News » d. "But the big thing is we won tonigh

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Now that the Los Angeles Kings have made it halfway to a historic comeback, the task actually seems even more difficult now that they know how close they are. Jonathan Quick made 30 saves to shut out San Jose for the fourth time in his career in the post-season and the Kings staved off elimination for a second straight game by beating the Sharks 3-0 on Saturday night in Game 5 of their first-round series. "If anything, it seems a little more daunting because we came this far to get two, now we need to take two more," defenceman Drew Doughty said. "It puts more pressure on us because we can kind of smell it. We cant get ahead of ourselves. We have a lot of work ahead of us." Tyler Toffoli, Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter scored for the Kings, who have rebounded after losing the first three games of the series. Quick allowed 16 goals in those losses, but once again is starting to look like the goalie who stymied the Sharks in a second-round series a year ago. Antti Niemi allowed three goals on 19 shots and got pulled for the second straight game for the Sharks. Perhaps more importantly, San Jose also lost star defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic to an upper-body injury after he was elbowed in the head by Jarret Stoll late in the first period. "We did a lot of good things for 3 1/2 games. Tonight was red rotten," coach Todd McLellan said. "Thats simply put. When we started the series, we talked about leaving games behind, closing the book on it. Theres no doubt well look at it. We have to improve. But its put in the bank and well move on." They may have to do it without Vlasic. He is questionable for Game 6 on Monday night in Los Angeles as the Kings are looking to become just the fourth NHL team to overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series. They finally broke through in San Jose after losing five playoff games here the past two seasons and 12 of 13 games here overall. But they will need to win here again to complete the comeback as Game 7 will be in San Jose on Wednesday, if necessary. The Kings came out looking like a desperate team and dominated from the start against the listless Sharks, who were unable to feed off the energy from a frenzied crowd hoping to see a fierce rival get eliminated. "We had a good start," Quick said. "We got a few shifts and we just tried to keep building on it. They came with a lot, too. They had a big pushback. Its not easy to win against this team. Theyre a great team for a reason." Los Angeles controlled the game on the ice, the shot clock and the scoreboard to take a 2-0 lead in the first period and mostly silence the crowd. The Kings opened the scoring when Tanner Pearson outraced Vlasic to a loose puck and fed a rushing Toffoli, who patiently skated around James Sheppard and beat Niemi with a shot from the slot to make it 1-0. The Kings made it 2-0 shortly after Joe Thornton was unable to bat a cross-ice pass from Brent Burns into an empty net. That fueled a 3-on-2 rush the other way and Kopitar knocked in a rebound of Dustin Browns shot. "Usually, we have really fast starts in this building and that wasnt the case tonight," Thornton said. "They started faster than us. Really, its a rarity around here. We just have to have better starts. Thats the bottom line." The Sharks responded to a 2-0 deficit in Game 2 that deficit with seven straight goals, but it was quickly clear that would not repeat when Carter banked a shot off Brad Stuarts skate for a power-play goal 22 seconds into the second period to end Niemis night. Alex Stalock came in and stopped 22 shots, but it was too late to save the Sharks in this game although it could make McLellan consider starting him in Game 6. "Well have to make some decisions throughout our lineup at every position because we werent obviously near good enough tonight," McLellan said. San Jose finally showed some life late in the second period, but by then Quick was on his game, robbing Brent Burns with a pad save on the power play late in the period. "I thought tonight was probably our best defensive game so far this series," Doughty said. "We dont want Quicky to have to stand on his head every night. We want to play well in front of him. We want to do things to make it a little easier for him. I thought we did that tonight but when he was called upon he was huge." NOTES: Niemi has been pulled four times in 38 playoff starts for San Jose, all against Los Angeles. ... Carter has points in nine straight playoff games dating to last season. Cincinnati Reds Store . Saltalamacchia has agreed to a $21 million, three-year deal with the Miami Marlins, two people familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday. Wholesale Reds Jerseys . The Sioux Falls Canaries scored two in the seventh and three more in the eighth to come back from a 3-0 deficit and defeat the Winnipeg Goldeyes 5-3 in front of 6,769 at Shaw Park on Sunday afternoon. https://www.cheapredsjerseys.us/ . - Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte sees the commitment to the handoff and cant help but come away impressed. Cincinnati Reds Pro Shop . JOHNS, N. Reds Jerseys China . Bradwell was scheduled to become a free agent Tuesday. Born and raised in Toronto, Bradwell is entering his sixth CFL season, with all six played for his hometown Argonauts.SEATTLE -- Jacoby Ellsbury provided the jolt New Yorks sluggish offence needed, even if the Yankees still are struggling to score runs. Ellsbury lined an RBI single on a 0-2 pitch to score Derek Jeter with the go ahead run in the eighth inning, and the Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2 on Tuesday night. "This type of game is the type of win that has been eluding us," Ellsbury said. "Hopefully, if we can win these types of games well be in great shape. Its always nice to go out there and throw a bunch of runs up there and make it easy on the pitching staff, but yeah, you have very good hitters, its just a matter of time before it really starts clicking." Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 14 games -- the longest for a Yankees player since Jeters 19-game streak in 2012 -- and gave New York just its fourth win in the last 11 games. Ellsburys hit came after Jeters ground-rule double off Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma. Scoring the winning run capped a big night for Jeter, one that started with festivities. The Mariners honoured Jeter during a pregame ceremony in his final visit to the city where he made his major league debut in 1995. Jeter was given a seat from the old Kingdome and an engraved watch from former New York teammate Robinson Cano as part of his farewell tour gifts. Jeter then went out and had two hits and scored two runs. He also scored on Carlos Beltrans RBI double in the first. "Anytime you can start rallies those are big things," New York manager Joe Girardi said. "And you get yourself into scoring position with less than two outs, those are big things." Scoring runs has become a problem for the Yankees. They havent scored more than four runs since May 28 against St. Louis. While thats a small sample, its enough that Girardi was questioned before the game about his concern over the lack of offence. They didnt get a lot against Iwakuma (4-3), but the Yankees came through in key moments. Beltran had the first big hit with his opposite-field double to score Jeter. That was followed by Brian McCanns RBI infield single that handed starter Vidal Nuno a 2-0 lead before he toook the mound.dddddddddddd Then it was Ellsburys turn in the eighth, lining the two-strike pitch from Charlie Furbush for a single to take the lead. "I feel like my at-bats are better than April. I dont know where the numbers stand but I feel a little better up there," Ellsbury said. "But the big thing is we won tonight, not really extending a hit streak or anything like that. Nuno and the Yankees bullpen made sure what offence they received was enough. A rainout on Monday in Kansas City ruined a potential matchup between former teammates in Japan, Iwakuma and Masahiro Tanaka. Instead, Tanaka was pushed back to Wednesday. Nuno went 5 2/3 innings and was in line for the victory before Dellin Betances problems in the seventh. Nuno struck out two and allowed only Cole Gillespies RBI single to score Cano in the first. Nuno did escape trouble in the second and fourth innings when Seattle had runners in scoring position with two outs and were unable to get the runner home. Michael Saunders came inches from a three-run homer in the fourth, but his drive to the deepest point of Safeco Field was caught at the wall by Ellsbury. "He did what he had to do," Girardi said. "I thought he did pretty well. He got us to the sixth inning." Seattle pulled even at 2-2 in the seventh off Betances when Dustin Ackley singled just over the head of Brian Roberts to score Mike Zunino. "He throws so hard and is so long you just got to see it and hit it," Ackley said of facing Betances. "Luckily I was able to sneak it over the infield." But the Yankees responded immediately in the eighth and instead of blowing the lead, Betances (4-0) got credited with the victory. David Robertson pitched the ninth for his 15th save. Notes: Yankees RHP Shawn Kelley is expected to rejoin the club on Wednesday. Kelleys been out with a back strain. ... Seattle signed second-round pick OF Gareth Morgan on Tuesday. Morgan took part in batting practice with the team before the game. ... Seattle RHP Taijuan Walker (shoulder) was returned from his rehab assignment and optioned to Triple-A Tacoma. ' ' '