Gästeforum » Niagara Falls, Ont., and 42-year-old Daniel Nestor,

NEWARK, N.J. - New Jersey Devils rookie Keith Kinkaid has never been a fan of the shootout, and that was long before he faced Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in his first NHL start.Toews and Kane scored on the Blackhawks first two chances, and Chicago rallied late and earned its seventh straight victory, 3-2 over the Devils on Tuesday night.They are top guys in the NHL, Kinkaid said after his outstanding 37-save performance ended in a loss. Obviously I was a little too far out on the Toews one, I wanted to get the leg out, and then Kane has a great set of hands. You never know what he is going to do.Chicago had to work to get the best of the 25-year old Kinkaid, who was called up from Albany earlier Tuesday with the Devils playing the second game of a back-to-back set.New Jersey had the better of play for almost the first 25 minutes before the Blackhawks started showing why they are one of the NHLs top teams.Early on, he was playing pretty well, Toews said of Kinkaid. We threw some shots at him and I think, if anything, we built his confidence up a little bit throughout the game. Nowadays, even backups are strong, and you have to make their job as tough as you can.Bryan Bickell and Duncan Keith had goals in regulation for Chicago, whose winning streak matches the NHL high for this season. Scott Darling made 22 saves, including two stops in the shootout.Jordin Tootoo and Stephen Gionta scored for New Jersey. Steve Bernier added two assists for the Devils, who were trying for back to back wins for the first time in almost a month.Darling made a glove save on Martin Havlat to start the shootout, and Toews easily beat Kinkaid with a backhander. After Darling made a pad save on Jaromir Jagr, Kane skated in on Kinkaid, danced in front of him, and slid the puck into the net for the Blackhawks fourth win in four shootouts.You want to get the win for the team, so its a little tough, Kinkaid said. I hate the shootout anyway, so they are big points, and we are fortunate to get one.Chicago had tied it with 3:13 left in regulation when defenceman Duncan Keith put the rebound of Marian Hossas shot into an open net. The play developed after the Blackhawks kept the puck in the Devils zone, and Toews found Hossa for a good shot in close.Give him some credit, Keith said of Kinkaid. He played big for his first game. We just played a patient game. I dont think it was our best game, but we hung in there until the end and we were able to do it in the shootout.It appeared that Stephen Giontas goal on a baseball swing at 2:31 of the third period was going to be the winner.Defenceman Damon Severson took a shot from the right point that Darling stopped. Blackhawks defenceman Klas Dahlbeck used his glove to swat the rebound away, but Gionta lined it right into the net.Havlat nearly gave the Devils a two-goal lead later in the period but his breakaway drive hit off the post and crossbar with 9:30 left.Kinkaid had stopped Patrick Sharp on a breakaway just about 30 seconds before Giontas second goal of the season.Chicago was a little off its game in the first period, but it dominated the second, outshooting New Jersey 17-7. Bickell got the only goal with a shot from the right circle after he carried the puck into the Devils zone leading a 3-on-1 break.Sharp, playing for the first time since Nov. 4 because of a lower-body injury, got the only assist on the play set up by a Devils turnover.New Jerseys goal also was the result of a turnover. Tootoo scored from the same circle as Bickell after taking a pass from Bernier.NOTES: The game was the second of a five-game trip for Chicago. ... Keith played 30:36 for Chicago. ... Devils F Dainius Zubrus missed the game after getting stitches in his leg Monday night. ... Schneider had started 27 of 28 games. ... This was the Devils 11th home game, tying them with Vancouver for fewest in the NHL this season. Dave Taylor Kings Jersey . According to a report from the Hamilton Spectator, Infrastructure Ontario has informed the City of Hamilton and the Tiger-Cats the stadium may not be ready by the June 30 deadline. Tiger Williams Jersey . -- Aaron Rodgers looked fine on the practice field Thursday. http://www.kingsauthentic.com/authentic-jeff-carter-kings-jersey/ . -- Brendan Leipsic had two goals and an assist and Nicolas Petan extended his point streak to 11 games as the Portland Winterhawks slipped past the Red Deer Rebels 5-4 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action. Trevor Lewis Kings Jersey . The American secured his first back-to-back ATP match wins since June to leave Tsonga relying on his performance at next weeks Paris Masters to clinch one of the final three places for the season-ending event in London. Tsonga would have moved up one spot to No. 6 with a win over Querrey at the City of Arts and Sciences, but his serve deserted him in the second set as the 116th-ranked American broke twice to reach the quarter-finals. Rogie Vachon Kings Jersey . The Americans, skipped by John Shuster, seized the advantage in the eighth end by scoring five points for a 7-3 lead. The Czechs pulled two back in the ninth, but Shusters team of third Jeff Isaacson, second Jared Zezel and lead John Landsteiner ended with another point to secure the last Olympic berth on offer.VANCOUVER - Martin Laurendeau and Canadas Davis Cup team have fond memories of the West Coast.Having spent years toiling at the international tennis tournaments regional level, Canada qualified for the World Group in 2012 and hosted France in first-round play.While the visitors won the tie 4-1 at the University of British Columbia, Laurendeau says the result was a watershed moment for a young Canadian team that included Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil.It was a very important turn for us in the sense that we got our feet wet into the World Group again, said Laurendeau. For our young guys, Vasek and Milos, it was really important they go through that as a learning curve and a reference.Canada went on to make it all the way to the World Group semifinal in 2013 for the first time ever after victories over Spain and Italy at UBC, and will look to recapture that energy in March when the country hosts Japan in World Group first-round action at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.Its reassuring for us to go to a place where weve had a lot of success, where we know the crowd is phenomenal, where we get a court that plays to our advantage and just have an opportunity to keep creating history, Laurendeau said at Wednesdays announcement. We had a good run last year and we want to do better, we want to go further, and were going to start with Japan.The tie that will take place from March 6 to 8 is a rematch of the countries 2014 first-round meeting last winter, which Japan won 4-1.Theres a great sense of familiarity coming back here, said Laurendeau, who was without Raonic and Pospisil in Tokyo because of injury. Players do like to go back to a place where theyve had some good successes. Its a bit comforting, in a way.As hosts, Canada has the opportunity to select the surface and the setup of the 5,000-seat venue, which is critical when taking into account big hitters like Raonic and Pospisil.This is a stadium that suits our team very well, said Laurendeau. We create the conditions of play that we want to create. Thats the No. 1 thing about Davis Cup and having Davis Cup at home — the balls, the court, the speed, the crowd.Right now we have power players. We have guys that have big serves and they hit the ball hard and like fast conditions so we have to make sure we at least have thatt and take it from there.ddddddddddddCanada, which lost to Serbia in the 2013 semis in Belgrade, is competing in the World Group for the fourth straight year. After losing to Japan last winter, Canada beat Colombia 3-2 in September in the World Group playoffs in Halifax to remain with the top 16 countries in the world. Although the players taking part in the Japan tie that includes four singles and one doubles match will be named at a later date, there should be plenty of firepower.Raonic, a 23-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., currently sits at No. 8 in the world rankings, while Japans Kei Nishikori is three spots better in fifth.Raonic lost to Nishikori three times in singles play in 2014, but did beat him in the round of 16 at Wimbledon.Weve got a lot of footage of him and Milos going at it, said Laurendeau. Were not going to win this Davis Cup by default or guys not showing up. We want to beat the best players in the world, we want to earn that title, and so we expect tough competition. Thats what drives the team.Barring injury, the rest of Canadas team should include Vancouvers Pospisil — a 24-year-old who was ranked as high as 25th this year and currently sits 53rd — along with 30-year-old Davis Cup veteran Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., and 42-year-old Daniel Nestor, the eight-time Grand Slam doubles champion from Toronto. We have a lot of depth, said Laurendeau. If our team is healthy I think we can really beat any team out there, especially in Canada.The countrys Davis Cup captain since 2004 and a member of the team during his playing days, the 50-year-old Laurendeau said the Canadians know they have yet to reach their full potential on the world stage.Were aware of history. We know what weve done and we know we can do better, he said. Making that semifinal run (in 2013) gave us a taste of what we can do and how we can get it to the next level.We know we can make semifinals or better. Thats one of our goals, to better that, and thats very exciting.Notes: Japan is 6-0 against Canada in Davis Cup play, but prior to the last meeting the countries hadnt played since 1938. ... UBC also announced Wednesday that tennis greats John McEnroe and Pete Sampras will take part in a PowerShares Series event in Vancouver on May 2.—Follow @JClipperton_CP on Twitter. ' ' '