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BROSSARD, Que. -- Tomas Plekanec doesnt draw a lot of Selke Trophy votes as the NHLs best defensive forward, but coach Michel Therrien thinks he ought to. "He should be a serious candidate for sure," Therrien said Monday of his best two-way centre. "He does so many good things on the ice. "When we ask him to play against the other teams top lines, he always does the job and he can contribute on offence too." Plekanec and his right winger, captain Brian Gionta, play regularly against the top lines in the NHL. More often than not, the matchup works in Montreals favour. The 31-year-old Czech was at the top of his game in a 2-1 win on Saturday night over the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. His unit with veteran Travis Moen on left wing for the night went up against the Blackhawks top line of 2013 Selke winner Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp. Plekanec got 19:36 of ice time, won 56 per cent of his faceoffs and had 11 shots on goal, although he failed to register a point. And Hossa made a sweet move to score in the third period, so Plekanec and his linemates ended the night at minus-1, despite playing perhaps their strongest game of the season. Plekanec said facing top centres, most of whom are much bigger than his five-foot-11 195-pound frame, has been his job for many years and he doesnt think about winning awards for it. "When you go on the ice against those guys you know that your job is to keep them as quiet as possible and try to get their focus on something else than scoring goals," he said. "Thats been my job for quite a few years here -- being a strong guy at both ends of the ice -- but its not up to me to decide that and its not really where my focus is. My focus is on winning the Stanley Cup with Montreal. Its nice to hear, but its not up to me." Despite his many scoring chances, Plekanec ended a three-game points streak. He has 14 goals and 14 assists and is plus-9 in 46 games this season, a little below his 33 points in 47 games in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign. His best season was 70 points in 2009-10, but since then he has had more emphasis placed on his two-way game, with time on the second power play unit, and he has settled into a 50-plus points player. "When were good on defence, offence comes out of it," he said. "It think the main reason behind so many scoring chances last game is that we were so strong defensively. "We didnt get stuck in our own zone and we were good on the forecheck. Thats how you get offence." He is also on the first penalty killing unit with Moen on a team that ranks third in the league with an 86.4 per cent kill rate. Now he hopes the team can reproduce that effort when it plays host to the much less powerful attack of the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night. The 26-15-5 Canadiens have tended to play up or down to their competition this season, which has made for some embarrassing defeats as well as uplifting wins like that against Chicago. The Devils (19-18-10) are coming off a 3-2 shootout loss to Toronto and have points in four straight games. "Weve got to find that consistency in our team play," said Plekanec. "I dont think weve been able to find it yet this year. "Its a good opportunity to come out strong against Jersey. Theyre a good team too, even if theyre not as high in the standings. Weve been playing good games and bad games. Were in a good spot in the standings and thats something we can be happy about, but we have to find a way to be better consistently." It appears Therrien will keep Moen on Plekanecs line. The gritty six-foot-two winger has played mostly on checking lines this season and has only one goal in 41 games. While fans sometimes dont appreciate what Moen brings to the game, Therrien said he is the kind of player that coaches like. "He doesnt do anything spectacular, but his positioning is good, he wins battles on the boards, he understands the game," said Therrien. "For me, Travis is having a good season. "Hes very respected by his teammates. We gave him a nice challenge on Saturday and he had a good game." A concern for Montreal is how its power play, which was scoring regularly early in the season, has sputtered. It has been without a goal in 14 chances over the last four games and has produced only six goals in the last 21. The team has been working on adjustments to a power play that may have become too dependent on setting up shots from the point, particularly from P.K. Subban. "Maybe we have to make some down-low plays instead of trying to feed P.K. for a shot because everyone knows he has a strong one-timer, but if we start making other plays, then things will open up for him again," said Plekanec. Plekanec is also gearing up to play for the Czech Republic at the Sochi Olympics, where hell serve as team captain. One of his teammates will be 42-year-old Peter Nedved, who has been playing in the Czech league since leaving the NHL in 2007. "He plays really well on the big ice and hes suited to that game, so I think hes going to be a pretty good asset," said Plekanec. "I think a lot of people will be surprised at how well hes going to play." NFL Jerseys China . A top pitching prospect, one who the ball club is pinning some of its future hopes, takes the spot of a veteran who once was viewed as a future ace but who, to this point, hasnt realized his potential and may never. Fake Nike NFL Jerseys . Or at least on everyone elses expectations. 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In mens doubles, Vancouvers Vasek Pospisil and American Jack Sock reached the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Croatian Mate Pavic and Andre Sa of Brazil.MILWAUKEE -- Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke wanted to get outfielder Caleb Gindl going so he gave him a start against the Chicago Cubs. The decision paid off when the Brewers rookie outfielder got three hits, including a two-run home run, to lead the Brewers to a 6-1 win over the Cubs on Monday night. "I appreciate the fact that he had the confidence to put me in there," said Gindl, who homered for the second straight game. "It felt good tonight and I felt like Im starting to get my swing back." Roenicke started Gindl because he had good stats against Cubs starter Edwin Jackson. He even let Gindl hit against Cubs left-handed reliever Zac Rosscup in the seventh inning and Gindl came through hitting his home run. "He really had a nice night," Roenicke said. "We talked about pinch hitting at that point, but he did a really nice job of driving that ball to centre field." The other bright spot for the Brewers was the pitching of Wily Peralta, (10-15) who pitched six strong innings, giving up an unearned run on five hits. He struck out seven and walked two. Roenicke was impressed with Peralta because he did not have his best stuff, but kept Milwaukee in the game. "He scuffled off and on, but he made good pitches when he needed to," Roenicke said. "It is really important that even when he doesnt have his best stuff that he can keep us in the game." The Brewers fourth win in five games moved them 3 1/2 games above Chicago at the bottom of the NL Central. "I never want to finish in last place," Roenicke said. "We are still playing to win every game." Jackson (8-16) lasted only four innings for the Cubs, giving up two runs on only two hits and three walks. Jackson has the most losses of any pitcher in the NL. Peralta is second with 15. After Jackson was pulled from the game for a pinch hitter in the fifth inning, television cameras showed him annd Cubs manager Dale Sveum having words as Jackson headed to the clubhouse.dddddddddddd Several Cubs players and coaches moved toward the two as Jackson continued walking down the tunnel. "He wasnt real happy being taken out of the game," Sveum said. "You respect that when players want to stay in the game, but I made that decision." Sveum said Gindls key hits were the difference in the game. "The biggest part of the game was our lefties not being able to get Gindl out," he said. The Brewers got their first hit off Jackson in the fourth inning when Scooter Gennett blooped a single to left field. Gindl followed with a triple off the centre-field wall to score Gennett. Martin Maldonado dropped a sacrifice bunt to score Gindl and Jackson threw the ball past Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo allowing Maldonado to take second. Jackson got Peralta to line out and struck out Norichika Aoki to get out of the inning. Chicago cut the lead to 2-1 in the fifth inning. Welington Castillo led off with a flyball down the right field line that Gennett got a glove on but couldnt catch. It was ruled a double, with Castillo taking third after Aokis relay throw went over the head of shortstop Jean Segura. Castillo scored on Starlin Castros single. Milwaukee extended the lead to 4-1 in the sixth inning on Yuniesky Betancourts pinch-hit RBI single and Seguras RBI double. Gindl hit his fifth home run of the season in the seventh inning, a two-run shot that pushed the lead to 6-1. NOTES: Brewers 3B Aramis Ramirez returned to the starting lineup. He missed two games after being hit on the left wrist Friday by a pitch from Cincinnatis Mat Latos. . Rookie LF Khris Davis missed his second straight start after reinjuring his left wrist Saturday against the Reds. . Cubs 2B Darwin Barney entered the game leading NL second-baseman with a .993 fielding percentage. Golden Glove ballots were distributed this week. ' ' '