MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.
Doug Gilmour Jersey . - With the Miami Dolphins at 7-7 and all but eliminated from the playoffs, defensive tackle Jared
Odrick talked about playing out the season.Were on a team thats .500, he said.
If you dont believe that youre a .500 team, you have to go out there and prove
it. Weve got two more games to do that.So a winning record would be a
significant achievement?Nah.Finishing 9-7? Odrick said. Finishing 9-7 and not
going to the playoffs doesnt mean a thing.If more Dolphins could reverse
direction so quickly, they might be Super Bowl-bound.Its tough to blame Odrick
for having trouble convincing himself that Sundays game matters. Motivation can
be difficult for teams out of the playoff chase, and thats the challenge both
teams face when the Dolphins play the Minnesota Vikings (6-8).Here are things to
know about the matchup between also-rans:THE STAKES: The game means a lot to
Dolphins coach Joe Philbin, whose job is in jeopardy after lopsided losses the
past two weeks likely ensured a third consecutive season out of the
playoffs.Players have been vocal in defending Philbin and his staff.I dont think
its the coaches fault, receiver Mike Wallace said. I think its our fault. I dont
think weve played up to our potential throughout our games. I dont think weve
played a full 60 minutes, except maybe two or three times. Were selling
ourselves short — the players, not the coaches.Another loss might seal Philbins
fate, while a sweep of the final two games would give Miami its first winning
season since 2008, a sign of progress that could influence owner Stephen Ross.In
the absence of Adrian Peterson, the Vikings have been out of the race since
Thanksgiving. But theyve won two of their past three games to give them a shot
at a .500 finish under first-year coach Mike Zimmer.Were moving in the right
direction, defensive end Brian Robison said. Thats what you want to see out of a
club thats under a new regime.QB HOMECOMING: There likely will be lots of empty
seats Sunday, but dont blame Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. The
Miami native will have plenty of family and friends in attendance, although he
couldnt provide an exact count because his mother handles ticket requests.Im
pretty loved back home in Miami, and a lot of people tell me that Im a role
model in my community, Bridgewater said. So itll be amazing to see how many turn
out there and get to see me play in person for the first time.Bridgewater grew
up a Dolphins fan and attended a couple of their games before heading off to
Louisville. He said he envisioned himself playing in the stadium someday.As a
child I had high dreams and aspirations, he said. Making it to the National
Football League and to be able to play there my first year in the NFL, its
pretty amazing.Bridgewater will make his 11th start, passing Fran Tarkenton and
Christian Ponder for the most by Vikings rookie quarterback.GOING LONG: Miamis
Ryan Tannehill is finally showing progress with his accuracy on long passes.In
last weeks loss at New England, Tannehill threw deep to Wallace for 50 yards on
the first play, and went long to Wallace for a 32-yard score at the end of the
first half. Another deep throw into the end zone was dropped.He had a number of
deep balls that were as good as any we have seen him throw in games, offensive
co-ordinator Bill Lazor said. We have seen improvement in practice, and we kind
of felt like that it should be showing up in the game.For the season, Tannehill
is 8 for 36 (22 per cent) on throws of more than 20 yards.COACHING PALS: Zimmer
said his friendship with Dolphins defensive co-ordinator Kevin Coyle could be a
factor in the game. They worked together with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2008-11,
when Zimmer was defensive co-ordinator and Coyle coached the secondary.Ive
played against guys that have been with me before, and theyll run a play and you
will say, Ah, I told them about that, Zimmer said. Its one play here or
there.WINTER IN MIAMI: The Vikings practice in their field house with the doors
open to simulate colder conditions for late-season games, but this week the
doors were closed and the heat turned up to prep for Miami.It will be 80
degrees, Zimmer said before one workout. Not sunny, but it will be 80
degrees.___AP Sports Writers Dave Campbell and Jon Krawczynski in Minneapolis
contributed to this report.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and
http://twitter.com/AP_NFL___Follow Steven Wine on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/Steve_Wine
TJ Brodie Flames Jersey . -- Chris Jones and Louisville have done a tremendous job protecting the basketball this season and
thats led to easy victories.
Deryk Engelland Flames Jersey . Next years tournament is also within sight for Bosnia-Herzegovina, which has never played
in a World Cup, but Cristiano Ronaldo looks destined for the playoffs with
Portugal after a night when the qualifying picture in the nine groups became
much clearer.Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - Max Pacioretty scored the games
only goal with 1:52 remaining in overtime to lift the Montreal Canadiens past
the Washington Capitals 1-0 on Saturday afternoon. Paciorettys goal, coupled
with Carey Prices second consecutive shutout, ended Washingtons seven- game
winning streak in Montreal and sent the Canadiens to a fifth straight victory.
Price followed up his whitewash of the Rangers on Thursday with 36 saves. He
improved to 10-1-1 since Dec. 20, thanks in part to Pacioretty chipping in Tomas
Plekanecs centering feed in OT. Plekanec was skating down the right boards when
he sent a backhand on net that a lunging Pacioretty got enough of to send over
Braden Holtbys left shoulder. Holtby, who was coming off his own shutout of the
Penguins, made 29 saves in an otherwise stellar performance. Final Score:
Detroit 4, NY Islanders 1 Detroit, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Petr Mrazek stopped
22 shots and the Detroit Red Wings grabbed a 4-1 victory over the New York
Islanders on Saturday. Brendan Smith, Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar and Jonathan
Ericsson each lit the lamp for the Red Wings, who rebounded from a loss at Tampa
Bay on Thursday to win for a seventh time in their past eight games. Lubomir
Visnovsky had the only goal of the game for the Islanders, who have dropped
their past two contests. Chad Johnson allowed all four goals on just 19 shots in
the loss. Final Score: Ottawa 7, Arizona 2 Ottawa, ON (SportsNetwork.com) -
Robin Lehner made 35 saves, and the Ottawa Senators scored four goals in a 5 1/2
minute span in their 7-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday afternoon.
Milan Michalek and Mark Stone each scored in the closing minutes of the second
period, and Bobby Ryan and Jean- Gabriel Pageau added goals very early in the
third period. Ottawa also got goals from Mike Hoffman, Erik Karlsson and Mika
Zibanejad to win for the second time in three games. Marc Methot tallied a
career-high three assists. Mike Smith allowed five Senators goals on 20 shots
against him before getting the hook in the third period. Zbynek Michalek and Sam
Gagner scored Arizonas goals as the Coyotes fell to 1-3-2 on their ongoing
eight- game road trip. Final Score: Boston 3, Los Angeles 1 Boston, MA
(SportsNetwork.com) - Brad Marchand scored two goals to lift the Boston Bruins
to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. Chris Kelly tallied the
game-winning goal late in the third and Tuukka Rask made 30 saves for the
Bruins, who were coming off a 5-2 win over the Islanders on Thursday. Jordan
Nolan lit the lamp and Jonathan Quick stopped 30-of-32 shots for the Kings, who
have dropped five of their last six games. Final Score: New Jersey 3, Florida 1
Newark, NJ (SportsNetwork.com) - Keith Kinkaid made 26 saves to backstop the New
Jersey Devils to a 3-1 win over visiting the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.
Kinkaid was bidding for his first NHL shutout, but allowed a goal to Brandon
Pirri with 1:29 remaining. Steve Bernier had scored an empty-net goal a minute
earlier to seal the Devils third win in four games. Jaromir Jagr and Mike
Cammalleri had first-period goals for New Jersey, which registered just one shot
in the second and two in the third. Roberto Luongo stopped 11 shots as the
Panthers sufffered their sixth loss in seven games.
Craig Conroy Flames Jersey. Final Score: NY Rangers 4, Carolina 1 New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Henrik Lundqvist
stopped 31 shots to lead the New York Rangers in a 4-1 win over the Carolina
Hurricanes. Chris Kreider, Dan Boyle, Dominic Moore and Rick Nash all lit the
lamp for the Rangers, who snapped a two-game slide. Brad Malone had the only
goal of the game for the Hurricanes, who have dropped their last two games. Cam
Ward allowed all four goals on 37 shots in the loss. Final Score: Philadelphia
1, Toronto 0 Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Michael Del Zotto recorded
the games lone goal and Steve Mason stopped 30 shots as Philadelphia claimed a
1-0 decision over Toronto on Saturday. Mason made his 100th career appearance
for the club a memorable one, recording his second shutout of the season and
25th career whitewash for the Flyers, who have won a season-high four straight
games. James Reimer made 17 saves for the Maple Leafs, whose losing skid reached
nine consecutive outings. Final Score: Dallas 5, Winnipeg 2 Winnipeg, MB
(SportsNetwork.com) - John Klingberg had two goals and two assists in the Dallas
Stars 5-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday. Shawn Horcoff, Patrick
Eaves and Jason Spezza also lit the lamp for the Stars, who have won two in a
row since a two-game skid. Kari Lehtonen made 38 saves. Dallas went 4-for-8 on
the power play, while Winnipeg went 0-for-2. Andrew Ladd and Toby Enstrom scored
for the Jets, who have lost three straight for the first time since a
season-high four-game slide from Oct. 11-19. Michael Hutchinson gave up all five
goals on 32 shots. Final Score: Tampa Bay 3, Columbus 1 Tampa, FL
(SportsNetwork.com) - Ben Bishop turned aside 34 shots to lead the Tampa Bay
Lightning in a 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Cedric Paquette, Brett
Connolly and Valtteri Filppula each lit the lamp for the Lightning, who have won
five of their last six games. Ryan Johansen had the only marker for the Blue
Jackets, who have lost three of their last four. Curtis McElhinney allowed all
three goals on 34 shots in defeat. Final Score: Calgary 4, Edmonton 2 Calgary,
AB (SportsNetwork.com) - Lance Bouma scored twice in a four-goal third period
which lifted Calgary over Edmonton, 4-2, at the Saddledome. Paul Byron and Sean
Monahan also tallied while Mikael Backlund and David Jones chipped in two
assists each for the Flames, who had lost two of three coming in and have now
taken six of eight overall. Jonas Hiller stopped 17-of-19 shots for the victory.
Jordan Eberle and Benoit Pouliot scored for the Oilers, who have dropped five of
their last eight. Ben Scrivens made 29 saves in the setback. Final Score: San
Jose 2, Chicago 0 San Jose, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Antti Niemi stopped 31
shots as the San Jose Sharks blanked the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0 on Saturday
night. Joe Thornton and Melker Karlsson each had a goal and one assist for the
Sharks, who have won three straight and improved to 5-1-1 in their last seven
games. Antti Raanta made 18 saves for Chicago, which dropped two of three games
in California. The Blackhawks were coming off Fridays 4-1 win over Anaheim after
beginning the stretch with Wednesdays 4-3 loss to Los Angeles.
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