Three Times Wins in a Row for Bruins

The Bruins got an early lead and never fell behind as they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in their second road game in two nights in Florida.

Boston Bruins left wing Mark Recchi, right, celebrates with teammate Michael Ryder after scoring against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010, in Tampa, Fla. Boston won 4-3. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
B’s left wing Mark Recchi netted the game-winning tally on the power play with 20 seconds remaining in the game, and gave the Boston two more points and sole possession of first place in the Northeast Division.

“This is a good stepping-stone, there’s still a long ways to go on this road trip, we’re trying to accomplish something,” Recchi said. “We knew the other night we took our division lead and we wanted to keep it.

"We want to keep it now and we have an opportunity to grab it and run with it.”

Forward Michael Ryder started things off for Boston just 28 seconds into the game when he netted his eleventh goal of the season; his seventh on the power play.

Along with the win, two Bruins notched some NHL milestones during the game.

Rookie defenseman Steven Kampfer scored his first career NHL goal in the second period and Marc Savard’s assist on the same goal marked his 700th NHL point.

“It was definitely exciting," said Kampfer. "It was something I always dreamed about, getting that first goal.

“And then, you know, to come with a win, and it’s even better.”

Winger Brad Marchand returned to the line-up tonight after being out since Dec. 18. He scored his fifth goal of the season in the third period.

“I guess it just shows the importance he’s had in our line-up this year. He’s been a really good player, whether he draws penalties or whether he makes plays like he did tonight,” said Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien following the game.

“You miss a guy like that in your line-up so it was nice to have him back.”

The B’s were outshot 34-29 but managed to remain at least tied with the Lightning throughout the contest.

Tampa Bay scored equalizing goals in all three periods before Recchi scored the game-winner after Steven Stamkos took a two-minute boarding penalty at 18:10.

“Yeah we found a way, you know we battled, you know whenever they scored to catch up we never let them carry any momentum over and on the next shift we came out and battled hard,” said B’s goaltender Tim Thomas (31 saves).

“We might not have necessarily scored that next shift but we stopped them from carrying over any momentum and we got big goals at big times.”

The Bruins will face Atlanta on Thursday in game three of the five game road swing.

Robbie control sinks Jets

Robbie Kruse made himself an irresistible Asian Cup prospect with a dazzling display in Melbourne's 2-1 win over Newcastle on Monday evening that featured a late twist.

Desperate to find a response to last week's shock 4-0 reverse in Wellington, Newcastle fought back from a goal down and looked to have a draw in the bag.

But some sensational individual skills from Kruse set up Ricardinho for the winner in the 90th minute, sending AAMI Park into raptures and giving Holger Osieck every reason to revise his Socceroos squad for Qatar.

Osieck is due to name his squad on Tuesday for the January 7-29 tournament, and Kruse must surely be a strong chance to join A-League stalwarts Jason Culina and Matt McKay on the plane to the Middle East.

The former Roar youngster wrong-footed two Jets defenders with three sets of turns and spins before squaring the ball for a tap-in to his Brazilian strike partner, keeping Melbourne's bid for finals football well and truly alive.

Kruse's creativity came just five minutes after he had missed his own golden opportunity to score after neat lead-up from Ricardinho down the right hand side - missing the target from close range.

But the 22-year-old's new-found penchant for seizing the big moment was not lost on Victory coach Ernie Merrick, especially without injured striker Archie Thompson and three other regular players plus so much at stake.

"I think a little bit of Archie's rubbed off on Robbie," Merrick said.

"He's much stronger, he's tougher, he doesn't get knocked off the ball so easily, I can't praise him enough. He's come a long way in a short period of time.

"It was a wee bit of magic at the end. I don't know how many times he beat either the same player twice or another player.

"Sometimes you think it's going to take something a bit special to break the deadlock and we produced it when we needed to."

A fighting performance from the Jets will give Branko Culina hope his side can continue to defy belief and squeeze into a play-off spot, despite now having lost twice in a row after a seven-match unbeaten run.

"It's very frustrating and disappointing, but it's a lesson for us you can't switch off for moments in the game," Culina said.

Kruse was influential not just in the lead-up to the winner but throughout the course of the match, continuing a brilliant individual season that will surely invite offers from abroad.

"The crowd... every week the Victory fans come out in their groups and it's a wonderful atmosphere here tonight," Kruse told Fox Sports.

"I think it got us over the line.

"We didn't have the best first half of the season, so we really want to start winning and I think tonight was a great example of the courage the boys show."

A thunderbolt midway through the first half from Carlos Hernandez put Melbourne on track for three points as the South American playmaker seemingly conjured something from nothing.

He turned two defenders inside out near halfway, before trying his luck from fully 35 yards and the pace and swerve of Hernandez's fierce strike had Ben Kennedy beaten on the line.

Ruben Zadkovich dragged Newcastle level on 54 minutes but Melbourne had more tricks in the bag and Kruse produced the rabbit with the move that set up Ricardinho for a simple finish.

College basketball: Stanford men fall to Oklahoma State

Stanford cut a 14-point deficit to six in the final two minutes, but Keiton Page hit a 3-pointer and Oklahoma State made its free throws down the stretch in a 79-68 victory Tuesday in Stillwater, Okla.

Page finished with 23 points for the Cowboys (11-1). Josh Owens scored a career-high 21 points to lead the Cardinal (6-4), which also got 17 points from Jeremy Green and 12 points off the bench from Aaron Bright.

Page hit a 3-pointer just before halftime to give the Cowboys the lead, then made two more 3s early in the second half as Oklahoma State took control.

Owens had a pair of two-handed dunks and seven points during a 13-6 comeback by the Cardinal, with Green's transition jumper cutting the deficit to 60-53 with 4:56 remaining. Stanford got within 67-61 when Owens scored the final four points in a 6-0 push by the Cardinal, but Oklahoma State protected its lead down the stretch.

San Diego State 62, USF 56: Neither team led by more than one score in the second half until Malcolm Thomas' layup with less than four minutes left gave the No. 7 Aztecs (13-0) a five-point lead on the way to the victory in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.

USF (4-7) pulled within three points with 31 seconds left after Rashad Green converted a layup and a free throw, but the Dons couldn't tie the score.

"It's a bit of a surprise," said Kawhi Leonard, who had 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Aztecs. "They came out playing harder than us, and we just needed to do as well as we did in other games."

Ohio State 96, UNC Asheville 49: David Lighty scored 29 points, including 13 of the Buckeyes' first 16, and No. 2 Ohio State cruised in Columbus, Ohio.

USC 65, Tennessee 64: Maurice Jones scored 15 points, and the Trojans survived a late run to hold off the No. 19 Volunteers in Knoxville, Tenn.

Kansas State: Preseason All-America guard Jacob Pullen was suspended for three games, and senior forward Curtis Kelly has been suspended for an undetermined length of the time by the NCAA.

In a prepared statement, the school said Pullen and Kelly were being punished for receiving impermissible benefits in connection with the purchase of clothing at a department store.

The suspensions were announced shortly before the No. 11 Wildcats were stunned by UNLV 63-59 in Kansas City, Mo.

US Open - Men: Nadal cruises into quarter-finals

Rafael Nadal edged closer to a place in his first US Open final after thrashing fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-4 6-4 in the fourth round.

The world number one, who would complete the collection of Grand Slam titles with a victory at Flushing Meadows, had few problems wrapping up his fourth straight-sets win of this year's championship.

The start was delayed due to a backlog of matches and did not finish until early on Wednesday morning, but the result appeared a foregone conclusion from the moment Nadal strolled out to the centre court dressed menacingly in an all-black outfit.
His opponent in Thursday's quarter-finals is another Davis Cup team-mate, Fernando Verdasco, who advanced the hard way by wearing down David Ferrer 5-7 6-7(8) 6-3 6-3 7-6(4) after almost four and a half hours on court.

Verdasco's bid to reach the quarter-finals for a second straight year looked incredibly slim as he failed to find his range with his high-risk, heavy-hitting style of play and duly lost the first two sets.
But a medical timeout for treatment to his right ankle turned the tide of a captivating match and the 26-year-old, immensely popular with the crowd in Louis Armstrong Stadium, unleashed a barrage of winners with his powerful forehand.

He levelled the match but found himself a break down in the fifth against the run of play before turning it around to win the four-hour and 23-minute encounter in a deciding tiebreak.

Stanislas Wawrinka ensured a first for Switzerland at the US Open when he edged out big-serving American Sam Querrey 7-6(9) 6-7(5) 7-5 4-6 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.

Wawrinka wrapped up a gruelling victory in four hours 28 minutes to join five-times champion Roger Federer in the last eight, the first time Switzerland has ever had two men in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam event.

Number 25 seed Wawrinka, who upset fourth seed Andy Murray in the previous round, took the first-set tie-break 11-9, but was broken when serving for the second set as Querrey hit back to level the match.

Wawrinka then came from 3-1 down to win the third set but Querrey broke once to level again before Wawrinka broke in the 10th game of the decider to win and set up a clash with Russian 12th seed Mikhail Youzhny.

Youzhny reached the fourth Grand Slam quarter-final of his career with a convincing 7-5 6-2 4-6 6-4 victory over Spain's Tommy Robredo.

Youzhny, a semi-finalist at Flushing Meadows in 2006, successfully landed 62 per cent of his first serves and blasted 50 winners to win the fourth-round encounter.

After dropping the first two sets, Robredo forced his way back into the match with a solitary break in the third set. But he did not have the consistency to challenge his 28-year-old opponent as the match wore on.

Robredo was one of five Spaniards in action in the men's singles draw on day nine of the tournament.
Reuters

Federer's U.S. Open quarter includes former fate Soderling

NEW YORK -- If Roger Federer is going to reach a seventh repeated U.S. Open title match, he might want to get history the man who ended his Grand Slam semifinal strip.

Five-time U.S. Open winner Federer was given a probable quarterfinal beside two-time French Open second best Robin Soderling in Thursday's draw. The No. 5-seeded Soderling disturb Federer in the quarterfinals in Paris this year, stopping Federer's record run of reaching at least the semifinals at 23 following Grand Slam tournaments.

The other men's matchups in the quarterfinals could be No. 1-seeded Rafael Nadal next to No. 8 Fernando Verdasco, two-time major finalist Andy Murray against Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych, and No. 3 Novak Djokovic against No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko or No. 9 Andy Roddick.

The top-seeded woman, 2009 runner-up Caroline Wozniacki, could face 2006 champion Maria Sharapova in the fourth round and 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals.
"I know if I play well that I can beat anybody out there," said Clijsters, who also won the 2005 Open, "so that's what I'm going to try to accomplish."
Murray, hoping to turn into the first British man since 1936 to be successful a Grand Slam title, could meet No. 20-seeded Sam Querrey of the United States in the fourth round. Another American, Wimbledon marathon man John Isner, is seeded 18th and also is in that quarter of the draw.

In the semifinals, Murray was drawn to meet Nadal, who lost in that round in New York each of the past two years and is trying to complete a career Grand Slam by winning the U.S. Open for the first time.

"Over the last three years here, I've only lost to one player -- Federer -- and that gives me enough reason to believe I can go far this year," Djokovic said, "because I like the courts, I like the feel here. I just like the tournament -- it's appropriate to my game, and to my personality."
Federer could face another common enemy in the third round: 2001 U.S. Open and 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt. Federer beat Hewitt in the 2004 U.S. Open final, part of a 15-match, opposite winning line for Federer -- which ended when Hewitt hit him in the final of a grass-court tournament at Halle, Germany, in June.

Williams' older sister Venus, who is seeded No. 3, could face an intriguing matchup in the third round against No. 32-seeded Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria. Pironkova has won two of her previous three matches against Venus Williams, including a straight-set upset in the Wimbledon quarterfinals June 29.

The U.S. Open begins Monday, and Williams will have gone more than two months without a match by the time she meets her first-round opponent, Roberta Vinci of Italy, who is 1-7 for her career at Flushing Meadows.