Begrüßungen » gs RW Justin Williams scored the win

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Bills receiver Stevie Johnson has a bone to pick with the NFL schedule maker. With temperatures dropping and snow piling up outside the teams facility, Johnson wondered who had the bright idea to have Buffalo (4-7) "host" the warm-weather Atlanta Falcons (2-9) inside the climate-controlled confines of Torontos Rogers Centre on Sunday. "Yeah, they must have fixed the schedule or something out there in Atlanta. Its supposed to be out here at the Ralph," Johnson said Wednesday, referring to the Bills home, Ralph Wilson Stadium. "Who put the schedule together to have them come to Toronto?" Johnson and his teammates are finding themselves at a sudden disadvantage as Buffalo prepares for its annual trip north of the border to resume the "Bills in Toronto" series, which was first established in 2008 and renewed for another five years in January. The Falcons have been eliminated from playoff contention. The Bills come off their bye week still on the fringes of the AFC post-season hunt. Theyre 3-3 at Orchard Park, including a decisive 37-14 win over the New York Jets on Nov. 17. "It is what it is," Johnson said. "We cant really make excuses for it. We cant complain about it. We just got to go out and try to handle business." An added wrinkle to the game is news that Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment -- the company that controls the Leafs and NBA Raptors -- has aligned itself with New Jersey rocker Jon Bon Jovi to make a push to bring an NFL franchise to Toronto. One logical option would be the Bills. In establishing the series, the Bills turned to their neighbours to the north in a bid to expand their region. The deal provides the Bills a much-needed boost to their small-market franchises revenue base by essentially leasing out a home game to Canadian communications giant, Rogers Communications. What the Bills lose, however, is a distinct late-season edge they would normally get playing in the cold and blustery conditions in Buffalo. "Yeah, wed love to get them outside in the elements. That would definitely be an advantage," centre Eric Wood said. "But this is a deal weve got to embrace. Its important to our franchise. You cant go up there with a bad attitude." Like it or not, the Bills are resigned to knowing they have no choice when it comes to making the two-hour trek to Canadas largest city and financial capital. Its a metropolis of more than 5 million residents, where the NHLs Maple Leafs dominate the sports pages, and a place better known these days for Mayor Rob Fords various attention-grabbing troubles. Wood drew headlines of his own last year after Buffalos 50-17 loss to Seattle at Toronto. Unable to make the trip because of a sprained right knee, Wood grew frustrated watching on TV and seeing the lack of support the Bills got from the crowd. He called it "a joke," and added: "Those non-Bills fans that go to the game are just cheering for plays as opposed to cheering for a team. And that kills you." Wood was in a more diplomatic mood this week when reminded of his comments. "It was a heat of the moment-type deal," he said. "I was excited about the opportunity to go up there and hopefully get a win. And Im approaching it the same way this year." Getting a win would be a start. The Bills are 1-4 in regular-season games at Toronto, with their lone win a 23-0 victory over Washington in 2011. The series opened with a dud, when Buffalo managed just 163 yards offence in a 16-3 loss to Miami. Turnout has been an issue in part because of expensive ticket prices and the perennial struggles of a Bills team thats not made the playoffs since 1999. Though the first four games were listed as sellouts, Rogers acknowledged the count included thousands of freebies. And those fans that do show up represent the mixed loyalties Canadians have toward the NFL. Though a majority of fans attending games wear Bills jerseys, its not uncommon to spot others wearing a wide range of colours -- from the Cowboys, to 49ers, and even the CFL Argonauts. First-year Bills coach Doug Marrone said its up to his team to generate an edge. "In order to create that advantage, you have to go up there and play well," Marrone said. "I think we do have some fans in Toronto. And I think if we play well, well create more fans." China Shoes Black Friday .Y. - Geno Smith still thinks of himself as the New York Jets starting quarterback. Cheap Shoes Black Friday . Price was hurt at the start of Wednesdays practice after facing just one shot as the team worked on their power play. He left the ice in discomfort and appeared to be favouring his leg. A Habs source told TSNs John Lu that Price suffered the injury in Sochi and not before the Olympics. https://www.cheapshoesblackfriday.com/ . - Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte sees the commitment to the handoff and cant help but come away impressed. Discount Shoes Black Friday .Carla Fontes hadnt cut her hair since intermediate school, but her coach at Waiakea High School, Stan Haraguchi, thought the locks flowing below her waist were interfering with the sport. Buy Shoes Black Friday . After Mariota was pushed around by Stanford on Thursday, finishing 20/34 with 250 yards and two touchdowns in Oregons Title hope-crushing defeat, hes going to need a poor performance or two from the remaining frontrunners to have a shot at the most coveted individual trophy in college sports.The Penguins get by the Blue Jackets, the Wild and Kings force Game Sevens. Notes on Malkin, Crosby, Johnson, Dubinsky, Parise, Kopitar, Williams, Stalock and more. PENGUINS GET PAST BLUE JACKETS Pittsburgh looked like they were free and clear after racing out to a 4-0 lead, led by Evgeni Malkins hat trick, but then the Blue Jackets scored three goals in a 4:52 span in the third period to make for a heart-stopping finish. In the end, the Penguins held on to win 4-3, taking the series in six games. Malkin, who took some criticism for his lack of production, finished the series with seven points in six games. Not bad at all. After being on the ice for 71.2% of 5-on-5 shot attempts in Game Six, Malkin finished the series with an impressive 59.2% Corsi percentage. Malkin was the driving force for Pittsburgh in the deciding game, as was D Kris Letang, who was on for 21 5-on-5 shot attempts for and seven against. Penguins D Matt Niskanen contributed a couple of assists, giving him eight points for the series. That tied D Paul Martin for the Penguins scoring lead. The ever-disappointing Sidney Crosby (I kid, I kid) had six assists in six games and was on the ice for 61.3% of 5-on-5 shot attempts. If thats a Crosby worthy of criticism, rue the day that he starts playing to his typical level of excellence. Columbus attack was paced by a couple of defencemen. Fedor Tyutin, with a goal and an assist, and Jack Johnson, with two assists, led the charge. Johnson finished the series with a team-leading seven points, despite struggling in puck possession terms. While Johnson struggled in terms of possession, James Wisniewski fared pretty well in that regard, at least in relative terms. Centres Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Johansen each had six points for the Blue Jackets, while rookie LW Boone Jenner had five. Dubinsky had 40 hits over the course of the series, a total that leads the NHL postseason. That the series proved to be competitive should come as no surprise, but it should also come as no surprise that the Penguins had the high-end skill to overcome a spirited challenge from Columbus. WILD FORCE SEVEN Fighting for their playoff lives, the Minnesota Wild jumped out to a 2-0 lead, gave it back, then scored the winner with 6:29 left in third period, before adding a couple of empty-netters to ice a 5-2 victory in Game Six, forcing Game Seven back in Denver. Wild LW Zach Parise had a huge game, netting the game-winner as part of a two goal, two assist performance. Parise now has 10 points in the postseason, tied with Colorados Nathan MacKinnon for the playoff scoring lead. Ryan Suter and Mikko Koivu each had twoo assists and Jason Pominville had a goal and an assist.dddddddddddd Wild LW Nino Niederreiter had quite a game in possession terms, on for 15 shot attempts for and three against (83.3%). With Niederreiter off the ice, the Wild had 38.2% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. Though they came out on the losing end, Colorado did get C Matt Duchene back in the lineup and he contributed an assist in 18:52 of ice time. RW Ryan OReilly assisted on both Colorado goals. That this series is going seven games is rather fortunate for the Avalanche. The Wild have the best Fenwick Close in the playoffs which, naturally, means Colorado has the worse and that 60-40 disparity in even-strength shot attempts is difficult to overcome. The Avalanche have overcome shot deficits all season, leaning heavily on G Semyon Varlamov, so that is likely what they will need if they are going to get through Game Seven. The Avalanche can also take some comfort in the fact that the home team has won every game in this series. KINGS PUSH SHARKS TO SEVEN Faced with the prospect of losing their three-games-to-none lead in the series, the San Jose Sharks were forced to go into Game Six without top defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who was injured in Game Five, and then made the decision to start backup goaltender Alex Stalock in place of Antti Niemi. The result? A 4-1 Kings win, sending the series to Game Seven back in San Jose. Tied at one, with 8:04 remaining, Kings RW Justin Williams scored the winning goal, pushing Stalock back towards the Sharks net, jarring the puck loose and into the net. As controversial as that goal was, the Kings tacked on two more in short order, both by C Anze Kopitar, in the next 2:46 to put the game away. Kopitar added an assist, giving him eight points in the series, to the lead the Kings, while D Drew Doughty added a couple of assists, giving him six points in six games. Williams finished with two goals and an assist to lead the Kings. This series has been very even, with the Sharks holding a 132-128 edge in unblocked shot attempts with the score close (within a goal for the first two periods, tied in the third/overtime). Thats close enough for goaltending to make the difference and, given the uncertainty in that respect with the Sharks, Jonathan Quick is more appealing. Even so, the Sharks do get home-ice advantage in their attempt to avoid being the fourth team in NHL history to lose a series in which they led three games to none. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '