01-16-2020, 05:39 AM
CONCORD, N.C. -- About the only one not worried about Jimmie Johnsons victory drought this season was the Sprint Cup defending champion. After his dominating show this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Johnson gave his competitors plenty to worry about. Johnson reached Victory Lane for the first time this season at the Coca-Cola 600, finishing off a dominating week at a track many have called "Jimmies House." "Its great to win, but believe me, and I promise you, all the hype and all the concern and worry, that was elsewhere. That wasnt in my head," Johnson said. Now, Johnson can think about his record-breaking seventh Cup win at Charlotte, about his 13th straight NASCAR season with a victory or about his fourth 600 victory to trail only Darrell Waltrips five in the series longest race. And maybe throw a scare into opponents that Johnsons run at top isnt over yet. "They know we are awake," Johnson said. "Hopefully, the 48 is heading that way and we can give other people something to think about." This time, Johnson swept past Matt Kenseth nine laps from the end and was never pressured after that. Johnson earned the pole Thursday night, was strong at practice Saturday and led 165 of 400 laps Sunday. Kevin Harvick, who led 100 laps, was second. Kenseth finished third with Carl Edwards fourth. Jamie McMurray, the All-Star race winner last weekend at the track, was fifth. Kurt Buschs attempt at motorsports history ended with 129 laps to go when he blew an engine. Busch finished sixth in the Indianapolis 500, but could not complete the 600 and become just the second racer ever -- Tony Stewart was the first -- to navigate all 1,100 miles on auto racings biggest weekend. Harvick had won two of the past three 600s and led 100 laps this time. He fell back in the latter stages as he dealt with car problems and could not get back to the front. "We needed a 700-mile race to get back to where we needed to be," Harvick said. Brad Keselowski held the lead and appeared to have out-pitted Johnsons No. 48 group with a final stop 55 laps from the end. But a vibration in the Penske machine sent Keselowski back to the pits and a lap down. Much of the pre-race attention was centred on whether Busch or points leader Jeff Gordon would make to the starting line. Busch because of his 850-mile trek South from Indiana and Gordon because of back spasms that cropped up Thursday after qualifying and were still severe enough Saturday for him to leave the track early after just a few laps of practice. But both were there when the green flag dropped, although Buschs arrival was far more dramatic with the helicopter circling the track and landing on the infield close to the start-finish line about an hour before the race began. He received loud cheers and plenty of high-fives from fans and took a seat on the bench where driver introductions were made. As colleagues and competitors made their way up the steps, most made sure to chat up Busch or shake his hand on a job well done. Busch had a bit of luck to stay on the lead lap, twice earning a lucky dog bid after going a lap down to return among the leaders. He eventually reached the top 10 and was running 16th when smoke started pouring out of his Stewart-Haas Chevrolet and sent him behind the wall and to a 40th-place finish. "Kind of a shame, kind of symbolizes how its been for the Haas Automation team," Busch said. "We gave it our all with the way we were clawing our way up there." The 42-year-old Gordon, a four-time series champion, has dealt with back problems before and his No. 24 team had driver Regan Smith on standby if Gordon couldnt go. But if Gordons back bothered him during the race, he didnt show it with his performance. He spent much of the night in the top 10 and was out front until Kenseth passed him on a restart 16 laps from the end. Gordon finished seventh, his ninth top-10 finish in 12 events this year. "It was tough. I was aching in there. There was one time when I got on the brakes into (Turn) 1 and it triggered something. I didnt know what was going to happen after that, but it settled down," Gordon said. Gordon maintained his points lead by 11 over second-place Kenseth. Danica Patrick had hopes of a strong showing after qualifying fourth, her best starting spot of the season. But like Busch, she too, was out early with a blown engine 119 laps from the end. She was 39th, her poorest finish in three 600s. Dale Earnhardt Jr. came into this one with seven top 10s in 11 races and the hope he could finally win a points race at his beloved home track. He led 13 laps late in the race before he had engine problems as well and faded from contention. He ended 19th. Jamie Thompson . Almost 40 years to the day, the two teams will meet again, this time at BC Place, to celebrate the past and try to earn important points for the present. Darryl Tapp . The Spanish champions decision not to sign a defender during the January transfer window may have backfired after Valencia took advantage of a lethargic, uninspired effort by its hosts at the Camp Nou, where former Spain coach Luis Aragones -- who previously coached the Catalan side -- was honoured after his death on Saturday. https://www.cheapnfljerseyschina.co/walt...-for-sale/ . First-half goals by Will Bruin and Oscar Boniek Garcia sucked the life out of the Impact as the Houston Dynamo bounced them from Major League Soccers post-season with a 3-0 victory on Thursday. Jermaine Whitehead . Patrick Kane and the Chicago Blackhawks were proof of that on Wednesday night. Nate Hawkins . Charlottetown scored four times in the third period en route to a 5-2 win over the defending champion Halifax Mooseheads on Friday.TORONTO – It was an easy trap to spot, but the Leafs tripped and fell anyway. Entering the evening with four confident wins in five games they were edged neatly out of two points Thursday by a wounded New Jersey Devils club that hadnt won previously in nearly two weeks. As hobbled as could be imagined, the Devils were playing without a round of their top players, including first line wingers, Jaromir Jagr and Patrik Elias, first line centre, Travis Zajac and captain Bryce Salvador. Theyd also lost five straight and were struggling mightily to score, managing one goal or less in three of the five defeats. And yet they managed to beat Jonathan Bernier and the Leafs five times on this night, including a pair on the power-play. My message was whatever we did today to prepare ourselves to play dont do it again, head coach Randy Carlyle said of his directive to players, even managing a chuckle after the 5-3 loss. His club appeared out of sync all night, veering in that direction more recently after a string of mostly thorough performances. Less restrictive and more error-riddled they yielded 75 shots in the previous two games, including 38 in a mostly reckless affair with the Stars on Tuesday. Winning is sometimes good deodorant for the stink thats getting into your game, Peter Holland said afterward. And I think tonight that stink was a little bit more prevalent so we need to make sure were tidying up a little bit. I think that the last game we played we played pretty sloppy, Carlyle added, and I think that just seemed to carry over into tonights game. Carlyle felt his club was outworked in defeat, no better indicator, he said, than the hits department. New Jersey won that battle handily (50-36), fighting to win control of more pucks than the home side. They were physically involved in the game to a much higher level than we were, Carlyle said. The Leafs were also careless with the puck at times, didnt generate much speed and offered a litany of quality scoring opportunities for the Devils, something theyd managed to eradicate somewhat in the past couple of weeks. Rebounds floating around Bernier landed more often in Devil hands, including on the go-ahead goal from Mike Cammalleri on a power-play and the eventual winner from Steve Bernier, the latter outmaneuvering Korbinian Holzer in front. More intriguing than the defeat though - the first in regulation for the club since that emphatic 9-2 home loss to Nashville on Nov. 18 - is how this club responds to it. Can they revert back to the simplistic structure they managed in turning a corner all too recently? Their first test in doing so comes Saturday against a Vancouver team thats won five of six and is leading the Western Conference. We need to breathe and just know what we need to fix, Holland said. Were not freaking out by any means. It was one loss. Weve been on a good stretch here so just come to practice [Friday] and be ready to work again. Five Points 1. Top Line The first shot of the night for Phil Kessel came in the 58th minute with the Leafs on a power-play and their net empty. The 27-year-old would score his 13th of the year minutes later, the lone highlight in a mostly quiet performance from the Leafs top line. I didnt think our top line was very good and the minutes showed that, said Carlyle. Kessel and linemates, James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak, were essentially the third unit against the Devils in terms of ice-time. The trio typically hover near the 20-minute mark most nights, but were kept under 17 minutes apiece on Thursday. It seemed like any time we got to the blue-line it was contested, van Riemsdyk said. We didnt make simple enough plays there and for whatever reason we couldnt get much going. With that line they need to simplify on nights like tonight and go into more of a structured game instead of having to play in [the defensive] zone for the majority of the shift, Carlyle added. Its a lot easier for that group to play in the offensive zone than it is the defensive zone. Kessel played just a touch over 16 minutes - his third lowest total of the year - showing little jump, though Carlyle denied afterward that the teams leading scorer was hurt. 2. Clarkson Perspective David Clarkson has managed to regain some footing after a nightmarish first season in Toronto, scoring more goals (7) in a quarter-season than he did all of last year (5). Still, the grimmer facts remain. Clarkson trails 210 other NHL forwards with only eight points through 225 games.ddddddddddddAnd while on pace to score 23 goals - due to what would be a career-high shooting percentage of 16. 3% - the 29-year-old is also on pace to muster just 26 points. More strikingly and indicative of the limits of his game, Clarkson is on pace for less than four assists and has just 80 career assists in more than 500 NHL games. That kind of productivity just doesnt align with the more than $5 million hitting the Leafs books this season - nor will it for the next five seasons. Value is critical in the cap system and Toronto has done well recently to find value in players like Mike Santorelli ($1.5 million for one season) and Daniel Winnik ($1.3 for one season). But theres almost nothing a player of Clarksons caliber can do to establish value on a contract of that size, one that is likely to haunt the Leafs for a while. 3. Gelling One theory van Riemsdyk posed for the Leafs recent turnaround was the acclimation period that comes with a whole new set of players joining the roster. It took some time, he said, for as many as nine new players to integrate. Thats something that never gets talked about I feel like, he said. Theres guys coming in from different teams, used to things different ways, used to maybe playing in a different role and it sometimes takes a little bit of time to be comfortable in the role that youre being asked to play. I think its gelling better now and I think now everyone realizes the way we need to play to be successful, he continued. You can only take so many of those games where you get your ass kicked like that 9-2. I think that was a good wake-up call for us. We realized that you cant just play on skill. Its not always the glamourous play where youre making a nice play. Sometimes youve just got to get it in deep and not make a bad play which is [really] making a great play. When you buy into doing that it makes everyone elses job a lot easier. 4. Veteran Effect Now strict in his habits on and off the ice, van Riemsdyk picked up his daily routine (and the value in it) - off-ice workouts, post-practice habits, diet, stretching etc. - by observing the now-retired Ian Laperriere at the end of his career in Philadelphia. Carlyle hopes 37-year-old Stephane Robidas has a similar effect on his teams younger players. Hes a pro, said Carlyle of Robidas. [And] we hope that some of that rubs off on some of our other players, that they would take notice of a veteran guy doing the things that he does - night in, night out, after games, before games, before practice - and theyll develop their own program that they can feel comfortable with and reap some of the benefits of being consistent with that. Robidas is typically the last player to leave the ice after skates, this after more than 900 career games. His game is still a work in progress though. Robidas was beat to the front of the net by Stephen Gionta on the Devils second goal. 5. Optional Morning Skates Since they were thumped at home by Nashville more than two weeks ago Leaf players have requested and been granted optional morning skates. Its a freedom that doesnt really affect the entire group, mostly top minute-eaters like Kessel, Bozak, van Riemsdyk, and Dion Phaneuf. I do see value in [morning skates], Carlyle said, [But] they dont. So theres a little bit of give and take. Theyve asked for this so were giving it to them. Carlyle suggested that those morning skates - 10:30 a.m. at home, an hour later on the road - may remain optional for the remainder of the year. Some players prefer the added rest and take the option - young guys mostly excluded from that choice. Others like the opportunity to get the legs moving in the morning, especially if they didnt play much the night before. Stats-Pack 3-9-3 - Leafs record when failing to score first. 5-games - Point streak for Mike Santorelli, who has a goal and eight assists in that span. 16:10 - Ice-time for Phil Kessel on Thursday, his third-lowest total of the season. 2 - Number of times that Jonathan Bernier has allowed five goals this season. 50-36 - Hits advantage for the Devils. Special Teams Capsule PP: 1-2 Season: 21.3% PK: 1-3 Season: 82.8% Quote of the Night Winning is sometimes good deodorant for the stink thats getting into your game. And I think tonight that stink was a little bit more prevalent so we need to make sure were tidying up a little bit. -Peter Holland, on the Leafs last two games. Up Next The Leafs host the Canucks on Saturday. ' ' '