Dein erstes Forum » romping in the short dance

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins last-minute win was overshadowed by Shawn Thorntons takedown of Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik. Zdeno Chara scored with 13 seconds left in regulation after David Krejci tied it late, lifting the Bruins to a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night in a game that saw Orpik taken from the ice on a stretcher. Midway into the opening period, Thronton was given a match penalty for grabbing Orpik from behind, pulling him to the ice and punching him when he was down. Orpik appeared to be dazed by a punch, but may have also hit his head on the ice. The Penguins said on their Twitter site that Orpik returned from Massachusetts General Hospital and will be travelling with the team back to Pittsburgh, according to Penguins coach Dan Bylsma. "Obviously I made a mistake," Thornton said. "Im aware of it. Ive been told that theyre having a hearing and its hard for me to say much more other than thats not my intention. I feel awful. I feel sick." Thronton, known as the Bruins enforcer, knows he went over the line that comes with his role. "Its always my job, I guess, to defend my teammates, but Ive prided myself for a long time to stay within the lines," he said, speaking very quietly in the dressing room. "Its hard for me to talk about right now. I cant say Im sorry enough. Im sure Ill be criticized, but its true." Reilly Smith also scored for the Bruins, who havent lost in regulation at home since late October (10-0-2). Tuukka Rask stopped 28 shots for Boston. Bruins coach Claude Julien said both teams should take some blame for physical play that went over the line at times. "The only thing Im going to say is its not just one way here," he said. "Theres a lot of blame to go around. We can all learn from it." Chris Kunitz and James Neal scored power-play goals for the Penguins, who had their season-high, five-game winning streak halted. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 18 shots for Pittsburgh. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby felt an early hit by Orpik led to emotions running high. "I think Orps hit on (Loui) Eriksson probably led to what happened with Thornton and all the things prior to that," he said. "So, yeah, I think thats a big reason why." Julien said Eriksson left with a concussion and will not travel to Toronto for Sundays game. Krejci scored with 1:29 to play, beating Fleury with a wrister from the slot. Chara unloaded the winner from near the middle of the faceoff circles, cutting in from the right point. "It was playoff-kind of hockey," Chara said. "We were behind that whole game and fighting for that tying goal. Eventually we got it and carried that momentum through the rest of the game, and we were able to score the goal." The Penguins led 2-1 after one period on the goals by Kunitz and Neal. Neal was surprised by Thorntons actions. "Im not going to comment on that, obviously never like to see anything like that," he said. "Thought the confrontation was over after you know he asked him to fight a few times and kept going after him." Kunitz made it 1-0 at 6:33 when his centring shot/pass from the bottom of the left circle caromed into the net by Rask off the body of Chara, who was at the edge of the crease. Boston had tied it 1-all when Smith unloaded a slap shot over the left shoulder of Fleury before Neal beat Rask with a wrister between the pads at 13:13. Orpiks injury came after he was in a scrum with a few Penguins players with Bostons Gregory Campbell in the Pittsburgh defensive end of the ice. Bostons Brad Marchand was injured in front of the Bruins bench near centre ice before Thornton came charging down and grabbed Orpik. Players on the ice immediately called for medical help and he was surrounded before being taken off the ice to a polite applause from the crowd. Neal was assessed a kneeing penalty for his hit on Marchand. Some of the bad blood between the teams came from the games opening minute when Orpik hit Eriksson in the head with his shoulder as the winger started to head up ice. Eriksson was dazed as he slowly made his way to the bench and was helped down the runway to the dressing room. He didnt return. Early in the third, Smith missed a wide-open side of the net when his shot went over the crossbar. Chara hit the right post with 2 1/2 minutes to play. Boston swept the Penguins last spring to advance to the Stanley Cup finals, which it lost in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks. In the teams previous meeting, Crosby scored with less than a second left in regulation before Torey Krug scored the winner for the Bruins in overtime. Boston defenceman Dennis Seidenberg stopped what looked like a certain goal by Pittsburghs Jussi Jokinen by sliding across the crease to make a leg save with Rask completely on the other side. NOTES: Julien said earlier in the day that D Johnny Boychuk would miss "three to seven days" and the club is planning on bringing him on a four-game road trip that begins Sunday at Toronto. Boychuk was taken off the ice on a stretcher Thursday in Bostons loss in Montreal, but Julien said "we feared the worst and I think we got as good of news as we could get." Boychuk had an MRI Friday that found no fractures. ... Penguins C Evgeni Malkin missed his second straight game with an undisclosed lower body injury. Malkin was the NHLs leading scorer in November. ... Kunitz headed to the locker room for a while in the second after taking a stick in the chin from Marchand, who was given a double minor. ... It was the third and final regular season meeting of the season. Boston won two. David Beckham Jersey . Millsap will miss Wednesday nights game against the Chicago Bulls. The Hawks say Millsap also will be held out on Thursday at Boston. Marcus Rashford England Jersey . You can watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 3pm et/Noon pt. The Thunder reclaimed the home-court advantage LA took with a Game 1 win on Friday night with a 118-112 road win in Game 3. http://www.englandsoccerpro.com/Phil-Jones-England-Jersey/ . With the players association in the midst of meetings in Las Vegas, a vote will be held on Friday to decide the CFLPAs presidency and other executive positions. Jack Butland Jersey . They were expecting him there all along. The Pacers announced Friday night that George has been cleared "to return to normal basketball activity," a decision made three days after he was concussed in Game 2 of the Indiana-Miami series. Eric Dier Jersey . Appearing on TSN 690 Monday afternoon, Mike Babcock said he had conversations with both P.K. Subban and Carey Price about those on-ice traits during Hockey Canadas summer orientation camp. Mike Babcock: McGill experience, P.BOSTON -- After one of the best programs of a career that already includes three national titles, Jeremy Abbott nearly did a pratfall. He would have been entitled following a spotless performance highlighted by three picture-perfect jumps, smooth spins and almost celebratory footwork in a short program victory Friday night at the U.S. Championships. Coming out of his final move, his excitement overtook him and Abbott lost his balance. And when he saw his U.S. record points total, 99.86, a look of amazement dominated the 28-year-old veterans face. "I went through all my history here," Abbott said. "I tried to live all of it but stay in the moment and just enjoy what I was doing, each crossover, each step. I really did that. This is a night Im never going to forget." Abbott has built a reputation as a strong domestic skater, winning nationals in 2009, 2010 and 2012. Yes, he was the top dog from the United States heading into the Vancouver Games, where countryman Evan Lysacek won gold while Abbott finished ninth. That was one of many disappointments on the international stage for Abbott, including an eighth and two 11th-place showings at worlds. He failed to make the U.S. team for worlds last year. With another routine like his short program here, though, hell be Americas No. 1 contender at the Sochi Olympics. "I have a toe maybe over the threshold of the jetway," Abbott said. Hes competing at his final national championships. "I wanted to take in all the energy and all the excitement and just really live in it, because its never happening again," Abbott said. Abbott held the previous U.S. mark for a short program, 90.23 at the 2012 nationals. He shattered that, building a lead of 7.82 points over Richard Dornbush. Jason Brown was third heading into Sundays free skate. Dornbush, 22, has struggled since coming in second at 2011 nationals and didnt even compete in the Grand Prix series this season. But he was spectacular from the get-go Friday night, landing a perfect quad and triple axel that had the fans entranced. By the time his 2 1/2-minute program was done, the crowd was on its feet, Dornbush was on his knees throwing an imaginary punch through the air and celebrating a career best. "Im not sure any thoughts went through my head," he said. "I was pretty excited, pretty pumped." And he was only tthe second skater of the night.dddddddddddd "I always seem to be early, so maybe I was in my comfort zone," he said. So was Brown in a smokin skate to Princes "The Question of U" -- he even wore a black and purple costume embellished with rhinestones around his neck, and down his back and side, plus Princes "love symbol" on the back. He nailed a triple axel and a triple flip-triple toe loop with gorgeous flow to open the program. He added a lutz with both hands above his head, footwork that meshed with every element and with every nuance of the music, and speedy spins that had the crowd roaring. "Everyone has such a good chance to make the team," said Brown, who just turned 19. "It really pushes all of us to work as hard as you can." Defending champion Max Aaron was fourth, one of five skaters to land a clean quad. "Im looking forward to everyone skating well," Aaron said of the free skate, which he won in 2013. "I want to send the best men, and thats what Im here for." Earlier, Meryl Davis and Charlie White danced within range of their sixth straight U.S. title by romping in the short dance. Indeed, the current world champions and 2010 Olympic silver medallists could have danced all night and never been caught. Skating to selections from "My Fair Lady," Davis and White broke their own record with 80.69 points to build more than a seven-point lead on Madison Chock and Evan Bates. Siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani were third; three teams will go to Sochi. "This is the first time we felt comfortable enough to let things happen naturally," Davis said. "This is the fifth time were competing the program. With this program, its all about being comfortable enough to let things happen naturally, and when you reach a point where it can be just fun, thats what we really enjoy about skating." Coach Marina Zoueva had wanted them to skate to this music for several years. "As we have grown with the program, we fell in love with the program and what it means ... that exuberant joy," Davis said. Chock and Bates posted a career-high 73.41. Chock fell in practice Wednesday, crashing hard into the boards, but said she was fine other than a little soreness in her shoulders. She even joked that the boards took the biggest hit. The free dance is Saturday. ' ' '