Dein erstes Forum » ding hit to be delivered by Sekac. At the goal li

BALTIMORE -- John Harbaugh listed all the good things the Baltimore Ravens did in their third preseason game. "Very pleased about most everything about the game," he said. "I like the way we played, I liked how we played." Then he stated the obvious. "I just didnt like the four returns for touchdowns," the coach concluded. Ted Ginn Jr. took a punt 74 yards for a touchdown, and the Carolina Panthers defence scored three times in a 34-27 victory over the reigning Super Bowl champions Thursday night. Drayton Florence ran an interception 71 yards into the end zone, Thomas Davis scored on a 2-yard fumble return and linebacker Luke Kuechly picked off another of Joe Flaccos passes late in the second quarter to set up a 54-yard field goal by Graham Gano for a 24-7 lead. "I was able to read the quarterback and make a play on it," Kuechly said. Carolina (2-1) had only 67 yards in offence before halftime, yet reeled off 24 straight points after Baltimore (2-1) scored on its first possession. Late in the third quarter, D.J. Moore intercepted a pass by Tyrod Taylor and ran 31 yards for a touchdown to make it 34-17. After collecting four turnovers against the Ravens, the Panthers have 10 in three games. "Turnovers are great. Its paying off big-time," said Kuechly, the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2012. "Weve had quite a few turnovers in each game and thats huge for us. Defensive coaches have done a good job of stressing it." Flacco, the Super Bowl MVP, played into the third quarter and went 18 for 24 for 169 yards and a touchdown. In three preseason games, he has two TD passes and three interceptions. Although he produced 10 points in the third quarter, Flacco was far from satisfied with the performance of the first-team offence. "We obviously turned the ball over, and you lose more games than you win in this league when you do that," he said. "With what we did tonight, were not going to win a lot of football games." The Ravens finished with 27 first downs compared to 14 for Carolina, outgained the Panthers 357-173 and had an 11 1/2-minute edge in time of possession. "Its one thing to always remember: When you score (three) touchdowns on defence and on special teams, the offence doesnt get back out there," Carolina coach Ron Rivera said. "The opportunities are limited. Having said that, 3.7 yards an average offensive play is not good enough, not in this league." Theyll win plenty with a 4-0 edge in turnovers, though. "Tonight was one of those games that we did a lot of good things, but we had some miscommunication and turned the ball over too much," Flacco said. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton completed 10 of 19 passes for 99 yards. Carolina lost backup receiver Kealoha Pilares in the first quarter because of a knee injury. He will have an MRI on Friday. "Theres a little concern, but well keep our fingers crossed," Rivera said. Guard Amini Silatolu left in the second quarter with a strained hamstring and running back Kenjon Barner rolled his ankle. Baltimores opening drive was a display of precision. Flacco went 5 for 5 for 45 yards, connecting with three receivers during a nine-play, 69-yard march that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Ray Rice. "We opened the game the way we want to play and know how we can play," Ravens offensive co-ordinator Jim Caldwell said at halftime. "We were crisp, we were fast and we were in rhythm." The next time, though, Flacco missed on three straight passes to set up a punt. Ginn eluded the first wave of tacklers, broke up the middle and held the ball aloft at around the 20 with punter Sam Koch in futile pursuit. That enabled the Panthers to get out of the first quarter in a tie at 7 despite making only one first down and 38 yards on nine plays. Early in the second quarter, Flacco was attempting to convert a third-and-10 when Florence intercepted the pass and took it down the right sideline for a touchdown. After the kickoff, Bernard Pierce fumbled when hit by Kuechly. Davis pounced on the ball and rolled into the end zone for a 21-7 lead. Three turnovers and poor punt coverage offset all the positives for the defending champions. "When you turn it over and give up a special teams touchdown, you get in a big hole," Harbaugh said. "We have to protect the ball better." Steve Grogan Jersey . But last years runner-up Jarkko Nieminen crashed out despite winning the first set against Denis Istomin. Istomin fired 10 aces and won 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 to even his career record against Nieminen at 3-3. John Hannah Jersey . He scored two highlight-reel goals in a three-minute span -- the second on a sideways bicycle kick in the 78th minute -- to give the Whitecaps a 2-2 draw with the Portland Timbers before a crowd of 20,303 at B. http://www.shoptheofficialpatriots.com/E...atriots-Jersey/. Redden played a total of 1,023 regular-season games with Ottawa, the New York Rangers, St. Louis and Boston. He finished with 457 points (109 goals, 348 assists) and a plus-160 rating over his career. Irving Fryar Jersey . -- Kael Mouillierat scored three times and set up one more as the St. Andre Tippett Jersey . Bobrovsky posted a 2-0-1 record with a 1.58 goals-against average and .950 save percentage to help the Blue Jackets (35-26-6) gain five of a possible six points last week. He capped the week by making 32 saves and stopping 2-of-4 shootout attempts in a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, I was watching the Montreal-Buffalo game last night and there was a nasty hit by Canadiens winger Jiri Sekac on Sabres defenceman Nikita Zadorov. The broadcasters say Zadorov got caught right between the numbers and were expecting about five and a game. But the officials called two minutes for boarding. Was this the right call? Alex Jones, Toronto Alex: The right call was made based on the actions of Nikita Zadorov, who was the recipient of a boarding infraction committed by Jiri Sekac of Montreal. The call made by young referee T.J. Luxmore is clearly spelled out in rule 41.1 - Boarding: There is an enormous amount of judgment involved in the application of this rule by the Referees. The onus is on the player applying the check to ensure his opponent is not in a defenceless position and if so, he must avoid or minimize contact. However, in determining whether such contact could have been avoided, the circumstances of the check, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the check or whether the check was unavoidable can be considered. This balance must be considered by the Referees when applying this rule. It boggles my mind and defies traditional hockey logic when players turn and face the boards squarely; especially knowing that they are going to be hit. Nikita Zadorov was in the process of doing everything correct when he was first man on the puck. Zadorov attacked the puck from an angle (versus straight on) and took a good look over his shoulder some twenty feet from the end boards to observe Jiri Sekac fighting through minimal detainment offered by Zemgus Girgensons. As such, he had to expect an impending hit to be delivered by Sekac. At the goal line Zadorov rotated his body square to the boards and initiated a side-slide stopping motion as he focused on the puck that was rolling around from the corner toward the end boards. This setup placed Zadorov in perfect position to play the puck and then safely take body contact from Sekac; also with the knowledge that he had 2nd man puck support from Sabres teammate Girgensons. This relatively safe play immediately turned bad for Zadorov when he took a second peek at Sekac as the Montreal attacker approached the goal line with speed. Zadorovs momentary shift in focus resulted in an inability to play the puck in front of his body that was still positioned squarely to the end boards. Once the puck slid past his center line Zadorov placed himself in a vulnerable position by reaching back for the puck; thereby turning his body and face square to the boards just prior to receiving body contact by Sekac. Referee T.J. Luxmore was in absolutely perfect position in the corner to observe Zadorovs turn toward the boards immediately prior to the check. Luxmore then correctly applied a shared onus of responsibility between Zadorov and Sekac to only assess a minor penalty on the play. A Lesson Shared From Old Schooll Wisdom On Tuesday, the Edmonton Oilers were in town to play the Philadelphia Flyers.dddddddddddd The night before the game my wife and I took our good friend, Oilers assistant coach Craig Ramsay out for dinner. Andrew Ference had been suspended for three games just that morning; preceded by suspensions imposed by the Player Safety Committee to Anton Vochenkov (four games) and Alex Burrows (three games). I asked Rammer his take on players that not only deliver dangerous hits but those that put themselves in vulnerable positions to be hit? Based on Nikita Zadorovs turn toward the boards, I want to focus our attention on Craigs response to the later part of my query as to why players put themselves in vulnerable positions and dont protect themselves the way players of his era did. He contends that many of todays players just dont expect to be hit and as such are quite often oblivious to their surroundings. This lack of apparent environmental awareness that Ramsay contends, was definitely present when Alex Emelin was caught off guard with a very late, angled head pick by Burrows well after the Montreal defenceman had delivered a pass up ice. It could be easily argued that both Zack Kassian and Michael Ferland demonstrated a lack of awareness and need for self-protection when they were recipients of an illegal check to the head; an awareness that players from other eras understood the need for at an early age and stage in their hockey careers. At a recent Oilers practice, Rammer attempted to impart some old school wisdom on a young Oiler player; wisdom the coach had acquired in the area of self preservation during a lengthy and distinguished NHL playing career. With the baby Oiler standing squarely in front of him, Rammer raised his stick and thumped the player on his helmet. The player instinctively recoiled and backed away, prompting the coach to reinforce his intended lesson that the player really didnt like being struck with a stick! Next, Ramsay called over assistant coach Rocky Thompson who Rammer says in a very intelligent and thoughtful assistant that is a real pleasure to work with. Rocky played most of his career in the AHL. In 25 NHL games he registered no points but 117 penalty minutes! As Rocky got within striking distance, Rammer raised his stick and feigned a swat at Thompsons head. Rocky immediately pulled away and assumed a defensive posture covering his head. Rammer then turned back toward the young Oiler and said, See that, Rockys a tough guy and he pulled back at the thought of confronting my stick! The lesson ended with Rammer not promoting his player thump opponents over the head but instead to be ever aware of the potential to be checked; to be dialed in to his environment at all times; and when necessary to protect himself through reasonable defensive posture and tactics. Hopefully the dramatic lesson attempt from Rammer just might prevent the young Oiler player from being caught off-guard and suffering an injury. The dinner and company was great but we missed seeing Rammers better half, wife Susan who remained in Edmonton. I willingly picked up the tab. ' ' '