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what a great performance." N
(SportsNetwork. Lou Brock Jersey .com) - The Los Angeles Kings werent playing their best hockey before the league went on break during the Winter Olympics. You can see the action on TSN2 at 10pm et/7pm pt. Given some time to sort things out, the Kings hope to get on track Wednesday night as they visit the Colorado Avalanche. Los Angeles had lost four straight and nine of 10 before picking up a home victory over Columbus in its final game before the hiatus. That gave the Kings a four-point edge over the Phoenix Coyotes for third place in the Pacific Division and an automatic playoff berth. A number of Kings skaters saw action during the Olympics in Sochi, Russia, including forward Jeff Carter and defenseman Drew Doughty for gold medal- winning Canada. It was a great tournament for Doughty, who scored four goals and had six points. The trip may have been less enjoyable for goaltender Jonathan Quick, who backstopped a Team USA that was bested by Canada in the semifinals before losing to Finland in the bronze medal game. Quick yielded 11 goals in five games during the tournament, posting a .923 save percentage. Those involved will now need to put the highs and lows of the Olympics behind them. "We understand the position that were in," forward Mike Richards told lakingsinsider.com. "Weve got 23 games left and even though we didnt play very well, were still in the same position as we were before. So we just have to look to not repeat things." Like the Kings, the Avalanche sit in third place in their division, but own a 10-point edge over the Minnesota Wild in the Central standings. Colorado also is just five points back of division co-leaders St. Louis and Chicago. Colorado went 2-0-2 on a four-game road trip before the break and has won five of its last seven overall. The Avs return a pair of medal winners to the ice in Canadian Matt Duchene and forward Gabriel Landeskog, who claimed silver with Sweden. Colorado will be without defenseman Erik Johnson for the first two contests of a three-game homestand after he picked up a two-game suspension ahead of the break. He received the ban for a two-handed slash of New York Islanders forward Frans Nielsen on Feb. 8. Johnson also will sit out Fridays game versus Phoenix. Colorado also learned it will be without veteran forward Alex Tanguay for the rest of the season after he underwent hip surgery. Tanguay sat out 36 games from Nov. 6-Jan. 21 with a hip injury, opting for rehab instead of surgery. He made his return to the lineup on Jan. 24, but was unable to play Colorados final five games before the Olympic break due to a knee issue caused by his hip injury. The Avalanche are 6-1-2 in their last nine meetings with the Kings, splitting a pair of matchups this season in Los Angeles that both went beyond regulation. Colorado has won the past three encounters on home ice. Koji Uehara Jersey .C. - Nick Merkley and Damon Severson each had a goal and two assists as the Kelowna Rockets downed the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds 6-3 on Saturday in Western Hockey League playoff action. Duane Underwood Jr. Jersey . Irving played 10 minutes Sunday night before going to the locker room. He had two points and four assists, missing all five of his shots. The All-Star game MVP is the top scorer among Eastern Conference point guards with 21. MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- For one night, Nick Calathes provided a big reason to believe the Memphis Grizzlies might be able to withstand the loss of Mike Conley on a short-term basis. Calathes, starting in place of the injured Conley, scored a career-high 22 points and the surging Grizzlies defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 99-90 on Saturday. "Mike must have touched (Calathes) hand or given him a good-luck touch because that man was shooting the lights out of that ball," said Memphis reserve forward James Johnson, who had 14 points. "For him to come in and do that was huge for us. We needed that." Zach Randolph had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Memphis, which has won a season-best six straight and 11 of 12 overall. Marc Gasol scored 19. Brandon Knight led Milwaukee with 23 points, including 18 in the second half. He also had seven assists and six rebounds. Ersan Ilyasova finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Bucks, who have lost six in a row. Khris Middleton scored 12 points, while Larry Sanders and Caron Butler finished with 10 each. Milwaukee had a lead for most of the first three quarters but it slipped away in the fourth. "In the fourth quarter, we got down by a margin of five," Knight said. "We were able to keep it there for a little bit, and then it went to 10. From that point, it was tough to really get in a rhythm." The Grizzlies were playing their first game without Conley, the starting point guard who sprained his ankle in Friday nights win at Minnesota. The team announced before the game that Conley will miss at least a week. Even Conley recognized the teams effort, tweeting praise to Calathes after the game with the hashtag "WinWithoutMike." Memphis shot 56 per cent in the second half and outscored the Bucks 56-41. Calathes made all three of his shots from outside the arc. "We played 2 1/2 good quarters, we just didnt finish it," Bucks coach Larry Drew said, later adding: "We had the energy in the first half, but in the second half we didnt, particularly in the third quarter. Authentic Custom Cubs Jersey. " Calathes not only set career highs for points and minutes (40), he shot 8 of 12 in the game and 4 for 5 from 3-point range without committing a turnover. His previous high was 11 points against Houston on Jan. 25. Several of his 3-point attempts in this one were uncontested. "I think they were giving up my shot, and I made them pay for it," Calathes said. But he also recognized the importance of not turning the ball over while trying to get the Grizzlies offence running through the frontline tandem of Gasol and Randolph. "I think that was the biggest stat of the night for me, not turning the ball over," Calathes said. "I came into the game telling myself, Dont make a crazy play. Dont try to go overboard." Memphis struggled early but outscored the Bucks 46-32 in the paint and outrebounded Milwaukee 48-38. The Grizzlies also went 6 of 10 beyond the arc, their best percentage in a game this season. The Bucks held a 13-point lead in the first half. Knight scored nine in the third, but Memphis began to make a push at the end of the period -- even adding a point after it was over when officials reviewed a shot by Mike Miller and ruled it a 3. That left Milwaukee with a 69-67 lead entering the fourth. Memphis finally erased the deficit early in the final quarter, opening with a 16-4 rally to build its first double-digit lead of the night. Calathes sparked the burst with a trio of 3-pointers, the third one coming with 3:14 left for a 90-78 lead that Memphis never relinquished. "It is hard to play 41 minutes," Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger said of Calathes. "He has the ball in his hands a lot. Wow, what a great performance." NOTES: Conley missed two previous games this season with a bruised left thigh. ... Bucks C Zaza Pachulia returned after missing 28 games with a broken right foot. ... The Grizzlies used their 14th starting lineup of the season. ' ' '
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Activity: May 25 '20
