Sonstiges » MacWilliam, a hard-hitting defender who made some noise at

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Boston Bruins werent going to let playing against their former goalie Tim Thomas affect their game. Thomas wasnt so sure he could feel the same way. Reilly Smith scored the game-winning goal with 59 seconds left in the third period and the Bruins beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Thursday night. Smith backhanded the puck into the net between the legs of Thomas after a faceoff in the Panthers zone. The goal spoiled Thomas first game against his former team since joining the Panthers as a free agent. "I, of course, tried to approach it just like any other game," Thomas said. "Having said that, it was a big game for me coming back after a while and then, obviously, facing your former team and a lot to-do around it. I was a little bit nervous today, but not too bad." Thomas fell to the ice in disappointment when Smiths goal went in while the Bruins celebrated. "Got close at the end there. We didnt want that to happen," Smith said. "Its a great feeling to score and help the team get a win." Dougie Hamilton and Daniel Paille also scored goals for the Bruins, while Tuukka Rask made 27 saves. Jesse Winchester and Kris Versteeg scored for the Panthers and Thomas stopped 37 shots. Thomas overcame a shaky first period to turn in a solid game until giving up the goal in the final minute. "It hurts the way it ended up," Thomas said. "I really wanted to guys in front of me to be rewarded after coming back in the third period after the way we started out." The 39-year-old Thomas, who spent his first eight NHL seasons with Boston, returned to the lineup after suffering a groin injury on Oct. 8 that forced him to an early exit after giving up two goals on five shots in a 2-1 loss at Philadelphia. Thomas helped the Bruins win the Stanley Cup in 2011. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner also won the Conn Smythe Trophy that season as playoff MVP. Thomas followed that by going 35-19-1 with a 2.36 goals-against average and five shutouts in 2011-12, then sat out the 2013 lockout-shortened season. "It was an awesome time there (in Boston)," Thomas said. "I dont know what else to say. This is a new chapter in my life; its a new chapter in the Bruins thing for them." Trailing 2-1, the Panthers tied it at 2 with six minutes left in the third on Winchesters goal. After the Panthers won a faceoff in the Bruins zone, Nick Bjugstad took a shot on goal. Rask blocked the shot, but lost control of the puck. It drifted in front of the crease and Winchester took a couple whacks at it before poking it in. "I didnt want to cost us the game," Rask said. "I made a mistake there and they tied it up ... the guys came up big after that." Florida closed to 2-1 in the second period after Versteeg took a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau in the right circle and wristed it past Rask at 12:32. Boston went ahead 1-0 on Pailles goal in the first. Paille skated in from the left circle and his wrist shot went high into the net at 3:45. It was a quick goal, but it turned out it wasnt going to be that easy against Thomas. "Hes a tremendous goalie. We had 40 shots and it still took us until that last minute," Paille said. "It was nice to get a couple early on him and have that lead but he bounced back and made it that much harder to get that third one." The Bruins took a 2-0 lead later in the period on Hamiltons power-play goal. Hamilton took a pass from David Krejci just inside the blue line at the point and fired the puck past Thomas at 12:47. Hamilton, a healthy scratch the past two games, notched his first goal of the season, aided by Zdeno Chara playing in front of the crease to screen Thomas. "Its good to get the win but I had a lot of excitement and adrenaline in the first period being back in," Hamilton said. "Weve been talking to try to get it up and make them save it with their hands and if they cant see it thats pretty tough. Z creates that goal." NOTE: The Bruins broke an 0-for-12 power-play drought with Hamiltons first-period goal. ... The Bruins and Panthers will meet five times as Atlantic Division rivals this season. Boston won all three matchups against the Panthers last season, outscoring Florida 11-2. ... Panthers goalie Scott Clemmensen was scratched on Thomass return. Jacob Markstrom remains the backup goalie. Marcus Davenport Saints Jersey . -- Blake Griffin scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds, DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 22 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers outlasted the Golden State Warriors 98-96 on Thursday night to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round series. Chauncey Gardner-Johnson Youth Jersey . -- Southern Illinois coach Barry Hinson couldnt hear himself amid the roar in Koch Arena, so he kept stomping on the floor in a fruitless attempt to get his teams attention. http://www.authenticsaintssportsonline.com/saints-rickey-jackson-gold-jersey/ .com) - Delon Wright scored 17 points and No. Alvin Kamara Youth Jersey . Rudy Gay made the tying basket in regulation and a 3-pointer in overtime that gave Sacramento the lead for good, and Fredette scored a career-high 24 points to help the Kings beat the Knicks 106-101 on Wednesday night. Marshon Lattimore Womens Jersey . Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee? Green had bounced around the NBA when he wasnt playing overseas. The Pacers gave up on Plumlee after just one season. Now Green and Plumlee are key cogs in the Suns surprising breakout season.LONDON, Ont. – Tomas Kaberle was the 204th selection at the 1996 draft in St. Louis, the second to last player the Maple Leafs would draft on a day that saw the Senators pick Chris Phillips first overall. Kaberle, who could reportedly try out for the New Jersey Devils later this fall, stands as the only homegrown defenceman Toronto has sent to an All-Star game in more than 20 years, a fact that highlights the organizations difficulties drafting and developing talent of its own on the blue line. In fact, since 2000, the Leafs have drafted only six defencemen who went on to play 100 games in the NHL, a solid and yet unremarkable group featuring Carlo Colaiacovo, Jay Harrison, Ian White, Anton Stralman, Carl Gunnarsson and Luke Schenn – all of whom have since moved on from Toronto. Morgan Rielly will soon become the seventh in that group – he played 73 games as a rookie last season – the first in a pool of prospects thats become deepest and most intriguing for the Leafs on defence. "Weve got a stockpile there and theyre all different shapes and sizes," Jim Hughes, the teams director of player development said recently. Among them is Matt Finn, who finished last season as the second-highest scoring defenceman in the OHL, captaining Guelph to the leagues top record, an OHL championship and a berth in the Memorial Cup. He will make the jump to the American League this fall. "Its going to be tough," he said of the transition. "Youre playing against men now with families. Its serious. Its a job now. Its not just fun in junior anymore." "Youre not going to get all the opportunities," he continued. "Youre not going to be a superstar like you were in junior anymore. Youre going to have to earn your stripes and take it day by day. Its never going to be easy." A second round pick in 2012, Finn will now have to battle for ice-time with the Marlies, helmed by first year head coach Gord Dineen, overseeing the teams annual prospect tournament here in London. The 20-year-old Finn spent time on the ice and in the gym this past summer with some of that competition – not to mention a group from the Leafs – and understands that more will be expected. "You get a feel for what that pro level and that pro mentality is like," he said. "Being in the gym with them, seeing how they work, how hard the corner battles are, how hard it is just to get areas in front of the net to stand in position – theyre always trying to push you out and gain that ground. Being able to play with guys like that – the NHL guys, the AHL guys – who have been there and have played and have experience and not even verbally sharing it with you, but just on the ice learning it through the ways of hockey." Tom Nilsson is six months older than Finn and he too is expected to join the Marlies for the first time this fall, making the jump from his native Sweden. Hopes are quietly high for the 21-year-old, sturdy at 6-foot and nearly 200 pounds. "My goal is of course to play on the Maple Leafs, but if I start on the Marlies thats okay with me," Nilsson said. "I want to learn how to play the [North American] game and then Im going to develop from there." Nilsson hhas some Niklas Hjalmarsson to his game – Dineen offered a more physical version of Gunnarsson – mobile, sneaky physical, and willing to block to shots and offer a stable defensive presence.dddddddddddd. He started watching the Chicago Blackhawks defender more closely a couple years back, also studying the performance of fellow Swedes, Niklas Kronwall – "I like his hitting" – and Erik Karlsson, the slap-shot of the Senators defender a particular point of admiration. "Im trying to take small things off of players that I like," said Nilsson, who played with Frolunda in the Swedish Hockey League last season. Nilsson is anxious to make the adjustment to the smaller NHL rink; the organization believes his maturity and raw, hard-hitting game will aid in the transition. "Hes well-schooled," said Hughes. "Hell come over and it shouldnt be a very difficult transition for him." Nilsson might not be the only Swede making the jump to North America this fall for Toronto. He could be joined by Viktor Loov, the third-last pick of the 2012 draft and a fluid skater who played forward until the age of 15. Loov – long at 6-foot-2 and beefed up to the tune of 210 pounds – played with the teams top prospect, William Nylander, on MODO of the Swedish Hockey League last season. "He just oozes determination every shift," Dineen said of Loov (pronounced LOVE), who delivered a crushing open ice hit in the second game of the rookie tournament Sunday night. "Hes a guy that might [take] a little time in the future, but I think hes going to punch a hole for himself." The two Swedes will try to follow the path carved most recently by Petter Granberg, who made a solid adjustment to North America last fall and is expected to challenge for the seventh spot with the Leafs at training camp next week. That competition could also include Stuart Percy, a 2011 first round pick who impressed with a cerebral all-around game as a first-year Marlie last season, and Andrew MacWilliam, a hard-hitting defender who made some noise at training camp a year ago. Maybe the most NHL-ready of the Marlies group pushing toward the NHL is Korbinian Holzer, whose turbulent 22 games on the top pairing in 2013 has left him almost forgotten. The team raves about his character, leadership, and defensive ability – he was actually sturdy as a penalty killer in that brief spell with the Leafs. Far and away the biggest of the prospects on hand here in London, however, is Eric Knodel, picked in the fifth round of the 2009 draft. Knodel spent three seasons at the University of New Hampshire, employing the college route to add heft to his towering 6-foot-6 frame, while taking steps to improve his skating. He joined the Marlies at the end of his college campaign in the spring and will join the fight for ice in the fall. "I think thats the best part is everybodys going to be battling," said Knodel (pronounced KUH-nodle). "Great teams have great defence – great defence and goalies. Its always good to have good depth there." Whether any, all or even a few contribute is uncertain, but theres some upside and intrigue to a prospect pool thats been left mostly wanting. ' ' '