tia.LOS ANGELES -- A former assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Surging into and out of the Olympic break, the Minnesota Wild have created a significant cushion between them and their competitors for the two Western Conference wild-card playoff spots. Thats not enough. With five days before they play next, this was still a game they were worried about -- and had to win. Jared Spurgeon and Zach Parise scored in the third period, and the Wild notched their season-high fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Monday night. "You dont want to go a week without getting any points the way things are, even if you have a cushion," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "The cushion to me is nothing ... because its not about where the people are behind you. To me its much more of a race of what you need to get to." The Wild have 75 points, nine ahead of the cut, but they are off until Saturday. Then they will launch their final stretch of 20 games in 37 days. "I dont think we were at our best. I dont think we played at a level we need to play. But it doesnt matter when you look back at the score," Parise said. Kyle Brodziak also scored, rookie Darcy Kuemper stopped 21 shots during his 15th start in a row, and the Wild raised their record at home to 22-7-2 while playing in front of their fans for the first time in 25 days. Captain Mikko Koivu, back from a 17-game absence due to a broken ankle, skated on the second line with Dany Heatley and Charlie Coyle, apart from Parise for the first time. Parise gave the Wild some insurance by camping in the crease and deflecting a shot past Reto Berra with 5:16 remaining for his 21st goal. Just 77 seconds later, Mark Giordano scored to bring the Flames back within a goal. But Kuemper hung on to raise his record to 11-3-2. Kuemper has played so well in place of Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom that the Wild might not need to trade for a goalie before the deadline. "The confidence he has now, you can see that, and its just kind of the edge hes playing with thats good to see," Koivu said. "Hes playing winning hockey right now, so obviously thats a huge part of the team." Mikael Granlund had two assists while playing in the NHL for the first time against his brother Markus Granlund, who was called up from the AHL last week by the Flames. After a scoreless, sluggish and penalty-free first period, the pace picked up in the middle frame. Matt Cooke swooped in behind the net to poke the puck away from Berra. Brodziak crept toward the crease to corral the puck and knocked it in for the games first goal. "If you make a mistake the puck ends up in the net. I feel bad for the team because they played really hard tonight and we had a great chance to win," Berra said. Mike Cammalleri, playing perhaps his last game for the Flames with the NHL trade deadline looming on Wednesday, tied it 1-1 in the second period when Koivus pass ricocheted across the slot to him for an easy tap-in that Kuemper had no chance to stop. "No moral victories. We know theyre playing well, but wed like to win," Cammalleri said. With Coyle screening Berra on a power play, Spurgeon sent a slap shot through traffic for the lead. "We had to kind of grind that one out. I had a feeling this was going to be a difficult game for us right from the start," Yeo said. The Flames, buried in the Western Conference playoff race, could make some moves this week. Cammalleri scored for the first time since Jan. 6. He missed nine games during that stretch because of a concussion. "Cammi, you always know that hes going to show up to work," coach Bob Hartley said. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, as a guest of Wild owner Craig Leipold, watched from a suite. Leipold took him earlier in the day to Target Field, where baseballs Twins play, and TCF Bank Stadium, the football home of the University of Minnesota, for tours of possible outdoor game venues. The NHL put on six this season. Bettman has assured the Wild they will be awarded an outdoor game but hasnt committed to a timeframe. NOTES: Flames RW David Jones hurt his upper body in a collision against the boards. "It doesnt look very good," Hartley said. ... Koivu missed 17 games, plus the Olympics for his native Finland, because of a broken ankle. ... Markus Granlund posted his first NHL assist, on Giordanos goal. DeShone Kizer Jersey . Henderson (20-3) received winning scores of 48-47 and 49-46, and the other judge scored it 48-47 for Thomson (20-6). The announcement drew boos from the United Center crowd. "Train this hard for this long, its such a long camp and I see my title shot disappear," said Thomson, who fought most of the fight with a broken right hand. Geronimo Allison Jersey . -- David Price didnt think he would be in Port Charlotte this spring. http://www.officialgreenbaypackersfootball.com/authentic-bart-starr-jersey-womens . -- Maxence Parrot of Bromont, Que. Kevin King Jersey . Fellow Argentina forward Gonzalo Higuain also had a brace for Napoli. And Samuel Etoo scored for his fourth different team. On a night of standout individual performances Wednesday, Schalke goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand had a game hell want to forget. Custom Green Bay Packers Jerseys .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night.ST. LOUIS -- As far as Ryan Howard is concerned, there is no place like home. Howard, a St. Louis native, homered and drove in three runs and rookie David Buchanan pitched into the eighth inning Thursday night, sparking the Philadelphia Phillies to a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Howard has hit safely in 22 of 27 regular season games at Busch Stadium. He has 38 RBIs in St. Louis and a .374 batting average. It was Howards first time playing in his hometown since 2011. Injuries caused him to miss chances in 2012 and 2013. "Its always good to be able to come back home and play in front of family and friends," Howard said. "Its a very familiar feeling. Its always good to be back." Howard also has been hot on the road. In his last 15 games away from Philadelphia, he is hitting .350 with three homers and 14 RBIs. "Hes on a good roll for us," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "Hes played big in the last four wins, putting a crooked number of there and swinging a good bat." Buchanan (3-3) made his deepest start yet, pitching 7 2-3 innings. He threw 105 pitches and kept the Cardinals off balance and off the scoreboard until the eighth. Buchanan allowed four hits and a walk while striking out four. Not wearing out the bullpen is important to Buchanan. "Ive been wanting to go deep into the ballgame to help the team out, not always have the bullpen get nervous when I come into games," Buchanan said. "Overall, I had great plays made behind me. It was fun. Great run support. So, it was a good game. It was fun. Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth to pick up 17th save in 19 opportunities. Shelby Miller (7-6) gave up seven hits and three walks in 6 2-3 innings. Miller has thrown six innings or more in his last four starts. Philadelphia touched Miller for two runs in the fourth. Carlos Ruiz doubled and Chase Utley singled to lead off the inning. Howard singled home Ruiz and Utley scored on Domonic Browns sacrifice fly. Howards homer in the sixth -- his 10th career homer at Busch Stadium -- came after Utley led off with a single. Howard went to the opposite field and his ball just flew inside the left field foul pole. It was his 14th this season and 325th of his career. It gave the Phillies a 4-0 lead. "I wasnt sure if the ball was going to stay fair or not," Howard said. "Off the bat, it started to kind of slice. I wasnt sure if it was going to go out. I was a little surprised, but Im not mad at it." Miller was surprised to see it slip overr the fence.dddddddddddd "It was a little bit in," Miller said of the pitch. "I didnt think he got it all. He hit it in the right spot. The ball was in his numbers. Hes just a good hitter." The Cardinals had runners at first and third with one out in the second inning but Buchanan pitched out the jam and then again in the sixth when Miller doubled to lead off. Four of Millers five hits this season have been doubles. "He rose to the occasion and I think he has that kind of makeup and that kind of character," Sandberg said. "He seems to be showing improvement. It looks like hes growing out there. "For him to go four times through the lineup, that says something about the stuff that he had. Him having to make adjustments the third and fourth time through, that was very good." St. Louis chased Buchanan in the eighth on a two-out single by Matt Carpenter that scored Jhonny Peralta. "I was upset there with the leadoff walk in the eighth," Buchanan said. "I was really wanting to get through that. But that happens." The rookies performance impressed St. Louis manager Mike Matheny. "He had good stuff," Matheny said. "There were not a lot of surprises. He had stuff that we couldnt get on tonight." Third baseman Reid Brignac was hurt on a play at first in the fifth. Matt Adams dived to nab the ball behind the base. Adams flipped it to Miller, who slid into the base for the out. Brignac extended his left foot and jammed it into the base. Brignac lay on the ground before being helped off the field with a noticeable limp. The club said Brignac sprained his ankle and will be re-evaluated Friday. NOTES: The Cardinals said P Michael Wacha will miss Sundays start in the series finale with the Phillies. Wacha has thrown 90 1-3 innings this season. Reliever Carlos Martinez, who started Monday against the New York Mets and threw 59 pitches, will take Wachas place. ... St. Louis P Joe Kelly, who has been on the disabled list with a hamstring injury since the middle of April, threw a bullpen session before the game. No date has been set for a rehab start. ... Cardinals P Tyler Lyons was activated Thursday from the disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Memphis. Lyons went on the DL on May 13 with a shoulder strain. ... Philadelphia SS Jimmy Rollins and 2B Utley have started 1,130 games together as a double-play combination, the most among all active combos in the leagues. ... Rollins extended his hitting streak to 13 games. 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