2012-09-18

NEW YORK -- With the Pittsburgh Penguins lurking right behind him, the New York Rangers have gotten back to the winning ways that vaulted them to the top of the Eastern Conference. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . After seeing a substantial lead whittled to just one point, as the Penguins went on a refuse-to-lose surge, the Rangers appear to have broken out their slump. They still have little room for error, but for now they are keeping Pittsburgh at arms length. Ryan Callahan ripped a shot in off a goal post 2:42 into overtime to lift the Rangers over Detroit 2-1 on Wednesday night, sending the injury-riddled Red Wings to their sixth straight loss. New York has gutted out two consecutive wins after a 2-5 swoon, just as the pressure has increased. The Rangers are 4-2 on a seven-game homestand that will end Friday against Buffalo. "Were starting to get our groove back," Callahan said. "Were starting to play how we want and how we were playing earlier in the year." One game after becoming the first team in the East -- and second overall behind St. Louis -- to secure a playoff spot, the Rangers (46-20-7) didnt rest on their achievement. Any slip-up could turn a No. 1 seed into No. 4 or 5 if Pittsburgh and/or Philadelphia pass them in the Atlantic Division. "Its important," Callahan said of finishing first. "We want to keep our game going, and for us to keep our game going, thats going to be with wins." The Rangers turned up the heat in the extra session and finally got a puck past Ty Conklin, who was recalled from the minor leagues earlier Wednesday because of Detroits injury woes. Callahan fired a shot from the slot for his 27th goal, making the New York captain a winner on his 27th birthday. New York hadnt beaten the Red Wings since Oct. 25, 2003. "It was a good birthday gift," Callahan said. Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves, and Brad Richards scored in the first period on an end-to-end rush for the Rangers, who lead Pittsburgh by three points. The Penguins have 10 games left, and the Rangers have nine. Henrik Zetterberg gave Detroit an early 1-0 lead, and Conklin made 32 saves, but the Red Wings had to settle for one point. Detroit, 0-4-2 in its last six, moved into sole possession of fourth place in the West, one point ahead of Nashville. "I dont think its frustrating," Red Wings Mike Babcock said. "It would have been the nice to get the second point. We had our opportunities, especially in the last minutes of the game. In the end, we didnt get er done." Zetterbergs goal led to the tossing of an octopus onto the Madison Square Garden ice, but that was the only bit of playoff feeling the Red Wings could enjoy on this night. "We played a good game against a good team," Zetterberg said. "We battled hard all three periods. It wasnt surprising it went to overtime, but it would have been nice to get to a shootout and have a chance there. "There are good things we can take with us. There are still a few issues we have, and we have to work and get better." Detroit was without top defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom (ankle), forwards Darren Helm (lower body) and Johan Franzen (back), and goalies Joey MacDonald (back) and Jimmy Howard (groin). The lineup might be reinforced Saturday when Detroit hosts Carolina. "We hear that some of the injured are coming back," Babcock said. "Ideally on (Saturday) well have a better looking team. Im not certain of that. Its got to come eventually. Youve got to get some guys back." It wasnt until noon on Wednesday that the Red Wings knew they would have Conklin in goal after calling him up from Grand Rapids of the AHL on an emergency basis. "We were worried. We heard he was in a storm trying to get in here," Zetterberg said. "It was a long day for him. To come in and play like he did was nice to see." Conklin, who has played in 212 NHL games, has been rounding back into form while playing regularly in Grand Rapids instead of sitting on the bench as a backup with Detroit. "Ive been feeling good for a while," he said. "I treated it as just another game. It had been two or three years since I had a chance to play on a regular basis. It helped." The Rangers power play has shown some renewed life lately, and Richards did all the work on it to get New York even at 1. After Lundqvist stopped the puck and left it behind the Rangers net, Richards took it and streaked up the middle of the ice. He weaved his way through the Detroit zone, splitting defencemen Niklas Kronwall and Brad Stuart -- who flailed at him as he blew past them -- and slid a shot that eluded Conklin with 5:02 left in the first period for his 24th goal of the season. "I just tried to take my ice to see what would happen, if someone would come to me," Richards said. "I got a head of steam and a lot of ice to play on, so I decided to keep going." Richards has been rewarded lately, scoring six goals and adding nine assists in 12 games this month. "Its March, under 10 games left. You want to contribute," said Richards, in his first season with the Rangers. "You want to help your teammates. Thats what we do. "Were starting to feel better the last few games. Its a good time of year to start getting that way." New York got the advantage when Detroit was caught with too many men on the ice. Eight players were out there when the whistle was blown. The Rangers had failed to score a power-play goal in 10 of 12 games before netting one Monday in a victory over New Jersey. The Red Wings struck first, just 3:36 in when Zetterberg fired a shot that appeared to be deflected just before it got past Lundqvist. Zetterbergs 19th goal of the season was his first in six games. NOTES: Lundqvist has two assists this season. ... Conklin beat the Rangers 2-0 in his last start against them, while with St. Louis, on Nov. 7, 2010. ... Zetterbergs goal was his 249th in the NHL, tying him with Peter Forsberg for 11th place among Swedish players. ... Rangers C Artem Anisimov returned to the lineup after missing two games because of a shoulder injury. LW Ruslan Fedotenko sat out. Aaron Rodgers Jersey . Louis Cardinals in St. Louis and took over top spot in the TSN. Clay Matthews Jersey . The UFC said a date and venue for the bout will be announced later. Lombard (31-2) is a former Cuban Olympic judo competitor, who is unbeaten in his last 25 MMA fights. Cheap NFL Jerseys . The 25-year-old from McKinney, Texas, signed a multi-year contract with MLS on Dec. 6, making him eligible to be picked up by Vancouver. Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap . Baltimore scored two runs in the 10th and Johnson atoned for his first blown save of the season by putting Boston down in order to end a wild 8-6 win for the Orioles over the Red Sox. Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys . Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said before Thursdays game against the Arizona Diamondbacks that doctors expect Gordon to make a full recovery. Gordon, injured Wednesday night sliding head-first into third base on a steal attempt against Cincinnati, had an MRI earlier Thursday and arrived to the clubhouse with a cast over his right hand.MIAMI -- Chris Bosh got the Miami Heat started. Dwyane Wade provided the big finish. Wade scored 14 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter, Bosh made his first six shots and finished with 23 and the Heat held off the Orlando Magic 91-81 on Sunday night for their 13th straight win at home. LeBron James finished with 14 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and five steals for the Heat. His pass with 3:46 left made it past two Magic defenders and set up Bosh for perhaps the clincher, a three-point play that stretched Miamis lead to 84-73. "Hes the biggest piece of our team," James said of Bosh. "And when hes going, were very dangerous. ... Thats what it was all about tonight." Well, that and defence. Orlando scored 12 points in a span of nearly 16 minutes in the second half, finishing with its lowest point total in 11 games. "Our effort defensively early in the game was not there," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We did not come to play. Thats inexcusable particularly playing on the road against a team this good and then the 20 turnovers." Dwight Howard finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds for Orlando. Quentin Richardson was 5 for 7 on 3-pointers for a 15-point night for the Magic, who split four games with Miami this season, both teams going 2-0 at home. The win kept Miami (33-11) one game in the loss column behind Chicago (37-10) for the NBAs best record and top Eastern Conference seed. It was a 69-68 game before Wade made back-to-back shots to give Miami some breathing room, and the Heat never gave up control again. Wade wound up scoring 12 straight Miami points, and his assist set up Shane Battiers 3-pointer that made it 87-75 with 2 minutes left. "I dont think (Wade) ever had a bad game against us," Van Gundy said. "Every game hes played its been a great game. We never do a decent job on him." James reached double digits for his 400th straight regular-season game, a streak beginning Jan. 6, 2007. According to STATS LLC, he became the first player since January 2010 to have at least 14 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and five steals in a game. "If Im not getting going it scoring, its time to focus on something else," James said. "I try to be a complete basketball player." Jameer Nelson scored 13 points and Jason Richardson added 12 for the Magic. After a three-game road trip last week that started by getting outrebounded by 10 in Orlando -- then by 16 in Chicago and 12 in Philadelphia -- the Heat outrebounded Orlando 42-36. And they kept Howard in some sort of check: In Orlandos twwo wins over Miami this season, Howard averaged 24. Wholesale NFL Jerseys. 5 points and 24.5 rebounds. In the two Heat wins, Howard averaged only 15 points and 13 rebounds. "Its the small things that matter in games like this," Howard said. Like getting breaks -- which Bosh got on his first shot. His first attempt of the night slipped from his hands, went about two stories in the air and somehow dropped through the net. He wound up making his first six shots, after going a combined 7 for 27 in his previous two games. "I was kind of like, Awww, here we go again," Bosh said. "And it went in. I said, All right. Sometimes you need those, man. I hadnt gotten one all year. I thank the basketball gods and it was good from then on." The Heat made 12 of 18 shots in the first quarter, running out to a 31-22 lead that had Van Gundy lamenting in a television interview between quarters that his team "didnt do anything well -- nothing." His assessment had to change from there, thanks to what Orlando started doing on the defensive end. It took Miami the next 19-plus minutes to match what it scored in the opening 12, as the Magic steadily made what was as much as a 13-point deficit disappear. The Heat lead was only 50-47 at the break -- a three-point play by Wade with inside of a minute left provided that margin -- and Miami went on to miss eight straight shots early in the third quarter. Even then, it was still nip-and-tuck, the Magic unable to take full advantage of the Heat going cold. Jason Richardsons basket and foul with 8:26 left in the third gave Orlando what was then its biggest lead, 57-54. Then it was Orlandos turn to sputter offensively, scoring just six points in the remainder of the period, which was capped by James banking in an 18-footer with just under a second left for a 67-63 Miami lead. Then Wade gave Miami just enough in the fourth, and the Heat didnt mind another grind-it-out evening. "You have to weather a lot of storms when you play the Orlando Magic," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "And you have to stay the course." Notes: Tennis star Andy Murray sat courtside. ... Bosh had 18 points at halftime, matching his second-best opening 24 minutes of the season. The Heat are now 15-2 this season when Bosh is in double digits by halftime. ... Heat assistant coach Bob McAdoo (deep vein thrombosis) and reserve centre Eddy Curry (death of a grandmother) were back with the team after missing time last week. ... Nelson missed about 6 minutes in the first quarter after being inadvertently poked in the eye by Heat centre Joel Anthony. ' ' '

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