Dein erstes Forum » advantage, fell to 14-15 at the Pepsi Center

CHICAGO -- Corey Crawford started every single playoff game when the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup last year. Custom Yankees Jerseys . Detroit had Jimmy Howard in goal, Jonathan Quick was in net for Los Angeles, Boston had Tuukka Rask, and Crawford beat each one of them. Chicagos unassuming goaltender still had his doubters when this season began. Not so much right now. Crawford is among the NHLs playoff leaders with a .931 save percentage and 1.97 goals-against average, leading the Blackhawks to the Western Conference finals for the fourth time in six seasons. The breakout post-season comes after he set career highs for games and starts while going 32-16-10 during the regular season. "Its another step closer to our ultimate goal and were pretty excited about that right now," Crawford said moments after he helped finish off Minnesota in the second round. "Resilient bunch and we never give up or get down, never get too high. That was a pretty good finish for this one." With Chicago locked in a tight series with the improving Wild, Crawford stepped up at a pivotal moment for the Blackhawks title defence. He had 27 saves in Game 5, helping the Blackhawks rally for a 2-1 win and a 3-2 series lead. Then he made 34 more stops in a 2-1 win at Minnesota on Tuesday night, keeping his team in the game until Patrick Kane got free for the series-clinching goal in overtime. "He was big," Kane said. "Seems to be a trend in this building, kind of in the second period, that they outplay us. Im sure he wasnt happiest with us with how we were playing in front of him. But he did what he does. Hes a great goaltender, and we feel hes the best in the league for that reason." It was Minnesotas first home loss of the post-season, but Crawford didnt sound all that impressed with his performance. "I rate it a as a win," he said. "Thats the only thing that counts." Crawford was just a spectator when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010, beating Philadelphia in six games. He took over as Chicagos starting goaltender the following season and posted a career-high 33 wins. Crawford took his lumps when the Blackhawks lost in the first round of the NHL playoffs in 2011 and 2012. He put those years of difficult lessons to good use last summer, when he went 16-7 with a .932 save percentage and an NHL-best 1.84 GAA in Chicagos run to the title. Now hes back for more. Next up is a rematch with the Kings, who lost to the Blackhawks in the conference finals a year ago, or a showdown with the Anaheim Ducks, the Wests top seed. Anaheim held a 3-2 series lead going into Wednesday nights game at Los Angeles. "Every round gets harder," said the 29-year-old Crawford, who received a $36 million, six-year contract extension after last years title. "Two really strong teams that are playing right now, were going to have to face one of them. Have to get some rest and prepare to work harder for our opportunities." Mike Ford Jersey . The ninth-seeded Safarova doused Swede Johanna Larsson 6-2, 6-3 on the green clay at Family Circle Tennis Center. The Czech player was a finalist here two years ago and captured back-to-back doubles titles in 2012 and last year. Wade Boggs Jersey .C. -- Marcus Paige and his North Carolina teammates have endured so many wild swings -- big wins, surprising losses, NCAA drama -- that no one can blame their Hall of Fame coach for wondering whats next. http://www.customyankeesjersey.com/custom-raul-mondesi-jersey-large-1014i.html . Sweeting scored two in the first and three in the second before Strong (4-4) got two back in the fourth. Sweeting then scored three in the fifth, two in the sixth and one in the seventh to grab a commanding 9-2 lead.DENVER -- Paul Pierce scored 18 points and the Brooklyn Nets rebounded from their worst loss more than 10 years by routing the slumping Denver Nuggets 112-89 on Thursday night. Joe Johnson, Marcus Thornton, and Mason Plumlee each added 10 points for the Nets, who snapped a six-game losing streak in Denver. The Nets hadnt won in the Mile High City since a 112-102 victory on Jan. 27, 2007. Randy Foye had 15 points to lead Denver, which has lost four in a row and nine of 10. Brooklyns 7-foot centre Jason Collins, the NBAs first openly gay player appearing in his third game since being signed to a 10-day contract, was given a round of applause from the crowd when he entered the game for the first time with 8:02 left. Collins finished with three points. Before the game, Collins said he planned to meet afterward with the family of Wyoming college student Matthew Shephard, who was tortured and murdered in 1998 because he was gay. Collins wears his No. 98 jersey in Shepards honour, and he said during a pregame news conference that the chance to meet Dennis and Judy Shepard was "one of those cool treats in life." The Nets were coming off a 104-80 loss at Portland the night before, their biggest loss since a 47-point defeat to Memphis on Dec. 13, 2003. But they quickly put that behind them with a runaway win of their own in a game in which they never trailed. Pierce scored 11 points in the third quarter, helping the Nets extend their lead to 38 points. Brooklyn took an 89-56 advantage into the fourth quarter and played reeserves for most of the rest of the game. Andy Pettitte Jersey. The offensive struggles by Denver, which was without leading scorer Ty Lawson (left rib fracture) for an eighth consecutive game, were epitomized in the first quarter. The Nuggets were held to a season-low eight points on 3-for-18 shooting from the floor (16.7 per cent) and trailed by as many 31 points in the second quarter before managing to get within 23 at the half. It got bad enough for the Nuggets that the crowd, after seeing Timofey Mozgov and Kenneth Faried both miss dunks in the first quarter, cheered derisively when Mozgov hit a layup early in the second. The Nets took advantage of the Nuggets horrible start to pull out to 59-36 halftime lead. Each of 10 Nets players seeing action to that point scored at least once. Denver ended up with as many turnovers in the first quarter as points. NOTES: The Nuggets were also without F Wilson Chandler, who was held out of the game because of sore right knee. ... The previous low for points in a quarter by the Nuggets was 12, against Oklahoma City on Jan. 9. ... The Nets Shaun Livingston made his 33rd start of the year, the most in a season in his career. ... Brooklyn improved to 4-10 in the second of back to back games. ... Since the beginning of January, the Nets have gone 17-8, fourth-best among Eastern Conference teams in that stretch. ... Denver, historically one of the teams with the strongest home-court advantage, fell to 14-15 at the Pepsi Center this season. ... All 13 Nets playing in the game scored. ' ' '