NHL
HABS BLANK BRUINS; MOVE TO ROUND 2
The K Crew and a kid named Carey combined to carry the Montreal Canadiens to a 5-0 shutout of the Boston Bruins on Monday at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
Mike Komisarek got the Habs on the scoreboard early-with assists from Alexei Kovalev and Saku Koivu-by lighting the lamp at 3:31 of the initial stanza. In the second Mark Streit scored (his "K" is a the end of his name) at 10:45 as Kovalev picked up his second assist. Five minutes later, Andrei Kostitsyn scored the first of his two goals (his second came at 17:58 of the third), and with eight seconds left Sergei Kostitsyn made it 5-0.
The kid named Carey is Carey Price, the Canadiens' rookie goalkeeper who had just two games experience in the American Hockey League before this season began and none in the NHL. He was not on the team's roster until October 1 last year. His shutout of the Bruins was his second in the series.
OTHER PLAYOFF ACTION
Washington 4, Philadelphia 2
Series tied at 3-3
TUESDAY'S CONTESTS
Philadelphia at Washington (Game 7)
Calgary at San Jose (Game 7)
NBA
JAZZ EDGES HOUSTON, GOES UP 2-0
The Utah Jazz head to Salt Lake City with two huge advantages: a 2-0 lead and the knowledge that they were 37-4 at home during the season.
On Monday, they outlasted Tracy McGrady, who nearly had a triple-double but ran out of steam in the final period, to take the win. McGrady scored 23 points, had 13 rebounds, and contributed nine assists, but he couldn't score from the field in the last quarter.
Meanwhile, the Jazz got 22 points from Deron Williams, and Mehmet Okur had 16 points and 16 rebounds.
NBA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
Eastern Conference
#1 Boston vs. #8 Atlanta
Game 1: Boson 105, Atlanta 81
Boston leads 1-0
Game 2: At Boston Wednesday
#2 Detroit vs. #7 Philadelphia
Game 1: Philadelphia 90, Detroit 86
Philadelphia leads 1-0
Game 2: At Detroit Wednesday
#3 Orlando vs. #6 Toronto
Game 1: Orlando 114, Toronto 100
Orlando leads 1-0
Game 2: At Orlando Tuesday
#4 Cleveland vs. #8 Washington
Game 1: Cleveland 93, Washington 86
Game 2: Cleveland 116, Washington 86
Cleveland leads 2-0
Game 3: At Washington Thursday
Western Conference
#1 LA Lakers vs. #8 Denver
Game 1: LA 128, Denver 114
LA leads 1-0
Game 2: At LA Wednesday
#2 New Orleans vs. #7 Dallas
Game 1: New Orleans 104, Dallas 92
New Orleans leads 1-0
Game 2: At New Orleans Tuesday
#3 San Antonio vs. #6 Phoenix
Game 1: San Antonio 117, Phoenix 115 (2 OT)
San Antonio leads 1-0
Game 2: At San Antonio Tuesday
#4 Utah vs. #5 Houston
Game 1: Utah 93, Houston 82
Game 2: Utah 90, Houston 84
Utah leads 2-0
Game 3: At Utah Thursday
MLB
UNSUNG GALARRAGA LEADS TIGERS PAST JAYS
Fans and experts alike believe the Detroit Tigers to be a World Series contender in 2008. Through the first month of the season, Detroit has played like anything but a legitimate contender. They haven't hit, and their starting pitching has been abysmal. There is, however, one exception. A pitcher named Armando Galarraga who began the season at Triple-A Toledo.
On Monday, the 26-year-old castoff of the Texas Rangers gave the Tigers another strong outing to lead Detroit past the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1. Galarraga (2-0) allowed just three singles in 5 1/3 innings of work to win his second-straight start.
Galarraga got offensive support early as the Tigers scored four runs in the second inning. Ryan Raburn delivered a pair of RBI in the second inning. Ivan Rodriguez went 4-for-5 at the plate.
Blue Jays starter Shaun Marcum (2-1) took the loss for Toronto.
AMERICAN LEAGUE SCORES
Boston 8, Texas 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE SCORES
St. Louis 4, Milwaukee 3
Los Angeles Dodgers 9, Cincinnati 3
Chicago Cubs 7, New York Mets 1
Atlanta 7, Washington 3
Arizona 4, San Francisco 2
Philadelphia 9, Colorado 5
Florida 10, Pittsburgh 4
Houston 10, San Diego 3
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life
TODAY'S FEATURE:
CARLOS ZAMBRANO, pitcher, Chicago Cubs
BIO NOTE: Zambrano came into the 2008 season with 82 career wins.
RECENT NEWS: On Monday, Zambrano beat the Mets to improve to 3-1 on the season. His ERA is 2.67.
FAITH QUOTE: "First of all, I have to give thanks to God. When God gives you something, you have to hold [onto] it hard. God gave me the ability to play in the big leagues, and you have to do your part and do it the best that you can. Without Jesus, I can do nothing. He's everything. I don't love Jesus just because He gave me the chance to play baseball. I love God for what He is. He is the Savior of my life."
-Sports Spectrum magazine
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
NFL
NOT GETTING IT
The power of being an elite athlete failed to keep one Indianapolis Colt's player out of jail on Monday. This player, after police officers asked him-and others with him-to disburse while in nightclub parking lot at 3 am, went into a bizarre rant when officers confronted him. "I'm a Colts player. I'm a Colts player," he reportedly proclaimed, sounding a little like Pinocchio's "I'm a real boy!" Fortunately, the men in blue weren't impressed, and they cuffed the athlete and shuttled him off to jail. Unfortunately, this elitism of athletes sometimes rears its head and leads otherwise decent people to think that because they can perform feats of skills on a field or court that they should be treated differently from the way other taxpayers are treated. Guys like that just don't get it, and many soon find themselves losing their elite status.
NBA
CAN SKILES STABILIZE THE BUCKS?
The Milwaukee Bucks draft high and perform low. But perhaps a fiery coach can help them change the second part of that equation by teaching them how to maintain a higher level of performance. Scott Skiles is that coach, and if all goes according to plan, he'll be with the Bucks until 2012. The Bucks have reportedly hired Skiles, who was drafted by the team after his college playing days at Michigan State ended. Skiles was fired early in the year when he couldn't get the Chicago Bulls untracked.
MLB
HOME RUN CHASE
Philadelphia second baseman Chase Utley is on a home run tear. He has nine already this season in just 20 games, and he has hit six of those in just the last five games. In each of the last five games, he has hit at least one home run. Just four Philadelphia players have ever done that in the team's history. The other three are Bobby Abreu (2005), Richie Allen (1969), and Mike Schmidt (1979). Utley is approaching the Phillies record for home runs in April-11 set by Schmidt in 1976.
THIS JUST IN
Notes of significance from the Christian sports community
New Book: The Goal and the Glory
By Josh Davis
Josh Davis spent his formative years learning to swim. He learned his lesson well, and he went on to capture gold medal in the Olympics. In fact, he won three gold medals in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympic Games. Now Davis and his wife are the parents of five kids, and he is a popular speaker in churches and conferences. Davis has also written a book that examines the faith stories of a number of Christian athletes. The book, which will be in the bookstores soon, contains the stories of such notable athletes as John Naber, Laura Wilkinson, David Robinson, and Jennie Finch.
