Dein erstes Forum » After all, the Kings stormed back against the Sharks

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- The postgame cheer from inside the New York Jets locker room could be heard in the stadium hallways. The reason for the roar: The Jets were keeping their coach. Shortly after Sundays 20-7 victory over Miami to conclude an 8-8 season, Jets owner Woody Johnson told the team that Rex Ryan would return for a sixth season in 2014. "Everyone in the locker room was ecstatic," quarterback Geno Smith said. "It felt as if you won the Super Bowl. Having our head coach back, a guy we enjoy playing for, its great." Ryan was given the news before the game. Hes 42-38 in the regular season with the Jets, and his future had been in doubt even though hes popular with players, has a 4-2 post-season record and has a year left on his contract. The Jets will sit out the playoffs for the third year in a row. "Ill say this: I love being the head coach of the New York Jets, plain and simple," Ryan said. "You put everything youve got into it. I never wanted to go out this way. Weve missed the playoffs three straight years, and that bothers me, no question." Players had expressed their support for Ryan in recent days and did so again after the finale. "Everybody wanted Rex back," linebacker Calvin Pace said. "Hes the right man for the job." Players celebrated the win in the finale by soaking Ryan with a bucket of sports drink. The victory gave the Jets their first two-game winning streak, but Johnson said the decision to retain Ryan was made before those victories. "Were on the ascent, and a lot has to do with our coach," Johnson said. General manager John Idzik, who is completing his first year with the Jets, denied that he wanted to hire his own coach rather than continue with Ryan. "We were together from the beginning," Idzik said. "I know theres speculation throughout the season otherwise, but we always worked together. Hes been tremendous to work for and work with. Hes a leader, a motivator. Hes a teacher. Hes a great coach, too." It was not clear if Ryan will coach through his existing deal or be given a contract extension. Neither Johnson nor Idzik would discuss details related to Ryans contract. Ryan was animated throughout Sundays victory. When Smith scored on a 7-yard, third-down keeper up the middle with 3 seconds left in the first half for a 14-7 lead, Ryan ran on the field to celebrate with his players. When running back Bilal Powell threw a 30-yard completion to set up the Jets first field goal, Ryan punched the air as he sprinted along the sideline. The coach was eager for his team to atone for a 23-3 loss to the Dolphins on Dec. 1. "Quite honestly, we owed them," Ryan said. "This team is getting better. This was going to be a proving ground for that. This was a team that whipped us. That was the main driving force." Smith had been benched during that loss. In the rematch, the rookie led three long scoring drives, ran for a touchdown and threw for 190 yards. "After the benching, I had to dig deep -- a lot of soul-searching, the first time it ever happened to me in my life," he said. "Quite honestly, I dont like it. That was part of the decision-making of the coaches. I just had to continue believing in myself." Ryan and Idzik will now look forward to building next seasons team with plenty of issues to consider, starting with Smith. The Jets must determine whether he can be their quarterback of the future, and whether theyll draft another player to compete with him or sign a proven veteran. New York will likely part with quarterback Mark Sanchez and receiver Santonio Holmes to save money on the salary cap, and there are several potential key free agents, including right tackle Austin Howard, right guard Willie Colon and kicker Nick Folk. Expectations were extremely low for this years team. One major factor was the trade of the Jets best player -- Darrelle Revis -- to Tampa Bay, a big blow to Ryans defence. There was also a dearth of game-changing talent on offence, and an underwhelming yet closely contested quarterback competition between Sanchez and Smith, a second-round draft pick. That was settled only when Sanchez was lost for the year with a shoulder injury in the third preseason game. New offensive co-ordinator Marty Mornhinweg was forced to try to develop Smith on the fly. After a solid first few games, Smith became a turnover machine before bouncing back in his last four outings of the season, in which the Jets went 3-1 to finish .500. Notes: Jets reserve CB Kyle Wilson left the game in the first half with a knee injury and didnt return. ... Rookie Dee Milliner made two interceptions, and 35-year-old Ed Reed added one to prevent a Miami comeback. Hayden Hurst Jersey .500 ball against teams with winning records, so they needed a huge lift from somebody Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders. Baltimore Ravens Jerseys . -- Terry Francona likened the atmosphere at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday to a playoff game in October. http://www.cheapravensshoponline.com/You...-Ravens-Jersey/. Halak, 28, split his eighth NHL seasons between the St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals, compiling a 29-13-7 record in 52 games. Michael Crabtree Jersey . They are back to a game above .500 on the year and back to .500 on the road. It was their 10th extra time game of the year, and only the second one that did not got to a shootout. Jaleel Scott Jersey . The Mariners ace allowed just one hit over eight innings while striking out nine, and Robinson Cano backed him with a two-run homer as Seattle earned a 3-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday.ANAHEIM - It was one of the funnier moments in this years Stanley Cup playoffs. Anaheim Ducks winger Corey Perry squirted water into one of Jeff Carters hockey gloves, which was left on top of the boards by the Kings bench, unattended, during a commercial break. The Los Angeles Kings centre appeared unamused and voiced displeasure to a nearby linesman. "Just trying to, I guess, get under peoples skin," said Perry with a shrug when asked about the prank he pulled in Game 1 of the series. "Just try to get people off their game." But so far in the first-ever playoff showdown between the NHLs two southern California teams it has been the Kings, who have gotten the Ducks off their game as Perry, a 43-goal scorer in the regular season, and Hart Trophy nominee Ryan Getzlaf have failed to make a major impact. "Him and I put a lot of pressure on each other and on ourselves and its our responsibility to get the team going, to produce and we havent done that," Perry admitted. So far it has been the Kings top line featuring Selke Trophy nominee Anze Kopitar, which has gotten the best of the Ducks dynamic duo. "In the playoffs you have to be better than the guy across from you," Getzlaf said. "If hes playing great you got to be better than that. Thats how you find a way to win." "If you know Ryan, he puts a lot of onus on himself," said Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau, "and he knows hes the leader of this group and when hes going to his best [level] then we usually have a good result. He feels he needs to be a little bit better, hes probably correct." Post-game on Monday, Getzlaf said he was "ticked off" by how the series has unfolded. And the Ducks captain made it clear on Tuesday that the anger he felt in the moments after the loss has yet to subside. "Yeah, Im still mad. I want to win and when we dont win I get mad. Thats just [my] nature I guess." And while Getzlaf believes he can be better he certainly doesnt shoulder all the blame for the bind his team is in. "Its not all about me. Im not going to go out and win Game 3 by myself thats for sure. The story of our season has been our depth and our lineup and we need, from top to bottom, everybody pushing." The Kopitar line, which also features captain Dustin Brown and sniper Marian Gaborik, is likely to be matched up against the Getzlaf unit over the next two games as Kings head coach Darryl Sutter will have the advantage of last change at the Staples Center. But Anaheims lack of success isnt about one matchup. The Kings have tightened up all over the ice and are playing the same suffocating style that led to a Cup two years ago. "They didnt win the Jennings Trophy just by luck," said Boudreau. "Theyre a good defensive team." The Kings allowed the fewest goals in the NHL in the regular season (2.05 goals per game). Los Angeles also led the league in hits. "The system [they play] is really basic," Boudreau explained. "Theres nothing really extravagant with what Darryls doing. They just do it well. They got the right personnel, theyve been through the wars, theyve won the Cup before with that group and they know how to do it. "Quite frankly, its the same system we use. Its layers of blocking, layers of having to go through guys when you come into [their] zone and the last six games theyve been very good at it." Cracking the Kings sound defensive structure is one issue, but the bigger issue for the Ducks has been Jonathan Quick, who has reverted to his Conn Smythe form after a shaky start in the first round series against the San Jose Sharks. Quick has a .961 save percentage during the Kings current six game winning streak. "Yeah, hes played well, but we havent played our game," said Perry.dddddddddddd "We just have to be more determined." Quick turned aside 36 of the 37 shots he faced on Monday night with the only puck to beat him deflecting in off defenceman Jake Muzzins skate. "Hes seeing a lot of pucks," said Ducks forward Patrick Maroon, who was credited with Anaheims lone goal in Game 2, which came during a four-on-three power play. "Thats one of the problems here. Five-on-five we got to get in front of the net, get in his eyes, create more traffic and get in his head a little bit, because were not doing that. Were an outside team right now. We got to crash and bang, throw pucks at his feet and go to the net." Jonas Hiller, who faced just 16 shots Monday night, suggests Anaheims current approach is actually helping Quick build even more confidence. "I know from experience that those are the nice games to play if you face a lot of shots and are able to see most of them," said the Ducks goalie. "Quicks just playing a little better than I am right now. I think their first line is just a little bit better than our [top] line. We got to find a way to change that." Scoring goals wasnt a problem for the Ducks during the regular season as they led the NHL in that category (3.21 per game). Perry finished second in the league in goal scoring behind only Alexander Ovechkin while Getzlaf posted a career-high 31 goals. Ten Ducks had 10 goals or more. So why has the potent Anaheim attack, become so punchless? It appears the challenge at the moment is more mental than physical. "I think guys are almost trying to do too much, myself included, trying maybe to push it a little too hard and making it unnatural," said Matt Beleskey, who has two goals and two assists in four playoff games this spring while skating alongside Perry and Getzlaf. "The Kings are doing a pretty good job of boxing guys out, but its timing. You got to bear down and get there." Dropping the first two games at home can shake the confidence of a team. But Boudreau downplayed the importance of home-ice advantage. He pointed out that the games between the Kings and Ducks have been close all season whether theyre played at the Honda Center, Staples Center or even Dodger Stadium. "To me, these games whether we play them here or frigging any stadium you want, its going to be a tough game or a one-goal game and its two teams just battling really hard," Boudreau said. "The difference is they scored an empty-net goal and we didnt. Thats the whole difference in the series right now." Anaheim will need to win on enemy ice at least twice to keep their season alive. The Kings only have one regulation loss at the Staples Center in their last nine games there, but the Ducks dont see this as a daunting task. "Its tough to win in this building too and they did it twice," said Beleskey standing in the Ducks dressing room. "Definitely not going to be that hard for us." The Ducks believe one win can turn this series on its head. After all, the Kings stormed back against the Sharks in the first round. The Chicago Blackhawks erased an 0-2 deficit against the St. Louis Blues. Comebacks are all the rage in the NHL these days. "Were a confident group," said Ducks defenceman Ben Lovejoy. "We know we can beat this team. We feel weve had two pretty even games ... I truly believe that playoffs is all about momentum and right now we need to put a seed of doubt in their mind. And if we win that first game, if its 2-1 and we have momentum, we can do that. "As soon as we win one they remember that were a good team, we remember that were a good team and it puts doubt in their mind, but it all starts with us." ' ' '