outfielder was leading off in the first from zgr123's blog
NEW YORK -- The last time the New York Rangers had a game to forget, they responded with five straight wins that put them on the cusp of the Stanley Cup finals. Cheap Andre Roberts Jersey . They are still there, and the Montreal Canadiens arent going away without a fight. New York needs one more victory to reach the championship round for the first time in 20 years. The Rangers know that Game 6 at home on Thursday is their best chance to get it. They returned home from Montreal on Wednesday, one day after a wild 7-4 loss cut their series lead to 3-2. If New York doesnt end it Thursday, the Rangers will have to go back to Montreal for a deciding Game 7. New York, which went the full seven games in each of the first two rounds of this years playoffs, will be playing its 20th post-season game. No team that played a pair of seven-game series before the conference finals has reached the Stanley Cup finals. "Its an opportunity to win the game to go to the Stanley Cup final," Rangers forward Brad Richards said. "I think everybody is alert and ready that way. We were talking about it all (Tuesday) how excited we were to get on the ice and start playing. "We had some mental breakdowns, but I dont think it had anything to do with (fatigue). Weve had a lot of rest this series. The opportunity that faces us right now, were pretty excited about it. I dont think there is too much letdown." In the second round, a poor performance at home in Game 4 against Pittsburgh dropped the Rangers into a 3-1 series hole. But New York won Game 5 on the road, took Game 6 at home, and won the clincher back in Pittsburgh to set up the matchup with Montreal. Now that the Canadiens have staved off elimination once, the Rangers are wary of giving them any more hope they can turn the tables. "You learn a lot from it. Thats why experience is experience," Richards said. "You go through many situations. (Tuesday) night was a bad feeling, but today were getting on a plane to go back to our city, and we get to play in front of our fans. "Its always, forget as quick as possible and try to remember the good things that were doing. It was one bad night, but weve been doing a lot of good things in this series." The Rangers won the opening two games in Montreal and then split a pair of overtime decisions at home. Even though they have had success on the road and in recent Game 7s, they know that going the distance again works against them. "Its a desperate time," Richards said. "You dont want to go back to a Game 7 where anything can happen. We want to get this done. Theyre a good team anywhere. "Were going to have to be a lot better, and we will be." This is as far as New York has advanced since captain Mark Messier led the club to the 1994 Stanley Cup title -- breaking the Rangers 54-year drought. The Garden will be ready to celebrate again Thursday. After the Rangers lost Game 4 to Pittsburgh, the loyal fans thought they might not see their team again until next season. That will be the situation again if the Canadiens pull off another victory. "You win a game, and things change in your locker room and you start feeling better about yourselves," Rangers defenceman Marc Staal said. "We know how it feels coming back in a series, but it doesnt change anything in our room. We are as confident as ever going into our building, and looking forward to it." So are the Canadiens. They know that if they wouldve scored in overtime of Game 4 as they did in Game 3, they wouldve had a two-game sweep at the Garden and would be the ones looking to advance Thursday. "Well be ready for one of those tight-checking games," defenceman Josh Gorges said Wednesday after an optional practice in Montreal. "Im sure it will be again one of those hard-fought games that well have to make sure that were even better than we were last game." Montreal will have rugged forward Brandon Prust back in the lineup after he served a two-game suspension for a late hit on Derek Stepan in Game 3 that broke the Rangers forwards jaw. Stepan returned Tuesday and scored two goals while wearing a full faceguard. The Rangers will be without defenceman John Moore. He was suspended for two games Wednesday after receiving a match penalty Tuesday night for a hit to Montreal forward Dale Weises head. Henrik Lundqvist will be back in goal for the Rangers after he was pulled in Game 5 on a rare off night in which he allowed four goals on 19 shots in less than two periods. He avoided the loss when New York rallied from a 4-1 deficit to get even. Backup goalie Cam Talbot gave up two goals in relief. "(Tuesday) night was probably the best game weve played in this series," Canadiens forward Lars Eller said. "If we keep doing a lot of those things, I think the end result will be good." Cheap Falcons Jerseys Authentic . The ongoing funk on penalty kill and an unusually quiet night on home ice for the power play divided the Leafs from the Bruins at the ACC in a rare Sunday night affair. Cheap Mohamed Sanu Sr Jersey . The start of the seasons fifth and final major was delayed two hours due to heavy rain in the area. The tournament eventually began, but with water on the greens and the rain persisting, players were called back to the clubhouse less than an hour after the first group teed off. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Royals manager Ned Yost admitted that he often manages an entire game around getting the ball to reliever Wade Davis in the eighth inning and closer Greg Holland in the ninth. The fact that Yordano Ventura gave him six solid innings made things even easier. Ventura returned from a sore elbow to keep the St. Louis Cardinals off balance, and Kansas City rallied for three runs in the sixth inning before the bullpen closed out a 3-2 win Thursday night that ended a string of eight straight home losses to its cross-state rivals. "The bullpen was fantastic tonight," Yost said. Of course, so was Ventura. The hard-throwing right-hander was skipped his previous time through the rotation because of the ailment, but looked sharp in his return. Ventura (3-5) pitched to contact and took advantage of some sharp defence, which helped him to limit the damage whenever he ran into trouble. "Everything was good," Ventura said through a translator. "I wasnt nervous. I was very anxious. I wanted to pitch well to help the team win." He wasnt in line for the win until the Royals rallied for three runs off Michael Wacha (4-4) in the sixth inning, and Francisley Bueno and Davis each pitched a perfect inning in relief. Holland made things interesting in the ninth. Oscar Taveras led off with a grounder toward second base that Omar Infante fielded deep in the hole and threw awkwardly to first base. Umpire Dan Iassogna initially ruled the throw beat Taveras to the bag, but a video review showed that he was clearly safe. Holland proceeded to strike out Jhonny Peralta, but a wild pitch sent pinch runner Randal Grichuk to second base. Holland then struck out Jon Jay and Peter Bourjos to end the game. The Royals took the first two games of the four-game, two-city series at Busch Stadium, and then lost 5-2 in 11 innings on Wednesday night before taking the series finale. Kansas City improved to 6-2 against National League clubs this season, while its slumping cross-state rivals lost for the seventh time in their past eight games. The game was expected to be a showdown between two oof the games bright young pitchers in Ventura, with his 100 mph fastball, and Wacha, who emerged for St. Cheap Atlanta Falcons Jerseys. Louis last season. Neither of them disappointed. Ventura left two runners aboard in the first inning and a runner on third base in each of the next three innings. Alex Gordon then helped him out of the fifth, when he threw out Yadier Molina trying to stretch a single into a double with a strong throw from left field. The call was confirmed after a review that lasted 3 minutes, 30 seconds. Wacha only allowed two hits through the first five innings before Alcides Escobar started the Royals rally with a double in the sixth. Nori Aoki followed with an RBI double and Eric Hosmer guided a single through a drawn-in infield to knot the game 2-all. Salvador Perez, who had been in a 2-for-24 slump at home, followed with a go-ahead single. "Wacha was real good up the point of the sixth inning and thats consecutive starts where weve had starters come out and be real good and just hit a wall," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "We just werent able to get enough offence back after that." The fact that Aoki had a part in the Royals sixth-inning rally was perhaps fitting. The outfielder was leading off in the first inning when he took a pitch low and inside. He was still leaning slightly over the plate when Molina tried to return the ball to Wacha, and the throw instead ricocheted hard off Aokis helmet and toward the third-base dugout. Aoki crumpled into a heap and lay in the dirt for several minutes before resuming his at-bat. He later grounded out, but hurt the Cardinals with his double during the Royals decisive rally. "Yadi was real apologetic," Yost said. "Nori was just like, OK, OK." NOTES: Cardinals 2B Kolten Wong left in the fifth inning with soreness in his left shoulder, which he hurt diving for a ball Tuesday night in St. Louis. Daniel Descalso replaced him. ... Royals RHP Jeremy Guthrie starts a four-game series against the Yankees on Friday night. Cardinals RHP Lance Lynn will start for St. Louis to open its three-game set in Toronto. 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