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TORONTO -- Like it or not, the Toronto Maple Leafs are well-versed in the shootout. And unlike last season, thats actually a good thing for them. On Wednesday night at Air Canada Centre the Leafs made it through three periods and overtime yet again and managed to beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 for their league-leading ninth shootout victory of the year. It was Torontos third straight win, and three of their past four overall have come via the shootout. Some how, some way, they keep getting there and have it to thank for a playoff position 49 games in. "I think if our team had a choice, wed try to end the game a bit earlier," said defenceman Morgan Rielly, who scored his first home goal this season. "But I think thats just an aspect of hockey nowadays. It just turns out that were pretty good at them." Only the Washington Capitals have gone to the shootout more times than the Leafs (24-20-5), who have showed a penchant for at least forcing overtime. They have just three regulation victories in their past 28 games, yet are right in the thick of the Eastern Conference race. "Obviously were fortunate this year that our record in the shootout is a real, strong positive for our hockey club," coach Randy Carlyle said. "Theres been a lot of extra points gained by it. If we can continue to find a way to get points, thats what our job is." Whereas the Leafs went 0 for 5 and rued shootouts during last years lockout-shortened 48-game season, they keep getting the job done this season. Against the Sabres on Wednesday night, James van Riemsdyk, Joffrey Lupul and Tyler Bozak all scored and goaltender James Reimer stopped one of two attempts. Whether its Reimer or Jonathan Bernier, those shooters have experienced a lot of shootout success, so it has made sense for assistant coach Greg Cronin -- who fills out the lineup -- to keep going back to them. Lupul is six for seven, van Riemsdyk is six for nine and Bozak is three for five. "Think were confident in the guys that we can send out there to score goals and confident in our goalie," van Riemsdyk said. "We seem to have guys that are confident going in with their moves and the goaltenders are confident in the net. It makes it a good matchup in the shootout." The Sabres (13-27-6) dropped to 6-3 in shootouts this season but were thankful to get there thanks to Cody Hodgsons early-third-period, power-play goal and a strong penalty kill in overtime that included a good scoring chance for defenceman Tyler Myers. "That was huge," Buffalo coach Ted Nolan said of the penalty kill. "I thought Tyler Myers, his first game back was probably one of his best games all season long. He played with a little pizzazz. He played with some energy, and he was very aggressive." Goaltender Ryan Miller, who could again be the U.S. starter at the Sochi Olympics after leading the Americans to silver in Vancouver, was strong before the shootout in making 36 saves in regulation and overtime. He gave up goals to Olympic teammate Phil Kessel, Nikolai Kulemin and Rielly. Kessels was a pure goal-scorers goal, a perfect shot that went five-hole on Miller. "He made a nice shot," Miller said. "I didnt see. Good for Phil. Get him going for the Olympics, I guess." In addition to Hodgson, Matt Ellis and Matt Moulson also scored for the Sabres. Moulsons goal at 6:34 of the second wasnt reviewed, though it took several replay angles to show it clearly went in the net. "It went in," Carlyle said. "It hit the webbing on the top. When it hit the bar, it went up and it went into the webbing and then came back down. The angle that the camera had made it difficult to determine if it actually crossed the line because the camera angle was at a bad angle to (see) it. But when you looked at it from where he was shooting it, from behind him, you can see the top of the webbing of the net went up, so that usually indicates its got to be in then net." Just before that, Buffalos Zemgus Girgensons had a quality chance on a second-period penalty shot, which Reimer stopped in what turned out to be more practice for the shootout. Not that Reimer needed it, as he improved to 4-0 in the shootout this season. "Personally Im not a huge fan of shootouts," Reimer said. "Its something I try to practise most days as much as I can. Shootouts are important points, and theyre huge come the end of the year. Obviously regulation wins are most important, but those points are priceless." Theyre especially valuable considering the thin line between the Leafs being in a good position nearing the Olympic break and having to play catch-up in late February, March and April. This was the 16th time Toronto got to at least overtime, which is a boat load of points earned before the game is even over. The Leafs have played 72 minutes and five seconds of overtime, more than an entire extra game. Torontos knack for surviving past the 60-minute mark is hard to explain. "Thats a good question," van Riemsdyk said. "Theres some games where we seem to get a lead and end up losing that lead or games where you battle back and go to the shootout. Its part of the game, and you just come with whats given." So while the Leafs have taken what theyve earned in shootouts, Miller and the Sabres were left to wonder about a point lost. "Unfortunately, I wasnt very good in the shootout," Miller said. "Thats the difference." Being so good in the shootout has made a major difference in the Leafs fortunes this season. "When you win them its a positive, when you lose them its a negative," Carlyle said. "Thats the bottom line. Thats what you play the game to gain points and to win, and a shootout gives you a win." NOTES -- Enforcer Colton Orr returned to Torontos lineup after missing Tuesdays game in Boston with the flu, which has affected several players. Frazer McLaren was scratched to make room for Orr. ... Sabres forward Matt DAgostini left the game early in the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return. DAgostini skated just three shifts for 2:19, and Nolan said he expects him to be out for "a little while." ... This was the fifth and final meeting between the Leafs and Sabres this season. Marcelo Grohe Brazil Jersey . With their coach gone, they finally played offence the way he would have wanted. Amare Stoudemire made all seven shots in the first half, Anthony passed and shot well, and the Knicks shook off the surprising departure of their coach to rout the Portland Trail Blazers 121-79 on Wednesday night, snapping a six-game losing streak. Miranda Brazil Jersey . Both had to wait out a rain interruption lasting nearly five hours before taking comprehensive third-round victories to join Carling Bassett-Seguso (1983, 1986), Patricia Hy-Boulais (1996-97) and Daniel Nestor (1999) as Canadians who made it into the second week of a major. http://www.soccerbrazilonline.com/Neymar...America-Jersey/. -- The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Cuban shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena to a $25 million, five-year contract Saturday. Filipe Luis Brazil Jersey . QUARTERBACKS Carson Palmer (vs Colts)Last week: 30/42, 419 yards, 2 TDsWinners of their last three and now tied for the final wild card spot in the NFC, the Cardinals are worth keeping an eye on. Willian Brazil Jersey .C. - The Panthers will be without starting defensive tackle Star Lotulelei for Saturday nights NFC divisional playoff game against Seattle after undergoing surgery Wednesday to repair a broken bone in his foot. ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Chicago Blackhawks were chasing for much of the game, and the Minnesota Wild just kept generating chance after chance to score. Once overtime arrived, though, all Patrick Kane needed was one friendly bounce to finish off another opponent. Kane scored on a backhand at 9:42 of the extra period to lift the Blackhawks to a 2-1 victory over the Wild in Game 6 to clinch their second-round Western Conference series on Tuesday night, the fourth playoff overtime winner of his career. "Hes a special player, and guys have that instinct, have that knack of finding pucks, wanting to be out there, wanting to score," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. Kris Versteeg scored 1:58 into the game and Corey Crawford came up with tough save after tough save among his 34 stops for the Blackhawks, who advanced to the Western Conference finals to meet either Anaheim or Los Angeles. The Ducks lead the other semifinal series 3-2, with the Kings hosting Game 6 on Wednesday night. Since 2009, the first post-season appearance for Kane and co-star Jonathan Toews, the Blackhawks are 14-0 in Games 5 and 6 of playoff series that were tied after Game 4. Theyre also 12-2 in games with a chance to win a series, including 6-1 on the road. "We probably didnt play our best tonight, but just finding a way to win is something this team has done for many years now," Kane said. Erik Haula scored his fourth goal of the playoffs and Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 25 shots for the Wild. Minnesota pushed a frenetic pace for much of the night but paid for all those missed prime opportunities when a simple dump-in behind the net by Brent Seabrook took a strange bounce off the glass back toward the slot. The puck slid past Peter Regin as he was tied up with a defenceman. Kane snagged it, deked once and flipped it into top of the net. He said he wasnt sure right away if the puck was in. But he soon found out. "It seems like it was not our luck tonight," said Bryzgalov, who nearly matched Crawford save for save. "We hit some posts in the third period and they got like the first goal after some crazy two bounces." The Wild kept up the pressure on Crawford that they created in the middle of the game, but whether it was the goalies pads, blocker or a crossbar in the way, the pucks didnt go in.dddddddddddd. "We really believe that we were capable of doing more than just winning this game," a dejected Wild coach Mike Yeo said, adding: "Our guys did everything that we asked and they laid it on the line, and thats what hurts." The Blackhawks scored first in six of their previous 11 games in these playoffs and won each time, their only victory without taking the first lead coming in Game 5 against the Wild. Versteeg put them right back in control just 1:58 in on his 28th birthday, when he outmuscled Keith Ballard for possession in the corner and flipped an bad-angle shot that bounced awkwardly among the bodies around the crease, hit the back of Clayton Stoners leg and skidded past Bryzgalov. The Wild got their break -- or, rather, breakaway -- soon after the first intermission when Haula sped to snag a pass by Matt Cooke that banked perfectly off the boards and he snapped the puck on the rush past Crawfords glove. Each side brought an aggressive game plan, with defencemen pinching down often and all kinds of rushes developing both ways, particularly in that breathless penalty-free second period that had the home team buzzing so much that Quenneville used his timeout. Crawford made two saves apiece on a pair of breakaways by Justin Fontaine. Cody McCormick tried a spin move to fend off Duncan Keith and nearly got the puck past Crawford, who used his left pad to stop it. "On the road this was probably one of my bigger games of the playoffs so far," Crawford said. "This team seems to enjoy that position where we have a chance to eliminate and move on to the next series. We had a chance to do that and we stuck with it all game." NOTES: Kane moved into the NHL lead with 35 post-season goals since 2009. ... The Wild had goalie Darcy Kuemper dressed for action for the first time since he was removed in the third period of Game 6 of the first round series against Colorado because of what the team labeled an upper body injury. ... The Blackhawks fended off two more power plays in the third period and dropped the Wild to 2 for 20 in the series. 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