Fun und Spam » n. "I had a lot of chances. Honestly,

(SportsNetwork.com) - Just when the sun brightens a bit for the Vancouver Canucks, it is followed up with a torrential downpour. The Canucks will be without their leading goal scorer for the rest of their road trip, one that resumes on Friday night against the Washington Capitals. Wednesday should have been a night that left the Canucks feeling good about themselves. They snapped a seven-game road losing streak with a 3-2 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets in the opener of a four-game swing and saw forward Alexandre Burrows net his first two goals of the season. Of course, the good came with the bad as Ryan Kesler left in the game following a knee-on-knee collision and went back to Vancouver for further tests. It is not known how long he will be out, but head coach John Tortorella did admit that Kesler will not play for the rest of this trip, one that includes games versus the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. Kesler was mentioned in a number of trade rumors before last weeks deadline, but the Canucks did not pull the trigger on a deal to move the forward, who has 22 goals on the season. Keslers 40 points are tied with Daniel Sedin, currently out with a strained left hamstring, and one back of Henrik Sedin for the team lead. Minus the forward, Eddie Lack made 32 saves through overtime before stopping all three skaters he faced in the shootout. Vancouver then earned the extra point on Chris Higgins third-round tally. "We lose (Kesler) before the third and we get down, so yeah, I thought we played hard right on through. And thats two out of the last three games that we have played well in the third period, so good for them," Tortorella said. "Theyve hung in there, theyve hung together. Losing a big guy like (Kesler), I thought they stuck together as a group. It was really nice to see." So was the production from Burrows, who scored his first goals since April 15 of last year. That gave him a gap of 40 games between goals in the regular season. "It was one of those nights it seemed the puck was finding me around the net," said Burrows, who hadnt scored a goal in his first 35 games of the season. "I had a lot of chances. Honestly, I think I had four real good looks." Vancouver picked up its first road win since Jan. 21 in Edmonton and sits four points back of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Lack, meanwhile, rebounded after giving up six third-period goals in a 7-4 setback to the visiting New York Islanders on Monday and is likely to face Washington tonight for the first time. The Capitals are looking to put their own struggles behind them as they were just swept in a home-and-home set by the Pittsburgh Penguins. That gave the club five losses in its past six games and Washington sits three points out of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. After losing a 3-2 decision at home on Monday, the Capitals were blanked 2-0 in Pittsburgh the following night. Jaroslav Halak made 32 saves, but the Penguins Marc-Andre Fleury stopped all 32 shots he faced. "We were on our heels the whole first period, no question," said Capitals coach Adam Oates. "We turned it over too many times -- probably a little hangover from (Monday) night." Evgeny Kuznetsov failed to record a point in the two games, the first of his NHL career after signing an entry-level deal on Saturday. He was the 26th overall pick of the 2010 draft and the Russian-born forward had been playing in the Kontinental Hockey League. It has also been a rough few games for Caps forward Alex Ovechkin, who leads the NHL with 44 goals but does not have a point in his past four games. He is a minus-4 over that span. Halak, acquired from the Buffalo Sabres before the trade deadline, started both games versus the Penguins and is 4-3-1 lifetime with a 2.12 goals against average versus the Canucks. Fellow Washington netminder Braden Holtby has never faced them. The Capitals have lost four straight and nine of their last 10 meetings with the Canucks, including a 3-2 setback in Vancouver on Oct. 26. The Canucks have won four of their last five trips to Washington and are eligible to have forward Zack Kassian back in the lineup tonight. He finished serving a three-game suspension for a hit-from-behind versus Dallas last Thursday. Cheap Ultra Boost Shoes Online . The triple gold medallist from the 2010 Paralympics tweeted on Tuesday: "Woke up with a virus yesterday. Timing couldnt be much worse. Not the ideal prep for the . Ultra Boost Shoes Sale Uk .com) - The 2014 Holiday Bowl is the first postseason venture pitting a pair of ranked foes against each other, as No. http://www.cheapultraboostuk.com/. - Frankie (The Answer) Edgar dominated B. Ultra Boost Wholesale Uk . The Mavericks were not going to let San Antonio beat them with 3-pointers, and they did not want Tony Parker using the lane as his personal playground. Cheap Ultra Boost Trainers Uk . The visitors missed a host of good chances to win the game, and were left to rue substitute Ivo Ilicevics strike against the crossbar in the 86th minute, when he only had the goalkeeper to beat.ARLINGTON, Texas -- Chris Carter is hitting under .200 this season for the Houston Astros. Still, he is hitting the ball hard -- and deep. Carter led off two innings with home runs, George Springer had one inning-starting long ball and the Astros beat the Texas Rangers 8-3 on Tuesday night, getting a game closer to escaping the AL West cellar. The Astros go for a three-game series sweep on Wednesday after winning only twice in 19 games against Texas last season. They have won four straight overall against their instate rival for the first time since 2002. "Its just nice to beat them this year," Carter said. "They beat up on us pretty bad last year." Carter started the sixth with a 409-foot blast into the seats in left field to make it 4-2. Two innings later, his 17th homer of the season was almost as long -- but just cleared the wall and the outstretched glove of centre fielder Leonys Martin for a 6-3 lead. Nine of Carters last 17 hits have been homers. It was the third multihomer game this season for the .194 hitter. "He hits them in bunches. Lets hope this is one of those bunches," manager Bo Porter said. "On the home run to left field, he was getting extension. Hes a big, strong man and hes hitting the ball well." Jose Altuve had two hits, two stolen bases and a sacrifice fly. The All-Star second baseman matched Houstons franchise record with 28 consecutive stolen bases without being caught while pushing his AL-leading total to 41. He leads the American League with 126 hits and a .341 batting average. Houston went ahead to stay with two runs in the first inning off Phil Irwin (0-1) who was making his Rangers debut. Brad Peacock (3-5) struck out five while allowing two runs and six hits over 5 2-3 innings. Except for 21 days, and none past mid-April in either of their two seasons since switching leagues, the Astros have been at the bottom of the five-team AL West. After taking the first two of this three-game set, they are withiin a game of fourth-place Texas, which has lost nine of its last 10 games -- and 17 of 20.dddddddddddd Springer, the rookie centre fielder, led off the third with his 18th homer -- a 430-foot shot to the hill in centre field. Martin led off the Texas second with his fifth homer before adding a sacrifice fly and a triple. Jake Smolinski had an RBI double in the seventh for his first major league hit. The Astros loaded the bases with no outs in the first, including Robbie Grossman reaching on a strikeout, before Altuve was picked off third base by catcher Chris Gimenez. Jon Singleton and Matt Dominguez followed with consecutive RBI singles. Irwin allowed three runs and six hits in four innings. He made a start in April 2013 for Pittsburgh, which waived him earlier this season. The right-hander was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock earlier Tuesday when right-hander Nick Martinez (left side discomfort) was put on the 15-day disabled list. "It just came down to the first inning ... overthrowing out of the gate," Irwin said. "Just trying to throw it hard, blow it past people. Thats not my game." NOTES: Astros C Jason Castro was out of the lineup for the second straight day because of pain in his left armpit. Castro was able to swing in the batting cage before the game but didnt play. ... Irwin became the 1,000th player in the history of the Washington Senators-Texas Rangers franchise (1961-2014). He was also the 47th player used by the Rangers this season, one more than they used all last year. RHP Roman Martinez made it 1,001 and 48 with two scoreless innings in his major league debut. ... Grossman had an 18-game hitting streak at Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he was before being recalled Tuesday when OF Alex Presley (strained right oblique) was put on the 15-day DL. Grossman, in his third stint in the majors this season, is hitless in his last 28 at-bats for the Astros after going 0 for 4 with a walk. He was the only Houston player without a hit. ' ' '