controlled the midfield for long stretches

[lebaobei123]

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning have remained on a roll even without star Steven Stamkos. St. Louis had a goal and two assists and the Tampa Bay Lightning extended their winning streak to five games with a 6-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Monday. St. Louis had an assist on Tyler Johnsons tap-in goal off a wide shot off the boards by Victor Hedman and added another on Valtteri Filppulas power-play goal less than five minutes later for a 3-1 Lightning lead. St. Louis scored his 16th goal of the season when his batted shot eluded Florida goaltender Scott Clemmensen for a 4-1 advantage after two periods. "When (Steven Stamkos) went down, we had that sense of shock, but won some games. Then reality set in. It set in when we went out West," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "Marty went into a little bit of a funk at that time when Stammer was gone. I dont think weve had a better player on our team in the last eight games than (Marty). Hes the captain and hes led the way for us. "Marty has clearly put the team on his back of late." Alex Killorn tied the game for Tampa Bay 19 seconds after Sean Bergenheim gave Florida a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal past Lightning goalie Ben Bishop. "Marty was huge. He opened up the floodgates and made some great plays and scored a pretty nice goal, too," Killorn said. "Hes obviously a leader on our team and we look to him for strong play. He came up huge in the second and everyone kind of followed his lead." The Lightning are 10-2-2 in games when St. Louis has appeared on the scoresheet since Stamkos broke his leg on Nov. 11. "I feel good out there adjusting to new linemates," said St. Louis, who is on a five-game point streak. "Its been fun. The young guys have a lot of energy. When youre winning and contributing, thats a fun feeling. "I definitely took it as a challenge and want to deliver." In his first full season behind the Lightning bench, Cooper has watched his club jump out to a quick start and hold a strong 23-11-3 record despite having Stamkos sidelined. Cooper said the key to beating the Panthers by five goals -- they also beat them 7-2 in the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Oct. 10 -- was the quick answer after the Panthers took the early lead. "It wasnt so much the second (period), it was the answer after they scored. We had a couple of really good penalty kills and made an unfortunate error that ended up in the back of our net. A big turning point for us was scoring on the next shift," Cooper said. "We went into the room 1-1 and we came out flying. It helped to get the 5-on-3. We smelled it. The boys got after it. "Were riding some momentum going into Christmas." Florida coach Peter Horachek was disappointed in his teams effort, especially returning home after going 3-1 on a tough road swing through Canada with wins over Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. "The guys didnt really have a lot of push-back. It was probably the worst game since Ive been here for sure," the interim coach said. NOTES: Florida F Scottie Upshall (upper .......) was hurt in the first period and didnt return. ... Tampa Bay D Sami Salo (upper .......) left in the second period and didnt return. ... Florida G Tim Thomas remained on the injured reserve (retroactive to Dec. 12) and missed his sixth straight game after being hurt nearly two weeks ago in practice. ... With the win in the teams third meeting, Tampa Bay won the first annual Governors Cup, created during the off-season by Florida Governor Rick Scott. ... Tampa Bay and Florida are both idle through the holiday break before hosting games Saturday -- the Lightning against Montreal, the Panthers playing Detroit. Roberto Alomar Blue Jays Jersey . The $145.7-million Tim Hortons Field was slated to open this month, a year before it was to host all 32 mens and womens soccer competitions. The delay has forced the Hamilton Tiger-Cats football team to use a smaller facility for the first two home games of the season. Drew Hutchison Authentic Jersey . -- David Price didnt think he would be in Port Charlotte this spring. http://www.teambluejaysprostore.com/Rob ... ys-jersey/. Modin, 36, tallied seven goals and three assists in 36 games with the Thrashers this season. The Sundsvall, Sweden, native has posted 232 goals and 230 assists in 894 career NHL games with Toronto, Tampa Bay, Columbus, Los Angeles and Atlanta and has appeared in 57 post-season contests, helping the Lightning capture the 2004 Stanley Cup Championship. Kevin Pillar Authentic Jersey . Catch all the action on TSN2 and TSN GO at 9pm et/6pm pt. San Antonio took the series lead Monday night with a 122-105 home victory in Game 1. The Spurs used a balanced scoring attack and clamped down defensively late in the third quarter to claim the win. Edwin Encarnacion Jersey . -- Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe was alert and recovering at a Denver hospital Saturday after suffering seizure-like symptoms when the teams bus pulled into the airport Friday afternoon for the flight to Kansas City.VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Whitecaps havent had any difficulty getting up for big games this season, and Sundays performance against one of the top clubs in Major League Soccer was no different. Darren Mattocks scored for the fourth time in the last five games after Vancouver was gifted an own goal as the Whitecaps defeated Sporting Kansas City 2-0. "Its good win for us against a very good team," said Whitecaps head coach Carl Robinson. "It was a good test for us -- a test that we managed to overcome. I believed we could win the game if we did things right." Vancouver (7-4-11) was on the front foot against the defending MLS champions from the start to hand Kansas City (11-6-6) its first loss in MLS since May 31. "I think we managed the game," said Mattocks, who saw his penalty saved in the 85th minute. "Theres going to be games where were going to need to win 1-0 on the road or at home. "We should have got a third or even a fourth (goal) in the second half, but three points, well take it." Vancouver came in just 1-2-6 over its last nine -- including four straight ties -- and won for the first time since July 5. The Whitecaps were in desperate need of Sundays victory with all of the teams around them picking up points in the Western Conference standings. "I watched all the games yesterday and I was pig sick if I was honest," said Robinson. "Every game that I seemed to watch, the result I wanted to go our way didnt go our way, but as Ive said all along its not what other teams do. Its what we do." David Ousted was rarely tested in Vancouvers goal on the way to picking up his second straight clean sheet as the Whitecaps moved back into a playoff spot. "It is definitely crunch time right now. We need to keep winning like we did today to keep up," said Ousted, who now has six shutouts on the year. "This was a good start, but the work doesnt stop here. " The Whitecaps have victories in rivalry games against the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers this season, and added a win over the top team in the Eastern Conference with Sundays performance at B.C. Place Stadium. What they need to do now is produce similar results against some of the leagues lesser lights, starting next week at Chivas USA. "Were not actually far away," said Robinson. "I keep saying were that close but were that far ... the potentials there, it really is." The Whitecaps took the lead in the 17th minute on Sunday when Kansas City defender Igor Juliao and goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum got their signals crossed after Vancouvers Pedro Morales lofted a long ball towards goal. Juliao tried to head a pass back towards Gruenebaum, but it instead dribbled over the line for a 1-0 lead. "It was just a miscommmunication between the fullback and the goalkeeper, but well take it," said Robinson.dddddddddddd. "We did get lucky on the first goal but take that out of it (and) I think we thoroughly deserved the victory. "It was good performance against a top team." Vancouver doubled the advantage in the 30th minute when Morales and Mattocks pounced on a Kansas City turnover in midfield and broke back the other way. Morales drew a defender towards him before squaring the ball to Mattocks, who made no mistake in slotting a low shot past a helpless Gruenebaum for his sixth of the season. It could have been 3-0 in first-half stoppage time, but Vancouvers Sebastian Fernandez saw his effort cleared off the line by Kansas City defender Aurelien Collin. The Whitecaps -- who entered play with just six goals in their last eight games -- had a few other great chances that also went begging in the opening 45 minutes, including a pair from Mattocks. "Darren was fantastic for me today. He scored a goal, he missed two or three other chances in the first half and he missed a penalty, but we won," said Robinson. "Darrens a player that I want to grow with. Hes got potential to go as far as I believe he can, but its not going to happen over night." Sporting sits first in the East and had won five straight road games, one short of the MLS record during the non-shootout era, but were on their heels from the opening whistle as Vancouver controlled the midfield for long stretches. The visitors replaced Gruenebaum with Jon Kempin in goal to start the second half, and had a good chance in the 46th minute when Jacob Peterson tested Ousted with a stinging shot. Morales had a half chance from outside the Kansas City area in the 62nd minute before Collin headed wide at the other end a few moments later off a corner kick. Whitecaps defenders Johnny Leveron and Jordan Harvey almost linked up for another opportunity off a Vancouver corner in the 70th, but Kansas City survived to keep the score at 2-0 before Kempin stopped Mattocks late penalty. "The most important thing is we got three points against a very good K.C. team," said Mattocks. "For us to get a clean sheet, hats off to the guys at the back and David in goal. To get three points, two goals, its a very big achievement for us." Notes: The game marked Vancouvers first-ever victory over Kansas City in five all-time meetings. ... Morales picked up his ninth assist of the season to tie a club record. ... Vancouver defender Andy OBrien played his first game since June 25. ... Collin, Matt Besler, Graham Zusi and striker Dom Dwyer all represented Sporting in Wednesdays MLS all-star game against Bayern Munich. ... Kansas City hosts Toronto FC next Saturday. ... Attendance was 20,183. Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '