Beauchemins slap shot deflected off Rakell,

SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan had ideal preparation for the playoffs at the Ford World Curling Championships with a pair of hard-fought wins over tenacious opponents Thursday. The Canadians defeated Sweden 9-6 and China 6-4 to finish atop the preliminary-round standings at 10-1. Their execution Thursday was the sharpest of the tournament so far. The games were tight with Homan and her Ottawa Curling Club teammates scoring three in the eighth ends of both. "We were really pushed today," Homan said. "It was great we were able to control the game and stay confident with this team and really nail the lines and make the big shots when we needed them. "We had to fight for our points." Homan will face Switzerlands Binia Feltscher, whose record was 9-2, in Fridays playoff game between the top two seeds. The two countries meet in the 1 vs. 2 Page playoff game between the top two seeds. (TSN, 6:30pm et/3:30pm pt) The winner books a ticket to Sundays gold-medal game. The loser drops to Saturdays semifinal. Canadas lone loss of the preliminary round was to the Swiss. It went so badly for the host country in ends five through eight that they shook hands early Sunday. "That was a little bit of a lopsided game," Homan acknowledged. "We had some misfortune, but I think were a little bit different now. Were going to know the rocks and its going to be on a different sheet and everything so I think it should be a great game." The top four teams advance to the Page playoff. Russias Anna Sidorova, Swedens Margaretha Sigfridsson and South Koreas Ji-sun Kim all finished tied at 8-3. Sidorova will play in Saturday mornings playoff between the third and fourth seeds with the winner advancing to the semifinal. Russias opponent will be the victor of Fridays tiebreaker between the Swedes and South Koreans. Sidorovas missed final shot of a game against the Czech Republic -- a draw -- prevented Russia from finishing 9-2 and playing Canada on Friday. China and Allison Pottinger of the U.S., were just outside playoff contention at 6-5 with Germanys Imogen Oona Lehmann and Anna Kubeskova of the Czech Republic ending their tournaments 3-8. Scotlands Kerry Barr and Denmarks Madeleine Dupont had 2-9 records ahead of Latvias Evita Regza at 1-10. Homan had to win a tiebreaker to get into the final four at last years world championship in Riga, Latvia. Canada won their subsequent playoff game before losing the semifinal and then winning the bronze medal. The beauty of finishing in the top two is the loser of Fridays game can still get to the championship game, albeit via a longer route. "We love the one-two game," Homan said. "Theres not much pressure. "Either way weve got a chance at the gold-medal game. Thats what were gunning for now." The Canadians struck a balance between patience and aggression to achieve their No. 1 ranking. The average age of Homan, third Emma Miskew, second Alison Kreviazuk and lead Lisa Weagle is just shy of 26, but theyre a Canadian womens curling team ahead of the curve when it comes to the big-game experience and the lessons learned in those games. Homan, Miskew and Kreviazuk have been teammates for over a decade. Since graduating from the junior ranks four years ago, they and Weagle have played in three national womens championships -- finishing fourth and winning twice -- two world championships and an Olympic trials. "This team may be young, but weve had so much experience," said Weagle, the oldest at 28. "We realize were a young team and have really ambitious goals. We really want to accomplish them, but at the same token, if you look at a lot of the great curlers in our sport, theyre in their 30s or even their 40s when theyre at the peak of their game." Weagles talent for clearing a road to the rings and Miskews ability to execute big-weight, multi-stone takeouts allows Canada to gamble and takes some pressure off Homan. Kreviazuk banged her broom after a few misses during the preliminary round, but the four curlers have an otherwise business-like demeanour on the ice. "Were patient and were learning all the time and were allowing ourselves to learn," Weagle said. "Were not expecting to be perfect every single shot, but when were not, we want to learn from it. "Often Ill go down and talk to Rachel about my shots and how Im throwing them, if she want me to make an adjustment or if shes going to make the adjustment with the broom. I think thats worked really well for us. We want to make the most shots possible and whatever way we need to do it, its good to take the emotion out and just treat it like business." Adidas Falcon España . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers (5) - Simply put, Lundqvist was brilliant. Comprar Adidas Falcon baratas .com) - One point guard will return, while another will sit when the Minnesota Timberwolves visit American Airlines Center to take on the Dallas Mavericks. http://www.baratasnmd.com/adidas-prophere-baratas.html. A 23-year-old rookie, Stroman is 4-2 with a 3.44 earned run average in 12 games this season, the past seven of those being starts. He logged the first scoreless outing of his career on Friday versus Oakland in a no-decision. Comprar Adidas NMD Baratas . Patrick Deslisle-Houde and David Rose each scored in the second to give the fourth-seeded Redmen a 3-1 lead after Jean-Philippe Mathieu scored in the first. Adidas NMD Baratas Originales . That still leaves a big hole.You dont replace the leadership, defensive co-ordinator Billy Davis said. You just dont. Leadership is something that is earned over time.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Ryan Getzlaf hates missing hockey games, and the Anaheim Ducks just arent the same when their captain isnt there. After one agonizing playoff game away, Getzlaf came roaring back to put the Ducks in command of their series with Dallas. Getzlaf had a goal and two assists in his return from injury, and the Ducks scored four power-play goals in a 6-2 victory over the Stars on Friday night to take a 3-2 lead in their first-round series. Getzlaf became the Ducks career post-season scoring leader with a dynamic performance that betrayed no problems from his undisclosed upper-body injury -- except maybe, he acknowledged, on a horrendous first-period giveaway to Jamie Benn for Dallas first goal. "I thought I got better as the game went on," Getzlaf said. "I felt more and more comfortable. The crowd was unbelievable. Everything was fired right up. They give us so much energy." Game 6 is Sunday in Dallas. The Ducks captain, who got hit in the face with a slap shot in the series opener, now has 66 playoff points, surpassing Teemu Selannes 64 in franchise history. Corey Perry also had a goal and two assists for the top-seeded Ducks, who broke open a tight game early in the third period and confidently moved to the brink of the second round after dropping the last two games in Dallas. Getzlaf and Perry led the way, putting Anaheim one win away from just its second playoff series victory since its only Stanley Cup title in 2007. "Every time you get your captain back, its going to make you feel better," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said. "Its like your big brother is back. Guys felt a little more secure, and he came out and had a great game." Nick Bonino, Mathieu Perreault, Jakob Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell also scored for Anaheim, which set a franchise record for playoff power-play goals. The Ducks chased Kari Lehtonen with five goals on their first 21 shots. Shawn Horcoff also scored for the Stars, who couldnt score on seven power-play chances. Despite the lopsided final score, the Stars regretted a missed opportunity. "The second period, we just utterly dominated," Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said. "We hit post. We hit crossbar. Spent the whole time down in their end. Its tough. We lost the special-teams battle, which was the difference tonight." Frederik Andersen made 34 saves after getting pulled from Game 4, but the Ducks gave him plenty of offennsive cushion in a hard-hitting, whistle-filled game.ddddddddddddAnaheim scored three goals in the first seven minutes of the third period and set a club playoff record for power-play goals, scoring at least one in every period. Selanne also returned to the Ducks lineup after coach Bruce Boudreau kept him out of Game 4 as a healthy scratch, infuriating most of the Anaheim fan base. The home team has won every game in this bad-tempered, physical series, and it got even uglier when Dallas forward Ryan Garbutt got a game misconduct in the first period of Game 5 for spearing Perry in the groin, leaving the Ducks top goal-scorer on the ice in agony during a line change. "I was just coming back to the bench and got careless with my stick," Garbutt said. "It was deliberate," Boudreau countered. "It wasnt an accident. It was pretty dirty." After Boninos opening goal, Anaheim had a five-minute power play after Garbutts spearing penalty. After Getzlaf handed Benn his third goal of the series, the Ducks went back ahead 26 seconds later when Francois Beauchemins slap shot deflected off Rakell, the 20-year-old Swedish rookie appearing in just his second career playoff game. Horcoff trimmed Anaheims lead with his first goal of the series on a loose puck in the slot. After the Ducks barely thwarted a prolonged Dallas push to close the second period, Silfverberg got his first goal of the series early in the third with a one-timer off a behind-the-net pass from Cogliano. "I thought our second period was pretty good," Benn said. "We came in here, tried to regroup and come out with the same effort, but they jumped on us early. We took a stupid penalty, and that was it." Getzlaf chased Lehtonen after Perry forced a turnover by Brenden Dillon. Perry then got the Ducks fourth power-play goal 2:19 later after Trevor Daley left him alone in front of Tim Thomas, the 2011 Conn Smythe Trophy winner with Boston. NOTES: The Ducks scratched D Hampus Lindholm with a stiff neck and dressed D Luca Sbisa for the first time in the series. Boudreau praised Sbisas performance. ... Dillon suited up for the Stars for the first time in the series after getting hurt late in the regular season. Dallas scratched D Patrik Nemeth, who got injured in Game 4. .... Rakell, who has 22 games of regular-season NHL experience, became the first player in Ducks history to score his first career goal in the post-season. ' ' '