through the second round

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through the second round

PHILADELPHIA -- Flyers coach Craig Berube was already getting ready for a shootout. Carmelo Anthony Jersey . "I honestly was ready to pull out my lineup card," he said. Claude Giroux made sure it wasnt needed. Giroux scored at 4:55 of overtime to give the Flyers a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. Giroux received a pass from defenceman Mark Streit and carried the puck over the blue line before letting a shot go from just above the right faceoff circle, beating Antti Raanta high to the blocker side. "I went on the ice with maybe 15 seconds, 20 seconds, so I knew there wasnt a lot of time," Giroux said. "I was just trying to shoot as hard as I could to net. I didnt really aim, to be honest. I just shot it on net." Giroux had previously assisted on a Scott Hartnell goal in the first period for a two-point night. Since Chicago and Philadelphia last met on Dec. 11, in a 7-2 Blackhawks rout of the Flyers, no one in the league has been hotter Giroux. Hes led the league with 51 points in 39 games. Asked about his captains play over the past two months, Berube said, "Hes been playing well for longer than that, I think. Hes playing hard. Hes really, skating, attacking. Hes leading our team. "It starts on the bench. Hes vocal. Hes really into all the time. He does a good job of keeping everybody going." The Flyers needed that kind of leadership after a poor start. Chicago opened an offence-filled first period with two goals just 3:51 into the game. The first came when Andrew Shaw chipped a loose puck near the crease over goalie Ray Emery (23 saves) -- the result of a Brayden Schenn turnover at the other end. Less than 90 seconds later, Duncan Keith, the wide-open recipient of a pass from Jonathan Toews, overpowered Emery with a slap shot from the top of the slot. But the Flyers rebounded thanks to two goals from Hartnell, one set up by Giroux and the other by the Blackhawks. Parked behind the net, Hartnell attempted a pass that caromed off Blackhawks centre Marcus Kruger and found its way into the net off the left pad of Raanta at 5:48. Then at 16:27, Giroux walked out from behind the Blackhawks net and found Hartnell for a one-timer to tie it at 2-2. The goals were Hartnells 17th and 18th of the season. Following an exciting opening period, the pace slowed in the second, when neither team scored. Flyers forward Vinny Lecavalier was involved in two chances that nearly broke the tie in the third. His breakaway attempt with 7:40 remaining was turned away by Raantas right pad, and Schenns almost-goal just over a minute later was waved off when referees ruled Lecavalier touched the puck with a high stick on its way to the net. The Flyers nearly beat Raanta late in regulation, but neither Steve Downie, from a bad angle, nor Schenn, trying to redirect Downies shot on the far post, could put a Hartnell rebound into an open net. But after finding the post twice in regulation, Giroux finally beat Raanta in overtime. "It seems like the endings here have been pretty amazing," said Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, whose team won the Stanley Cup in Game 6 in OT at Wells Fargo Center in 2010. "Tough ending, but a pretty entertaining game ... a pretty intense game." A victory would have given Quenneville the 700th win of his career. His total of 699 is the most among active coaches and the third-most all-time, behind only Al Arbour (782) and Blackhawks senior adviser of hockey operations Scotty Bowman. But rather than pull out a win for their coach, the Blackhawks extended a 10-game, regular-season losing streak in Philadelphia, dating back to Nov. 9, 1996. Quenneville will try again for No. 700 on Wednesday when Chicago returns home to host the St. Louis Blues, whom the Blackhawks trail for first place in the Central Division by eight points. "Obviously, it will be a huge game for us," Quenneville said. "Itll be exciting for us to get to play these guys. I see our team responding and being excited. "Maybe we can chip away and try to catch them (for the division lead), but right now it doesnt look so hot." Notes: Scratches for the Flyers included defencemen Erik Gustafsson and Hal Gill and forward Jay Rosehill. Scratches for the Blackhawks included defencemen Michal Rozsival and David Rundbland and forward Brandon Saad. ... Despite entering the game with two units ranked in the leagues top 10, neither team could take advantage of the man advantage, going a combined 0 for 8 on the power play. ... The overtime win was the Flyers first at home in nearly a year. They topped the Washington Capitals 5-4 on March 31 of last season. Wilson Chandler Jersey . Infante hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and had an RBI single in a four-run fifth against former teammate Justin Verlander, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Tigers 11-8 Monday night. Denver Nuggets Jerseys .Y. -- Scott Chandler is returning to Buffalo, where he spent the past three seasons establishing himself as the Bills top pass-catching tight end.The NFL Combine wrapped up this week and the impact on the mock drafts and predictions around the league is already being felt. While some players merely solidified their standing on big boards and mock drafts, several others saw their Combine results either boost or drop their placing in the mind of scouts and general managers across the league. Some notes from the NFL Combine Two-Horse Race A look at the most recent batch of mock drafts has two players showing up more often than any others at the top spot. One wont surprise you – South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney – but one certainly could – UCF quarterback Blake Bortles. While questions about his work ethic may knock Clowney out of the top spot, his blistering 40-yard dash time (4.53) ensures that if he does fall, it wont be very far. Bortles meanwhile impressed both on the field and off. Almost all draftniks and experts consider the once unknown QB to be a legit top end prospect. Of the 15 expert mock drafts gathered for TSN.cas database, Bortles had the most first overall picks of any player. Quarterback Battle While mock drafters are slotting Bortles into the first pick (owned by the Houston Texans) more than any other quarterback, that doesnt necessarily mean hes viewed as the top quarterback. Of the 15 expert mock drafts culled by TSN.ca, Bortles had just the third highest average draft position. First was Texas A&Ms Johnny Manziel with an ADP of 3.1 followed by Louisvilles Teddy Bridgewater (3.9) and then Bortles at 4.7. Dont Forget Me While hes not in the same boat as Manziel, Bridgewater, or Bortles, Fresno States Derek Carr reportedly had a very strong NFL Combine showing, particularly while interviewing with teams. At this point Carr appears to be a mid-first round pick at best but his showing has some quarterback-needy teams considering passing on one of the top three QBs early in the draft to fill other positions, while hoping to land Carr later on. There are reports the gap between the Big Three and Carr is not very wide. Moving Up The biggest benefactors of the NFL Combine, among the early picks at least, were Auburn OT Greg Robinson and Buffalo LB Khalil Mack. Robinsons athleticism seems to have solidified him as the top offensive tackle on the board and boosted his projected status from Top 10 pick to Top 5. Robinson could even hear his name as early as second overall to the St. Louis Rams. Mack is another former potential Top 10 pick that could easily find his way iinto the Top 5 come May. Gary Harris Jersey. While his destination is hard to pinpoint at this point in the evaluation process, respected NFL Network draftnik Mike Mayock said he would consider Mack with the first overall pick. Thats high praise! Moving Down The rise of Robinson and Mack is having adverse effects on players of similar talent at the same position of the two in Jake Matthews and Anthony Barr. Once considered two of the top three players in the draft (alongside Clowney) by some, Matthews and Barr are no longer locks to be Top 5 picks and thats in large part due to Robinson proving hes the better offensive tackle, and Mack proving hes far closer to Clowney than originally thought. At this point it wouldnt be shocking to see Barr fall out of the Top 10 picks (ADP currently 8.9) while even Matthews could see himself suffer the same fate (ADP currently 5.9) the way things are playing out. To be fair, in Barrs case, Mack isnt the sole reason the UCLA pass rushers stock is falling; only 15 reps on the bench press could scare away a few teams. Lions targeting a CB The Detroit Lions need help at cornerback and most draftniks expect them to get it at the draft. Of the expert mock drafts culled by TSN.ca, 86% of them have the Lions taking a cornerback 10th overall. The only question in their minds is if it will be Oklahoma States Justin Gilbert, taken by the Lions in 53% of mock drafts, or Michigan States Darqueze Dennard, taken by Detroit in 33% of mock drafts. The current draft landscape lays out with a slight drop off after the top nine players. From there its still anyones guess as to who leads the second tier of players. Many mock drafters see the Lions filling a need and taking whichever cornerback they have ranked the highest. Wide Receiver Battle This position battle is unlike the quarterback battle as Clemson standout Sammy Watkins is the clear cut top pass catcher in this years draft. The battle is for the second best receiver with USCs Marqise Lee losing his spot to Texas A&Ms Mike Evans in 80% of mock drafts gathered. The receiver class is very deep this year with good pass catchers still likely to be available midway through the second round and if Lee finds himself engulfed in the second tier of receivers, hes no lock to hear his name on the first day of the NFL Draft. The true battle could be between Evans and North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron. The difference between their ADP is currently only a couple of picks (Evans: 13.8 to Ebron:16.0). 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