Gästebuch » Marchessault is two games away from his 200th

CHICAGO (AP) Scott Foster thought it was going to be just another night. Then the 36-year-old accountant signed a contract Youth Matt Irwin Jersey , put on his goaltender gear and waited in Chicago’s locker room. Then he got into the game.Then it was his night.Foster was pressed into action when Chicago lost Anton Forsberg and Collin Delia to injuries, and the former college goalie stopped all seven shots he faced over the final 14 minutes of the Blackhawks‘ 6-2 victory over the playoff-bound Winnipeg Jets on Thursday.”This is something that no one can ever take away from me,” Foster said. ”It’s something that I can go home and tell my kids and they can tell their friends. … Just a ton of fun.”Foster is part of a crew of recreational goaltenders who staff Chicago’s home games in case of emergencies for either team. But it usually just means a nice dinner and a night in the press box watching the world’s best players compete at hockey’s highest level.Nothing at all like this.”What a moment,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said with a chuckle.Forsberg was expected to start, but he got hurt during a ”pregame ritual,” according to Quenneville. Delia, who was just recalled from the minors Wednesday, then stopped 25 of 27 shots in his NHL debut before he was helped off the ice with 14:01 left after he cramped up.Enter Foster, a married father of two who lives in nearby Oak Park and plays in two rec leagues. After a short warmup, the game resumed and Foster got a big cheer from the crowd of 21,839 when he denied Tyler Myers for his first save about a minute after he came in.”The initial shock happened when I had to dress. I think you just kind of black out after that Womens Mattias Ekholm Jersey ,” Foster said.Backed by chants of ”Foster! Foster!” and more loud ovations, he made another stop on Myers and turned away Paul Stastny and Dustin Byfuglien in the final minutes. When it was over, the Blackhawks poured onto the ice and mobbed Foster in the net.”He was great,” defenseman Brent Seabrook said. ”I think the boys were doing whatever they could to help him out. He made some big saves. Fun night.”The Jets had won six in a row and were trying to clinch home-ice advantage for the first round of the playoffs. But even they were moved by what happened.”It’s tough for anybody to come in 50 minutes into a hockey game, let alone a guy who hasn’t played in the (NHL),” coach Paul Maurice said. ”A great moment for him.”Carolina Hurricanes equipment manager Jorge Alves became the first emergency goalie to play in a game in the modern era last season. He closed out the final 7.6 seconds of a 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay.The NHL adjusted its rules last summer to mandate that teams have an emergency goalie present for all home games ready to fill in for either team – setting the stage for Foster’s most competitive action since 20 minutes in relief with Western Michigan University in the 2005-06 season.”A few hours ago I was sitting on the computer typing on a 10-key, and now I’m standing in front of you guys having just finished 14 1/2 minutes of NHL hockey,” he cracked.It was a wild finish to one of Chicago’s best performances in a lousy season.Tomas Jurco scored a career-high two goals in Seabrook’s 1,000th regular-season game, and touted prospect Dylan Sikura had two assists in his NHL debut. Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat and defenseman Erik Gustafsson each had a goal and an assist P.K Subban Jersey , and Brandon Saad also scored.The 32-year-old Seabrook got the start alongside fellow alternate captain and frequent defensive partner Duncan Keith. He became the fifth player in franchise history to skate in 1,000 or more games for the team, joining Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, Eric Nesterenko and Bob Murray.Bryan Little scored his 200th NHL goal for Winnipeg in the opener of a four-game trip. Mark Scheifele also scored for the Jets, and Eric Comrie made 36 saves while subbing for starter Connor Hellebuyck.”It wasn’t a good night,” Little said. ”It wasn’t good from the start. It’s one of those games you want to forget and put behind you and look to the next one.”Kane got Chicago off to a fast start when he shot it between Comrie’s legs for his 27th goal 3:44 into the first, and the Blackhawks just poured it on from there. Saad made it 2-0 with a nifty move to his backhand in front at 17:17.Jurco added two goals in the second before Little got Winnipeg on the board with his 16th of the season at 14:24. But Gustafsson responded for the Blackhawks, scoring on a nice rush to the net at 17:27.NOTES: Quenneville said Delia was going to travel with the team to Colorado and should be fine for Friday night’s game against the Avalanche. With four games left in the season, he said Forsberg (lower body) is likely done for the year. Jean-Francois Berube was recalled from Rockford of the AHL on an emergency basis.UP NEXTJets: Visit Toronto on Saturday night.Blackhawks: Visit Colorado on Friday night.—Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap— LAS VEGAS (AP) The Arizona Coyotes don’t have much to play for, given they have the worst record in the Western Conference and have long been eliminated from the playoff race.Except maybe a bit of pride.It showed Wednesday night as Kevin Connauton scored twice to lead the Coyotes over the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights 3-2.It marked Arizona’s first victory over the expansion Golden Knights in the teams’ fifth and final game this season.”It was a good complete game for us Authentic Pekka Rinne Jersey Kids ,” Connauton said. ”It’s big, I mean right now we’re focused on building for next year. We still have a group here that has a lot of pride and that is gonna play hard right to the end.”Richard Panik also scored for the Coyotes, and Antti Raanta improved to 18-16-6 by making 27 saves.”We knew that we had lost all the games against this team and we wanted to show that we’re not that bad a team,” Raanta said. ”Everybody knows that we’re not gonna go to the playoffs, but we want to show that we can beat anybody in this league. A little bit of a better start (this season) we could actually be in the hunt for a playoff spot.”The Coyotes began the season 0-10-1 and were 9-27-5 heading into 2018, but now they’re on a 15-7-2 roll, including an impressive 4-1 victory at Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay on Monday night.”It was a huge thing to come from Tampa and start working again, it was a big thing for the team for sure,” Raanta said. ”It’s showing to the fans and showing to the league that we can beat anybody in this league when we are playing like we played today and in Tampa. It’s a confidence boost for sure.”Erik Haula and Alex Tuch each scored power-play goals for the playoff-bound Golden Knights. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots.Vegas is in a 7-6-3 rut and holds a five-point lead over surging San Jose for first place in the Pacific Division. The Sharks were idle Wednesday and visit Vegas on Saturday night. The Golden Knights are 27-10-2 at home this season.The Golden Knights continued to struggle at the start of games, getting outshot by Arizona in the first period 15-5.Vegas has been outshot 41-22 in the first period over its past three games.”It’s bothering me a lot,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said of his team’s sluggish starts. ”First game of our road trip in San Jose we had an unbelievable first period and the last three since then it’s been chasing the game every game. That’s three in a row and we gotta fix it. We gotta be better Roman Josi Jersey , we gotta be more prepared for those starts and get our game ready.”The Coyotes opened the scoring when Connauton found the loose puck after a deflection in front of the crease and backhanded it in a wide-open net.Vegas tied it after James Neal took advantage of a turnover and fed Haula for a one-timer.With a little more than three minutes left in the first period, Arizona rookie Clayton Keller stole the puck, maneuvered around the defense and served an attacking Panik, whose backhand beat Fleury.Keller, who leads the team in scoring, continued a red-hot March and has now recorded a point in 10 straight games. Keller’s 18 points this month is the most by a rookie, while his 39 assists and 62 points this season are also team records by a rookie.Tuch deflected Jonathan Marchessault’s slap shot late in the second period to knot the game at 2, but moments later Connauton scored his second goal when his shot from the point made its way through the five-hole.”It was big because obviously this is a great hockey team we’re playing. This is a tough building to play in, a loud building,” Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. ”We held our own, you gotta give our team credit. It’s a tough road trip. I like the way some of these guys are buying in. You do the right things http://www.officialpredators.com/authentic-adidas-ryan-hartman-jersey , good things happen.”Arizona, which is 6-3-1 in its last 10 road games, played its fifth game of a six-game road trip that started in Buffalo, and continued through Carolina, Florida, Tampa and Vegas. The Coyotes finish their road trip tomorrow in Los Angeles.NOTES: Arizona is on a winning run of 16-1-1 when holding opponents to two goals or fewer. … Fleury remains one win away from moving into sole possession of 11th on the NHL’s career wins list. … Neal is two games shy from his 700th career game. … Marchessault is two games away from his 200th career contest.UP NEXTArizona: Visits Los Angeles on Thursday night.Vegas: Hosts St. Louis on Friday night.—