Funkerstation » Two more nonconference wins agai

CRANBERRY, Pa. -- If there is such a thing as a Stanley Cup hangover, the Pittsburgh Penguins are trying to avoid it. So they came up with their equivalent of taking an aspirin before the party.The club talked a lot about taking a certain approach -- enjoy all the ceremonies and celebrations, including the banner-raising Thursday before their season opener at PPG Paints Arena, then make a point of turning the page to the new season.So far, so good.The Penguins beat Washington 3-2 in a shootout in the season opener, and felt back in the swing of things by practice on Friday as they prepared for a visit from the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.From training camp, to the visit to the White House, to getting our rings, to (Thursday) night, when Sid (Crosby) took the Cup on the ice, to the fans, we did all that, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, the winner Thursday after making 39 saves and stopping Alex Ovechkins shootout attempt to wrap up the win, said Friday. After that, today, it feels like a new season. Were ready to start over, start fresh and get back into the routine.With fellow goalie Matt Murray still recovering from a thumb injury, Fleury figures to get the start again.Its not clear who will start for the Ducks.John Gibson, a native of Whitehall, Pa., in suburban Pittsburgh, stopped 20 of 24 shots Thursday in a 4-2 loss at Dallas to open the season. The other option is Jonathan Bernier, who had a strong preseason.They had good chances, Gibson said of the Stars, according to the Los Angeles times. Some nights I make those saves, and (Thursday) I didnt seem to make them.Anaheim will be looking for its first win under new and former coach Randy Carlyle. The Ducks were 0-for-5 on the power play against Dallas, and Carlyle did not like his teams defensive effort in front of Gibson.How can you allow a team to score three from the top of the crease? Thats blowing coverage and thats missed coverage, and those are assignments we will definitely recover from, Carlyle told the Times. Well make sure those things dont happen again.Pittsburgh, meanwhile, almost surely will be playing without Crosby, their captain and the Conn Smythe Trophy winner who is out with a concussion.The team is happy with his progress -- which allowed him to skate, in uniform, onto the ice with the Cup during Thursday nights pregame banner-raising ceremony -- but Crosby skated separately from the team Friday.The Penguins other star center, Evgeni Malkin, had a goal and assist and added a shootout goal on Thursday.Obviously, Geno is an important guy for us, winger Chris Kunitz said. (Thursday) night he showed he can change a game. He and (defenseman Kris Letang) are two guys out team needs to win some games while Sids out.Most teams dont have that luxury. Were very fortunate.And, if the Penguins can help it, they are living very much in the present rather than enjoying the vapors of that Stanley Cup win.Playing a game 48 hours after their opener, and moving from a familiar rival to a Western Conference team that requires some extra homework, could help.The first shift (Thursday), when guys are coming at you, thats when you know its time for the games, Pittsburgh defenseman Brian Dumoulin said. Preseason games are fun -- theyre good to get back in the swing of things -- but that was a real game, especially against a good team like Washington.Its weird to start off with such a familiar team as Washington. Then I dont even remember the last time we played Anaheim. Zapatillas NMD Baratas . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long. Comprar Adidas NMD Baratas .ca! Kerry, Two nights after the Scott-Eriksson incident in Buffalo, the Bruins returned home to play San Jose. In that game, Zdeno Chara put a check on Tommy Wingels that clearly targeted his head. http://www.adidasnmdbaratas.es/ . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. Adidas NMD Rebajas . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Adidas NMD Comprar Online .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Tracy Abrams proved that he was back to top shape -- or even better -- when he scored a career-high 31 points and led Illinois in a 92-73 drubbing of Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon.Abrams scored 23 points in the first half and finished 7 of 8 from 3-point range on a day when he scored his 1,000th career point with Illinois (8-3).Its been a long road for the guard from Chicago who missed the last two seasons with knee injuries. Despite the difficult journey, Abrams had a priority for whom to credit for his on-court success.My teammates for giving me the ball and just the hard work, being in the gym a lot. Abrams said. It just shows that hard work pays off.Illinois shot at or above 50 percent from the field in the first 10 minutes, but a six-minute Central Michigan scoring drought allowed Illinois to go on a 23-3 run and lead by as many as 19 points in the first half.Leron Black played another compete game from the bench, scoring a career-high 21 points.Illinois played its last nonconference game at home of the season, a game in which coach John Groce thought his team continued to grow and find its identity.It was our most complete performance of the season, Groce said. I think its something that we can build upon.Marcus Keene led Central Michigan (8-3) with 25 points and Braylon Rayson added 18.Illinois won the rebound battle 49-25 and outscored the Chippewas in the paint 34-14.We had greaat attitude, great effort and just got beat by an ever-improving Illinois team, Central Michigan coach Keno Davis said.dddddddddddd They were able to expose the weakness of being not as physical, big and strong as they are.BIG PICTUREIllinois: The Fighting Illini continue to win during a critical stretch of the season. Two more nonconference wins against BYU and Missouri will help the Illinis tournament resume before the start of Big Ten play.Central Michigan: The Chippewas lost arguably their hardest game of the season. Central Michigan will have a nice break before playing the last two nonconference games of the season.STAR WATCHMalcolm Hill was held scoreless in the first half but finished with 10 points and five rebounds.STAT OF THE NIGHTIllinois held Central Michigan to its lowest first-half points total of the season at 36.ROLE PLAYERD.J. Williams continued to gain more playing time after sitting out two of the previous four games. The sophomore finished with two points and five rebounds in 18 minutes.UP NEXTIllinois will have the week of before the team travels to Chicago to play BYU in the State Farm Chicago Legends game.Central Michigan has an extended break before returning back to action at Montana State on Dec. 21.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '