Die Feder [Essay] » art of a 10-2 run that bumped the lead to

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Philadelphia Flyers hope a trip to the City of Angels can get them back in the win column, as the sliding club visits the Los Angeles Kings for Saturdays matinee clash at Staples Center. The Flyers enter this afternoons contest on a six-game losing streak, the franchises longest slide since an 0-3-3 drought to open the 2008-09 season. Philadelphias struggles go beyond its current 0-4-2 slide, as the Flyers also are sporting a 1-8-2 record over their last 11 contests. Todays date against the defending Stanley Cup champions wouldnt seem to be what the doctor ordered, but Philadelphia has been very successful in L.A. recently, taking three straight and seven of the last nine encounters at Staples Center. Philly also has won two of three against the Kings overall, including a 3-2 overtime win when L.A. visited Wells Fargo Center on Oct. 28. Former Kings prospect Brayden Schenn provided the OT winner for the Flyers. The Kings, however, are boasting an 11-3-1 record on home ice this season and todays game will be the clubs last tilt as the host until Dec. 18 against St. Louis. Los Angeles, which is just 3-4-4 on the road this season, will begin a five-game road trip Tuesday in Buffalo. The Flyers fell to 2-9-2 as the road club with Wednesdays 5-4 shootout loss in Anaheim. It was Philadelphias ninth straight road loss. Philadelphia blew a 3-1 lead to the Ducks but tied it on Wayne Simmonds second goal with 1.8 seconds remaining in regulation. However, Jakob Silfverberg and Corey Perry both scored in the tiebreaker to earn the extra point for Anaheim. I liked the way our team is competing, said Flyers head coach Craig Berube. The work ethic is there but we have to be smarter. Steve Mason registered 29 saves for the Flyers, who havent won away from Philadelphia since beating the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 22. The Flyers will complete their current five-game road trip Tuesday in Columbus. The Kings are coming off consecutive shutout wins. Jonathan Quick made 31 saves to blank visiting Boston in Tuesdays 2-0 victory, while Martin Jones posted a 26-save shutout in Thursdays road win over Arizona. Jones actually recorded his second consecutive shutout on Thursday. Quicks understudy made 28 saves in the Kings 4-0 win over the Wild on Nov. 26 before shutting down the Coyotes in his next appearance. I try not to look at shutouts too much, more of the process than anything else, said Jones. Ive just got to continue to work on my game and there is definitely some stuff I can clean up and continue to get better here. Dustin Brown had two goals and an assist for the Kings, who have won three of four. Jarret Stoll and Alec Martinez both had one goal and an assist. Quick is likely to start todays game. He made 40 saves in the loss to Philadelphia on Oct. 28 and is 4-2-1 with a 1.86 goals against average in his career against the Flyers. Mason is expected to start for Philly. He is 6-7-0 with a 3.08 GAA in 13 career games versus the Kings. Discount Basketball Shoes . Rookie Christian Vazquez got his first three major league hits and drove in three runs, while David Ortiz had three RBIs to break open the game in the sixth inning and lead Boston over the Houston Astros 8-3. Wholesale Basketball Shoes .com) - Bradley Beals 22 points and seven rebounds helped the Washington Wizards erase a halftime deficit and top the Utah Jazz, 93-84, on Sunday. http://www.wholesalebasketballshoes.us/. And fellow Leaf, Jake Gardiner, hiking in Whistler. Cheap Basketball Shoes China . The 20-year-old overager has appeared in 35 games for the Ontario Hockey Leagues Erie Otters this season, scoring 41 goals and adding 27 assists with a plus-28 rating. Clearance Basketball Shoes . The Rays hope to stay alive for the postseason and salvage the finale of this series Sunday at Rogers Centre, where they dropped a 7-2 decision Saturday. Chris Archer lasted 2 1/3 innings in the no-decision, charged with a run and five hits, and Alex Torres suffered the loss in relief.MINNEAPOLIS -- Keeping things simple is working just fine for the Houston Rockets. Dwight Howard had 18 points and 15 rebounds, and the surging Rockets used a fourth-quarter push to hold off the Minnesota Timberwolves 107-89 Monday night for their sixth consecutive victory. Chandler Parsons had 20 points and James Harden scored 19 for the Rockets, who have won six straight for the first time since taking seven in a row in January 2012. All five starters scored in double figures for Houston, which has won nine of 11 and 14 of 18. "Its just not trying to make the spectacular play, giving up good shots for great shots, not forcing anything. Thats what weve been doing really good lately and its a lot more fun to play that way," Parsons said. "We have so many talented guys, we can be so balanced every single night." The short-handed Timberwolves do not have that luxury right now. Back after missing one game with a bruised left quadriceps, Kevin Love led Minnesota with 31 points and 10 rebounds. Chase Budinger had 15 points as a fill-in starter and Alexey Shved scored 11 off the bench for the Timberwolves, who have lost four straight and six of seven. Ricky Rubio, who had three straight games in double figures, including a career-best 25 points on Saturday, was 2 of 10 for seven points. Loves strong game -- including a career-best 23 first-half points -- was needed because Minnesota played without starting guard Kevin Martin (broken thumb) and centre Nikola Pekovic (right ankle bursitis). Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman also was absent due to personal reasons. He is expected back Wednesday. Assistant coach Terry Porter filled in for Adelman, but was left scratching his head. "Unfortunately for us, we couldnt make shots," Porter said. "Guys that normally make shots struggled. We had good looks, but just couldnt knock them down. On those misses, they ran out, got some easy baskets and extended the lead." After its 15-point lead had dwindled to four, Houston scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to push its cushion to 93-78. Parsons had a pair of fast-break layups and a dunk to spark the run. This time, tthe Rockets did not let Minnesota counter with a run, outscoring the Timberwolves 25-11 in the quarter -- Minnesotas lowest-scoring period of the year.dddddddddddd "Its almost been like that three games in a row where weve been in pretty good position, either ahead or right within striking distance," Love said. "Then in those first few minutes the other team just gets off to a better start than you do and pushes the lead up. We just need to be better in the fourth quarter." Howard said the key surge came about because the Rockets slowed things down. "We didnt try to rush shots and rush down the floor and take bad shots. We took our time, shared the ball and got good shots," he said. "We do an excellent job of sharing the ball and finding an open man. When we do that its hard for teams to decide what theyre going to do, if theyre going to double out the posts or stay with the 3-point shooters. We just want to make teams make tough decisions on the floor." Down by nine at the break, Minnesota scored the first six points of the second half, but Patrick Beverley had five of his 14 points as Houston countered with a 12-0 spurt to extend its lead to 79-64. The Rockets then began to work the shot clock, but couldnt get shots to fall. Instead, a 12-3 run got Minnesota within four heading into the fourth quarter. Behind 10 points from Harden -- including a pair of 3-pointers -- Houston led 34-28 after one. Love had 17 points in the quarter, including 15 straight at one point for the Timberwolves. Houston had two dunks and a pair of layups as part of a 10-2 run that bumped the lead to 56-45 with 3:43 to play in the second. The Rockets led 67-58 at the break, the most points Minnesota has allowed in a first half this season. NOTES: The Timberwolves were 21 for 21 from the free throw line, but had no attempts in the fourth quarter. ... Houston, which averages an NBA-high 31.22 free throw attempts per game, had just 20. ... Minnesota starting forward Corey Brewer and centre Ronny Turiaf were a combined 3 for 8, scoring just seven points in 48 minutes. ... Houston is home Wednesday against Washington, its lone home game in an eight-game span. ' ' '