even harder.”

Detroit will host Game 4 on Thursday night, shooting for a surprising win that would put Chicago on the brink of elimination.

Howard’s glove, pads and mindset give the Red Wings a shot to win every time they put on sweaters with winged wheels. Since Detroit trailed second-seeded Anaheim 3-2 in the first round, Howard has won four of five games and is averaging two goals against and 34-plus saves.

“You have to have a good goalie to go anywhere in the playoffs and we have it,” Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said.

The Blackhawks seem confident they also have a netminder good enough to finish their season as strong as it started. Lately though, Corey Crawford has been shaky — or at least he hasn’t been able to overcome enough of his teammates’ mistakes in front of him.

Crawford won five of his first six games in the playoffs, shutting out Minnesota once and allowing a total of eight goals during his strong start. But he has given up a combined seven goals over the last two games after allowing one goal in the first period of the series opener.

When Chicago began its season-opening run of 24 games with at least a point backup goalie Ray Emery was 10-0 during the NHL record-breaking stretch while Crawford was injured. Emery finished the regular season 17-1 with a 1.94 goals-against average, leaving his last outing early because of a lower-body injury nearly a month ago at Edmonton.

Is Emery an option for Game 4?

“We’re not talking about that right now,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said Monday night. And the next day, he was succinct when asked to assess how Crawford has played the past few games.

“He’s been fine,” Quenneville said.

The Blackhawks probably don’t want to put more pressure on Crawford, but they were likely looking for more than him being “fine” in his third postseason as their No. 1 goalie.

Chicago couldn’t afford to keep Antti Niemi after he was the franchise’s backstop when it hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2010 and he beat out Marty Turco for the job the next season.

Crawford has been an impressive 82-40-18 the last three regular seasons, but a lackluster 10-11 in the playoffs. The Montreal native sounds as if he’s ready to bounce back to help the team respond well enough to avoid their first three-game losing streak since the 2011-12 season.

“We haven’t had a lot of adversity this year,” Crawford said. “We just have to dig deep and battle.”

The Red Wings, meanwhile, barely made the playoffs and they leaned on Howard a lot because their team was challenged offensively because of injuries and the retirement of Nicklas Lidstrom.

Howard had to play in 42 of 48 games during the lockout-shortened season because he didn’t have a healthy, or capable, backup for much of the season. He was 21-13-7 and tied for the league lead with five shutouts, leading to him getting a $31.8 million, six-year contract to keep him off the market as a free agent this summer.

Like Crawford, Howard has been really good during the regular season — for four seasons as a No. 1 goalie — and average in the playoffs with a .500 record going into Game 4.

In a town where the goalie is in the spotlight, win or lose, Zetterberg said Howard has the perfect temperament for the job.

“Nothing really bothers him,” Zetterberg said. “If he lets in a goal, he just flushes it and moves on.”

___

Follow Larry Lage on Twitter: http://twitter.com/larrylage

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) —Brent Burns helped San Jose jump off to a fast start with his second goal of the postseason and the Sharks tied their second-round series against Los Angeles at two games with a 2-1 victory over the Kings in Game 4 on Tuesday night.

Logan Couture followed up his overtime game-winner in Game 3 with his fifth power-play goal of the playoffs to add to the lead and Antti Niemi made 22 saves as the Sharks matched the Kings’ two home wins to open the series with two of their own.

Mike Richards scored a power-play goal and Jonathan Quick made 21 saves for the Kings, who have lost 10 of 11 road games dating to the end of the regular season.

Game 5 is Thursday night in Los Angeles when the Sharks will look to end a streak of four straight wins by the home team in this series.

After falling behind 2-0, the Kings showed some fight in a dominant third period. They got on the scoreboard on a power play when Burns was sent off for boarding Anze Kopitar.

Los Angeles wore down San Jose’s penalty killers in the offensive zone and scored when Richards knocked in a rebound of Jeff Carter’s shot.

The Kings outshot the Sharks 14-2 in the third period, holding San Jose without a shot for nearly 13 minutes but couldn’t get the equalizer against Niemi.

Couture gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead early in the second period, deflecting a point shot by Dan Boyle past Quick while Colin Fraser was in the penalty box for roughing Andrew Desjardins in the offensive zone.

The Kings started to generate the better scoring chances after that, getting denied a goal midway through the period on an early whistle by an official. Los Angeles was unable to generate a shot on goal during two power plays later in the period with Jake Muzzin, shooting high with an empty net to cost the Kings a golden opportunity at a goal.

The Sharks opened the game with one of their most dominating periods of the year to the delight of the boisterous crowd chanting “Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!” from the start.

But San Jose had only one goal to show for that start thanks to solid play from Quick and a shot by Tommy Wingels that rang off the crossbar.

Led by the physically imposing line of captain Joe Thornton, Burns and TJ Galiardi, the Sharks spent almost the entire first period in the Los Angeles zone, outshooting the Kings 15-3 for the period.

San Jose jumped on top early when Thornton stole the puck from Slava Voynov on the forecheck and fed Burns, who shot was blocked. Thornton came up with the loose puck and slid a perfect cross-ice pass to Burns, who was not denied on his second chance, beating Quick with a one-timer for his second playoff goal.

The Kings had to feel fortunate that was all San Jose managed for the period as they killed off two penalties and withstood constant pressure from the Sharks.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

And what a career it was:

—Eight Pro Bowl seasons;

—Defensive Player of the Year in 2005

—A trip to the Super Bowl as 2006 NFC champion.

And now, it’s over. The eight-time Pro Bowler announced his retirement through social media accounts Wednesday.

“After spending a lot of time this spring thinking about my NFL future, I have made a decision to retire,” Urlacher said in a statement. “Although I could continue playing, I’m not sure I would bring a level of performance or passion that’s up to my standards. When considering this, along with the fact that I could retire after a 13-year career wearing only one jersey for such a storied franchise, my decision became pretty clear.

“I want to thank all of the people in my life that have helped me along the way. I will miss my teammates, my coaches and the great Bears fans. I’m proud to say that I gave all of you everything I had every time I took the field. I will miss this great game, but I leave it with no regrets.”

Urlacher was the face of the Bears, and he ranks among the best middle linebackers to suit up for a franchise with an impressive list that includes Hall of Famers Bill George, Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary.

In March, Urlacher and the Bears were unable to reach a contract agreement and he became a free agent.

“In the pantheon of Bears, Brian has earned his place alongside Halas, Grange, Nagurski, Ditka, Payton — and yes, Bill George, Butkus and Singletary,” Bears chairman George McCaskey said. “We congratulate Brian on a brilliant career and he will continue to be a welcomed member of the Bears Family in retirement.”

Added receiver Earl Bennett on Twitter: “Great player… Great teammate… Awesome person!!!!”

Former Bears linebacker Hunter Hillenmeyer posted on Twitter: “(at)BUrlacher54 was the most coachable superstar, best locker room leader I ever played with. Proud to call him a teammate for 8 seasons.”

And defensive end Israel Idonije, a free agent, wrote, “It was an honor & privilege to work and learn from (at)BUrlacher54 over the past 10 years. (hash)ThanksBruh.”

Urlacher started 180 games from 2000-2012, and made a team-record 1,779 tackles. He has 41 1/2, 22 interceptions, 16 fumble recoveries and 11 forced fumbles.

Last year, he was slowed by a knee problem and then missed the final four games with a hamstring injury.

Urlacher had posted pictures on Twitter indicating he was working his way back into shape before the split with the Bears. But when they announced he would not be back, it was hardly a surprise.

Urlacher told the team’s flagship radio station at the time that he was not shocked and the offer he received was “more like an ultimatum” in which they were telling him, “Sign this contract or we are going to move on.”

The split with Urlacher was just one of many moves in a busy offseason for the Bears.

They fired coach Lovie Smith after a second straight late collapse left them out of the playoffs for the fifth time in six years, even though they did finish with 10 wins.

They replaced him with the offensive-minded Marc Trestman, hoping he could get the most out of quarterback Jay Cutler, and revamped their offensive line.

On defense, the only starting linebacker returning is Lance Briggs. Veteran free agent acquisition D.J. Williams and second-round draft pick Jon Bostic are expected to compete for the middle linebacker job with Urlacher gone.

A safety with lightning speed when he was drafted out of New Mexico, the 6-foot-4 Urlacher initially lined up at strong side linebacker for the Bears, but lost the job to Roosevelt Colvin. He made the switch to middle linebacker during his first season when Barry Minter was injured, and went on to become the 2000 Defensive Rookie of the Year, the start of a long run that saw him anchor a defense that consistently ranked among the league’s best.

But he clearly wasn’t his old self last year. The speed and quickness that allowed him to wreak havoc for years simply wasn’t there.

Urlacher sprained his medial collateral ligament and partially sprained the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the 2011 regular-season finale against Minnesota, He hasn’t been the same since then.

He barely participated in training camp, had an arthroscopic procedure in mid-August to relieve the swelling, and spent most of the season trying to regain his old form.

Then, he came up lame in coverage on the second-to-last snap of the Bears’ overtime loss to Seattle in early December, an injury that ended his season and, ultimately, his career.

“He was a guy that you respected from a coaching standpoint because of what he could do on the field,” Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said. “I know he was respected by players and among his peers. Different kind of linebacker, you know? There are not many guys who are 6-4 playing middle linebacker. It’s generally a position that shorter guys have had a lot more success, guys like Mike Singletary, who probably wasn’t six feet tall; Ray Lewis about the same way.

“But Urlacher, in a lot of ways, changed the position. His range at the middle linebacker position, the speed that he played with, he was super fast.”

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

But John Tortorella’s message isn’t going to change even though his Rangers are in an even more desperate situation than before their latest loss to the Boston Bruins.

The margin of error went from slim to none in an uncharacteristic home loss that put the Broadway Blueshirts on the brink of elimination.

New York squandered a one-goal lead in the third period and lost 2-1 on Tuesday night to fall into an 0-3 series hole. The Rangers can be ousted by the Bruins as early as Thursday in Game 4 at home.

“We’ll meet (Wednesday), practice, and we’re going to try to win a game,” Tortorella said. “That’s all you can do. Down 3-0, it’s a very tough situation, but I have full faith in our athletes. They will be ready to play another game.

“You try to win one and see where you go from there.”

After two losses in Boston, the Rangers seemed headed toward getting back into it. They had won nine straight at Madison Square Garden, dating to the final six games of the regular season, and hadn’t lost in regulation when leading after two periods in more than three years.

But defenseman Johnny Boychuk tied it 3:10 into the third and Daniel Paille scored the winner with 3:31 remaining to push the Bruins to the verge of the Eastern Conference finals.

Only three NHL teams have rallied from an 0-3 hole to advance. However, the Philadelphia Flyers did it to the Bruins in 2010.

“We haven’t talked about history at all,” Tortorella said. “We just try to go about our business.”

Bruins coach Claude Julien discussed it briefly, but only when asked about the collapse three years ago and another near one in the first round this year when Toronto nearly eliminated Boston after trailing the series 3-1.

“We can talk about it all we want, but that’s in the past,” Julien said. “We had to live with that and we still have to live with that.”

The Bruins did some rallying of their own in that one, erasing a three-goal deficit in the third period of Game 7 before winning in overtime.

“The Toronto series, I didn’t think our team was in the zone the way it is right now,” Julien said. “I anticipate — knowing my team — that we’re going to come out the same next game and certainly not be the Jekyll and Hyde team that we were in the first round.”

The Bruins shook off the 2010 collapse and swept Philadelphia in the conference semifinals the following year before going on to win the Stanley Cup.

The Rangers haven’t been swept since New Jersey did it to them in 2006 in the first round.

“You can’t look at it as you have to win four games,” said Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who stayed down on his knees for several moments after Paille’s goal. “You just have to focus on the next one. The season is on the line, so you have to leave everything out there.

“We definitely have to give everything right now, mentally and physically, and put it out there on Thursday.”

Boychuk tied it with his fourth of the playoffs after he netted just one in 44 regular-season games.

Boston thought it had grabbed the lead seconds before Paille scored when a shot deflected off the mask of Lundqvist, popped up in the air and landed on the goal line. Lundqvist couldn’t find it before Paille swooped in from behind the net and poked in the puck.

Taylor Pyatt had made it 1-0 in the second period for the Rangers, who were outscored 8-4 in two games at Boston. Lundqvist was sharp in making 32 saves. He bounced back well after allowing five goals in the Game 2 loss.

“You have to be pretty happy with the situation right now,” said Tuukka Rask, who made 23 saves for Boston. “We were really happy with our effort. I think this was our best defensive effort in a long, long time. We just have to stay calm, keep playing our style of hockey, and good things will happen.”

The Rangers again couldn’t get their power play untracked, failing in both of their chances and dropping to 0-for-10 in the series. New York has only two power-play goals in 38 opportunities during these playoffs.

Boychuk was credited with the tying goal after the puck appeared to deflect into the net off Rangers defenseman John Moore.

The game turned rougher moments later when New York forward Chris Kreider was struck under his visor by the stick of Boston’s Tyler Seguin, who was following through on a shot just inside the blue line. Seguin was then clipped in the exchange by the stick of Rangers defenseman Steve Eminger.

Shortly after, Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron had a cut over his eye that left his white jersey bloodstained. No penalties were called on any of the plays.

New York took just its second lead of the series 3:53 into the second period when Pyatt deflected in a shot by defenseman Ryan McDonagh.

Lundqvist shined in the second, making a pad stop on Seguin about 6 1/2 minutes in, stretching across to knock away a drive by rookie defenseman Torey Krug — who scored in each of the first two games of the series — and then bringing the crowd to its feet with a lunging glove snare of Gregory Campbell’s slap shot from the left circle with 8:24 remaining.

That got the Bruins even in shots (15-15) before they outshot New York 8-1 the rest of the second.

The Rangers got off to a sluggish start after losing the opening faceoff, and didn’t mount any kind of early surge fueled by the excited home crowd. New York didn’t carry the puck into the Boston end until 1:35 had elapsed.

New York got trapped in its end more and more as the game went on, and got caught there again on the winning goal.

“They just kept us in the end zone, bouncing around, and Paille beat our defenseman back to the net and scored the goal,” Tortorella said. “We just didn’t spend enough time in their end zone.”

The Rangers picked up their play and built a 6-1 edge in shots, including scoring opportunities on Rask. New York earned the first power play of the night, however it was as ineffective as it has been throughout the postseason.

The tide turned back to the Bruins’ favor just before the midway point in the period, starting with a partial breakaway after New York turned over the puck at the Boston blue line. Chris Kelly raced ahead with the puck and was stopped in tight by Lundqvist when he tried a backhanded shot.

Shawn Thornton was also denied when he came in alone on Lundqvist with 8:46 left in the period, and Jaromir Jagr couldn’t score, either, when he got a pair of whacks at the puck that the New York goalie turned aside.

The Bruins’ surge gave them an 8-7 edge in shots, but Boston finished the period trailing 11-9.

“We were down but we weren’t playing that poorly,” Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said of the team’s third-period mindset. “We needed to stay aggressive, try to tie the game. We just wanted to get pucks to the net. We did that and we were rewarded.”

NOTES: The Rangers didn’t yield a power-play chance for the second straight home game. … New York D Anton Stralman was injured in the second period and didn’t return. … Since Boston trailed 4-1 in Game 7 against Toronto, Rask has allowed five goals in four-plus games.

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(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

The move means the Lynx is currently at 12 players, needing to cut one more from the roster by 4 p.m. Thursday. WNBA league rules mandate that rosters have 11 players.

Gemelos was a third-round pick in last year’s draft and played in just one preseason game and made her only shot attempt in 5 minutes, 35 seconds of play. Jeffery was taken in the second round of this year’s WNBA Draft and played in both preseason games, scoring two points and grabbing four rebounds in more than 17 minutes of action.

The Minnesota Lynx, coming off a WNBA title two seasons ago and finishing a runner-up last season, start the regular season at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 1, against the Connecticut Sun.

The Twins made the move after placing infielder Trevor Plouffe in the seven-day disabled list with concussion symptoms. He had to leave the game Tuesday night in a 5-4 loss in 10 innings to the Atlanta Braves after getting kicked in the head while trying to break up a double play.

They’ve also moved outfielder Darin Mastroianni on the 60-day disabled list. Mastroianni hasn’t played a game for the Twins yet this season after injuring his ankle in Spring Training.

Colabello is hitting .358 for Rochester with 12 home runs, 17 doubles and 39 RBI while playing first base.

Freeman blooped a two-out single off Brian Duensing (0-1) to bring home Jason Heyward, handing the Twins their seventh straight loss.

Trevor Plouffe and Ryan Doumit had RBI singles in the eighth against the depleted Atlanta bullpen, giving the Twins a 4-3 lead. They were one out away from snapping their slide when Gattis lined an 0-1 pitch from Glen Perkins deep into the left-field seats for his ninth homer of the season.

Craig Kimbrel (1-1) worked a scoreless 10th for the win.

Brian McCann homered and drove in two runs for the Braves, while Tim Hudson pitched five solid innings around a 1-hour, 26-minute rain delay — but they were afterthoughts after the dramatic comeback.

Gattis, who surprisingly made the team as a non-roster player and has been a key contributor as a 26-year-old rookie, kept the game going with his third pinch-hit homer of the season. Duensing got the first two hitters in the 10th, but Jason Heyward doubled off the wall in left-center. Justin Heyward was intentionally walked before Freeman came through on a 3-2 pitch.

The Braves bullpen, which lost two key relievers to season-ending surgeries in the past week, surrendered the lead in the eighth. Luis Avilan retired only one batter, giving up a hit and a walk.

Plouffe tied the game at 3 with a slow roller off Cory Gearrin that got through the hole between first and second. Doumit followed with another hit to right, this one much sharper, to put the Twins ahead.

Hudson gave up five hits and two runs while striking out five. He bounced back from two rough starts, having allowed 11 runs in 8 2-3 innings in losses at San Francisco and Arizona.

Anthony Swarzak pitched four solid innings in relief of Mike Pelphrey, who was lifted after a fierce storm suddenly popped up with the Twins batting in the third. The umpires wasted no time calling for the ground crew, which struggled to get the tarp over the infield amid blinding rain and whipping winds.

Then, as the storm began to break almost as quickly as it appeared, a power surge knocked out the lights and video board at Turner Field. The board came back on in a matter of seconds, but the lights took much longer to fire back up. Finally, the game resumed when the field was fully lit.

Hudson returned to the mound for the Braves and quickly gave up an RBI single to Justin Morneau, tying the game at 2.

Leading off the fourth, McCann lined a pitch off Swarzak into the right-field seats that put the Braves back on top. Anthony Varvaro threw two scoreless innings, but the bullpen that lost Jonny Venters and Eric O’Flaherty couldn’t finish the job.

The Braves jumped ahead 2-0 in the first against Pelfrey. Heyward singled and came around to score on Freeman’s two-out double. McCann followed with a single that brought home Freeman.

Minnesota made it 2-1 in the second on Pedro Florimon’s RBI single.

Notes: The Twins will start RHP Samuel Deduno against the Tigers on Friday. He will take the spot previously held by LHP Pedro Hernandez, who was demoted to the minors on Monday. “He can wing it,” manager Ron Gardenhire said of Deduno. “You’re going to get a guy who’s going to put fear in people’s hearts.” Deduno starred for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic before sustaining a groin injury pitching in the final. He spent six weeks recovering before joining Minnesota’s Triple-A team at Rochester. … Braves RHP Jordan Walden (shoulder inflammation) played long toss before the game but isn’t likely to be activated Monday, when he is eligible to come off the disabled list. Manager Fredi Gonzalez believes Walden will need a couple of minor-league starts before he returns to Atlanta.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

This summer, the Minnesota Twins are making local music fans happy.

At every Wednesday home game through August, a local band will perform during games in a series the team calls “The Midwest Music Showcase.”

In the past, the Twins have fielded complaints that local music wasn’t played in the stadium.

They can’t complain any more. The team selected Minnesota artists such as Trampled by Turtles, P.O.S, and GB Leighton will perform at games this summer.

I spent some time with Minneapolis rockers, The 4onthefloor, during their performance on May 15 and found out why it’s a big deal for the bands and their fans.

There is one spot still open for the group that wins “The Sound Factor” contest.

To see the lineup for the Midwest Music Showcase, or to submit a song to perform at Target Field, visit the Twins website.

The Wolves finished with the No. 9 pick in the league’s annual draft lottery on Tuesday night. That’s exactly where they were supposed to pick, according to their record during the regular season. In 15 trips to the lottery in franchise history, the Timberwolves have never improved their position.

The odds were very long when the night started, with just a 1.7 percent chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick.

The Timberwolves sent forward Kevin Love as their representative. Love tried to double down on the luck when he brought with him a Ricky Rubio action figure.

Maybe that wasn’t the best idea. Rubio wears No. 9, after all.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The Twins’ future could be the focus soon if this team continues to place last-place baseball.

And down in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, there is some hope.

Byron Buxton has everyone’s attention, but playing right next to him in the outfield down in Cedar Rapids is Adam Brett Walker.

He’s big, strong, and he likes to swing hard.

“I love just getting into the box and competing,” Walker said.

That’s part of what he brings to this organization. He was a three sport athlete growing up in Milwaukee, but has now honed in on baseball specifically, where he’s a three-tool prospect.

“I think it helped … me become a better athlete,” he said.

He recognizes he’s blessed to play this game.

“It’s been awesome and a lot of fun so far,” he said. “There’s a lot of great guys and I’m just trying to come out hard  every day and it’s been going well for me.”

Target field is the goal, but for now, Cedar Rapids is just fine.

“The people in the organization are very helpful,” he said. “And yesterday we had a packed house and it was a lot of fun. It’s been a great experience so far.”

Durant calls Oklahoma City his “home” and said he drives through the city most affected by Monday’s massive tornado damage – Moore – all the time.

He added that he plans on visiting local hospitals when he returns on Wednesday.

Durant’s also helping out financially, pledging $1 million to help out Oklahoma citizens in need. The Thunder matched it, and so did the NBA and the players’ union.

The Red Cross is accepting $10 pledges from people who text “REDCROSS” to 90999. People can also donate at the organization’s website.

And as far as supporting the WNBA and women’s college basketball, Durant said he appreciates the skill level no matter the gender.

He wouldn’t mind all that much if the Hoosiers didn’t win it.

Smith spoke Tuesday at Target Field, the home of the Minnesota Twins and the first major-league site the event has had. Smith says he’ll be coaching his team to play its best, of course. But he feels Indiana’s season has been strong enough to make the NCAA tournament, no matter what.

If another team wins the double-elimination draw this weekend, well, that would be one more Big Ten entry in the 64-team national field. And that would be another sign of progress for a league that struggles to keep up in a sport dominated by southern schools.

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“The feeling is they’re going to be a desperate team in their own building,” Bruins forward Shawn Thornton said on Monday before the team departed for New York. “We’re going to have to be a lot better than we were last game; we got the win but we had some areas we could improve on.”

The Bruins won both games in Boston, but were far from perfect. In Game 1 they let New York score in the final seconds of the second period to tie the game at 1-1, and gave up a go-ahead goal just 14 seconds into the third. In Game 2, New York answered each of Boston’s first two goals within minutes, and the Bruins turned the puck over 16 times.

Read: Bruins-Rangers Game 3 Preview

New York hasn’t capitalized on many of Boston’s mistakes so far, but that can all change now that the series shifts to New York.

“A lot of that stuff was of our own doing,” head coach Claude Julien said of the Game 2 turnovers. “I think we can be better in that area, although we played a pretty game, I think most of those things came in the second period. We just have to be a little bit better. I thought our third period was much better in regards to puck management.”

Both teams will make some adjustments, but Julien stressed it doesn’t matter as much what the desperate Rangers will do, but more if his Bruins play their brand of hockey.

CBS New York: Banged-Up Lundqvist Ready To Go In Game 3

“I think it’s what we expect from ourselves. That’s the thing, we always worry about the other team; we need to worry about ourselves,” he said. “When we play well, we’re a good team and we give ourselves a chance to win. It’s more about our expectations right now, that has to be the important topic for us. We need to, obviously, understand they’re going to be better. We also need to be better. We’re on the road, we don’t get the last change, so it will be a tougher situation.”

“It is a chess match, but you can’t be thinking too much on the ice,” said center Patrice Bergeron. “You have to trust your instincts and your system.”

Though Boston has the upper hand now, the series is far from over. The Rangers found themselves down 2-0 to the Washington Capitals last series before storming back to take the series in seven games. The Bruins owned a 3-1 series lead over the Maple Leafs before losing two straight and needed an amazing Game 7, third-period comeback and eventually overtime to advance.

Read: Seidenberg, Redden Travel To NY

“It’s about realizing the series is not over until you win that fourth game. We know that,” Bergeron said. “They’re going to try to bounce back, and we’re expecting them to come out really hard. We need to make sure we match that.”

Tune in to every Bruins playoff game on 98.5 The Sports Hub — the flagship station of the Boston Bruins! Pregame coverage begins 30 minutes prior to every game!

“We haven’t accomplished anything,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. “We didn’t get our work done in LA, and that put us behind the eight ball. The fact that we win Game 3, that’s great, but we still are behind in the series and the series is getting shorter. The lifeline wasn’t as long as it was in the past. We’ve just got to find a way to get even. If our intensity or urgency drops because we’ve won a single game, I would be disappointed in our group.”

After taking it easy the day after San Jose’s 2-1 win, both teams stepped up preparation on Monday in advance of Game 4 on Tuesday night at the Shark Tank.

The Kings aren’t about to feel complacent, considering they were less than 2 minutes away from losing Game 2 at home and have won just once in 10 road games since March.

“We can’t rest and just be comfortable with being a good home team,” forward Justin Williams said. “We need to be killers on the road. Coming back with a 3-1 lead is certainly something we’re going to do our darnedest to do.”

The Kings came close to getting that elusive road win in Game 3 on Saturday when they fell in overtime after being called for two penalties in the final minute of regulation to set up Logan Couture’s power-play goal in overtime.

The second of those penalties particularly irked the Kings, who contend Trevor Lewis was pushed into San Jose goalie Antti Niemi by Patrick Marleau and shouldn’t have been called for goaltender interference.

That came one game after the Sharks complained about a late delay of game call on Marc-Edouard Vlasic that gave the Kings a two-man advantage and eventually led to two goals that gave Los Angeles a 4-3 win.

The Kings look to rebound from their disappointment the same way the Sharks did from theirs.

“There’s zero momentum,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. “Once you get in the playoffs, there’s zero momentum unless somebody is way better than somebody, and as you see, nobody is. If there’s a carry-over, then you’re probably not a playoff team.”

The home teams have won all three games so far this series and both teams are undefeated at home in the postseason this year. The Sharks have been dominant all season on home ice, going 17-2-5 in the regular season that included two wins over Los Angeles.

The biggest reason for the home success has been a potent power play that has been far more efficient at the Shark Tank than on the road. San Jose has scored on an NHL-best 28.4 percent of power plays at home during the regular and postseason compared to just 13.6 percent on the road.

The difference has been even more stark in the postseason where the Sharks are 8-for-20 on the power play at home and just 1-for-16 on the road, including 0-for-7 the first two games in Los Angeles. San Jose did score one goal 5 seconds after the end of a power play in Game 2 against the Kings.

Defenseman Dan Boyle said there was little difference other than the final results on the power play in Game 3, when he got the scoring started with a power-play goal 4 seconds into a man advantage early in the first period and Couture ended the game with a power-play goal in overtime.

“It’s about scoring goals,” Boyle said. “If we don’t score yesterday, you guys would be talking about how bad we are, how much we’re struggling. We had some good looks in L.A., we just didn’t put the puck in the net. The one goal we had, the penalty had just expired.

“The end of the day, you’ve just got to put the puck in the net and the first power play took, what? Three or four seconds. That’s not a good power play, that’s execution. It’s a won faceoff, it’s a guy going to the net. That’s just good execution.”

The Kings could get a boost with the potential return of forward Kyle Clifford, who has missed the past four games with an upper-body injury.

Clifford scored three of his seven regular-season goals this year against the Sharks and all three of his career playoff goals came in a six-game series against San Jose two years ago.

“He can give us that big physical, emotional lift that we can use right now,” forward Colin Fraser said. “He’s a guy that doesn’t take a shift off, and he’s hard to play against. I’ve played with him on and off for two years, and he’s a big, physical player who keeps it simple. You know what you’re going to get out of him every shift.”

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Patrick Kane scored 4:35 into the third period to pull Chicago within one. The Blackhawks celebrated as if they tied the game about a minute later, but Andrew Shaw’s goal was waved off because he was in the crease.

Datsyuk’s goal 6:46 into the final period gave the Red Wings a 3-1 lead.

The seventh-seeded Red Wings have a shot to put the top-seeded Blackhawks on the brink of elimination Thursday night in Game 4.

Detroit’s Jimmy Howard made 39 saves and Corey Crawford stopped 27 shots.

Chicago has lost consecutive games for the first time in nearly two months.

The Blackhawks began the lockout-shortened season by setting an NHL record with at least a point in their first 24 games, ended it with a league-high 77 points and avoided having a three-game losing streak during the 48-game campaign.

After a scoreless first period in a hot and steamy Joe Louis Arena, Detroit took a 2-0 lead with a pretty goal and a gritty one.

Nyquist patiently carried the puck from right to left and waited for defenseman Brent Seabrook and Crawford to sprawl out to make a shot before shooting the puck.

Miller crashed the net to stuff the puck into the net after Patrick Eaves got to his own rebound to keep pressure on Crawford. Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival started the sequence with a turnover in the Chicago end.

It was a sixth straight goal for the Red Wings, who lost the opener 4-1 and gave up the first goal of Game 2 before going on to even the series with a 4-1 victory.

Chicago escaped getting shut out when Duncan Keith lifted the puck up the ice, over and past Detroit’s defense and Kane got to it in time to beat Howard with a low shot.

Datsyuk gave the Red Wings a comfortable cushion again, getting off a wrist shot from the left side that went in and out of the net before Crawford saw it.

NOTES: Detroit coach Mike Babcock won his 77th postseason game, matching Chicago’s Joel Quenneville for the most among active coaches and trailing Pat Burns by one victory for 8th place on the NHL’s all-time list. … Chicago hasn’t given up a power play goal in its first eight playoff games, matching the 2001 St. Louis Blues for the longest such streak since 1988, according to STATS. … The Blackhawks put Viktor Stalberg back in the lineup, and scratched Daniel Carcillo, and he got shook up early in the game, missing a check and going head first into the boards.

(© 2013 by STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.)

One key factor for the Rangers is the play — and health — of goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

Lundqvist was back on the ice Monday after his rough game on Sunday, in which he also appeared to injure his left shoulder.

He was no worse for wear during and following the hour-long practice ahead of Tuesday’s Game 3 in New York.

“Everybody is sore,” he said. “It’s the playoffs. You can’t just sit out if it’s hurting a little bit.”

Lundqvist said he “landed on the ice awkwardly and it hurt a little bit” in the third period of Boston’s 5-2 win Saturday in Game 2.

“It’s under control,” Lundqvist said.

CBS BOSTON: SEIDENBERG, REDDEN TRAVELING TO NY

Before Sunday, Lundqvist hadn’t allowed five goals in 151 consecutive games, dating to a 5-2 loss at Anaheim on March 9, 2011. He also had never yielded more than three goals in any of his 31 previous games against the Bruins, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Lundqvist gave up 12 total goals in the first five games of the first-round series versus the Capitals before shutting them out in Games 6 and 7. Boston has already registered eight goals against him.

“It’s disappointing to give up five goals, but positioning-wise and reading the plays for the most part was good,” Lundqvist said. “They made some good plays, too, and then there were some unlucky bounces and screens.

“I could probably find excuses for the goals, but it’s not going to help my game. I just have to try to be better and work even harder to see pucks.”

History is hardly on the Rangers’ side. New York is 2-19 in series it trailed 0-2, and no NHL team has won consecutive series after losing the first two games.

Game 4 will also be in New York on Thursday.

“We’ve won games here,” said Rangers coach John Tortorella. “That’s what we have to do. Not win two at home, but we need to win one game at home. And that’s our total focus.”

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“I decided to just compete with my other pitches,” he said. “I know my fastball is good, my two-seamer, so I just tried to command my curve and my slider.”

Teheran pitched 8 1-3 strong innings, Dan Uggla hit a three-run homer and the Atlanta Braves won their fourth straight game with a 5-1 victory over the struggling Minnesota Twins on Monday.

Teheran (3-1) gave up five hits, one run — Josh Willingham’s homer in the ninth — and one walk. He struck out four, throwing 80 of his 123 pitches for strikes.

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez gave Teheran a chance to finish the game, but he and pitching coach Roger McDowell had agreed before the ninth that they wouldn’t let the 22-year-old go past 125 pitches.

Teheran noticed in his pregame bullpen session that he wouldn’t be able to rely too much on his change-up. He tried it against a few batters early in the game, but stuck with what was working instead of forcing the pitch on catcher Gerald Laird.

“For the experience of being out there in the ninth inning — maybe he was a little tired — but you’ve got to dig deep a little bit,” Gonzalez said. “It was good for him.”

Cory Gearrin earned his first career save by retiring pinch-hitter Oswaldo Arcia on a flyout that gave Minnesota its sixth straight loss.

The previous longest career outing for Teheran was seven innings, a mark he reached in a no-decision April 29 against Washington and a May 9 victory at San Francisco.

After rallying in the late innings to win three straight from the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend, Atlanta jumped on Twins starter Kevin Correia (4-4) early.

“He said it — his arm was dragging tonight,” Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He just couldn’t get the whip in it, couldn’t get the ball where he wanted to, I think. Normally he’s really good locating the baseball, and he was up.”

In the first, Freddie Freeman had an RBI single, and Uggla hit his eighth homer, a three-run shot, to make it 4-0.

Juan Francisco led off the fourth with a double, moved to third on Teheran’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Andrelton Simmons’ sacrifice fly RBI for a 5-0 lead.

Correia had his shortest outing in nine starts this season. In four innings, he allowed eight hits, a season-high five runs and one walk.

Correia recorded no strikeouts for the first time this year and the first time as a starter since April 29, 2012, when he and the Pittsburgh Pirates lost in Atlanta.

“I didn’t have real good command of pretty much anything, really,” Correia said. “I was kind of getting away with it there after the first. I was able to kind of weasel my way through a couple innings, I guess.”

Ryan Pressly pitched the fifth and sixth for Minnesota, allowing one walk and striking out one. Caleb Thielbar, recalled from Triple-A Rochester earlier in the day, worked the seventh and eighth, giving up a single and striking out three.

Teheran allowed a single to Justin Morneau in the first, faced the minimum in the second and gave up a leadoff single to Aaron Hicks in the third.

Morneau singled to begin the fourth and moved to second on a walk, but Teheran ended the threat with a flyout and a groundout.

Teheran, a 22-year-old in his first full season, held Minnesota to just one base runner — Willingham, who was hit by a pitch in the sixth — over the next four innings.

In his past five starts, the 22-year-old right-hander is 3-1 with a 2.41 ERA.

Teheran retired Morneau on a flyout to begin the ninth, but Willingham hit his sixth homer and Trevor Plouffe singled to end the pitcher’s night.

Luis Avilan faced the next two batters. Parmelee singled and pinch-hitter Ryan Doumit flew out before Gearrin retired Arcia.

Teheran credited Laird with helping him stay on point.

“Everything he wanted, I tried to pitch,” Teheran said. “If I did shake him, he got me to throw it where he wanted me to. I shook him like twice the whole game. I did it in the seventh inning, and he got mad at me. But I know that sometimes I get confused, and he helped me with that.”

Notes: Minnesota made its first regular-season visit to Turner Field and its first trip to Atlanta since the 1991 World Series. … The Braves announced during the game that LHP Eric O’Flaherty will undergo season-ending elbow ligament replacement surgery on Tuesday. The news wasn’t unexpected for O’Flaherty, the eighth-inning specialist who went on the disabled list Saturday with a torn ligament. … Atlanta RHP Tim Hudson, Tuesday’s scheduled starter, is 0-2 with an 11.42 ERA in his past two starts. … RHP Mike Pelfrey will pitch for Minnesota and is 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA in his past two starts. … Francisco began the game hitless in his past 10 at-bats with seven consecutive strikeouts. He finished 2 for 3 with one walk and one strikeout.

(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

So they weren’t about to ease up when they had a big lead of their own on Sunday.

Boston went ahead by two goals in the first minute of the third period, added another 12 minutes later and beat the New York Rangers 5-2 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals.

Still, the Blueshirts aren’t about to go down without a fight as the series heads to New York.

“We don’t want to lose two games here, no one does,” said Rangers coach John Tortorella. “But there’s no give in this team. There will be no give in this team. We need to go win a game. Not look anywhere else, just try to win our first home game this series.”

Just six days earlier, the Bruins became the first team to win a Game 7 after trailing by three goals in the third period. They started their comeback with less than 11 minutes left and extended their season with a 5-4 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Guys are really trying to stay focused on doing their job in the third period,” Brad Marchand said. “We know how important they are, especially after what we went through being down by a few goals. We know that it’s possible for any team to come back from any score.”

Marchand made it 4-2 with just 26 seconds gone in the third period, Milan Lucic scored at 12:39 and the Bruins worked hard the rest of the way.

“We talked about it before we went out there in the third period, and we just had to make sure that we played to win,” Boston coach Claude Julien said. “I don’t like our team when we play on our heels and we’re just trying to protect a one-goal lead. We’ve got to extend the lead and extend it even more before we even think about protecting it.”

Game 3 is Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers never led Sunday, although they tied the game quickly after each of the Bruins’ first two goals.

The second period may have been New York’s best of the series even though Johnny Boychuk’s tie-breaking goal on a 40-foot shot at 12:08 of the period got past goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who was screened by several players.

“We played a really good second,” New York’s Dan Girardi said. “The first shift of the third killed us.”

That’s when Marchand made it 4-2 with a goal similar to the one that gave the Bruins a 3-2 overtime win in the opener.

Patrice Bergeron carried the puck in deep along the right side and passed across the crease to Marchand, who had beaten Girardi and tipped it in.

“I have to be ready to defend that pass there,” Girardi said. “They didn’t have much room, but, obviously, I have to be either on the strong side blocking that or on Marchand’s stick. That really put us behind the eight-ball.”

With a two-goal lead, the Bruins remained aggressive but still clogged the middle in front of goalie Tuukka Rask when the Rangers attacked.

“We felt really good going into the third, and to have that type of goal go in — it’s just two-on-two — it hurts you,” Tortorella said. “We couldn’t generate anything, and then they’re just going to fill the middle and they’re just going to jam you.”

Boston never trailed as rookie Torey Krug scored the first goal at 5:28 of the first period before Rangers captain Ryan Callahan tied it less than three minutes later. Gregory Campbell made it 2-1 at 2:24 of the second period, and New York pulled even again 56 seconds later on Rick Nash’s goal, his first of the playoffs after he led the Rangers with 21 in the regular season.

“We didn’t play our best,” Marchand said. “I think, especially in the second period, they took it to us, but we were able to bounce back. It’s definitely a very even series.”

Not when it comes to goaltending.

Lundqvist allowed more than five goals for the first time in 152 games, including the postseason, and stopped 27 shots.

“I thought I was in position, but (there were) a couple screens and when you give up five goals you can’t be satisfied,” he said.

There’s also the matter of his left shoulder that was hit by Daniel Paille’s third-period shot. Lundqvist rubbed it after the game and said, “We’ll take a look at it.”

Rask saved 35 of 37 shots.

Still, Lundqvist won the Vezina Trophy last year and is a finalist for it this year.

“I know that I can’t let in any lead goals most nights because he is who he is,” Rask said, “but, then again it’s a team game and we’re more focused on the Rangers than any individual.”

These are the Rangers who also lost the first two games of their opening series on the road, then won the next two at home. They lost Game 5 in Washington but won the last two games behind shutouts by Lundqvist.

“We’ve done it before,” he said, “but I think we are playing a better team now so it’s going to be tough to do it.”

Ahead or behind, home or away, the Bruins plan to play with the same determination the entire game.

“You can’t take anything for granted,” Boychuk said. “It’s playoffs. Anything can happen, and sometimes a team can play better in front of their hometown.”

NOTES: The last time Lundqvist allowed more than four goals was March 9, 2011, in a 5-2 loss to Anaheim. In the next 151 games he allowed four goals just 13 times. … The Bruins played their second straight game without injured veteran defensemen Andrew Ference, Dennis Seidenberg and Wade Redden … A defenseman got a goal or an assist on each of Boston’s goals. … The margin of victory was more than two for just the second time in 26 games between the teams. … In their nine playoff games, the Rangers have scored on two of 35 power plays. They’re 0 for 7 against the Bruins.

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(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

After their performance in Game 3, it is clear the defending Stanley Cup champions still need plenty of work.

The Kings went through a short workout at their training complex Sunday after sleeping in their own beds following a 2-1 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.

Such easy travel usually isn’t possible in the spread-out Western Conference, but Game 4 isn’t until Tuesday night at the Shark Tank.

“We were home at pretty much the same time as we would coming from Staples on a regular night,” center Anze Kopitar said. “It’s a 50-minute flight, so it’s pretty quick. I think it’s good for us.”

Los Angeles’ 2-1 loss in Game 3 ended on a power-play goal after two penalty calls that angered and confused the Kings for several reasons. Yet captain Dustin Brown acknowledged the Kings have plenty of concerns beyond the officiating.

Los Angeles leads the series 2-1, but only after getting a 35-save shutout from Jonathan Quick in Game 1 and stealing Game 2 with two late power-play goals.

“We’ve got to score more than one goal,” Brown said. “I mean, Quickie is a great goalie, but at the end of the day, we need to score more than one goal for him. We haven’t done that. I think we’ve only scored one goal three times out of four away games.”

Indeed, the Kings have scored six goals in their four road playoff games this spring, half of them in a 3-2 overtime win at St. Louis. The other three road playoff games all have been 2-1 losses — and before that, Los Angeles dropped six straight road games to close the regular season, scoring nine goals in that stretch.

Robyn Regehr was whistled for hooking on a seemingly garden-variety stick play with 41.7 seconds left in regulation in Game 3, and Trevor Lewis followed him into the box with 4.5 seconds left on a goaltender interference call that had the Kings steaming. They claimed Lewis was pushed into Antti Niemi, and questioned why such a dramatic call would be made so late in a game.

The Kings killed off the 5-on-3 disadvantage, but gave up Logan Couture’s power-play game-winner. Quick, who shut out the Sharks from the opening minutes until the final buzzer, got a game misconduct for berating the officials who made the decisive call.

“Not happy, but we can’t do anything about it,” Kopitar said. “Again, it’s the position that we put ourselves into that is mind-boggling. It’s not the way we want to play and be in that situation. We came close to killing it off, but we’ve said it all along, you can’t give them too many opportunities, because they will score, and they did.”

The Kings have demonstrated they know how to regroup after a playoff loss. After dropping the first two games of the postseason in St. Louis, they responded with six straight victories.

The Sharks also present a challenge similar to the Blues in their desire to attack Quick with a high volume of shots. St. Louis outshot Los Angeles in four of the six games, and the Kings have been soundly outshot by San Jose in the current series — but with Quick in top form, the numbers haven’t beaten Los Angeles.

San Jose also has revived its dominant power play, which produced both of its goals in Game 3 after the Kings shut out the Sharks in the first two games at Staples Center.

“Especially when the Conn Smythe winner (is) on the defending champion team, I’m going to assume if I was coaching against them, that I’m going to say, `Shoot lots, and get as much traffic as you can,”‘ Sutter said. “So I think San Jose has that mindset, as St. Louis did last series. You’re trying to get your team to shoot more, and you’re trying to get players to go to the net more.”

(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Daniel Alfredsson of the Ottawa Senators and Dustin Brown of the Los Angeles Kings are the other finalists.

Former NHL star Mark Messier determines the winner of the award. He solicits suggestions from from club and NHL personnel and fans to come up with the finalists and then makes a final decision on the winner.

The following is the explanation of Toews’ nomination as provided by the award:

Toews was named captain of the Blackhawks in 2008 when he was just 20-years-old, making him the third-youngest captain in NHL history at the time. While his leadership on the ice is undisputed, his role off the ice with various children’s charitable causes makes him an undeniable role model to fans. In his spare time, Toews volunteers to grant wishes through the Make-A-Wish Foundation and visits with patients at the local children’s hospital and Chicago’s Misericordia. Last fall, he returned home to join the Winnipeg Patrolmen Hockey Club and other NHL players for the “Goals for Dreams Hockey Challenge,” which helped raise $80,000 for the Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Dream Factory, a charity that grants dreams for critically and chronically ill children.

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings got much younger this year, rebuilding with rookies and prospects pushed onto the ice.

For much of the lockout-delayed season, it didn’t look good for them.

The storied franchise used to chase Stanley Cup titles with key players in their late 30s and 40s such as Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Larry Murphy.

Not anymore.

As the Chicago Blackhawks are now finding out, the Red Wings are much better than they were during the regular season thanks to an improved cast of inexperienced players.

“We’ve had great growth from within, I think the most since I’ve been in the National Hockey League for sure,” Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said Sunday. “That may be because we have a different type of team. We got a whole bunch of kids, so we have a chance for growth.”

Red Wings rookie Brendan Smith scored the winning goal Saturday in Detroit’s 4-1 win at Chicago that tied the series 1-1. The top-seeded Blackhawks won the opener by the same 4-1 score.

“We knew they were going to come back and play much better than they did in Game 1,” Chicago captain Jonathan Toews said. “Obviously, we didn’t quite match the effort.”

When the puck drops Monday night in Detroit for Game 3, Toews hopes his team is ready to bounce back.

“There’s no time to waste in this series,” Toews said. “We know going into their building it’s even more difficult.”

It will be even more challenging for Chicago if Toews can’t produce as he did in the 48-game regular season.

Toews had 23 goals, tying Patrick Kane for the team lead and trailing just four players in the league. However, he is struggling to score for a third straight postseason.

Toews is in an eight-game playoff slump that dates to last year. He has just three goals combined in three postseasons since scoring seven goals to help Chicago win the Cup in 2010. He had seven goals the previous postseason — his first — when Detroit eliminated the Blackhawks in the Western Conference finals.

Henrik Zetterberg had a lot to do with holding Toews without a point in Game 2, an accomplishment that didn’t surprise Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard.

“Most nights, he’s the best player on the ice,” Howard said. “No different from (Saturday), the way he was all over Toews the whole game, shutting him down. We’re going to need that for the whole series.”

The Red Wings would also benefit if their inexperienced players figure out a way to avoid fading into the background.

Before Smith’s go-ahead goal on Saturday, first-year player Damien Brunner and rookie Gustav Nyquist also scored winning goals this postseason — in overtime against Anaheim. Teammate Joakim Andersson ranks among rookie scoring leaders.

The 27-year-old Brunner, too old to be a candidate for the Calder Trophy given to the rookie of the year, has followed up a 26-point regular season with four goals in the playoffs to match Johan Franzen for the team lead. He also has three assists.

Calder finalist Brandon Saad has only one assist in seven postseason games for the Blackhawks. The 20-year-old forward had 27 points during the regular season.

Brunner has insisted it doesn’t bother him to be out of the running for the Calder, and sounded even more thankful on Sunday that he waited to make the jump from the Swiss League.

The 5-foot-11, 184-pound forward was banged around on the ice quite a bit and had growing pains off it, dealing with a lot of travel after his longest trip last year was a 2½-hour bus ride.

“You kind of think it’s not that big of a deal when you come over, but after a couple trips and the hours you lose, especially when you come back home, it’s tough,” Brunner said. “It’s really tough.”

While Babcock’s job behind the bench was tougher this year than it had been the past seven seasons with veteran-filled rosters, he relished the opportunity to lead the young Red Wings.

“It’s the most fun I’ve had coaching in a couple years, by far, just because we have a real enthusiastic group,” Babcock said. “At the start of the year, we weren’t a good team. We all understood that, but we buckled down and we got better. It’s been fun for us. If you would have asked me before the playoffs, I would’ve told you the same thing. Then suddenly you have a little success in the playoffs — and it’s more fun.”

___

Follow Larry Lage on Twitter: http://twitter.com/larrylage

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After Game 2, Henrik might be in for some tossing and turning after experiencing some serious déjà vu.

Early in the third period, with the Bruins leading 3-2, Patrice Bergeron won the opening faceoff and shortly afterwards carried the puck on a 2-on-2 rush up the ice. With Marchand driving to the net, Bergeron carried the puck to the corner of the rink, drawing Michael Del Zotto with him before sending a pass to the front of the crease. Marchand, able to fight through Dan Girardi, got his tape on the puck and redirected it just under Lundqvist’s right pad.

The goal made the score 4-2 in favor of the Bruins with 19:34 left in the game, so it wasn’t quite the back-breaker that Thursday’s overtime goal was. Yet the goal appeared to crush New York’s hopes of clawing back, a thought completely eliminated 12 minutes later when Milan Lucic scored to give the Bruins a 5-2 lead. The rout was on, and while Lundqvist was a bit cryptic with his postgame comments, he seemed to confirm suspicions that the Rangers were taken off their game in the third period.

“We gave it to them,” Lundqvist said after the game, before repeating himself. “We gave it to them. I thought we played great, [but] I don’t think they had to work really hard to get a couple goals there. We just made it really tough on ourselves, so we have to correct a few things and go home and turn this around. It doesn’t matter the score — it’s a loss. Overtime or 5-2, doesn’t matter.”

The bottom line is that the final score doesn’t matter, but in a series predicated on defense and goaltending, the dynamic certainly shifts now. After an imperfect but respectable performance by Lundqvist in Game 1 (45 saves on 48 shots), the safe bet was for a monster performance in Game 2. Instead, he allowed five goals, the first time he’s done that in any game since March 9, 2011, and the first time he’s done it in a postseason game since April 26, 2009. His save percentage in the series now sits at .900, his goals-against average at 3.54. His regular-season numbers? A .926 save percentage and 2.05 GAA.

Despite the outcome, the Rangers won’t panic. Head coach John Tortorella said flatly, “I’m not evaluating our goaltending. I don’t need to evaluate Henrik. We know what Henrik is.”

And, really, the five goals don’t all fall on Lundqvist’s shoulders. Dan Girardi screened the goalie on Torey Krug’s shot, which opened the game’s scoring, and Girardi later kicked a Krug shot right to Gregory Campbell in front of the net for the second Bruins’ goal. Girardi again screened Lundqvist on Johnny Boychuk’s goal, the eventual game-winner, and he failed to break up the pass from Bergeron to Marchand early in the third. The icing on the cake for Girardi came when he made a decent play to drop to the ice to break up a pass, but ended up sliding out of the way and allowing Lucic to easily score the fifth goal. If anyone had a nightmare game, it was most certainly No. 5 in white, not No. 30.

Lundqvist also looked to be suffering through some sort of pain in the third period, and he later confirmed he had some sort of shoulder injury that would require a look from the team’s medical staff.

Excuses beyond his control were there for Lundqvist, and he certainly cashed in on the opportunity to make them, but he is not supposed to be just any goalie. The reigning Vezina winner and almost-unanimous best goalie in the sport should be able to rise to the challenge of playoff hockey and come through with saves no matter the circumstance — maybe not all of them, but at least one of them. That’s what it takes to get through the postseason and win a Cup for a team dependent on defense, and the last two Conn Smythe winners are proof of that.

For the last two games in Boston, dozens of reporters, microphones and cameras crowded around Lundqvist’s locker stall, because he is the superstar, and he is the “king.” His hat with the number 30 inside a crown, which he wore after the 5-2 loss, was there to remind everyone of that.

But one more game from Lundqvist where the king plays like just another goalie, and this series is going to be a lot shorter than most everyone anticipated.

Read more from Michael by clicking here, or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.

The move was made Monday before Minnesota’s game at Atlanta. The 26-year-old Thielbar is a native of Randolph, Minn., about 40 miles south of Minneapolis.

Two seasons ago, Thielbar became the first player from the independent league St. Paul Saints to have his contract purchased by the Twins. Thielbar had a 3.76 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 26 1-3 innings in relief this season for Rochester.

Hernandez had a 5.85 ERA. In four starts this month, he allowed 30 hits, 17 runs and four homers over 17 innings.

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Minnesota announced the completion of the transfer on Monday. Smith is following coach Richard Pitino to the Golden Gophers. He averaged 14.1 points per game as a junior starter for FIU last season. He will be eligible to play right away because FIU will be banned from postseason play next season thanks to poor academic performance under previous coach Isaiah Thomas.

Smith hit 96 3-pointers last season. His average of 3.0 3s made per game ranked 16th nationally.

Smith joins guards Deandre Mathieu and Daquein McNeil as members of Pitino’s first recruiting class at Minnesota.

Guard Joe Coleman has announced his intention to transfer and forwards Rodney Williams and Trevor Mbakwe have graduated.

“It was a pleasure to coach Malik last season at FIU and I am excited that he has decided to join the Golden Gopher program,” said head coach Richard Pitino. “His knowledge of our program on and off the court will be invaluable as we start to integrate our system here at Minnesota.”

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

At the request of Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration, the Legislature is temporarily rerouting money from a new cigarette tax and from a corporate tax to backfill a lagging stadium fund.

The fix is part of a giant tax plan on course for final legislative approval. The House signed off early Monday.

Last year, lawmakers authorized a new form of gambling to cover debt on the state’s $398 million stadium share. But those games have failed to take off as hoped, leaving some worried as a summer bond sale approaches.

Republicans say Dayton is breaking a promise that the stadium wouldn’t be paid with general treasury dollars. Dayton has said he’s making sure the stadium project doesn’t fail.

Construction begins this fall.

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“It’s tough to win a ballgame when you don’t have any clutch hits,” Chris Parmelee said after the Twins lost to the Boston Red Sox 5-1 on Sunday in a game interrupted by a three-hour rain delay — the longest ever at Target Field.

Minnesota managed only a single hit against Red Sox starter John Lackey (2-4). Dustin Pedroia and Will Middlebrooks homered for Boston, which won its fifth straight.

Pedro Hernandez (2-1) gave up three runs on a season-high nine hits — including Middlebrooks’s solo homer in the second — in 4 1-3 innings.

“We need innings and we didn’t get it,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He managed to keep the score at a pace where at least we had a chance, but it wasn’t a great performance by any means.”

The home crowd, in fact, cheered more during the rain delay while watching the 1993 baseball movie “The Sandlot” on the Target Field big screen. Afterward, the few hundred fans who stuck out the delay cheered as loud as they could when Joe Mauer came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth.

The cheers quickly turned to groans as Mauer struck out swinging for the third time, ending his AL-leading 15-game hit streak. The Twins finished their latest homestand 2-7.

“It’s been a tough one, it’s not the way we wanted it to go,” Parmelee said. “But you can’t take it back now, you just have to move forward.”

Lackey (2-4) ended his three-game losing streak by giving up one unearned run and striking out five before dark skies and heavy rain sent fans running for cover as he was warming up to start the seventh.

“It’s tough,” Parmelee said “You’re sitting down, you’re trying to stay as loose as possible. You don’t really know when the rain’s going to let up or when you’re going to be able to get back out there.”

The Twins were 18-17 after beating the Chicago White Sox 10-3 last Monday and were only a couple games out of first place. Since then, they’ve been outscored 33-14.

Lackey was perfect through four innings before Trevor Plouffe led off the fifth with a double. He eventually came around to score — although the Red Sox helped out with that when Lackey hit Oswaldo Arcia in the foot, and shortstop Pedro Ciriaco’s errant throw to first allowed Plouffe to make it 3-1.

Josh Roenicke relieved Hernandez with one out and the bases loaded in the fifth, and got Middlebrooks on a popup and Jarrod Saltalamacchia on a grounder to get keep the Red Sox from doing any more damage.

NOTES: Red Sox reliever Andrew Bailey threw 17 pitches in one inning of a rehab appearance at Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday night. Manager John Farrell said Bailey — on the DL since May 6 with a right bicep strain — is on track to be activated on Monday. … Franklin Morales, on the DL since March 31 wish a low back strain, started the game for Pawtucket and allowed five runs in four innings. He’s expected to make at least one more rehab start. … Boston SS Stephen Drew missed his second straight game with a sore back. … Patrick Renna and Chauncey Leopardi, aka “Ham” and “Squints” from “The Sandlot,” visited Gardenhire in his office before the game. “The players wondered what we did wrong to get summoned to the manager’s office,” Renna said. … Jon Lester (6-0, 2.72 ERA) starts on Monday as the Red Sox begin a three-game series in Chicago against the White Sox. Dylan Axelrod (1-3, 4.27) is scheduled to start for Chicago. … Kevin Correia (4-3, 3.35) starts for Minnesota as the Twins kick off a nine-game road trip against Atlanta on Monday. Julio Teheran (2-1, 4.57) starts for the Braves.

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It’s all about crashing in this week’s That Thing You Missed.  Jake “The Snake” Roberts crashes and burns while singing at a Braves game, Bryce Harper crashes into the wall, Manny is being Manny in Taiwan, an undergrad crashes into a catcher and Dwyane Wade crashes a prom. 

It just looks that way every time he crushes another ball into the Target Field seats.

Ortiz homered twice and drove in six runs to torment his former team once again, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 12-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night.

“It used to be,” Ortiz said when asked if there was extra motivation when he played the Twins. “Not anymore. I just go about my business. I try to hit the moon every time I go to hit anywhere. It’s not new.”

Dustin Pedroia had two hits, two walks and an RBI, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. Daniel Nava also went deep for the Red Sox, who have won four straight following a slide in which they had lost 10 of 14.

Scott Diamond (3-4) gave up six runs on eight hits and walked three in 4 1-3 innings for the Twins, who have lost four in a row to fall into last place in the AL Central. Pedro Florimon had two hits and two RBIs and Joe Mauer extended his hitting streak to 15 games with two hits.

Craig Breslow (1-0) pitched 1 2-3 innings of scoreless relief for the win. Ortiz also had a single and a walk, raising his batting average to .362 in a game that lasted 3 hours, 53 minutes.

“His performance is as good as you’re going to find in the league right now,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said.

Twins general manager Terry Ryan has long been one of the most respected executives in the game. But one of his biggest mistakes came in 2002 when he released Ortiz, who had just appeared to start putting things together in his sixth big league season. The move is still haunting Ryan and the Twins 11 years later.

Ortiz signed with the Red Sox, and promptly blossomed into one of the most feared hitters in the American League, a central figure in Boston’s two World Series championships and the kind of slugger the Twins have been searching for ever since. He wears No. 34 in honor of the late Kirby Puckett and seems to take particular delight in hammering his former team.

Ortiz is 19 for 37 with five homers and 16 RBIs at Target Field.

“The one guy we say don’t let beat us is David Ortiz,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “They’ve got a lot of really good hitters over there, but we told them to stay away from this guy, don’t give in to him. And he keeps sending souvenirs.”

Diamond labored from the start, falling behind 3-0 after 19 pitches. Ortiz jumped on a flat slider and drove it into the seats in right-center field for his sixth homer of the season.

Red Sox starter Ryan Dempster wasn’t much better. He walked four hitters in the second and third innings to load the bases in both frames, but the right-hander got Mauer to chase a breaking ball down and away to escape in the second and then got Aaron Hicks to fly out to deep right field to end the third.

Dempster needed a staggering 127 pitches to get through just 4 2-3 innings. He gave up five runs on eight hits and walked six.

“I just couldn’t get consistency with any of my pitches,” Dempster said. “I kept missing away with it. I really didn’t have any of my pitches tonight.”

Down 7-5 in the sixth, the Twins loaded the bases again. But Pedroia made a nifty over-the-shoulder catch in shallow right field, then whirled and easily threw out Ryan Doumit at home on a major base-running blunder.

Ortiz and Nava busted the game open with two-run homers in the seventh, giving Ortiz his 40th career multi-homer game.

“He’s swinging the bat great right now,” Pedroia said. “Everything he hits is hard. He looks great up there.”

NOTES: The Red Sox played without OFs Shane Victorino and Stephen Drew because of back injuries. Farrell said both were hopeful of playing on Sunday. … Mauer returned to the lineup after missing Friday night with a stiff back. … Diamond and Dempster were facing each other for the second time this season, becoming the first pair of Canadian starters to meet more than once in a season since at least 1920, according to the Red Sox. … The Twins will send LHP Pedro Hernandez (2-0, 5.79) to the mound on Sunday for the finale against Boston RHP John Lackey (1-4, 4.05). Lackey is looking to bounce back from a poor start against Tampa Bay, when he gave up five runs in 4 1-3 innings.

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