Bar » avoided one would-be tackler after catching a punt

OTTAWA -- The Ottawa Senators said they needed four points this weekend to make a serious playoff push. After an overtime loss Saturday in Montreal and a 3-1 defeat on home ice to the Colorado Avalanche, the Senators walked away from their weekend games with just one point. "It was a big weekend for us and we lose both games," said Senators captain Jason Spezza. "We played good but its a different way to lose every night and results are the only thing that matter right now. "We didnt turn the puck over much, we created a lot but again. It just wasnt enough to win the game and its unacceptable." Andre Benoit, Nick Holden and John Mitchell scored for the Avalanche (44-19-5) while Matt Duchene had two assists as Colorado picked its third win in four games, and seventh in its past nine. Semyon Varlamov made 38 saves. The Colorado goalie was just six seconds away from his second shutout of the season and 13th in his career until Mika Zibanejad scored at 19:54. Robin Lehner made 19 saves in his second straight start for the Senators (28-26-13) since Craig Anderson was injured last week in a loss to the Nashville Predators. "Response to the game (Saturday) was positive," said Senators coach Paul MacLean. "A lot of the statistical things were positive, but at the end of the day its the score that matters and we gave up three goals and only scored one. "We created opportunities to score but I dont think we got to their net as hard as we could have and we missed the net a number of times." Nursing a 1-0 lead heading into the third period, the Avalanche were awarded their first and only power play of the game when Ottawa forward Chris Neil closed his hand on the puck and was called for delay of game. Duchene took a shot during the man advantage that Lehner stopped but the rebound went right to Holden, who was alone at the side of the net and scored at 3:10. "The power play was sharp again, we had only one opportunity but scored a very important goal for us," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said before praising the play of his goaltender. "He was very solid and he made some very key saves. I thought we had too many turnovers in that second period. Our goalie was without a doubt the first star of the game." The Senators pressed throughout the period, but the game was virtually over when Mitchell beat Lehner from in tight with less than three minutes to go in the game. Following a scoreless opening period, Ottawa held a heavy edge in play over the second 20 minutes. Ottawa outshot the Avalanche 20-8 in the second period but it was former Senator Andre Benoit that scored the periods only goal and gave Colorado a 1-0 lead in the process. The Avalanche broke out three-on-one late in the period and after receiving a drop pass from Patrick Bordeleau, Benoit moved into the slot and put a shot over the shoulder of Lehner. "Its always fun to score against an old team and I had lots of family and friends here. Hopefully they keep going in," said Benoit, who is from St. Albert, about 30 minutes from Ottawa. "It was a big game and we were able to get a win. We have to keep this going now." Benoit was a fan favourite in Ottawa despite playing just 41 games for the Senators over two seasons. He has played in 66 of Colorados 68 games this season and has nine goals in 107 career games. Four of those have come in his last nine games. Notes: Matt Kassian, Patrick Wiercioch and Craig Anderson were scratches Sunday for the Senators. Scratches for the Avalanche were P.A. Parenteau, Paul Stastny, Paul Carey, Ryan Wilson and Reto BerraaSenators defenceman Erik Karlsson played his 300th NHL game on Sunday. Forward Kyle Turris played in his 300th game Saturday in the Senators loss to MontrealaThe last time the Avalanche recorded 44 wins in a season was back in 2007-08aThe Avalanche are the only team in the NHL to sore at least one goal in every game this season. Devin Williams Jersey . -- Kansas City Royals right-hander Luke Hochevar will have Tommy John surgery that will sideline the pitcher for the season. Milwaukee Brewers Store .C. - Alberta prop Andrew Tiedemann will captain Canada against Uruguay on Friday, the opening day of competition at the IRB Americas Rugby Championship. https://www.cheapbrewers.com/1919y-ryan-braun-jersey-brewers.html . (January 11, 2014) – Once again Kevin Martin proved why he is the all-time TSN skins leader, winning $11,500 in prize money and a spot in the Travelers All-Star Curling Skins Game presented by Pintys final following a semifinal victory over Brad Jacobs earlier this evening at the Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre in Banff, Alta. Ben Gamel Brewers Jersey . - Hitting was supposed to be the Pittsburgh Pirates weakness coming into the season yet they lead the major leagues in home runs through the first 16 games of the season. Corbin Burnes Brewers Jersey . on the 15-day disabled Monday list because of a strained right hamstring.Syracuse, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Jamison Crowder scored on a 52-yard punt return to break a tie and spark a big fourth quarter that lifted No. 22 Duke to a 27-10 win over Syracuse on Saturday. Anthony Boone passed for 161 yards with two touchdown throws to Issac Blakeney and the Blue Devils (8-1, 4-1 ACC) scored 17 unanswered points in the last 12:45 of the game to finish off their fourth straight win. They moved to 16-1 in their last 17 regular-season games. The Orange (3-7, 1-5) have lost three in a row. It was the first football game between the two traditional basketball powerhouses since 1939. Austin Wilson completed 11 of his 19 passes for 68 yards for Syracuse and Mitch Kimble went 6-of-13 for 37 yards after, with an 8-yard touchdown run that tied the score at 10-10 in the third quarter. But Crowder avoided one would-be tackler after catching a punt near the orange S at midfield, then slipped between two more before racing down the middle of the field for his go-ahead touchdown with 12:45 remaining. Rosss Martins 34-yard field goal followed a failed fourth-down attempt by the Orange and Breon Borders intercepted Wilson for the second time soon after, leading to Blakeneys 54-yard touchdown catch for a 27-10 Duke advantage with 7:13 left.dddddddddddd Earlier, the teams traded field goals on back-to-back drives in the first quarter -- with Martin and Syracuses Cole Murphy each drilling a 27-yard kick. Following four combined punts, Boones 22-yard touchdown pass to Blakeney gave the Blue Devils a 10-3 lead with 5:16 remaining in the second quarter. Game Notes Duke is 3-0 in the all-time series with two pre-war wins in 1938 (21-0 in Syracuse) and 1939 (33-6 in Durham). The basketball teams are tied 3-3 in the all-time series, splitting two games last season (Syracuse joined the ACC in 2013) ... Duke played its last road game. The Blue Devils will host their last three games, starting next week against Virginia Tech ... After a bye week, Syracuse plays at Pitt on Nov. 22. ' ' '