AUFNAHMESPERRE » and missed assignments in the

MONTREAL — Zach Fucale may not have been very busy in Canadas first game of the junior world championship, but he was there when called upon.Fucale made just 12 saves for the shutout in Canadas decisive 8-0 victory over Slovakia on Friday at the Bell Centre in Montreal.Thats a good challenge for me, said Fucale, who faced just three shots in the opening period. Whatever happens, I want to be as sharp as possible throughout 60 minutes. And tonight the guys in front of me helped me out. They played a great defensive game.The Canadians (1-0-0) limited Slovakia (0-1-0) to three shots on Fucale in the first, five in the second, and four in the third. Seven minutes into the second period, the Laval, Que., native had still faced only three shots from the opposition.Whether I get two shots, or 45, I want to stop as many as possible for the team, said the 19-year-old Fucale. You use your little techniques to stay sharp and you dont change much.Most of Fucales saves werent terribly difficult — Slovakias shots were from a distance and at a tight angle, primarily — but twice the Montreal Canadiens prospect had to rise to the occasion.In the third period, with Canada already up 7-0, Fucale kept his shutout bid alive with good positioning and a little bit of luck. With Canadas Madison Bowey in the penalty box for tripping, Slovakias Peter Cehlarik blasted a shot on target that Fucale saved with the knob of his stick.I dont think I realized exactly what was going on at that exact moment, said Fucale, whose stick went flying after the shot. It was a bit of a funny play.His first big save of the night had more of an impact on the score line.Six minutes into the first period, the Memorial Cup-winning goaltender frustrated the Slovaks after making back-to-back saves — the second while lying on his stomach on the ice — to preserve Canadas one-goal lead.Head coach Benoit Groulx called the save a game-changer.The game is 1-0 for us, theres a scramble in front of our net, and he makes that stop, said Groulx. It could have been a different story tonight. Obviously, that was a great save. He had to face two or three quality chances. Overall, I thought he was good.Added captain Curtis Lazar: Zach is always going to be there for us. Hes going to make that first save. Its up to us to get those second and third opportunities. He was there for us tonight.Canada got goals from seven of its players — Anthony Duclair, Max Domi, Nic Petan, Nick Paul, Brayden Point, Jake Virtanen, and two from Robby Fabbri.Despite the shutout, Fucale is by no means Canadas clear-cut No. 1. Eric Comrie of the Western Hockey Leagues Tri-City Americans will start in net against Germany in Canadas second game of preliminary play on Saturday.Groulx wants to test both his young goaltenders in order to select the best player between the pipes once Canada faces tougher opposition down the road. After the Germans, Canada takes on Finland and then the United States to wrap up the tournaments group stage.We just want to help the team, said Fucale of himself and Comrie. Its not about proving whos best. Thats not our goal. Were here to win. We got points tonight, and thats whats important.Canada now sits atop Group A with three points. The Americans, who beat Finland 2-1 in overtime on Friday, are in second place. The top four teams in each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.The tournament-favourite Canadians, who have not won gold at the junior tournament in five years, will look to benefit from home-ice advantage as games are played in Montreal and Toronto.On Friday, 14,142 fans came to the Bell Centre to support Canadas juniors.Fucale, who had a cheering section of friends and family in the stands, says the advantage of playing on home soil is not negligible.It was nice to be in front of our home fans, he said. The crowd gave us energy, and we felt their enthusiasm. It was good for us. We felt it right from the first step on the ice.The fans were very welcoming and very passionate. Theyre going to help us as the tournament goes on, and thats a bonus for us. J. D. Martinez Jersey . New York (16-9-8) took over first place in the Eastern Conference and has the best record in the league with one game remaining. Houstons five-game unbeaten streak was snapped, and the Dynamo (13-11-9) are sixth in the East with one game remaining. Ted Williams Jersey . The Boston Celtics hadnt played since the All-Star break. So the Suns 100-94 victory over Boston Wednesday night was an uphill affair, with Phoenix relying on balance rather than its trademark high energy. http://www.theredsoxteamshop.com/Red-Sox...iz-Kids-Jersey/. -- The taxing preseason, which included two games in China, is finally over. Tyler Thornburg Jersey .Fiji striker Roy Krishna scored in the 14th minute to give Wellington its fourth win, along with a draw, from its past five matches, putting the Phoenix fourth but only a point behind third-placed Adelaide. Custom Boston Red Sox Jerseys . As Valanciunas was whistled for a rare technical toward the end of the third quarter - a result of waving his hand at an official after being called for a foul - Lowry pulled the Raptors sophomore aside, corralling him by his jersey and patting him on the back. SAN DIEGO -- With a blue-collar, workmanlike approach, the Cincinnati Bengals knocked the San Diego Chargers back to reality while protecting their two-game lead in the AFC North. The Bengals ran for 164 yards. They held Philip Rivers to just 252 yards passing. They forced three turnovers and preyed on a big breakdown in coverage. "Down and dirty," cornerback Adam Jones said after the Bengals beat the Chargers 17-10 on Sunday, holding San Diegos high-powered offence to a season-low in points and wearing down its defence. Andy Dalton threw a go-ahead, 21-yard touchdown pass to wide-open A.J. Green late in the third quarter that allowed the Bengals (8-4), who were coming off their bye, to keep a two-game lead over Baltimore. "Thats the main thing. Were not playing just to make the playoffs," Jones said. "Were playing for the bye. We played hard and physical on defence. If we keep playing hard and smart and were going to be a real, real good team." San Diego (5-7) lost the momentum it gained with a thrilling 41-38 comeback win at Kansas City a week earlier. The Chargers slim playoff hopes dwindled after their fourth loss in five games. "You score 10 points, you are going to lose most of the time," said Rivers, who completed 23 of 37 passes for 252 yards. "Thats a good defence. We just werent consistent enough." With the score tied at 7, the Bengals got the ball after Dre Kirkpatrick ripped the ball away from tight end Antonio Gates after a reception at the Cincinnati 25, the Chargers third turnover. Ten plays later, Green split the defence for an easy touchdown, with safety Eric Weddle and cornerback Marcus Gilchrist only able to watch. "Obviously they jacked the coverage up a little bit and missed assignments in the middle and it worked out well for us," said Dalton, who added that the Bengals power running game helped set up that play. Dalton joined Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks to start their careers with three straight 3,000-yard seasons. Dalton was 14 of 23 for 190 yards, giving him 3,144 for the season. "It was just a seam right up the middle, man," said Green, who wasnt slowed by a hip pointer sustained during the Bengals first drive. "I guess the two linebackers and the safety went with Jermaine (Gresham) and I just came wide open." On the Bengals next drive, Andrew HHawkins caught a short pass from Dalton on third-and-2 from the Bengals 18 and raced 50 yards to the San Diego 32, where he was pushed out of bounds.dddddddddddd The Bengals settled for Mike Nugents 46-yard field goal for a 17-7 lead. The Bengals appeared to be driving for a score that would have put away the game, but BenJarvus Green-Ellis fumbled when he was hit by Gilchrist. Weddle recovered and returned it 27 yards to the San Diego 43. The drive stalled and Nick Novak kicked a 48-yard field goal to pull to 17-10 with 4:43 left. A personal foul against Johnnie Troutman after the field goal forced the Chargers to kick off from their 20 and Brandon Tate returned it 24 yards to the Bengals 34 and Cincinnati ran out the clock. Green-Ellis gained 92 yards on 20 carries. Giovani Bernard had 57 yards on 14 carries. San Diego held the Bengals to 104 yards in the first half and then gave up 250 in the second half. Rookie coach Mike McCoy said his defence "fell apart." Cincinnatis offensive line manhandled the Chargers on the Bengals second drive, which ended with BenJarvus Green-Ellis scoring on a 4-yard run. The Chargers responded with a long drive capped when second-year tight end Ladarius Green split linebackers Rey Maualuga and Vontaze Burfict and was wide open for a 30-yard touchdown reception to tie the game at 7. Mostly, though, the Chargers struggled. "We crossed the 50 I dont know how many times but we didnt finish drives," Rivers said. "It is just not the turnovers; those we know. But there are other drives where we just didnt finish and ended up punting there right around midfield and that is critical. "This is a good team," Rivers said. "Let an opportunity pass us by? Yes. It wasnt like we had it in our grasp and they came in here and stole it from us. We knew we were going to have to play well." Said Burfict: "Just when theyd get to the 40-yard line, we had to stop them. Thats what were good at. They cross the 50 and everybody stepped up to make plays." NOTES: Chargers rookie Keenan Allen had eight catches for 106 yards, the fifth 100-yard game for the third-round draft pick from Cal. ... Chargers CB Derek Cox was benched in favour of Richard Marshall. Cox had been benched in three of the four previous games. ... Bengals LG Clint Boling hurt his right knee late in the first quarter. 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