GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.
[b]Akiem Hicks Jersey[/b] . - The Abbotsford Heat hope a last-minute goal keeps their season alive for more than one extra game. Marcus Granlund scored a power-play goal with a minute left in regulation as the Heat staved off elimination with a 2-1 win in Game 3 against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Corey Locke also scored for the Heat, who still trail 2-1 in the best-of-five series with Game 4 scheduled for Friday in Grand Rapids. "We came here and got the first one, and we need two more," Granlund said. "Were taking it day by day, and game by game, and we have to keep going. We have to keep pushing and win the next game, too." After dropping the first two games on their home ice, the Heat returned the favour by rallying in the final period for a pair of goals to erase a 1-0 deficit and earn the critical road win. "Our backs are against the wall, we realize that," Abbotsford coach Troy Ward said. "We came on the trip knowing we would play 20 minutes at a time, and the good thing about our team is were never too high or too low. "We felt good about Game 1, and obviously we stubbed our toe in Game 2, but we felt pretty good about ourselves coming in tonight." Granlunds game winner came after Grand Rapids Jeff Hoggan was whistled for high sticking with 1:20 left to put the Heat on the power play. Former Griffin Chad Billins delivered the pass to Granlund, who knocked it past Grand Rapids goalie Petr Mrazek. "It was a great pass by Billins, and I just shot it and it was a goal," Granlund said. "It was very exciting." Abbotsford went 1 for 9 on the power play in Games 1 and 2, and was 0 for 3 in Game 3 before the final goal. "Our power play has struggled so far in the series, so that was the bright eyed part of the game," Ward said. "It was a good play by Granlund, and hes been probably our catalyst all year." Grand Rapids, the defending Calder Cup champions, grabbed an early 1-0 lead on a power-play goal with 2:33 remaining in the first period when Tomas Jurco scored on a wrist shot off a pass from Riley Sheahan. Heat goalie Joni Ortio helped keep it a one-goal game with 19 stops through the first two periods and the Heat finally broke through less than six minutes into the third. Locke ripped a shot past Mrazek to tie the game before Granlunds goal at 18:58. "I thought as the game wore on, we skated better," Ward said. "I thought we had a couple really good pushes in the second there and I thought that made a difference with our confidence coming out in the third. We just picked it up after that. "This game had a lot of the same characteristics as Game 1. We got fortunate bounces at the right time and Ortio played a good game again." Ortio stopped 34 shots, while Mrazek finished with 23 saves.
[b]Maury Buford Jersey[/b] . Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria.
[b]Gale Sayers Jersey[/b] .Y. -- Dallas Stars coach Lindy Ruff had an opportunity to experience an entire range of emotions in his first trip back to Buffalo to face his former team.PINEHURST, N.C. -- The number on the scorecard was the same as Thursday but Graham DeLaet definitely felt as if he played much better at the U.S. Open on Friday than a day earlier. The Canadian, who used 75 strokes to get around Pinehurst No. 2, took 14 of those on just two holes, recording a triple and a double bogey. He also added a penalty shot on a morning that simply didnt go his way. Even with all that adventure and some visits to the newly added native areas, he walked off the course feeling not too badly about his play. "Im not even really disappointed because I felt I was in total control of my game all day," he said. "Three balls in that natural rough and twice I couldnt get a club on it and I made a triple and a double and the other time I went to move some debris next to my ball and my ball moved and that cost me a stroke. Other than that I played well all day." Thats the U.S. Open. So hard to make birdies, so easy to make doubles. DeLaet started his day on the right note, making his first birdie of the competition on the third hole. He cancelled that out with a bogey at six, when his approach shot came up short of the putting surface and he wasnt able to get up and down. On the eighth, however, disaster struck. DeLaets tee shot sailed left and ended up in a troubled lie against some wiregrass. His second to the green also went left and ended up in another almost impossible lie. He hacked it out and the ball ended up behind a tree, so he took an unplayable then chipped it over the green. He lobbed his next shot to 20 feet and, of coursse, dropped the putt for a triple.
[b]Charles Tillman Jersey[/b]. Two holes later, another errant drive led to a double as he scrambled around the green, and a hole after that, he incurred the penalty. "I guess its a little disappointing," said DeLaet. "Coming in, I didnt expect to miss the cut. But at the same time I feel like I played well and a lot better than my score but thats the U.S. Open and Im packing." This was DeLaets first time teeing it up in the American championship and the learning curve is steep. Its also the third straight major in which hes failed to make it to the weekend, something thats frustrating for 32-year-old. "I feel like my game should be suited for tough golf courses," he stated, "but my record hasnt shown that quite yet. "Theres a lot more to [the Majors] than golfing your ball. There are all the outside distractions and the mental pressure and everything that goes along with a major championship. Now Ive got my feet wet in all four and Im looking forward to the next one." DeLaet is planning to play the next two events on the PGA Tour as well as the RBC Canada Cup, a special outing in Halifax as part of the new Web.com Tour event there. Hell then take two weeks off before playing a long stretch of what could be eight tournaments in nine weeks, including the RBC Canadian Open. The schedule will be busy, DeLaet said, but it isnt as if hes moving pianos. "Im playing professional golf and going to a lot of cool places," he said. "Overseas, Montreal . . . you cant really complain." ' ' '
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