Sport-scan daily brief

Bernier made 19 stops but was powerless against Ryan, Koivu and Perry and the Ducks (26-8-5) got the extra point to build their division lead to nine points over the Kings (22-13-4) with nine games left in the regular season.

It also got the Ducks closer to clinching a playoff spot, perhaps on Wednesday night against Colorado.

"They've been playing well," said Perry, who had a second-period goal. "Everybody knows they're hitting their stride at the right time. We knew it was going to be an emotional big man's game out here.

"When you can come away with a big win like that, it's huge."

Matt Beleskey gave the Ducks a 3-2 lead with his first career power-play goal early in the third period after Bernier couldn't cleanly glove Sheldon Souray's slap shot from the point.

But even though they played Saturday and beat Edmonton in an afternoon affair, the Kings looked like the fresher team in the third and it paid off.

Consistent pressure ultimately led to the Kings forging a third tie with 3:45 left as Dustin Brown batted in a loose puck for his 15th goal of the season after he and linemates Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams hemmed the Ducks in their end.

"We did it three times," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said of erasing one-goal deficits. "Can't complain about that. Heck of a game."

Jeff Carter got the only shootout goal for the Kings (22-13-4). Viktor Fasth made 35 saves through regulation and overtime for the Ducks.

Playing without injured captain Ryan Getzlaf for the second straight game, the Ducks grabbed a rare first-period lead on a goal by Kyle Palmieri and never trailed in compensating for their center's absence. Getzlaf has a leg injury.

"I think everybody quite frankly stepped up a little bit today and knew that we didn't play a very good game against Dallas the other night," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We wanted to prove that we were capable of playing without Ryan Getzlaf."

Said Souray: "We needed that just for the team, just for the psyche. He's a world-class player and he means so much to us."

The Kings maintained their current No. 4 spot in the West, one point ahead of division mate San Jose and four more than Minnesota and St. Louis. They outshot the Ducks, 16-5, in the third period and, 38-22, for the game.

"I think we dominated the whole game," Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. "The only thing that is frustrating is we only get one point rather than two. We definitely deserved the two points.

"We outplayed them. I think there's no doubt in anybody's mind about that."

The tense, physical affair only created more visions of the first playoff series between the Southern California rivals located just 40 miles apart.

"That's long-term thinking," Souray said. "We've got more short-term goals. We still have a long way to go to fine-tune our game before the playoffs start, no matter who it is.

"There's reasons to play before that. We'll take care of those things before we get ahead of ourselves."

Orange County Register: LOADED: 04.08.2013

668698 Anaheim Ducks

DUCKS 4, KINGS 3 (SO): Ducks pluck out victory against Kings in playoff-type matchup

By Elliott Teaford, Staff Writer

Posted: 04/07/2013 11:30:34 PM PDT

It sure looked and sounded like a Stanley Cup playoff game when the Ducks and the Kings tangled Sunday night at the Honda Center, with the teams trading highlight-reel caliber scoring chances and molar-rattling checks on almost every rush down the ice.

The Kings rallied not once, not twice, but three times to force the Ducks into overtime and then a shootout. Corey Perry won it for the Ducks in the shootout, whistling a quick shot past Kings goaltender Jonathan Bernier in the third round for a 4-3 victory.

Matt Beleskey's power-play goal gave the Ducks a 3-2 lead early in the third period, but Kings team captain Dustin Brown swatted a loose puck out of midair and into the back of the net to tie it 3-3 in the closing minutes of regulation time.

Kings coach Darryl Sutter conceded the Pacific Division race to the Ducks after his team's 4-1 rout of the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday at Staples Center.

Sutter apparently forgot to tell his players, because they refused to surrender anything to the Ducks on Sunday.

Give the Ducks an inch and they might take a mile.

Playing without leading scorer and team captain Ryan Getzlaf for the second consecutive game because of a right leg injury suffered Wednesday, the Ducks jumped ahead of the Kings on Kyle Palmieri's goal only 2:54 into the game.

The Kings countered with Drew Doughty's power-play goal on a blast from near the left point 5:59 into the second period. Perry put the Ducks ahead 2-1

with a goal off a breakaway, but Jeff Carter tied it for the Kings with his team-leading 23 rd goal of the season.

Each of the previous games was decided in the third period, with the Ducks winning 7-4 in Anaheim on Feb. 2 and the Kings taking a 5-2 victory Feb. 25 in Los Angeles. So, it figured the teams would have to settle matters in the final period again.

LA Daily News: LOADED: 04.08.2013

668699 Anaheim Ducks

Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf using walking boot

By Elliott Teaford, Staff Writer

Posted: 04/07/2013 10:09:49 PM PDT

Team captain Ryan Getzlaf has been using a walking boot since suffering a right leg injury during the Ducks' victory Wednesday over the Dallas Stars, coach Bruce Boudreau said before his team's 4-3 shootout victory over the Kings on Sunday at the Honda Center.

Getzlaf's status for tonight's game against the Edmonton Oilers won't be known he until he and Boudreau have the same morning conversation they've had since Thursday. Getzlaf didn't play in Friday's loss to the Stars or Sunday's win over the Kings.

"I'm not giving him any days off," Boudreau said. "If he can play, he's playing. That's it. We need him. So, when he's ready to play, he'll play.

It's not Bruce giving him a day off because he's hurting. It's Bruce, saying, `Ryan, can you play? Yep, OK, then you're playing."'

LA Daily News: LOADED: 04.08.2013

668700 Anaheim Ducks

Kings, Ducks to play outdoor game at Dodger Stadium in 2014?

By Elliott Teaford, Staff Writer

Posted: 04/07/2013 06:29:04 PM PDT

Hockey pucks and Dodger Dogs, anyone?

The NHL is working to stage an outdoor game between the Kings and the Ducks next season at Dodger Stadium, a Kings spokesman confirmed Sunday. The game would be played on a January night in order to ensure the best possible ice conditions on the NHL's portable rink.

"It's still in the planning stages and nothing is certain, but there is an aggressive plan to make it happen," said Mike Altieri, Kings vice president of communications and broadcasting, in an email. Altieri declined further comment.

Said Tim Ryan, Ducks executive vice president and chief operating officer: "There is nothing confirmed, but we would certainly have interest in being in the game." The NHL has held outdoor games for many years, but all but one of them have been contested in cold-weather cities like Boston, Chicago and Edmonton.

Playing a game in downtown Los Angeles, even in winter, would present unique challenges, however.

In fact, the Kings played outdoors one other time, facing the New York Rangers on a make-shift rink set up in the parking lot of a Las Vegas hotel in 1991. The ice conditions were poor because of high temperatures and there was a mid-game bug infestation, as well.

The league announced Sunday an outdoor game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs would be played next season at Michigan Stadium on the University of Michigan campus. Other outdoor games, including one at Dodger Stadium,

reportedly are in the works, too.

LA Daily News: LOADED: 04.08.2013

668701 Boston Bruins

Bruins coach Claude Julien demotes Tyler Seguin to third line

By Michael Vega

Globe Staff / April 7, 2013

WILMINGTON — After being demoted midway through the first period of Saturday night’s 2-1 loss at Montreal, moving from second-line center to third-line wing, Tyler Seguin found himself wearing a gray sweater and skating on the third line along with Daniel Paille, Chris Kelly, and Jay Pandolfo during Sunday’s practice at Ristuccia Arena.

With Patrice Bergeron out indefinitely with a concussion, Seguin had been forced to make an adjustment and center Brad Marchand and Jaromir Jagr on the second line. But when he struggled with that assignment, Seguin was dropped to the third line with Paille and Gregory Campbell, who earned a promotion and skated with Marchand and Jagr on the second line in practice in preparation for Monday night’s game against the Hurricanes at TD Garden.

“Right now, I don’t think we’ve got a [No.] 1, 2, 3 or 4 [line],’’ coach Claude Julien said. “As you can see, there are good players on every line. We move players around a little bit, maybe to balance things for the time being. But right now it’s about playing your game as an individual; you shouldn’t care where you are, you should care what you bring.’’

Seguin declined to speak with reporters following practice, saying he had been told not to talk.

“He’s been fine like that,’’ Julien said when asked how Seguin handled his demotion. “There are no issues. I don’t feel like I have to explain myself to every player for every move that I make.

“They understand that we’re trying to win here and that’s all that should matter.”

Asked about Seguin’s play the last two games — no goals, no assists, three shots, including none in 16:15 minutes of ice time against the Canadiens — Julien replied, “I’m not into making assessments. I’m not into throwing players under the bus. I’m into making them better players, so if there are some issues, I’ll talk to them individually.’’

Julien said his reasoning behind his shuffling of the lines was “to get some flow going consistently to keep the momentum of the game going in our favor.”

Asked if was difficult to break up his top line of Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Nathan Horton, Julien said, “They were our best line [Saturday], so it’s hard to break up that line. Right now I’m trying to fix the other lines that aren’t bringing much for the time being, so that’s where I stand with that.’’

Getting it to net

Given how Saturday night’s game ended, with the Bruins attempting nary a shot during a six-on-four advantage over the last 57 seconds, Julien made getting the puck on net a point of heavy emphasis during practice.

“We didn’t shoot pucks [Saturday night],’’ Julien said. “We shot pucks today. It’s as simple as that. I’ll say it again, it was disappointing as a coach to watch that, to have the puck in their own end the whole time and not having a shot.”

“Sometimes we tend to look for the perfect plays, but there was no excuse. There is no excuse for us not creating a shot. We looked at it over again, and we could’ve easily had five great opportunities to put pucks on the net and we didn’t.

“The power-play work [Sunday] was about making sure we got pucks to the net and that’s what we did.’’

Finding his way

After the Bruins acquired Jagr last Wednesday, it seems Julien has had some difficulty finding a spot for the future Hall of Famer, who has yet to be paired with his fellow Czech teammate, Krejci. “We’re short on centermen, so it’s not about finding a place for Jags,’’ Julien said. “Because, again, it’s really not about Jags. We didn’t get him to build the team around him. We got him to fill in a spot we think will help us. When guys are back and we have a healthy team, he’ll be in a spot where I think he’ll be good.’’ . . . Defenseman Adam McQuaid, who was expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a shoulder strain, was back on the ice, skating with the team for the first time since suffering his injury. “He started skating and didn’t take much contact today,’’ Julien said. “He’s not in [Monday], if that’s what you want to know, but he’s progressing and going in the right direction.’’ . . . Chris Kelly, who missed his 14th straight game Saturday night after breaking his left tibia March 11, was also back on the ice, skating with the team in a full practice for the second time since injuring his leg. “Same thing, he’s doing well,’’ said Julien, who indicated Kelly’s status remained day-to-day. “We’ll see how things go with the medical staff, because I still need the clearance from them, but he practiced a little harder [Sunday] and so he’s inching closer and closer every day.’’

Michael Vega

Boston Globe LOADED: 04.08.2013

668702 Boston Bruins

Tyler Seguin demoted to third line in Bruins' practice Sunday

By Michael Vega, Globe Staff

WILMINGTON – Tyler Seguin, who was moved back to wing from center midway through the first period of Saturday night's 2-1 loss at Montreal, found himself wearing a grey sweater and skating on the third line along with Daniel Paille, Chris Kelly and Jay Pandolfo.

With Patrice Bergeron out indefinitely with a concussion, Bruins coach Claude Julien has had to shuffle his lines to stoke production out of his players, including Seguin, who declined to discuss his demotion following Sunday's practice at Ristuccia Arena.

"We move players around a little bit, maybe to balance things for the time being,'' Julien said. "But right now it’s about playing your game as an individual; you shouldn’t care where you are, you should care what you bring.

"He’s been fine like that. There’s no issues. I don’t feel like I have to explain myself to every player for every move that I make. They understand that we’re trying to win here and that’s all that should matter.''

Asked how he viewed Seguin's play the last two games, Julien replied, "I'm not into making assessments. I’m not into throwing players under the bus. I’m into making them better players, so if there’s some issues, I’ll talk to them individually.''

Seguin, who had been switched from wing to center Brad Marchand and Jaromir Jagr when Patrice Bergeron was injured, was dropped down to the third line with Paille, and Gregory Campbell was promoted to center Marchand and Jagr on the second line in Sunday's practice at Ristuccia Arena in preparation for Monday night's home game against the Carolina Hurricanes at TD Garden.

In other news:

• Adam McQuaid, who was expected to miss 4-6 weeks after suffering a shoulder strain, was back on the ice and skated with the team for the first time since suffering his injury.

• Chris Kelly (broken left tibia), who traveled with the team to Montreal and sat out for the 14th straight game Saturday, was also back on the ice, skating with the team. On Friday, when Kelly skated for the first time with the team, coach Claude Julien indicated his status was "day to day."

Boston Globe LOADED: 04.08.2013

668703 Boston Bruins

Jaromir Jagr zigzags through lines

Monday, April 8, 2013

Matt Kalman, Bruins Notebook

WILMINGTON — Jaromir Jagr’s first stop upon joining the Bruins via trade last week was on the right wing, with Tyler Seguin as his center.

After his team’s slow start to Saturday’s loss to the Canadiens in Montreal, coach Claude Julien shifted Jagr to a line with Gregory Campbell at center. During practice yesterday at Ristuccia Arena, Jagr was still skating with Campbell, but with Brad Marchand on the left wing instead of Daniel Paille.

So at least for the near future, it appears Julien is going to stay away from connecting Czech Republic natives Jagr and center David Krejci.

“I know a lot of people would like to see that because they played together (on the Czech Olympic team). I never say no, I don’t think. . . . We’ll see,” Julien said yesterday. “I think I’m waiting to get that puzzle to be put together as far as getting our guys healthy and then at that point I think we’ll have a better idea of that.”

Julien hasn’t had his full arsenal of forwards lately with Patrice Bergeron (concussion) joining Chris Kelly (broken leg) on the shelf. Kelly is nearing a return.

Despite little to show for their efforts on the scoresheet of late, Julien has also given the line of Krejci centering Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton passing grades.

“We want to keep the momentum going,” Julien said. “You’ve got Krejci’s line coming out there and brining some good flow and then we’ve got some lines that there just was no flow to it. So we’re trying to get some flow going on a consistent basis here to keep the momentum of the game going in our favor.”

Kelly’s close

Kelly was pretty close to playing Saturday in Montreal, but Julien is still waiting on medical clearance to use the center.

“He practiced a little harder (yesterday) so he’s inching closer and closer every day,” Julien said.

Kelly has been out since March 11, but he has been skating for about a week. . . .

Defenseman Adam McQuaid joined the full squad for practice for the first time since he strained his shoulder March 19 in Winnipeg. McQuaid was ruled out for tonight’s game at the Garden against the Carolina Hurricanes but is progressing, according to Julien.

No news on Bergy

Tomorrow will mark a full week since Bergeron suffered the fourth concussion of his NHL career.

“No updates on him,” Julien said. “(General manager) Peter (Chiarelli) said we’ll give you guys some updates on him when it’s warranted. We certainly don’t want to be answering the same question every day with a situation that’s very unknown and could be good one day, bad the next.

“So we’ll certainly update you guys when the news starts getting positive, and he’s heading in the right direction.”

Boston Herald LOADED: 04.08.2013

668704 Boston Bruins

Bruins take aim at offense

Team goal: Createbetter scoring bids

Monday, April 8, 2013

Matt Kalman

WILMINGTON — There’s offense to be had from the Bruins’ 23 skaters that practiced yesterday at Ristuccia Arena.

Coach Claude Julien is convinced of it.

One of the few ways he has at his disposal to try to squeeze more goals out of his club is again juggling the lines. However, an offense that has scored two or fewer goals in eight of the last 11 games probably won’t score more without a change in mindset.

“We need to find ways to score more goals,” Julien said after a practice focused on scoring chances and shots on net. “Our group here is capable of scoring more goals. And we know there’s some guys that aren’t scoring that normally score. And it’s been a bit of a story for us this year. So we’ve got to find ways to get them to produce and a lot of it is support and a lot of it is wanting to take pucks to the net, whether it’s carrying it, via shots or being passing it with net-front presence. So I think we can do a lot of those things that will help us get more offense.”

The Bruins woke up yesterday after their 2-1 loss Saturday night in Montreal to the first-place Canadiens with the league’s 14th-ranked offense at 2.65 goals per game.

Milan Lucic heads into tonight’s game at the Garden against the Carolina Hurricanes having scored once in his last 22 games. Brad Marchand has scored twice in his last 17 and Tyler Seguin has two goals in his last 10. The latest incarnation of the forward lines featured Marchand skating with Gregory Campbell and newcomer Jaromir Jagr. Seguin skated on right wing with combinations featuring Jay Pandolfo, Daniel Paille and Chris Kelly, who is hoping to return in short order from a broken leg. Lucic, David Krejci and Nathan Horton stayed together.

Kelly and Patrice Bergeron’s injuries, in addition to the trade for Jagr, have discombobulated things a bit.

“That shouldn’t be an excuse,” Lucic said. “But it’s just bearing down when we get those chances. I think we’ve done an all right job of creating. But it’s just bearing down. . . . It’s a mindset and all that, so hopefully we can get a couple here that can get something going in the right direction.”

The B’s lack of determination to create offense is evident beyond the scoring numbers. The league’s 24th-ranked power play takes a lot of heat. Maybe it would be better if the Bruins weren’t last in the league with just 97 power-play opportunities this season. Teams that pay the price and bear down tend to draw more penalties. Teams that score more can also avoid losing four one-goal decisions like the Bruins did in last spring’s first round of the playoffs.

Julien has made his moves. Now it’s the players’ turn, whether they like the maneuvers or not.

“It’s out of our control,” Marchand said. “Sometimes the coach feels like it’s going to spark the guys to switch things up — and hopefully that’s the case. But again, it’s out of our control, we don’t have any say, so whatever the lines are we just go out and work the same way and try to contribute.”

Boston Herald LOADED: 04.08.2013

668705 Boston Bruins

Julien: Not yet on Krejci-Jagr pairing

Matt Kalman

WILMINGTON — Bruins coach Claude Julien is well aware that many are clamoring for Czech Republic natives David Krejci and Jaromir Jagr to skate on the same line in an effort to spark an offense that’s scored two or fewer goals in eight of the Bruins’ last 11 games.

But with Patrice Bergeron and Chris Kelly out with injuries, and Krejci’s line with Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton playing well (albeit with little production), Julien’s staying away from a Krejci-Jagr marriage.

Jagr skated most of the loss in Montreal Saturday night with Daniel Paille and Gregory Campbell. Even at Sunday’s practice, the latest line changes had Jagr skating with Brad Marchand and Gregory Campbell while Krejci’s line stayed intact.

“I know a lot of people would like to see that because they played together (on the Czech Olympic team),” Julien said. “I never say no, I don’t think. ... We’ll see. I think I’m waiting to get that puzzle to be put together as far as getting our guys healthy and then at that point I think we’ll have a better idea of that.”

Horton has gone two games without a goal after scoring four straight. Krejci is point-less in his last two and Lucic has scored just one goal in his last 22 games. Still, Julien is leery of breaking up that trio.

“We want to keep the momentum going," he said. "You’ve got Krejci’s line coming out there and bringing some good flow and then we’ve got some lines that there just was no flow to it. So we’re trying to get some flow going on a consistent basis here to keep the momentum of the game going in our favor.”

Boston Herald LOADED: 04.08.2013

668706 Buffalo Sabres

Sabres notebook: Young players must fill leadership void

By Mike Harrington | News Sports Reporter | @BNHarrington

on April 7, 2013 - 11:47 PM

, updated April 7, 2013 at 11:47 PM

There are still points to try to earn, a long shot playoff berth for the Buffalo Sabres to push for. But the last 10 games are about much more than that. It can be the first look at a new core.

A player like Christian Ehrhoff is on a long-term contract. So is Tyler Myers. And others like Tyler Ennis, Cody Hodgson and Andrej Sekera can all start to take much more of the reins than they have in the past.

“I was just thinking about this the other day,” Ennis said prior to Sunday’s game against the New Jersey Devils.. “The first team I was on here when we went to the playoffs (2009-10), there’s just a handful of guys left. It’s kind of strange.

“It’s definitely got to be a group of us now stepping up to make a difference. It’s there for us. I know we’re a committed, focused group and that’s not going to be an issue. We just have to take advantage of it and get this team where it needs to be.”

“The next wave of players is coming,” said Steve Ott, often mentioned as a captain possibility next season. “That’s kind of going to be their team going forward here. Even when I’m gone, you’d hope these guys will be here for a long time and continue to be solid hockey players. It’s their turn to take the next step to become leaders on and off the ice.”