They turned that, just barely, into a critical win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Charlie Coyle and Cal Clutterbuck scored 16 seconds apart late in the first period, helping the Wild break their five-game home losing streak and hang on to beat the Kings 2-1 on Tuesday night.

“I really believe that competitors in games like that find a way to go out and be really good,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said. “And that’s what we had.”

Jeff Carter’s slap shot whizzed past Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom with an improbable 0.8 seconds left before the second intermission, pulling the Kings within one. It was Carter’s 26th goal, tied for third in the NHL. Then as the Kings created some late energy, Slava Voynov’s shot from the far edge of the right circle was stopped by a sprawling Backstrom with 11 seconds remaining in the game to preserve the lead.

“You’ve got to play 60 minutes playing a desperate hockey team,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said, adding: “We turned the puck over too much in the first period. Eventually, when you have that much skill on the other side, they’re going to score.”

With a 3-7-1 record in the last 11 games since this month began and that playoff spot still unsecured, the Wild badly needed a victory. After losing their past two games by a combined 10-2 margin, their hold on seventh place in the Western Conference was tenuous with two games left in the regular season after this.

“The bar has been set, and we’ve got to make sure we’re ready to bring at least that the next game,” Yeo said.

Clutterbuck snapped an 18-game streak without a goal. Relentless on both ends all night with his new linemate Devin Setoguchi, Clutterbuck raised his arms in celebration after his tight-angle shot sneaked between Kings goalie Jonathan Bernier and the left post. He jumped against the boards, with the Wild ahead 2-0.

“This was probably the biggest game I’ve ever played in for this franchise, so I was excited,” Clutterbuck said.

The Kings failed to get a point for only the third time in their last 15 games. Bernier, in the net for the first time in seven games in relief of Jonathan Quick, made 23 saves. The Kings can’t do better than the fourth seed, but they don’t want to fall to fifth or sixth and lose that home-ice advantage for the first round. San Jose and St. Louis have been right behind all month.

“We didn’t play three periods. We didn’t deserve to win the game,” Kings captain Dustin Brown said.

Brown fired up the Wild with a vicious-looking elbow to the jaw of Jason Pominville in the second period that went without penalty and knocked Pominville on his back. He woozily and slowly skated off the ice with a trainer’s guidance and didn’t return to the bench. Yeo said he had no update on Pominville’s condition and declined to comment on the hit. Brown, who had the puck on his stick at the time, said he was trying to brace himself for a hit from Pominville.

“We’ve seen it on the replay, but I’m sure someone will look at it,” Setoguchi said. “The game’s going fast. From our end, it was right in the head on the face.”

The Wild already without one of their top scorers in Dany Heatley for the remainder of the season. Losing Pominville for any stretch would be a significant setback.

“I think we handled it really well, and that’s something to be focusing on,” said Backstrom, who stopped 22 shots. “Grow on that, that nothing rattles us no matter what happens there.”

Game notes

Kings C Anze Kopitar has his goal-less streak reach 14 straight games. … The Wild’s AHL affiliate, moving to Des Moines, Iowa, next season, will be called, naturally, the Iowa Wild. … Josh Harding was on the active roster as Backstrom’s backup for the first time since early February. Harding was placed on injured reserve after developing complications from the multiple sclerosis medication he’s been taking, and he was returned from a conditioning stint with Houston on Monday. … Bernier’s shutout streak against the Wild ended at 89:06. … Fourth-line enforcer Zenon Konopka returned from a foot injury for the Wild.

The post Cal Clutterbuck, Charlie Coyle help Wild stay alive in playoff race appeared first on IdealCapper.

“I don’t know what the best way is to make them play together, but I know one thing is that they both got to just play hard and believe and not worry about — ‘Hey, how can we make this work,’ ” Nash said. “We just got to fight and scrap and on defense, use their length and athleticism and on offense, we all got to just be unselfish and sacrifice and make plays for each other regardless of where we are on the floor.”

Gasol has missed the past three games after sustaining a concussion against the Denver Nuggets when JaVale McGee inadvertently elbowed his nose.

Gasol was re-evaluated on Saturday and not cleared to resume basketball activities. He will receive another examination Sunday morning in advance of the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni said Gasol will be a game-time decision.

Howard also has missed the past three games with a torn labrum in his right shoulder. He participated in on-court conditioning exercises Saturday and will be re-evaluated Sunday. The Lakers are officially listing Howard as out, but D’Antoni said he will be a game-time decision.

While Gasol has been out, the Lakers (15-21) have floundered, losing three straight games to extend their losing streak to six — the worst skid for the franchise since it lost seven in a row in March 2007.

Nash also said it will be part of his responsibility as a point guard to get Gasol going when the big men do get back in the lineup. Gasol is averaging career lows in both points per game (12.1) and shooting percentage (41.6 percent) this season.

“I’m going to try to get Pau involved,” Nash said. “Obviously, I think he’s a terrific player. I think when we played together recently, there was a lot of opportunities where (the defense) would jump out on my pick-and-rolls, I’d get it back to him quickly. He can be the playmaker in 4-on-3, 3-on-2 situations where he really thrives. The fact of the matter, it’s tough to get inside to him when Dwight and him are on the floor together. To Pau’s credit, he can stretch the floor more than Dwight and he’s more of a playmaker, so sometimes he’s going to find himself on the perimeter.”

In Nash’s opinion, it’s Gasol’s mental game, not his positioning on the court, that matters most.

“I think Pau is a tremendous basketball player,” Nash said. “I need to see him get his health and his confidence back. Even when he has been inside this year he hasn’t looked very confident. For me, I really want to see him really feel better physically, mentally, confident and enjoy the game because I don’t know if he’s been himself this year. If we can get him back to himself, it doesn’t matter where he plays. He’ll be great.”

Lakers executive vice president of player personnel Jim Buss told ESPNLA 710 radio in Los Angeles on Thursday that when Gasol returns, he wants the former four-time All-Star to receive more touches on the block.

“I love Pau Gasol,” Buss said. “The thing is, if you shoot the basketball from six feet, your percentages are going to be in the high 50s. If you shoot from 18 feet, you’re lucky to get 40 percent. To base his year off of his shooting percentages is just not the right way to analyze how he’s playing.

“I believe if we can get him down low, he can coexist with Dwight Howard if they play enough games to where they can play off each other. I believe eventually he will move down there and D’Antoni will move him down there and his percentage will go back right to where it was.”

D’Antoni said he has spoken to Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak about fixing things for Gasol before the Lakers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-101 on Friday.

“We talked about it and I think it’s pretty evident we’d like to get him more touches down there,” D’Antoni said. “… There are going to be a lot of changes (when Gasol and Howard return). We have to try to do everything and if that works, yeah, we’ll do it in a heartbeat.”

The post Steve Nash wants big men to coexist appeared first on IdealCapper.

The Orioles will pin their hopes on the pitching of lefthander Jo-Jo Reyes in this game. Reyes has a 6-9 record and a 5.33 ERA this season.

It’ll be Dan Haren toeing the rubber for the Angels in this contest. Righthander Haren is 11-6 with a 2.96 ERA so far this season.

Oddsmakers currently have the Angels listed as 240-moneyline favorites versus the Orioles, while the game’s total is sitting at 7½.

In their last action, Baltimore was a 6-5 loser on the road against the Athletics. Bettors on Oakland at -159 on the moneyline collected their winnings from that game, while the total score (11) sent OVER bettors home happy as well.

Los Angeles was a 2-1 winner in its last match at home against the Rangers. They won as -137 favorites, while the total score of 3 made winners of UNDER bettors.

Current streak:
Baltimore has lost 2 straight games.

Team records:
Baltimore: 47-74 SU
Los Angeles: 66-59 SU

Baltimore most recently:
When playing on Friday are 6-4
Before playing LA Angels are 5-5
After playing Oakland are 3-7
After a loss are 3-7

Los Angeles most recently:
When playing on Friday are 8-2
Before playing Baltimore are 5-5
After playing Texas are 5-5
After a win are 4-6

A few trends to consider:
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Baltimore’s last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Baltimore’s last 6 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Baltimore’s last 6 games when playing LA Angels
Baltimore is 7-2 SU in their last 9 games when playing LA Angels
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of LA Angels’s last 6 games when playing Baltimore
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of LA Angels’s last 7 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 7 of LA Angels’s last 10 games
LA Angels are 15-7 SU in their last 22 games at home

The post Baltimore Orioles vs. Los Angeles Angels appeared first on IdealCapper.

The Marlins will trot Chris Volstad out to the mound in this one. Righthander Volstad has a 5-9 record and a 5.60 ERA this season.

Volstad’s opponent in this one will be Wade LeBlanc. The Padres lefthander has a 4.54 ERA to go along with a 1-2 record this season.

Oddsmakers currently have the Padres listed as 135-moneyline favorites versus the Marlins, while the game’s total is sitting at 7.

In their last action, Florida was a 3-1 loser on the road against the Padres. Bettors on San Diego at -120 on the moneyline collected their winnings from that game, while the total score (4) sent UNDER bettors home happy as well.

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Current streak:
Florida has lost 2 straight games.

Team records:
Florida: 57-67 SU
San Diego: 56-70 SU

Florida most recently:
When playing on Friday are 5-5
Before playing San Diego are 4-6
After playing San Diego are 2-8
After a loss are 2-8

San Diego most recently:
When playing on Friday are 6-4
Before playing Florida are 5-5
After playing Florida are 7-3
After a win are 4-6

A few trends to consider:
Florida is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing on the road against San Diego
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Florida’s last 8 games when playing on the road against San Diego
Florida is 13-6 SU in its last 19 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Florida’s last 6 games on the road
San Diego is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Florida
The total has gone OVER in 5 of San Diego’s last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of San Diego’s last 8 games when playing at home against Florida
The total has gone OVER in 12 of San Diego’s last 17 games at home

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