Tuesdays game with an upper-body injury

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Nick Bjugstad snapped out of his scoring slump and spoiled Drew MacIntyres first NHL start. Bjugstad had two goals and an assist to lift the Florida Panthers to a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night. Brad Boyes and Brandon Pirri also scored for the Panthers. Roberto Luongo, who returned after missing Tuesdays game with an upper-body injury, made 27 saves. Bjugstads goals -- his first two after 21 games -- came less than three minutes apart in the third for his first two-goal and three-point game of his career. "It was a good night," Bjugstad said. "We had to get pucks to the net. First game for that goalie and we wanted to get shots on him. It worked out for us." Paul Ranger and Tyler Bozak scored for the Maple Leafs, and MacIntyre stopped 33 shots. The 30-year-old was making just his second appearance for Toronto this season. "Its been a long, long time but it was awesome. I have few regrets," MacIntyre said. "I was hoping it would be a win, thats how I envisioned it." MacIntyre was drafted by Detroit in the 2001 NHL Draft, which took place in the Panthers arena. "I looked up right at the end of the anthem and saw the Draft 2001 flag and I smiled at myself and said, Its been a fun ride. ... I found it so funny that this rink is my first game." The Panthers won for just the third time in 12 games. The Maple Leafs, who were in playoff contention most of the season, have lost six straight road games in regulation and are 2-11-0 in their last 13 games. The Maple Leafs were eliminated from post-season contention on Tuesday after a 3-0 loss at Tampa Bay. "Very challenging time right now for our group mentally," Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. "I thought wed have a little bit more compassion for the goaltender that was going in the net for his first NHL start. ... Its very disappointing." At times, the Leafs certainly played like a team that was going through the motions. "Its the first one since were officially out, so its tough. Thats no excuse, weve got to have more pride than that," Bozak said. Leading 2-1,the Panthers stretched their lead on a wraparound goal by Bjugstad, who came from behind the net and stuffed it past MacIntyre at 3:23 of the third. "Its good to get that off my back and not worry about it anymore," Bjugsatd said about ending his scoring drought. Bjugstads second goal made the score 4-1. His short-handed shot from in front off a pass from Tomas Fleischmann easily got by MacIntyre at 6:02. Rangers shot from the point made the score 4-2 with 6:03 left. Boyes broke a 1-1 tie with 3 seconds left in the second. Bjugstad brought the puck from behind the net and passed in front of the crease to Boyes on the right side. He tapped the puck past MacIntyre. The Panthers took a 1-0 lead on Pirris goal 6:06 in. Pirri fired a shot from the top of the left circle and it hit the top right of the net. Pirri has points in five of the past six games. "Getting points is nice, but the team won in the end. Thats whats important," Pirri said. "Were just trying to build every game and every day get better." The Maple Leafs tied it 1-all on the goal by Bozak. Jake Gardiner dropped a pass to Bozak in the left, who wristed to past Luongo on the glove side for his 19th goal of the season, a career-high. NOTES: Pirri celebrated his 23rd birthday on Thursday. ... MacIntyre has played for over nine different minor league teams over a 10-year career. Los Angeles Lakers Pro Shop .com) - Thursday marks the official debut of a new dirt racing surface at Meydan Racecourse. Los Angeles Lakers Gear . Aaron Hill and Cliff Pennington hit home runs in the first inning for the Diamondbacks, who beat the Miami Marlins 3-2 on Friday night. https://www.lakersjerseycheap.com/ . Its been a successful Games for Canada, which will finish near the top of the medal standings again. From repeat gold medal winners to multiple medal winners to undefeated teams to acts that define the Olympic spirit, there are many solid candidates who could be considered to receive the honour. Lakers Jerseys China . Tony Parker had 33 points and nine assists and San Antonio never trailed in a resounding 116-92 victory over Portland, bullying the younger Trail Blazers in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. Lakers Jerseys 2019 . None of them was better than playing with LeBron James again.NEW YORK, N.Y. - As if they were enjoying a morning coffee together, Pete Carroll and John Fox fulfilled their final media obligations leading to the Super Bowl. Relaxed, self-assured and even charming, the coaches of the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos answered questions for 30 minutes on Friday, joking with each other and the audience. No grumpy one-sentence responses. No agitated reactions to edgy queries. At one point, Fox wondered if he could say a specific crude word to the audience on hand. Watching on television, he then went ahead and used the word. Carroll immediately quipped: "You cant say that, John," eliciting laughs from reporters — and from Fox. Neither man seemed overwhelmed or even antsy about the biggest game of his life coming up on Sunday, even as they sat with the Vince Lombardi Trophy that is given to the NFL champion. "I think its a pinnacle for probably everybody that does what we do," said the 58-year-old Fox, who was with the Giants when they lost the 2001 Super Bowl to Baltimore, and led the Panthers there when they fell to New England in 2004. "Its something you work really hard (for). "As Pete mentioned earlier, you take individuals and try to paint a picture of where you want to get to. I think this is the pinnacle of it. Unlike different levels of football, theres only one happy camper at that end. Thats going to be the team hoisting that trophy." Carroll has hoisted championship hardware, but in college with Southern Cal. This is his first trip to the big game — he had never even attended a Super Bowl before this one. "The trophy really does symbolize the ultimate challenge and competitiveness in our sport and in our world of coaching or playing," said the 62-yard-old Carroll. "To dream about being in this position as a kid and then working all through the years of coaching, battling and watching other guys do it and for the first time for us; its a tremendous honour. "Its a tremendous opportunity and it creates an extraordinary challenge to see if you can be the one. It symbolizes a tremendous amount to all of us. We all llive with that, our players and our coaches.dddddddddddd Its great to be here, and (Im) thrilled to be doing it, too. It makes for so much fun. The whole buildup, the whole following, knowing its a global event on game day just adds to the fun of this thing. The challenge continues to be out there for us to reach for, so its very exciting." Both coaches have defensive backgrounds, and they made note of that. Yes, the NFL has become a light-up-the-scoreboard league — and no team ever did it better than Foxs Broncos, who scored 606 points this season. But Fox and Carroll made their reputations as defensive co-ordinators before becoming head coaches. Carroll spent one season in charge of the Jets and three with the Patriots before heading to USC. Fox led Carolina for nine seasons. "Youve got a couple old DB coaches here, and its interesting thats how it turned out," Carroll said. "It is an offensive era that were in, and with all the passing game its gone crazy. Maybe its fitting that weve been fighting our whole life trying to slow this thing down, and we get a chance to do it here on the biggest stage. "Really we have very similar paths and the fact that were defensive guys, maybe that gives the defensive guys hope that maybe we can hire one of those guys in the league soon." That already is happening, perhaps with the theory that strong defensive minds can slow down the points parade. Of the seven head coaching hires this year, four were filled by offence-oriented coaches (Bill OBrien, Jim Caldwell, Ken Whisenhunt, Jay Gruden) and three by defensive guys (Lovie Smith, Mike Zimmer, Mike Pettine). "I came up with a guy, Chuck Noll, who is a defensive guy, who I learned a lot from," Fox said of the Hall of Fame coach of the Steelers. "Ive been blessed to be around a lot of great people from ownerships on down to general managers, front office people, as well as coaches. You always take pride. This is a prideful thing to be in this position and play in a game like this with such great history. "Dont forget about those defensive guys moving forward." ' ' '