Basisphilosophie » no doubt to me that losing a 19-inning game

The Chicago Blackhawks will try to avoid a third straight loss in the Western Conference Final when they visit the Los Angles Kings for Mondays Game 4 battle at Staples Center. Follow the action live NOW on TSN and TSN GO, beginning with the NHL on TSN pre-game show. The Blackhawks won the opener of this set 3-1 and then held a 2-0 lead late in the second period of Game 2 before Los Angeles came alive. The Kings used a furious comeback to take the second meeting in Chicago by a 6-2 score and then posted a 4-3 decision in Saturdays Game 3 in L.A. to grab a 2-1 edge in this best-of-seven series. The defending Stanley Cup champions hope to turn things around on Monday and even this set at two games apiece before it heads back to Chicago for Wednesdays Game 5. The Blackhawks beat the Kings in five games during the West finals a year ago before downing Boston to win the Cup for the second time in four seasons. Chicago is 2-5 on the road in the 2014 playoffs after Saturdays loss. The Kings are 4-3 on home ice this postseason. Jeff Carter has fueled the Kings offence over the last two games, recording four goals and three assists over Games 2 and 3. Carter recorded a hat trick and an assist in Game 2 and added a goal and two assists to help L.A. win Saturday on home ice. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Carter is the first Kings player to register three or more points in consecutive playoff games since Wayne Gretzky did it in 1993. After scoring six straight to win Game 2 in a rout, the Kings lit the lamp three straight times after falling behind, 2-1, on Saturday. Carter scored the tying goal at 8:08 of the second period in Game 3 and set up the go-ahead goal by Tyler Toffoli six minutes later. Carter has 19 points (8G, 11A) this postseason, one point behind teammate Anze Kopitar for the NHL lead. Drew Doughty had a goal and an assist, while Slava Voynov notched a power-play marker for the Kings, who can take a stranglehold in this series tonight. "Two-to-one series against the defending Stanley Cup Champs, I dont think theres taking control of a series," said Los Angeles forward Dustin Brown. "I think that both teams have shown that they are able to battle adversity. This is a team that was down last year and found a way to come back, so we did what we wanted tonight and got the lead in the series. Now its about resetting and reloading. Were up in the series, we have to keep going up." Jonathan Quick stopped 24 shots in Saturdays win, while Corey Crawford allowed all four goals on 32 shots for the Blackhawks, who went 0-for-4 on the power play. Chicago captain Jonathan Toews scored two goals in a losing effort. After his clubs second straight loss, Toews said now is not the time for frustration to set in. "We played well but we didnt get the result we wanted tonight," said Toews. "Well keep improving and move on to the next one. There is no time for getting discouraged and frustrated. We know we can keep pushing it to that next level and that is what its going to take against these guys. Clearly they want it badly and are playing really hard. For us I think its just a matter of continuing that effort that we started with in the first period." Toews scored short-handed 5:26 into Saturdays game, but Voynov tallied just 50 seconds later off a feed from Carter to even the score. Toews added his second goal of the game with 6:41 remaining in the first, but that would be Chicagos last goal until Patrick Sharp tallied in the closing seconds of regulation. Los Angeles tied the game at 8:08 of the second period on Carters eighth of the playoffs. Tanner Pearson fought for the puck behind the net and sent a pass to the front where Carter one-timed it in. The Kings took their first lead of the game six minutes later after a neutral zone turnover saw Carter chip the puck through the middle and behind the defence. Toffoli caught up to the puck and went backhand to forehand before sliding it in for his sixth of the playoffs and a 3-2 lead. "Getting pucks deep and getting lots of pucks to the net and creating traffic, you cant score goals unless you get the puck on net and drive to the net," said Toffoli. "If you look at our goals tonight, its cut into our system and were executing well right now." Quick stopped 10 shots in the second frame and helped Los Angeles kill off two penalties to keep the lead. The score stayed at 3-2 until Doughty tallied on a blast from the top of the right circle with 8:03 left in the third. Sharp scored with just 4.2 seconds remaining, but Chicago was unable to get another shot on net before time expired. Patrick Kane, last seasons Conn Smythe winner for the Blackhawks, has yet to register a point in the first three games of the series, but he hopes to break out in Game 4. "Just demand (the puck)," Kane said about how he can get on track. "Thats the biggest thing. Demand the puck and when I do get it be confident with it. Those two things will generally lead to better games from myself." This series marks the first time two teams are meeting in the Western finals in back-to-back years since the Stars/Avalanche in 1999-2000. Juan Mata Manchester United Jersey . Murray, the defending champion and No. 3 seed, claimed his first match win at Queens in 2005 and went on to win the Wimbledon warmup three times. But he failed to take advantage of eight set points after leading the first-set tiebreaker 6-2, and Stepanek survived to convert with his second set point. Andreas Pereira Jersey . On Wednesday night, they showed that stellar defence and a little small ball can get the job done too. With pinch-runner Kevin Pillar aboard after Dioner Navarro opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, Anthony Gose dropped down an excellent bunt along the first-base line. http://www.jerseymanchesterunitedsoccer.com/womens-andreas-pereira-manchester-united-jersey/ . DETROIT LIONS AT CHICAGO BEARS, 1:00 PM (ET) Detroit - G Rodney Austin, WR Ryan Broyles, DT Nick Fairley, QB Kellen Moore, DT Caraun Reid, CB Mohammed Seisay, DE Larry Webster Chicago - S Chris Conte, DT Brandon Dunn, QB David Fales, K Robbie Gould, CB Terrance Mitchell, OT Michael Ola, DE Trevor Scott GREEN BAY PACKERS AT TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS, 1:00 PM (ET) Green Bay - LB Carl Bradford, DT Bruce Gaston, C Garth Gerhart, CB Davon House, WR Jeff Janis, TE Justin Perillo, QB Scott Tolzien Tampa Bay - OT Anthony Collins, CB Isaiah Frey, WR Robert Herron, RB Mike James, WR Solomon Patton, FB/TE Evan Rodriguez, LB Lawrence Sidbury KANSAS CITY CHIEFS AT PITTSBURGH STEELERS, 1:00 PM (ET) Kansas City - WR Donnie Avery, CB Marcus Cooper, OT Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, OL Eric Kush, QB Aaron Murray, RB Charcandrick West, DT Nick Williams Pittsburgh - WR Justin Brown, DE Clifton Geathers, G Chris Hubbard, QB Landry Jones, S Troy Polamalu, TE Matt Spaeth, CB Ike Taylor MINNESOTA VIKINGS AT MIAMI DOLPHINS, 1:00 PM (ET) Minnesota - LB Anthony Barr, OT Carter Bykowski, DB Ahmad Dixon, OT Charlie Johnson, FB Zach Line, CB Shaun Prater, TE Kyle Rudolph Miami - G Nate Garner, WR Matt Hazel, S Don Jones, WR Rishard Matthews, LB Chris McCain, G Dallas Thomas, RB Daniel Thomas NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS AT NEW YORK JETS, 1:00 PM (ET) New England - CB Kyle Arrington, RB LeGarrette Blount, OL Dan Connolly, CB Alfonzo Dennard, OT Jordan Devey, WR Julian Edelman, RB James White NY Jets - DT T. Luke Shaw Jersey . JOHNS, N. David Beckham Jersey . This week, topics cover the World Series champion Red Sox, John Farrell and what to look forward to this off-season.TSN Baseball Analyst Steve Phillips answers several questions surrounding the game each week. This weeks topics include the after-effects of a 19-inning game, the future of pitchers wearing helmets on the mound, the importance of waivers and the trade deadline, and the election of new commissioner Rob Manfred. 1) The Blue Jays got swept in Seattle immediately following a club record seven-hour, 19-inning game. Do epic affairs like the one between Toronto and Detroit on Sunday take a long-term toll on teams? One thing I know for certain is that not every win or loss is equal. Some wins are more energizing than others while some losses are more devastating. There is no doubt to me that losing a 19-inning game feels like more than a loss, just as winning that game feels like more than a win. Players want to be rewarded with victories for good play. When a game goes 19 innings the likelihood is that both bullpens pitched extremely well and the teams played solid defence. Every extra pitch is an investment physically, mentally and emotionally. Each extra inning take out a chunk of flesh from the team. The deeper the game goes, the more invested the teams are and the more critical it is to win. A 19-inning game taxes the depth of bullpen. It can wipe out the staff for several days or longer. A loss like that to a direct playoff competitor is even more damaging because it is a double loss: a loss for us and a win for them. Coming to the ballpark the day after an extra-inning game like that is a challenge for the loser. Fatigue is an issue but so is the emotional letdown of the loss. The feeling that the hard work and toughness shown the night before just didnt matter is a hurdle to overcome. Veteran leadership and the leadership of the manager and coaches are critical in these games. I always liked when my manager played the toughest lineup in games after a long extra-inning affair. I wanted the grinders in the lineup. I would give up talent for grit in this situation. I also wanted my manager to be extremely aggressive early in the game. Force things to happen. Start runners to stay out of double plays. Steal bases. Attack. Take the extra base. The players to need charge ahead and not dwell on the previous nights disappointment. At the end of every season teams can look back at critical games and see turning points in their season. You dont always know which games are key games until the end. But it is pretty apparent that Sundays 19-inning win by Toronto could be one of the most critical games of the season. The Blue Jays won, but the victory seemed to come at a cost since it sucked the life out of the team as they headed to Seattle and proceeded to lose three straight. 2) Marlins pitcher Dan Jennings got an ugly line drive off the face this week. Does this incident put any extra heat on Major League Baseball to enforce protective headgear on the mound? Earlier this year Major League Baseball approved the use of protective padding in baseball caps for pitchers. The padding is made of "plastic injection molded polymers combined with a foam substrate". The padding disperses and absorbs the energy of a balls impact. The padding is sewn into a regular baseball cap and it adds a half-inch of thickness to the front of the hat and an inch to the side. It also adds about seven ounces to the weight of the hat. Many pitchers have balked at wearing the hat because of the awkward and uncomfortable feel of the bulkier hat. In fact, to date only one major league pitcher, Alex Torres of the Padres, has worn the hat in a major league game and he was mocked by fans and broadcasters because of how the hat looks. There have now been 13 pitchers hit in the head by line drives in major league games over the last seven seasons. Fortunately no one has died. Remember it took the death of a minor league first base coach to get Major League Baseball to make it mandatory for base coaches to wear helmets. Do we really have to wait for a pitcher to die to make it mandatory for them to wear the protective hats? Are we really that vain that the goofy look of the hat is worth risking a life? It is time for Baseball to make the protective hats mandatory for pitchers. I just hope TSN doesnt make protective headgear mandatory for SportsCentre. I dont want to mess up my hair. 3) The Phillies Cole Hamels and Washington Nationals studs Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg were all claimed on waivers this week as their respective clubs looked to keep their August trade options open. Should the MLB just institute a hard trade deadline at the end of either July or August? Or, do you think the waiver process serves a valuable function in the market? So many people were surprised at the news that Cole Hamels, Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg were placed on waivers. I wasnt. I always ran all of my players through waivers during the month of August just as a practice. It didnt mean that I wantted to trade them necessarily.dddddddddddd I would run stars through waivers with players I wanted to trade with the hope of camouflage them so teams wouldnt claim them. I also put players like Hamels, Strasburg and Harper on waivers to see who put claims in on them. You never know what ideas can be generated for off-season considerations by a team or teams making claims on players. I remember discussions at general manager meetings when the trade deadline dates were debated. Some GMs thought the date should be moved earlier while some thought it should be later. This reinforced to me that it was at the right time. I like the idea that every team has an equal opportunity to improve themselves by the non-waiver deadline of July 31. The waiver period allows every team the chance to improve but it gives the teams trailing in the standings a better chance for improvement and an opportunity to block teams ahead of them in the standings from making deals. I know that the second wild card has changed the trade deadline as more teams are buyers than in the past. This year provided one of the most interesting deadlines in the games history. I dont think the second wild card was added to allow teams to at some point declare they are out of the race at a date later than July 31. It was added to keep interest for more cities deeper in the season. The dates and system still work. I know baseball is slow to change, in so many ways, but this is one thing that I dont want to change. 4) Baseball owners have elected a new Commissioner. It is Rob Manfred, formerly the COO of MLB. The selection has been met with little enthusiasm as it is believed that he is part of Bud Seligs old guard and that we will continue to see the same old-school thinking that has chased young fans away from the game. I dont believe that it is true or fair to assume that Manfred will be the same as Selig. I was an assistant minor league director at one point and later became the minor league director. I made significant changes to the way things were done with the Mets farm system. I was the assistant General Manager at one point too and later became the GM. I was dramatically different from my predecessor even though I respected him immensely. Sometimes as an assistant you get the best on-the-job training where you learn what to do but also what not to do. As an assistant there were many times that I thought to myself, "If I am ever in charge I would do this and not that." So lets give Manfred a chance to create his own identity. That being said he can have an instant impact. He needs to address Rule 7.13 about collisions at home plate. I am on the record as saying that I am in favour of the new collision rule at home plate. I think it is the right thing to protect the catchers from devastating collisions when they are in a vulnerable position. I like the idea that catchers cant block the plate without the ball and that base runners cant go out of their way to hit the catchers when they are not in front of home plate. The intent of the rule is fantastic but the enforcement of the rule has been a debacle. On Wednesday we had two plays at the plate in different games in which a runner was tagged out. In both situations the baserunners manager challenged the call claiming the catcher was blocking the runners pathway to the plate. The catchers in the two games just about duplicated each others movements. The challenge in the Giants/White Sox game led to the call being overturned and the Giants being awarded a run. In the Mets/Nationals game the call on the field stood and the Mets did not get a game-tying run. The exact same circumstances led to two different results. That is a problem. The way I see it is that there is an easy solution to the problem. Rule 7.13 states that: Unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he is attempting to score. If, in the judgment of the Umpire, the catcher, without possession of the ball, blocks the pathway of the runner, the Umpire shall call or signal the runner safe. The ambiguity of what the rule means by "pathway of the runner" is the problem. This is easily resolved however. There needs to be a clear and concise definition of allowable behaviour by a catcher. Here is the solution: A catcher is deemed to be blocking the pathway of the runner if either or both of his feet are in foul territory or on the third baseline. The catcher must keep both feet in fair territory to be deemed not in the pathway of the runner. Thats it. It is easy. The gray area that is confusing to umpires is what it means to block the pathway. When it is defined this way everyone knows what to look for and to expect. It shouldnt be this tough. Games have been decided by some of these calls. Games that could impact playoff berths. It has to stop. Clarify the issue now so everyone stops looking foolish. Come on Mr. Commissioner...FIX IT! ' ' '