CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks are taking a more direct approach to generating offence without injured star forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
Olivier Giroud Chelsea Jersey . So far, its working. Rookie Jeremy Morin scored and set up Patrick Sharps go-ahead goal in the second period, and injury-depleted Chicago held on to defeat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 on Sunday afternoon for its third straight win. The Blackhawks ground out the victory despite playing without Toews powerful skating and Kanes puck-handling skills for the third game. Forward Brandon Saad was a last-minute scratch. "Weve simplified our game quite a bit," said Sharp, who scored his team-leading 33rd goal. "Were not trying to make as many plays offensively. Were battling hard. "Usually when you battle hard individually and as a team, good things happen. Weve raised our battle level lately, but were just keeping things simple. Getting pucks in, getting pucks out." And some younger players, such as Morin, are getting more ice time and showing just how deep defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago is. "Im just taking it day by day every time Im in the lineup, trying to make the most of it," Morin said. "Were comfortable out there. "Im just playing the game right now and letting things come." Marcus Kruger and Ben Smith also scored for Chicago, which is two points behind Colorado for second place in the Central Division and home ice in the first round of the playoffs. The Blackhawks have three games left. The Avalanche, who lost in a shootout to Pittsburgh on Sunday night, have four games remaining. Toews, Chicagos captain, sat out his third game with an upper-body injury suffered last Sunday when he was drilled by Pittsburgh defenceman Brooks Orpik. Kane, who has resumed skating, missed his ninth with a lower-body injury suffered against the Blues on March 19. Toews and Kane are expected to return for the start of the playoffs. Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Sobotka connected for St. Louis, which lost its second straight and remained two points behind idle Boston for the NHLs overall point lead and race for the Presidents Trophy. Both the Blues and Bruins have four games remaining. Chicagos Corey Crawford made 21 saves and St. Louis Brian Elliott made 31. "We had moments where we did everything to ourselves and gave them opportunities really out of nothing," Elliott said. "Its a wake-up call right now and weve got to figure it out." The Blues skated without two of their top forwards, including leading goal scorer Alexander Steen who missed his third game with an upper-body injury. Vladimir Tarasenko has been sidelined since mid-March with a hand injury. The Blues, who were shut out by Colorado on Saturday, have scored two goals or fewer in eight of their past 10 games. St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said his team is looking a "little bit tired" and needs to "find a way to re-energize" and start skating, buzzing and shooting again in the offensive zone. "Our offensive game is based on offensive energy," Hitchcock said. "When we dont have it, we dont have near enough zone time. "We score by volume (of chances) and when we dont get the volume we dont score. The last couple of games we havent gotten the volume we normally get." Blues defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk agreed. "A lot of our offence comes when were grinding away down low," he said. "When were shooting, theres rebounds and were beating guys to pucks." Chicago dominated territorially in the chippy first period and outshot the Blues 11-3, but trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes. Schwartzs power-play goal at 1:57 of the first opened the scoring. After taking Brenden Morrows pass, Schwartz fired from the left circle, but his shot hit traffic in front of the net and bounded back to him. His second shot got through the screen and beat Crawford low. Crawford made a pad save on Patrik Berglunds short-handed breakaway attempt midway through the first. Elliott stopped several prime Chicago chances in the final minutes of the first as Chicago turned up the pressure. With 1:30 to go, he blocked a point-blank short-handed shot by Marian Hossa, who rocketed in alone past Blues defenceman Alex Pietrangelo. Morin tied it at 1 at 8:34 of the second, when he drove to the net and pushed in a rebound of Bryan Bickells shot. Bickell had picked off a pass at centre ice before cruising back into the Blues zone and firing from the left circle. Sharp put Chicago ahead 2-1 with 27 seconds left in the second when he completed a 2-on-1 break with Morin. Morin carried the puck down the right side, then passed to Sharp who fired a shot past Elliotts stick side from the left circle. Kruger made it 3-1 just 56 seconds into the third. Elliott got a piece of Joakim Nordstroms shot from the right wing, but the puck trickled to the left goal post. Kruger punched it in. Sobotka cut it to 3-2 with 2:02 left when his flipping shot from the left wing knuckled under Crawfords glove. Smith scored into an empty-net with 3.3 seconds left. NOTES: Blackhawks D Johnny Oduya sat out his third game with a lower-body injury. Healthy scratches for Chicago were D David Rundblad and forwards Teuvo Teravainen and Matt Carey. ... Blues scratches were defencemen Ian Cole and Jordan Leopold and F Dmitrij Jaskin.
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Willian Jersey . Red Sox outfielder Jonny Gomes, the bandleader of the beard brigade during Bostons run to the 2013 World Series title, said he will be shaving his off before spring training so that he can file it "in the archive" with his memories of the teams improbable championship.Roy Oswalt retired from baseball on Tuesday after winning 163 games and making three All-Star teams in 13 major league seasons. The pitchers agent, Bob Garber, confirmed the decision and said Oswalt would go to work for his agency, RMG Baseball. Oswalt will be vice-president of baseball operations. "Roy is now going to be representing players with me," Garber said Tuesday night. "Hes now an agent." The 36-year-old right-hander had a 163-102 career record with a 3.36 ERA. Oswalt won 20 games in consecutive seasons (2004-05) with the Houston Astros and was the 2005 NL championship series MVP. He pitched more than 200 innings seven times but was hampered by injuries in recent years. "He was a tremendous competitor," Giants right-hander Matt Cain said. "He was one of the guys I always loved to watch pitch. I remember facing him for the first time and I knew if I gave up more than a couple runs that it wasnt going to be a good day for us. He went about his business every fifth day like a true pro." Oswalt got hurt with Houston on June 11, 2003, when he and five other pitchers combined to no-hit the New York Yankees in an 8-0 victory in the Bronx. It was the only six-pitcher no-hitter until Seattle did the same thing against the Dodgers on June 8, 2012. Oswalt strained his right groin and left in the second. He looked toward catcher Brad Ausmus after his second pitch of the inning, his 23rd of the game, and immediately was replaced. The Yankees had gone 6,980 games -- the longest streak in major league history -- without being no-hit, since Hoyt Wilhelms 1-0 victory for Baltimore on Seppt.
Victor Moses Chelsea Jersey. 20, 1958. Oswalt was 0-6 with an 8.63 ERA in nine outings and six starts for Colorado last year. He signed a minor league deal with the Rockies in May 2013 and missed time with a strained left hamstring. Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington was thrilled to acquire Oswalt in the middle of the 2012 season, when he went 4-3 with a 5.80 ERA in 17 appearances with nine starts. He joined the Rangers on June 22, 2012, but didnt know if the team just planned to trade him away. Washington often said Oswalt "has been a pro" in handling a tough, unclear situation that called for him to be used primarily out of the bullpen. That was after Oswalt spent two stints on the disabled list during 2011 with Philadelphia because of lower back inflammation. He went 9-10 with a 3.69 ERA in 23 starts for the Phillies that year, and his 139 innings were his fewest since 2003. He didnt go more than 59 innings in his last two years. A 23rd-round pick by Houston in the 1996 amateur draft, Oswalt pitched his first nine-plus seasons for the Astros (2001-10) and then played for Philadelphia (2010-11), Texas (2012) and the Rockies (2013). On Aug. 25, 2010, Oswalt became the first Phillies pitcher to play a position in the field in 39 years after Ryan Howard was ejected in the 14th inning of a 4-2, 16-inning home loss to the Astros. With the Phillies out of position players, Oswalt went to left field and Raul Ibanez took over at first for Howard. Oswalt drew a rousing ovation from the crowd when he caught a routine fly ball. He was the first Philadelphia pitcher to play a position since Bill Wilson on Aug. 6, 1971. ' ' '