the Spurs took the lead for good,

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Aug 18 '16 | By miao1234 | 143

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VANCOUVER, BC -- You can’t spell production without the O or the D, but the Vancouver Canucks are bending the rules of the English language these days. Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 31 Black . They’re getting plenty of production and they’re finding ways to do it without any O from any D. The Canucks are the sixth in the National Hockey League in both actual goals scored (65) and goals per game (2.96), so offence is not an issue. The Canucks have been an up-tempo hockey club playing an entertaining style based on spread scoring and a four-line attack. The surprise in all of this is that the Canucks are achieving such offensive success with one of the lowest-scoring defences in the NHL. As a group, Canucks blueliners have contributed just 32 points in 22 games. Compare that to the Calgary Flames, who’ve amassed 68 points from their defensive corps already this season. In fact, the Flames have four blueliners with more points than Alex Edler, the Canucks highest-scoring blueliner, who’s sitting with a modest eight points on the season. As of Thursday morning, 46 defencemen around the league have been more productive than Edler and 70 D-men in the NHL rank higher than the next highest-scoring defencemen on the hockey club. The New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres are the only teams in the league with a top-scoring defenceman with fewer points than Edler. The lack of offence from the blue line clearly isn’t hurting the Canucks, who are 11-3-1 in their past 15 games, but even head coach Willie Desjardins is startled by the fact there hasn’t been more contributions from the back end. “To me, I’m a little bit surprised they don’t have more points -- it’s not that they don’t join the rush, it’s just that they don’t get rewarded,” the coach explained. ”We want our defence to be involved and we want to make things happen. You look at Yannick Weber’s rush. We want that. You see quite a bit on the tape. You’ll see Kevin Bieksa going through the middle and you’ll see Alex Edler up.” So, the coach is seeing many of the things he wants to see from his defencemen - he’s just not seeing their name on the scoresheet very often. But, perhaps, things are changing. In their past four games, the Canucks have seven points from defencemen. Still, as a group, this defence will have to pick up the pace just to match last year’s – and remember that the 2013-14 Canucks were one of the lowest-scoring teams in franchise history. A year ago, led by Jason Garrison’s 33 points, the Canucks blueline contributed 147 points or an average of 1.79 points per game. Right now, this year’s defence is sputtering at 1.45 points per game with just seven goals and 25 assists. If Edler, Bieksa, Chris Tanev and Dan Hamhuis are considered the top four defenders on the hockey club, that group has accounted for just one even strength goal so far this season (Bieksa, against Ottawa on November 11). All three of Edler’s goals have come on the power play. Neither Tanev nor Hamhuis, who’s now injured, has found the back of the net yet this season. Luca Sbisa is second among Canuck defencemen with two goals, but hasn’t scored since November 1 in Edmonton. But it’s not all about goal-scoring. It’s about the transition game. It’s about holding pucks in at the blue line. It’s about finding ways to get involved in the offence and, in the eyes of the coach, it’s about getting shots on goal, which, even if they don’t go in, may still produce rebounds and create scoring chances for others. “One thing we need from our back end, is we have to get more pucks through,” Desjardins said. “I don’t think [the issue is] the joining the rush. We’ve got good D that can skate and we have to use that. That has to be a part of our attack. We just have to get more pucks through.” No one in the Canucks organization is worried about the lack of offence from the blue line, but certainly the coaches are aware that it’s one area the hockey club can improve. And if that defence ever hits its stride offensively and points start to flow, there’s no telling just how dangerous the Vancouver Canucks can be. Nike Blazer Low Red .com) - Its always fun to sit down and try the latest and craziest beverages produced by one of the many microbrews across North America, but other times its best to know exactly what you are getting. Nike Lunarglide 6 Flash . - Even on a night when the play was hampered by choppy ice, the puck still seems to find Joe Pavelski and he keeps finding the net.BOSTON - There was a familiar face on the San Antonio bench and the usual result on the scoreboard.With coach Gregg Popovich guiding his defending champions again after a two-game absence, the Spurs beat the Boston Celtics 111-89 on Sunday for their seventh straight win.Theres a comfort zone there having him at the helm, San Antonio forward Tim Duncan said, good to have him out there and good to hear his voice.The Spurs won both games under assistant Ettore Messina while Popovich was out because of an undisclosed minor medical procedure.Popovich was happy to be back coaching, especially after his team outscored the Celtics 66-40 in the second half after trailing 49-45.I dont know what else I would do, he said.The Spurs were led by Danny Green with 18 points, Boris Diaw with 15 and Duncan with 14. They got a surprising 13 points — including a 3-pointer to beat the 24-second buzzer in the fourth quarter — from 6-foot-10 Aron Baynes. Hes been filling in for Tiago Splitter, who has missed 15 of the Spurs 16 games because of right calf problems.Its of major importance, so Timmy doesnt have to get too many minutes, Popovich said. I dont know about Tiagos situation. Were very confused by it, but Baynsie is saving us.The Celtics were led by Jeff Green with 16 points and Evan Turner with 12 as they dropped to 1-7 in their last eight games.Boston coach Brad Stevens said his players seemed discouraged in the fourth quarter, a tough stretch for them all season, when they were outscored 33-16 on Sunday.That has to be something where you have the toughness to say, Hey, something goes wrong, Im going to make the next one right, he said.Leading 80-77 with 10 minutes left, the Spurs went on a 14-2 run to take a 94-79 lead with 6:11 left on a layup by Cory Joseph. After Jeff Green made a free throw for Boston, cutting the lead to 94-80, Baynes hit his 3-pointer and a layup for a 99-80 leead. Nike Blazer Low PRM Mens/Womens Canvas Shoes Blue Purple Black Plaid. In the second half, we took care of the ball, Duncan said. We just werent solid in the first half on so many different levels.After the Celtics cut the lead to three in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, Manu Ginobili finally connected for the Spurs.He had missed his first four shots then sank consecutive baskets — a 3-pointer and a layup — to give the Spurs an 85-77 lead and start the 14-2 surge.The Celtics had trailed 25-22 after the first quarter then opened the second with their own 14-2 run put them ahead 36-27.The game was tied at 45 before two jump shots by Brandon Bass in the final 1:07 of the half gave Boston a 49-45 edge at intermission.Neither team led by more than five points in the third quarter, but the Spurs took the lead for good, 71-69, on Matt Bonners layup with 2:44 remaining. Kawhi Leonard followed with a layup for a four-point lead and San Antonio took a 78-73 advantage into the fourth quarter.The Spurs play the right way all the time, Stevens said. They do it for 48 minutes. They do it for 82 games.TIP-INSSpurs: Duncan has played in 1,269 games, one shy of tying Celtics great John Havlicek for third most with one team. John Stockton (1,504) with Utah and Reggie Miller (1,389) with Indiana are the top two on the career list.Celtics: Tyler Zeller started his first game as a Celtic in place of centre Kelly Olynyk to provide better defence against Duncan. Zeller started 55 games for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2012-13. ... Rookie guard Marcus Smart missed his ninth consecutive game with a sprained left ankle.CLANK, CLANK: Celtics guard Rajon Rondo continued his struggles at the free-throw line. He missed both attempts and is 9 for 30 this season. He finished with only two points but with 10 assists, six rebounds and no turnovers.UP NEXTSpurs: At Philadelphia on Monday night.Celtics: At Atlanta on Tuesday night. 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the Spurs took the lead for good,

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