Month: October 2015

Levi’s massacre: 49ers get their pants pulled down by the Seahawks again in 20-3 loss

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Lockett lunge

By Morris Phillips

Three points, 142 yards in total offense.  Ouch!

The 49ers took a step back in a lackluster, 20-3 loss to the Seahawks.  A big step back offensively.

Colin Kaepernick had an eventless night once three points are added, and six sacks are subtracted.  Coming off Sunday’s win over the Ravens and the previous Sunday’s second half-rally against the Giants, more was expected.  The Seahawks’ defensive front, however, offered less.

“It’s hard for me to say right now exactly what it was,” Joe Staley said of the 49ers’ protection issues that gave Kaepernick little time to throw, let alone create downfield plays.  “We have to win our one-on-one matchups.  That’s what we’re here to do, that’s what we’re paid to do, and we have to do a better job.”

“They dominated tonight,” Seattle’s Luke Willson said of his team’s defense.  “It’s contagious.  When you see them out there, they shut them down completely.  I thought they were fortunate to get three points to be honest.”

Seattle drew first blood on their opening drive of the night as Marshawn Lynch capped a 12-play drive with a one-yard touchdown run.  Lynch’s biggest issue?  A troubled stomach prior to the game resulted in him throwing up on the sideline during the first quarter.  After that Lynch’s stomach settled down, and his game kicked in.  In his best game of what’s so far been an injury-marred campaign, Lynch ran for 122 yards, his best effort and first 100-yard game since February’s Super Bowl loss to the Patriots.

Lynch’s physical, pile-moving effort left little doubt regarding where the intensity lied in Thursday’s game.  The 49ers were outmatched at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.  San Francisco trailed 17-0 at the half, then settled for a shutout-avoiding Phil Dawson field goal in the final two minutes of the third quarter.  The Levi’s Stadium crowd never got involved, the 49ers’ lackluster play had a lot to do with that.

The 49ers have now gone the previous nine matchups with Seattle without scoring at least 20 points.  Kaepernick fell to 1-6 against the Seahawks as a starter.  In terms of growth from last year’s encounter with their rival from the north, there was none.  On Thanksgiving, the 49ers fell behind 13-0 at the half, and lost 19-3.  The scores of the two games—Thanksgiving of last year which prompted a written apology from owner Jed York, and Thursday’s lopsided affair—would support the contention that the 49ers have made up little ground.

Both teams entered Thursday with 2-4 records.  The 49ers fell for the fifth time in their last six games and now occupy the cellar in the NFC West.  The Seahawks improved to 3-4 with a trip to Dallas next in 10 days from Thursday.  Could the win be a turning point for Seattle, which has plagued by fourth quarter letdowns this season?

“It gets us back on track knowing that we’re the team we always knew we were,” linebacker Bruce Irvin said.  “We didn’t finish the last couple of weeks and this week we did a great job of keep pressing, keep pressing.  We kept our foot on the gas the entire game until the clock hit triple zeros at the end.”

Irvin, Cliff Avril and Seattle sack artist Michael Bennett were the 49ers’ biggest problems offensively.  Bennett won repeated matchups with 49ers’ guard Jordan Devey and registered three-and-a-half sacks.  Avril added another sack, and a tackle for a loss of yardage.  The 49ers had just 21 minutes time of possession and managed just eight first downs.  But that wasn’t a new development: the 49ers have failed to record double-digit first downs in three of their six games.

On nine of their first 11 possessions, the 49ers were forced to punt.

Is there an attainable goal for a team that has now lost 8 of its last 11 regular season games dating back to 2014?  Afterwards, head coach Jim Tomsula sounded resolute that his team would finish this season battling.

“As long as there’s a chance to make the playoffs, we’re going to fight like crazy to get to the playoffs,” Tomsula vowed.

The 49ers take a needed 10-day break before traveling to St. Louis to take on the Rams on November 1.

Warriors end preseason with a bang

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By Pearl Allison Lo

~ Golden State followed up their worst preseason loss with their biggest preseason margin, win or lose, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday in the teams’ preseason finale, 136-97, at the Honda Center.

It was a much different game than Los Angeles’s last game and the shortened game the last time the teams met on Saturday.

The Warriors’ Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry led all with 24 points apiece, Harrison Barnes just behind with 23 points. Golden State outscored Los Angeles each quarter, the biggest being the third, where the points margin was 16. The Warriors also outrebounded the Lakers, 57-34.

Lou Williams, who had not played since October 13, led the Lakers with 19 points, which made it double digits in all his preseason appearances. It was the fourth time Williams led his team in points. Los Angeles was again without Kobe Bryant.

There was only one tie, the second shot of the game and Los Angeles’s first. The Lakers had the lead for 42 seconds until Curry’s first three of the game, which came with 9:37 left in the first period. Curry had three three’s in the period, as he scored his most in the first quarter, with 11 points. Barnes also scored a tie for his most in the quarter, just behind Curry with 10 points.  Los Angeles almost went to the free throw line as often as they scored from the field in the first. Williams and Ryan Kelly each scored eight points apiece for the Lakers.

In the second, Golden State started with a 6-0 run as Los Angeles did not score until 9:44 remaining in the half. Two turnovers by the Lakers’ Julius Randle eventually led to jump shots by Leandro Barbosa. The Warriors also had an 8-1 run and during an 8-0 run, with 6:17 left in the half, Los Angeles Coach Byron Scott, made five substitutions. Clarkson left during then due to injury and did not return.   

Curry got a technical and Scott made another four substitutions with 6:14 left in the third. Golden State went on a 10-0 run with 2:36 left thanks to three’s by Curry and Barnes. Five rebounds, two apiece for Marreese Speights and Barnes, led to the other four points.

The Lakers went a span of over five minutes without a field goal. It went from 2:49 left in the third to 9:26 left in the game. Scott made his final round of substitutions, five, with 5:46 remaining. The Warriors’ Chris Babb, who entered in the fourth quarter, scored five points in eight minutes as he made the final two shots for Golden State, a jump shot with 59 seconds left and a three with 13.6 seconds left.

Game notes: Harrison led all with five three pointers. Thompson and Curry had four apiece. Barnes and Thompson shot 9 of 12 and Curry shot 9 of 14 from the field. Curry also led all with 10 assists and four steals. Los Angeles’s Roy Hibbert led all with 10 rebounds. The Warriors’ Jason Thompson was the only player not to score in the game. Golden State kicks off the regular season Tuesday, when they face the New Orleans Pelicans at 7:30pm.

Sluggish Cal Bears drop second straight in loss to Bruins

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment
The Bruins ran all over the Bears on Thursday night (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
The Bruins ran all over the Bears on Thursday night (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

By: Eric He

PASADENA, Calif. — The danger of relying on a high-octane offense to win games is that sometimes, that offense inexplicably fails to produce enough points.

Such was the case for the No. 20 Cal Bears on Thursday night as they were routed 40-24 by the unranked UCLA Bruins in front of 57,026 at the Rose Bowl.

Jared Goff, who has put himself in the Heisman Trophy conversation with an excellent season thus far, was thoroughly outplayed by UCLA’s freshman quarterback Josh Rosen despite the Bruins missing three all-conference candidates on defense and giving up 124 points in their past three games.

Rosen threw for nearly 400 yards, completing 34 of 47 passes for three touchdowns. Goff, meanwhile, had 295 yards and also threw for three touchdowns, but completed just 32 of 53 passes.

“You’ve got to give UCLA a lot of credit,” said head coach Sonny Dykes. “They came out and played a very aggressive, physical brand of football. Obviously, we didn’t perform as well as we needed to. We had 12 days to prepare and we didn’t do a very good job getting our guys ready to play. We never got into a flow.”

No Cal wide receiver or running back had more than 63 yards of offense, while UCLA had two receivers reach the century mark – Thomas Duarte and Kevin Fuller, who combined to catch three Bruins’ touchdowns.

Goff attributed the struggles to not being able to establish the run. Cal finished with just 131 yards on the ground.

“When you can’t run the ball effectively, it doesn’t help,” said Goff. “In order to set up the pass game, you have to run the ball and we weren’t able to do that as well as we would like to.”

With a two-score lead at halftime, the Bruins blew the game wide open in the third quarter. Right out of the half, UCLA took under three minutes to march 80 yards down the field and find the end zone on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Rosen to Fuller to take a 33-10 lead.

After the Bears kept themselves alive with a touchdown drive, the Bruins responded with a heavy dose of Jomabo, whose one-yard touchdown gave UCLA 40 points on the night.

“We just didn’t do a good job of getting off the field,” said Dykes. “Throughout the game, we had opportunities to intercept passes. Against good football teams, we have to make those. We didn’t do a good job of keeping [Rosen] hemmed in. We broke tackles, we lost contain. Things we haven’t done all year, we did tonight.

“We’ve tackled well this year. We did not tackle well early in the ball game. We didn’t play physical on offense or defense. We’ve got to get back to playing physical football.”

The two teams traded field goals on their respective opening drives, with Cal’s first possession stalling inside the Bruins’ 10-yard line.

UCLA jumped ahead with the game’s first touchdown late in the quarter when Rosen and the Bruins advanced rapidly down the field on a 13-play, 70-yard drive. Rosen found a wide-open Duarte in the right corner of the end zone to give UCLA a 10-3 lead after the first quarter.

The Bruins extended the lead on their first drive of the second quarter. Rosen again marched UCLA down the field with a 90-yard, 10-play drive that took just three and a half minutes. A 23-yard catch and run by Soso Jamabo, who had all kinds of room down the left side, set up a 19-yard touchdown pass to Devin Fuller for a 17-3 Bruins advantage.

“We had too many missed tackles, too many lost leverages, too many missed assignments and misalignments,” said linebacker Hardy Nickerson.

He continued: “[Rosen] was doing a lot of play fakes and passes. He read us well. He played very well.”

A failed fake punt attempt on the ensuing by the Bears added insult to injury, with the Bruins taking over at the Cal 29-yard line and adding on another field goal.

Cal finally found its offense late in the half. Golf broke a string of five consecutive incompletions with a 36-yard completion to Darius Powe down to the UCLA four-yard line. On second and goal, Kenny Lawler made a tremendous leaping catch for a one-yard touchdown.

But Bruins’ placekicker Ka’imi Fairbairn, who made four field goals in the first half alone, nailed a 60-yard kick to end the half and give UCLA a 26-10 lead.

After a competitive loss to No. 3 Utah last game, the Bears were playing from behind all night long Thursday. Two straight losses will likely drop their ranking and set them back in the Pac-12 standings, but given the volatile conference, they are far from out of contention for the Pac-12 championship game.

Cal will head back home and prepare for USC next Saturday, and they promise they will put on a better performance.

“Every week’s a different challenge,” said Dykes. “Our guys are hurt and not happy with the way we performed. We’ll come back with better sense of purpose and we’ll play well against USC.”

Added Goff: “We’re going to fix it. I promise you we’re going to fix it. It’s going to be a different team Saturday.”

Cal has dropped 11 straight games to USC and is 30-67-5 all-time against the Trojans.

The Los Angeles Kings skate past the Sharks

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by Jerry Feitelberg

 

SAN JOSE–The Sharks returned home to San Jose to face the Los Angeles Kings Thursday night. The Sharks beat the Kings 5-1 opening night in LA and tonight’s game was the second meeting of the two teams. The Kings were in control and dominated play. They won by a final score of 4-1. The Sharks won their first four games of the season but have now lost three in a row. The Kings improved to 3-3 and were just two points behind the Sharks and the Vancouver Canucks for first place in the Pacific Division.   Sharks goalie Martin Jones lost his second game of the year. Kings goalie Jhonas Enroth made his first start for the Kings and improved his record to 4-0-0 against the Sharks lifetime. The Sharks couldn’t beat him when he was with Buffalo, and they could not beat him as an LA King either. The scoring summary follows below.

The Kings put one on the board with 8:23 left in the first period, Tyler Toffoli scored his fourth goal of the season. He was assisted by Alex Martinez and Jeff Carter. Toffoli had control of the puck deep in the Sharks end and was able to poke the puck into the corner of the net for the score. The Sharks went on the power play a few seconds later when the Kings’ Jordan Nolan was called for roughing. The Kings’ penalty kill was effective as they kept the Sharks from mounting a scoring threat. The Sharks went on their second power play of the first period when Milan Lucic was also called for roughing. The Kings killed off the penalty again. Joe Thornton took a hard hit and had trouble with his balance. He left the ice and went to the Sharks’ locker room for an exam. The Kings went on a power play with 1:30 left in the period. Tommy Wingels went to the penalty box for hooking. LA scored with 27.2 seconds left to take a 2-0 lead. Milan Lucic scored his first goal of the year and his first as a Los Angeles King. Christian Ehrhoff and Jeff Carter assisted on the play. The Sharks had eighteen shots on goal compared to the Kings’ eight but LA leads 2-0

The Kings took a 3-0 lead at the 3:16 mark of the second period. Jeff Carter scored his first goal of the year and third point of the night on a one-timer for the tally. Drew Doughty picked up the assist on the play. The Sharks challenged the call, but the referees ruled it was a good goal. With 5:53 played, the Sharks were called for a 2-minute penalty for too many men on the ice. The Sharks did a good job, this time, killing the penalty. The Kings have another power play at the 12:29 mark. The man-advantage lasted 27 seconds when Alex Martinez was called for tripping. It will be four-on-four for a minute and thirty-four seconds. The Sharks still cannot mount an attack. They had a chance but Kings’ goalie Jhonas Enroth made a chest-high save to thwart the attempt. The Sharks finally scored at the 15:06 mark of the second period. Joe Pavelski, from behind the Kings’ net, sent the puck out to Joel Ward. Ward sent it past Enroth for the score. Assists go to Pavelski and Brendon Dillon. The Sharks went on a power play when Jaime McBain was called for interference. The Sharks have a two-man advantage for 33 seconds as Brayden McNabb was called for cross-checking. The Sharks failed again on the power play. The Kings have a 3-1 lead after two periods of play. Sharks continue to lead in the shots on goal category 30-19.

The Kings scored on a power play just six seconds after Mike Brown went to the penalty box for interference. Jeff Carter scored his second goal of the night and second goal of the season. Carter also had two assists in the game. The goal was unassisted. Sharks’ goalie Martin Jones had trouble handling the puck, and it squirted just over the goal line for the tally. The Kings lead 4- 1 with a little over ten minutes left in the game.  The Sharks couldn’t score, and the game ended 4-1 in favor of LA.

Notes- Attendance at the Shark Tank was 16,797. The Sharks meet the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday night at the SAP Center in San Jose at 7:30 pm.

Raiders take on Chargers in key divisional game in San Diego

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — With the bye week in the rear view mirror, it’s time for the Raiders to get back to the business of football. And business begins in San Diego Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT against the Chargers. Both Oakland (2-3) and San Diego (2-4) are jockeying for position in the AFC West as they’re trying to keep pace with the division-leading and undefeated, Denver Broncos (6-0).

Oakland’s 26th ranked defense will have to contend with Chargers’ quarterback Philip Rivers, who was a passing machine in San Diego’s 27-20 loss in Green Bay in Week 6.

Rivers, who set career highs for completions (43, is also the most completions in a loss in  NFL history), passing attempts (65), and passing yards (503) to go along with two touchdowns, just couldn’t engineer the Chargers to victory against the Packers. Rivers and the Chargers were stopped by Green Bay on fourth-and-goal with 15 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.

In six games, Rivers is the NFL leader in passing yards with 2,116 and touchdown passes with 12. His 70.0 percent completion percentage is just .6  behind league leader Tom Brady (70.6) for quarterbacks with at least 150 passing attempts.

Rivers’s gunslinger mentality can get him into trouble, as his five interceptions can attest, three of which have been returned for touchdowns, a league-high.

San Diego boasts the NFL’s top ranked offense in total yards at 433 yards per game, and passing yards at 349 yards per game, thanks in large part to the return of perennial All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates.

Gates, who missed the first four games of the season due to performance-enhancing drugs, has been on a tear the past two games. The future Hall of Famer (in my honest opinion), has 18 catches for 187 yards and two touchdowns. The Raiders have had a penchant for allowing tight ends to have big games on them.

Gates is the one tight end that the Raiders can’t afford running down field freely on Sunday. In 24 career games against Oakland, Gates has 96 catches for 1,273 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.

Those are numbers that some guys have in an season.

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (1,171 passing yards, eight touchdowns, and three interceptions; 93.9 passer rating) and his pair of standout wide receivers in rookie Amari Cooper (28 catches, 386 receiving yards, and two touchdowns) and Michael Crabtree (27 catches, 318 receiving yards, and one touchdown) will face a much improved Chargers defense that ranks seventh against the pass, just yielding 222 yards per game this season.

Carr has been able to stay relatively healthy all season, thanks in large part to a quality offensive line that has taken all 341 snaps together. The second-year signal caller is the 30th-least pressured quarterback (25.9% of his dropbacks) according to Pro Football Focus resulting in just seven sacks surrendered by offensive line coach Mike Tice’s crew.

San Diego has just 11 sacks as a unit this year, ranking 18th in the NFL.

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: Niners hoping to regain something back after last Thanksgiving meeting with Seahawks

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by David Zizmor

SANTA CLARA–The last time the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers met was on Thanksgiving day 2014 and both teams at that time were 7-4. You might remember the Niners were in a decent position at that point in the season. Then everything fell apart for the Niners and they finished the season 8-8 partly because of some negative momentum from that game where the Seahawks simply dominated them.

The Seahawks embarrassed the Niners in that game defeating them by a score of 19-3 on their home turf on a nationally televised game on Thanksgiving night. It was pretty rough and it caused a downward spiral for the worst things to happen to the 49ers as far as what took place on the field.

This year both teams come into Levis Stadium at 2-4, the Niners are coming off a win against Baltimore however the Ravens are struggling this season and their a lousy team this season and can the 49ers take much away from that victory. The Seahawks are coming off another fourth quarter collapse this time against the Carolina Panthers in Seattle where the Seahawks typically do not lose. It’s the Seahawks and 49ers tonight for another edition of Thursday Night Football in what might turn out to be a very close game.

Catch the rest of David’s commentary on the 49ers on today’s podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

photo credit google images NFL Thursday Night Football

Can the 49ers Turn Things Around Against the Seahawks

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By: Joe Lami

The San Francisco 49ers (2-4) are coming off a short week this week as they take on the Seattle Seahawks also (2-4) on Thursday Night Football. The 49ers are coming off arguably their best game of the season, as they were able to piece together a passing game. Even though last week’s win over the Baltimore Ravens came down to the last play, the 49ers are looking to build up steam.

No one would have that at the beginning of this year that both the 49ers and Seahawks would have been 2-4, but they are making this a vital matchup in the NFC West. The winner can pull within striking distance of the Arizona Cardinals. A win would mark a season turn around for either club.

Quarterback, Colin Kaepernick is coming off of a week where he threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns. The 49ers were also able to get the long ball working, as he found Torrey Smith on a deep strike touchdown against the Ravens. Now the Seahawks defense is nowhere close to being as horrendous as the Ravens, and it should be a real test for the 49ers.

Seattle comes into the contest winless on the road while San Francisco is 2-1 at Levi’s Stadium. The 49ers will seek revenge on Seattle, since the last time the Seahawks visited Levi’s they embarrassed the Niners on Thanksgiving.

Seattle is coming off of a 27-24 loss to the Carolina Panthers, as the Panthers were able to storm back in the 4th quarter in Seattle, something that hasn’t happened to the Seahawks in recent memory. 

The Seahawks are led by Russell Wilson, who has thrown for 1400+ yards on the season for seven scores and three picks.  Marconi Lynch is expected to be back to nearly 100% as he has been banged up in the past.

The 49ers concern still lies in the secondary as they will continue to determine outcomes of games. If they can stand strong against the Super Bowl Winning QB, the 49ers stand a chance at beating their hated rivals.

Prediction: Seahawks 27 49ers: 14

Karlsson Suits Up for First Time This Season, But Barracuda Fall to Gulls in Shootout 3-2.

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

If Bryan Lerg was disappointed by his demotion from the San Jose Sharks to their AHL affiliate the San Jose Barracuda, his play didn’t show it Wednesday night. The 28-year-old scored a goal and picked up the primary assist on another in the Barracuda’s 3-2 shootout loss to the unbeaten San Diego Gulls (3-0-0) at the SAP Center.

“Work hard,” said Lerg on his mind set heading in to his first game since being returned to the Barracuda (2-1-1). “We were looking for the win at home.”

“I thought (Lerg) was our best player by far,” assessed Barracuda coach Roy Sommer.

Lerg opened the scoring at the 5:11 into the first period, firing a shot from the slot into Gulls netminder John Gibson’s pads. The 6-foot-3 keeper made the initial save, but Lerg continued his course to the net to flip in his rebound for his 3rd goal of the season.

“I went to tee off on it and didn’t get all of it,” admitted Lerg. “The goalie tried to kick it to the corner and their D was flat footed. I beat them with my speed.”

The AHL vet added his first assist of the season with 1:20 remaining and the Barracuda on the penalty kill. Lerg pressured Gull rearguard Shane O’Brien at the red line, forcing a rushed O’Brien to spill to the ice. Lerg rushed up the ice on the breakaway, guiding a backhander to Gibson’s left in the Gull crease. Gibson made the sprawling save, put fellow penalty killer Scott Timmins jammed the loose puck home for his second goal of the season.

An unfortunate bounce led to a late San Diego goal with Barracuda defenseman Mark Cundari deflecting a Brandon Montour point shot around San Jose goalie Troy Grosenick. The goal, a power play strike with 5.4 seconds left in the period, marked the 4th goal in 14 short-handed situations for San Jose.

The Gulls scored again on the power play in the 2nd period, this time on a deflection from a San Diego skater. Defenseman Shea Theodore ripped a point shot on net. Gulls pest Harry Zolnierczyk was skating past Grosenick right as the shot came and managed to tip it over his blocker side for the goal at the 6:26 mark. The 2-2 deadlock would hold through the third period and into a back-and-forth three-on-three overtime despite a total of 5 power plays for the Gulls on the night.

“That’s a pretty good team over there,” said Sommer. “They have lots of veteran guys who have been around and know how to put the puck in the net.”

The Gulls’ Nick Ritchie and Stefan Noesen would beat Grosenick in the skills competition to earn the second point for the visitors, keeping their record unblemished. Gibson turned away attempts by Lerg and Nikolai Goldobin, another player returned by the Sharks this morning.

One player hoping to join the Sharks sooner rather than later, rehabbing forward Melker Karlsson, saw his first time on ice this season. Karlsson finished the night with an assist and a +1 rating while nearly scoring in 3-on-3 overtime.

“He was good,” said Lerg, who joined Karlsson in the 3-on-3 session. “I thought he played well. He’s getting back into the swing of things. It was his first game in a while. We tried to keep it simple and get him in deep and use our speed.”

Once the thrill of returning to the ice wore off, Karlsson realized he still has some work to put in before he is ready for an NHL assignment.

“It felt pretty good in the beginning,” said Karlsson. “But my conditioning is not where it should be. With my game, I have to have energy for it to work.”

“We’ll see how long it takes before I get in condition,” said Karlsson. “It shouldn’t be too long, just a few practices them I’m going to feel good.”

Whether it’s next week against the Nashville Predators or further down the line, Karlsson is ready to return to the top tier.

“That’s where you want to play,” said Karlsson. “That’s where I’m going to play later I hope.”

With the injuries stacking up for the parent club, the Barracuda bench boss acknowledges call-ups may be early and often in the next few days.

“Any one that is playing here right now knows,” said Sommer. “They’re banged up up top. You play good you’re probably playing against LA tomorrow. We want guys to realize that.”

NHL Podcast with Joe Lami: Hawks Keith out 4-6 weeks; Sharks bitten by injury bug; and the winner of the worst ice in the NHL poll

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by Joe Lami

photo credit google images of the Chicago Blackhawks Duncan Keith

SAN JOSE–Taking a look around the NHL headlines the Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith will be out four to six weeks for right knee surgery. Keith will be missed out of that Hawks line up as they will need that experienced defenseman up front. Keith has two assists in six games and his absence will have an impact on the Hawks.

On Monday night Antti Raanta a back up goalie for the New York Rangers proved his worth throwing a shutout against one of the hottest teams in the NHL at the time the San Jose Sharks. The Sharks have been bitten by the injury bug during the last road trip and are missing some players on the top lines. Raanta stopped all of the Sharks 22 shots for the 4-0 shutout.

NHL players polled on which rink in the NHL had the worst ice while a majority of them say Florida. The poll had the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on the worst ice list. The Kings had to cancel two practices this month due to soft ice. The Kings have been struggling of late and losing their opener to San Jose 5-1 kind of started things in motion.

The Montreal Candiens have the hottest hand in ice hockey right now (7-0), the Habs with net minder Carey Price between the pipes has helped them create some good defense in front and they also beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Monday night. Staying the course with seven wins and no defeats takes a lot of strength, stamina, and endurance. The Habs are getting great offensive help from PK Subban and Max Pacioretty.

Joe Lami does the NHL podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the podcast below

Warriors Routed By Clippers in Preseason Action

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

The Golden State Warriors were handed a convincing 130-95 defeat by the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on Tuesday night, dropping another preseason game.

The Warriors rested Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala and sat Andrew Bogut with a broken nose. Shorthanded, they were no match for Blake Griffin and the Clippers.

Griffin finished with 29 points, dominating anyone the Warriors put against him. He scored from inside and out, showing his vast array of offensive moves.

The Clippers had 67 points by halftime and 100 points at the end of the third quarter.

For the Warriors, Klay Thompson recorded 21 points, 15 in the third quarter. Shaun Livingston chipped in 10 points and roster hopeful Ian Clark had 11 off the bench, but otherwise it was an unproductive night for the rest of the team.

The game did get chippy, with eight technical fouls handed out and an ejection to Chris Paul for talking back to a referee. Luke Walton, Draymond Green, and Jason Thompson received technicals for the Warriors.

The Warriors have one more preseason game — Thursday in Anaheim against the Lakers — before the regular season begins next Tuesday against the Pelicans.