Forumregeln » period to give Bryzgalov and the Wild a 3-1 edge.

HOUSTON -- Jack Sock made short work of former champion Ivo Karlovic, winning 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of the U.S. mens Clay Court Championship on Monday at River Oaks Country Club. The 21-year-old American had lost both previous meetings with the 6-foot-10 Karlovic, who won the only U.S. mens tournament played on clay in 2007 at a different Houston venue. In this one Sock broke the Croatians huge serve twice in the first set and wound up spending less than an hour on the court. Socks countryman, Sam Querry, had to battle to get past Alex Bogomolov Jr., of Russia 6-4, 7-6 (6), but it was a satisfying win for the tournaments 2010 runner-up. "Right now Ill take one pretty much however I can get it," said Querrey, whose ranking has plunged from a high of 17 in 2011 to its current 82. He hasnt advanced into the third round this season since the Australian Open in January. "Its the first time Ive been able to grind through a tough match like that all year," he said. "Hopefully it will lead to more wins and better results." German-born Dustin Brown easily moved on, beating American Rhyne Williams 6-1, 6-2. Williams had reached the tournaments semifinals last year. The 29-year-old Brown, who began his pro career playing out of Jamaica, is ranked 101st. Alejandro Gonzalez of Colombia rallied to eliminate Marcos Baghdatis of Cypress 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the final match of the night. Baghdatis, the Australian Open runner-up in 2006 who once ranked eighth, had been given a wild card by tournament organizers. His ranking has fallen to 129. Americans Ryan Harrison and Ryan Harrison, Peter Polansky of Canada and Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain won spots in the 28-man field with victories in the qualifying tournament. Defending champion John Isner, ranked a career-high ninth, is the tournaments No. 1 seed. Spaniard Tommy Robredo is seeded second. They play their first matches Wednesday. Soccer Jerseys Outlet . Ilonen birdied five of his closing seven holes in superb scoring conditions to end the day with a two-shot lead on the Fota Island course. Ilonen had just 26 putts on the occasion of his 300th European Tour event. Stitched Soccer Jerseys . FLIP SAUNDERS (Timberwolves): Im not the least bit surprised that he appointed himself as head coach after his search concluded. https://www.soccerjerseyschina.us/ .Airport spokeswoman Heather Lissner said that all departing flights were back on schedule. However, arriving flights were still trying to catch up.Super Bowl Sunday got off to an inconvenient start for hundreds of passengers trying to get to Phoenix for the game. Fake Soccer Jerseys .com) - It appears both the Houston Rockets and Chicago Bulls will reach the playoffs, but the two squads are coming off losing efforts. Wholesale Soccer Jerseys China . The mood in Seattle was electrified as the parade featuring the NFL champions began near the Space Needle and made its way to CenturyLink Field, the home of the team. At a ceremony inside the stadium, the team thanked its loyal followers -- the 12th Man -- capping a day of boisterous celebration that drew an estimated 700,000 revelers to Seattle.ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Nashville Predators finished strong, even if was for naught. The Minnesota Wild are hoping this is only the start. Craig Smith had two goals and two assists, and the Predators used a second-period barrage against goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to beat the playoff-bound Wild 7-3 on Sunday. "Like the last exhibition game before the start of a season, always happy to have that one over with," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. The Wild wrapped up the first wild card spot in the Western Conference earlier in the week and had their first-round matchup with the Colorado Avalanche set before the game, so there were few motivators other than the maintenance of health and momentum and maybe a statistical milestone or two. Well, all but the momentum was accomplished. No new injuries were reported, and Jason Pominville got his 30th goal. "Obviously it wasnt pretty. It wasnt the way we want to end it and I dont want to make an excuse for it, but I think those things will happen when youre in and the other team is out, playing loose," Pominville said. For the second straight night, Nashville scored seven times. The Predators won 7-5 at Chicago on Saturday. Good way for coach Barry Trotz, the only bench boss the franchise has ever had, to go out if hes not retained. Trotz said he realized this could be his last game with the team. "If I said differently Id be lying," he said. Bryzgalov, though, didnt do himself or the Wild any good with this shaky performance, as meaningless as the game was. Bryzgalov posted back-to-back shutouts in victories over Pittsburgh and Winnipeg on April 5 and 7, but in a win over Boston he gave up three goals on 24 shots in regulation, though he was unscored upon in the shootout. Bryzgalov, acquired from Edmonton for a fourth-round draft pick, has allowed eight goals over the last 45 shots hes faced. John Curry, the fifth goalie used by the Wild this season, replaced him for the third period. Ryan Ellis, Shea Weber, Roman Josi and Smith scored consecutively in the second period to steer Bryzgalov toward the bench at the second intermission. Rich Clune had a goal in the first period, and Calle Jarnkrok and Smith scored in the final frame. Erik Haula, Jason Pominville and Zach Parise scored for the Wild,, who gave up a season-high seven goals.dddddddddddd One of the reasons the Wild were safely in, rather than scrambling to win their last game to qualify as they did last season, was the sturdiness shown by the 33-year-old Bryzgalov down the stretch with their top three goalies unavailable due to injury or illness. This was his first regulation loss in 11 starts — he went 7-1-3 — since arriving the day before the trade deadline. But this was ugly. Yeo didnt flinch, though. "Im not worried about him," the coach said, adding: "You look at tonight, and we were brutal in front of him." The Predators missed the playoffs for a second straight year, putting Trotzs future in question. "Thats not our decision to make. Theres nothing that we could do as players in this locker room. We played our hearts out for him. Hes a great coach and well see what happens," Weber said. Nashville went 9-1-2 in its final 12 games, including eight regulation wins, but finished in 10th place — three points below the cut. The Predators killed every penalty over their previous five games, a streak that ended when Parise scored his 29th goal — he missed 15 games earlier this season — early in the second period to give Bryzgalov and the Wild a 3-1 edge. Nashville also became the only team in the league this season to not allow a short-handed goal, stretching its streak to 99 games without one. "We stuck with it. You always want to go out on a good note," said Smith, who passed Weber for the team lead with 24 goals. Weber had 23 and Patric Hornqvist finished with 22. Weber tallied a career-high 56 points. "If he doesnt win the Norris this year its going to be an absolute crime," Trotz said. NOTES: With 98 points, the Wild matched their second-best record in franchise history. After going 5-14-5 on the road in last seasons lockout-abbreviated schedule, the Predators finished 19-15-7 away from home. ... Pominville became only the third different player in Wild history to hit the 30-goal mark. Marian Gaborik (five times) and Brian Rolston (three times) were the others. ... Clune was called for roughing and cross checking and slapped with a 10-minute misconduct. He finished with 166 penalty minutes this season, fourth-most in the NHL. ' ' '