s optioned to Buffalo after a slow start

The Vancouver Canucks (26-16-3) return to action after the All-Star break and open a six-game home stand when they host the league-leading Anaheim Ducks (31-10-6) tonight at Rogers Arena. The Canucks have not played since a 4-1 loss in Tampa Bay at the end of a five game road trip one week ago tonight. Of their 37 remaining games, the Canucks will play 21 in front of their home fans, however, they have dropped two straight on home ice (3-1 vs FLA and 1-0 vs CGY), are 4-5 in their past nine at home and are 7-7-1 in 15 games at Rogers Arena since the start of November. Ryan Miller is expected to make his fifth straight start in goal. He allowed four goals in four starts with two shutouts on the road trip. In January, he is 4-3 with a 1.59 GAA and a .947 save percentage. Radim Vrbata had one goal and one assist at the All-Star Game in Columbus on Sunday. He has five goals in his past 10 NHL games and 12 goals in his last 26. Alex Burrows has one goal and three points in his past four games. Brad Richardson (ankle) appears as if he’ll miss a third straight game. The Canucks begin life without Kevin Bieksa who suffered a broken hand blocking a shot in Tampa. Meanwhile, tonight marks Dan Hamhuis’ first home game since a serious groin tear early in a November 20th game against the Ducks. Bo Horvat scored his first NHL goal that night, a 4-3 shootout loss. The Canucks penalty killing remains one of the team’s hallmarks. The Canucks have killed off 16 straight penalties in their past four games. They are 33/36 (91.7%) on the PK in January and 67/72 (93.1%) in 21 games since December 1st. Overall, they are second in the NHL on the penalty kill (88.3%). The Ducks arrive in Vancouver on a roll having won five in a row prior to the All-Star break. They are 7-1 in their past eight games. With 68 points in 47 games, they are three points ahead of Nashville for top spot in the overall standings. They are 12 clear of San Jose in the race for first in the Pacific Division. Statistically, Anaheim is not the dominant team their record suggests: goals per game (13th), shots per game (10th), goals against per game (14th), shots against per game (11th), PP (17th), PK (18th), five-on-five goals for/against (13th), Corsi (12th) and Fenwick (10th). However, the Ducks find ways to grind out victories, being a remarkable 22-0-6 in one-goal games. They are also 22-0-5 when opening the scoring. Their lone all-star, Ryan Getzlaf had one goal and one assist in Columbus on Sunday. He leads the team with 15 goals and 50 points, and enters play tonight seventh in NHL scoring and tied for third in assists. Ryan Kesler has 13 goals and 30 points in his first season in Anaheim. He scored in a 6-3 win over Calgary in the Ducks final game before the All-Star break. That was his first goal and just his third point in 11 games since Christmas. He leads the team in shots on goal (139) and is second on the club with 48 PIM. Frederik Anderson is expected to start in goal. He is 6-0 in January with a 2.41 GAA and .922 save percentage. The Ducks have won four straight in Vancouver and, overall, are 8-0-1 in their last nine against the Canucks and 10-1-2 in their past 13. All three of the games between these teams this season have been settled after 60 minutes of play with each team winning a shootout on the road and the Ducks beating the Canucks 2-1 on Cam Fowler’s overtime goal on December 28th in Anaheim. The Ducks will return to Vancouver to finish the regular-season series on Monday March 9th. Braden Smith Jersey . New York (16-9-8) took over first place in the Eastern Conference and has the best record in the league with one game remaining. Houstons five-game unbeaten streak was snapped, and the Dynamo (13-11-9) are sixth in the East with one game remaining. Malik Hooker Jersey . -- Brady Heslip scored a season-high 20 points to help Baylor beat No. http://www.officialindianapoliscoltsfoot...y-womens.Brooks, a three-year veteran, was slow to get up after suffering the injury during a 5-yard run by Arian Foster.Brooks limped off the field midway through the quarter and then slowly walked to the locker room a few minutes later. Joe Haeg Jersey . A criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court said his girlfriend told police they got into the argument early Thursday at his suburban Minneapolis home. Marshall Faulk Jersey . Raonic, the mens No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., needed more than three hours to overcome Frenchman Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 and become the first Canadian man into the fourth round at Roland Garros.KANSAS CITY – For the fourth time in seven games, the Blue Jays blew a lead of at least three runs. While it would be easy to lay this one on the bullpen - Steve Delabar, Brett Cecil, Sergio Santos and Esmil Rogers got tagged for eight runs in the final two innings - this loss, by a final score of 10-7 to the Royals, was a total team effort. So much so, in fact, that manager John Gibbons, Kansas Citys bench coach as recently as 2011, took a veiled shot at his club while praising his old team. “I will say one thing about that team over there, because I was there when they were young,” said Gibbons. “They play nine innings. I dont care, up or down, they compete and they get after your ass and thats why theyre going to end up winning it one day.” Perhaps Gibbons was upset with catcher Dioner Navarro, who put on a clinic of how not to play defence in the second inning. First, with Royals at the corners and one out, Navarro attempted to back hand a Dustin McGowan slider in the dirt. The ball skipped off Navarros shin guard and towards the Royals first base dugout. Billy Butler, the runner on third, scored. Later in the second, again with runners at the corners, Navarro inexplicably attempted to throw out Alcides Escobar trying to steal second. The throw was offline and bounced into centrefield, allowing Alex Gordon, who was on third, to score. Perhaps Gibbons was upset with Edwin Encarnacion who, with two runners on and one out in the seventh, didnt hustle down the first baseline on a ground ball back to pitcher Kelvin Herrera. Usually a routine play, Herreras throw brought first baseman Eric Hosmer off the bas,e but because Encarnacion was only halfway down the line, Hosmer had plenty of time to collect himself and step on the bag for the out. Perhaps Gibbons was frustrated with Colby Rasmus and Jose Bautista, who converged on Gordons lead-off fly ball to right centrefield in the seventh. Neither took charge - its Rasmus job to do so - and the ball bounced on the warning track for a lead-off double. The Jays had a 5-2 lead at the time. Gordon would score one hitter later when Salvador Perez hit a two-run home run off of Delabar, marking the start of the Kansas City comeback. Perhaps Gibbons was frustrated with Melky Cabrera, who did tack on two more hits for a league-leading 41, but who also had a poor night in left field. Twice Royals runners took an extra base on Cabreras arm. Once because he displayed no urgency in getting the ball back to the infield and Cabrera also missed a cut-off man in the Royals six-run eighth, allowing a second run to score on a single by Omar Infante. The Blue Jays fell to 12-14. Gibbons called it a “crappy game.” Under the cirumstances, he was being polite. McGOWANS STRONG OUTING; STROMAN MAKES STATEMENT As Dustin McGowan took the mound in Tuesday nights series opener against the Royals, Marcus Stroman was wrapping up, perhaps, his most impressive appearance in his brief professional career. The two are linked. The belief is that the Blue Jays are growing weary of McGowans inability to work deep into ballgames; manager John Gibbons has repeatedly offered that he liked McGowans work out of the bullpen last season, thinking hes better suited to a one or two-inning role. McGowan is a type-1 diabetic and, as first reported by TSN.ca, he wore his insulin pump in an attempt to regulate his blood sugar level - it tends to skyrocket during games - and alleviatee the fatigue that overtakes him in the middle innings.dddddddddddd He pitched into the seventh inning for the first time this season, granted it was just one batter and Alex Gordon doubled, but it was a step forward. McGowan allowed three runs, two earned, on three hits, three walks and two strikeouts. He left with a lead, which was coughed up by the bullpen. “Real encouraged,” said McGowan. “I got deep in the game and thats all Ive been wanting to do. Sometimes the results are overshadowed by the innings you pitch, but as long as you get deep in games, good things happen once you get deep in games.” Stroman is among the clubs top pitching prospects and of those prospects, is considered to be the most major league ready. He showed it in Buffalo on Tuesday, hurling six hitless innings, striking out 10 and walking only one in what could be his final Bisons appearance before hes added to the 40-man roster and brought up to pitch in Pittsburgh this weekend. Gibbons has talked about using a six-man rotation through the next turn. The Blue Jays dont have another off day until May 19, which prevents Gibbons from rearranging the order of the rotation to facilitate additional days off for certain pitchers. If the Jays were weighing whether to go with McGowan or J.A. Happ on Monday in Philadelphia, after Stroman starts on Sunday in Pittsburgh, McGowans performance may have bought him at least one more start. GETZ ARRIVES; GOINS TO BUFFALO Chris Getz was shagging fly balls during Triple-A Buffalos batting practice on Monday afternoon when minor league field coordinator Doug Davis waved him in to give him the news he was on his way back to the big leagues. A former Royal who played in Kansas City for four seasons and not immediately aware of the Blue Jays next opponent, Getz was surprised to hear of his first stop destination. “It was pretty funny because I knew they had the off day and then Doug mentioned that, Hey, youve got a flight at 6:30 and youre heading to Kansas City,” said Getz. “Heading to Kansas City? I already played with them. Of course, Im playing against them, but it was cool to come back here and see a lot of familiar faces, teammates, but even the people working at the park. You get to know them over the years and theyre such good people here. I just kind of feel at home.” Getzs contract was selected from the Bisons in time for Tuesday nights opener with the Royals. He replaces Ryan Goins, who was optioned to Buffalo after a slow start at the plate. In 24 games and 66 plate appearances, Goins posted a slash line of .150/.203/.217 (.420 OPS), with one home run. “He was having good at-bats,” said hitting coach Kevin Seitzer. “I think if we were, as a group, doing better top-to-bottom, he would probably still be here. I dont know, thats not my decision, but I felt like his at-bats were getting better and better the last week, week-and-a-half.” This isnt it for Goins. The Blue Jays value his glove. Expect him to be back. “I told him, You go down there, be a good teammate, work hard, keep a good attitude which I know you will and apply the stuff that we worked on,” said Seitzer. “I said, I want you building confidence in everything youve done to this point to where you come back and dont go back.” Getz is a solid defensive second baseman who will bring a little more offence than Goins. For his six-year career with the White Sox and Royals, Getz, 30, is a .251/.310/.309 hitter. 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