Smith beat his checker and potted the rebound for a 4-4 game

LANGLEY, B.C. -- The Vancouver Stealth picked up the win in front of a boisterous crowd Saturday, and it was veteran sniper Rhys Duch who ignited the fans as the National Lacrosse League returned to British Columbia. Duch scored twice and had an assist as the Stealth defeated the Minnesota Swarm 8-5 in the first regular season NLL game in B.C. since 2004. The Stealth moved to Langley from Everett, Wash., during the off-season, giving the province its first professional lacrosse team since the Vancouver Ravens folded 10 years ago. Duch scored the first two goals of the night Saturday, electrifying the near-capacity crowd. The Langley fans came out in droves to show their appreciation for their new club, which has made three of the past four NLL finals. When doors opened an hour before game time, the line-up snaked around the Langley Events Centre, which can seat about 5,200. "We were in Colorado last weekend and there really wasnt much difference," said the Stealths Tyler Richards. "Twelve-thousand there and 6,000 here. You can hear it in my voice -- I have nothing left because I had to scream over it." The Stealth averaged 4,184 during their final season in Everett. "The energy in the building, even in the warm ups, was great," said Duch. "It certainly a change from going into Denver where youre the most hated people on the planet. The crowd support was great and it was great to see the full building. Its super loud in here for how small the arena is." Richards made 45 saves in the win, including many key stops early in the game while the Stealth seemed to be playing a little nervous. "Even though it was a home game for us, there was a lot of pressure on us," said head coach Chris Hall. "We played nervous for the first five minutes but we managed to get the two early goals and that seemed to settle us down." Richards was voted the games first star. "When he gets settled in there, hes probably one of the hardest goalies in the league to beat, in my opinion," said Duch. Cody Bremner, Mike Grimes, Cliff Smith and Tyler Digby had a goal and an assist each, while Jeff Moleski and Lewis Ratcliff also scored for Vancouver (1-1), which was coming of a 13-12 loss to the Colorado Mammoth last weekend in the season opener. Duch now has a team-high nine points in the first two games, though it was the timing of his goals that were essential for the club Saturday. "Guys look to you to make plays when things arent going right," said Duch, in his sixth year with the franchise. "The guys picked it up for me in the middle of the game when I was struggling. It feels good to get the team going, but they turn around and lift me up when I need it too." Kiel Matisz had two goals and an assist to lead the visiting Swarm. Josh Gillam, Scott Jones and Callum Crawford also scored for Minnesota (0-2), which hadnt played since losing its season opener 8-6 in Rochester on Dec. 28. Tyler Carlson finished with 26 saves. Duch scored the opening goal at 5:42, using a quick release from the slot to beat the netminder after taking a feed from Bremner. Duch made it 2-0 at 9:58, taking a pass from Alex Gajic before beating the goalie five-hole for the power-play goal. Matisz got the visitors on the board, getting a shot over Richards shoulder at 12:26. The Stealth regained the two-goal cushion in the final minute of the first with Moleski scoring a short-handed goal. Minnesotas Jones scored at 1:12 of the second, giving the rookie his first NLL goal. However, Vancouvers Grimes restored the two-goal lead just over a minute later. Gillam drew the Swarm back to within one at 8:30 with a nifty move in close. Smith scored at 3:46 of the third, giving Vancouver a 5-3 lead. However, a power-play goal by Crawford at 7:52 for the Swarm again cut the deficit to one. Bremner gave the Stealth some momentum heading into the final quarter, scoring with 68 seconds left in the third to make it 6-4. Digby then gave the Stealth their largest lead of the game, scoring at 2:09 of the fourth as he beat Carlson stick side. Ratcliff scored with less than four minutes left to make it 8-4. "Youre always trying to get separation and in this league its probably three goals," said Hall. "But when we got that goal from Lewis Ratcliff, with a real good screen from Smith ... it gave us a little bit of a sense of relief." Minnesota didnt give up, however. With the goaltender pulled, Matisz scored with 2:22 remaining, cutting the deficit back to three to cap the scoring. With the home opener in the books, now the challenge will be to keep the seats full for the remaining eight home games, and for that itll take more of the same. "Keep winning. Especially in a city like Vancouver -- they like their winners," said Duch, a Victoria native. "And were going out to sign autographs tonight. Its not a sport that sells itself, unfortunately, so we have to go out and sell it." But regardless, the players loved the new setting since the team is loaded with 14 B.C.-born players, many from the Lower Mainland. "I woke up late this morning for shoot around and I got to practice in 12 minutes," said Richards. "Its great." Fake Nike Air Max Shoes . Hamelin overcame a weak start to win bronze in the 500-metre race behind winner Wu Dajing of China and American J.R. Celski on Saturday at the world short track speed skating championship. Fake Nike Air Max Free Shipping . With timely hitting and good pitching, the Marlins are one win away from sweeping the slumping Houston Astros. https://www.fakeairmaxwholesale.com/ .The Hanwha Eagles said the team was impressed with Morgans contact ability and base-running skills.The 34-year-old debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2007 and hit . Nike Air Max Outlet . -- Craig Anderson has quite a record against his former team, the Florida Panthers. Wholesale Nike Air Max . About seven hours before facing Washington in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference second round series, team officials said the oft-injured Bynum would miss the rest of the playoffs and would not even be with the team for the rest of the post-season.The Chicago Blackhawks werent ready to give up on their dreams of winning consecutive Stanley Cup titles the last time out. The defending champions hope to stay alive for a second straight time tonight when they visit the Los Angeles Kings for Game 6 of the Western Conference Final. The Blackhawks are attempting to return to the Cup Finals after falling behind three games to one in this postseason battle against Los Angeles. The Kings, who lost in five games to Chicago in last springs conference finals, couldnt close out the Hawks in their first attempt on Wednesday, dropping a 5-4 double-overtime decision in the Windy City. Chicago, which is trying to become the first team to win consecutive titles since Detroit in 1997 and 98, improved to 8-1 as the host in these playoffs with the Game 5 triumph, but it will have to win its first road game of the series to keep on playing. The Kings won Game 3 at the Staples Center by a 4-3 score and pushed their series lead to 3-1 with a 5-2 decision Monday night in the City of Angels. All told, Los Angeles is 5-3 as the host this postseason and is 19-7 in home playoff games since the start of the 2012 playoffs, when the Kings won their only Stanley Cup title. If the Blackhawks win Friday the clubs will meet Sunday evening in Chicago for a decisive Game 7. Michal Handzus, a former L.A. King, provided the OT heroics for Chicago on Wednesday, scoring at 2:04 of the second overtime to send the series back to the Staples Center. Brandon Saad held the puck along the right wing below the circles and dished ahead to Handzus, who controlled the disc for a second before lifting a backhander under the crossbar to end the contest. "Two guys went on him and I got open,"Handzus said of his linemate Saad. "I was surprised I got open like that but he waited and waited and gave me a great pass." For Handzus, it was his first career postseason overtime score, and just his second playoff game-winner after recording the only goal in a 1-0 Flyers victory against Ottawa in the 2003 second round. Saad ended up with a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks, who wasted a pair of early two-goal leads and fell behind by a goal before rallying to extend the series. "We dont want the season to end now. Were having too much fun playing," Saad admitted. Brent Seabrook, Johnny Oduya and Ben Smith also scored, while Patrick Kane notched a career playoff-high four helpers for Chicago. Kane became the first Blackhawk to assist on four goals in one playoff game since Steve Larmer did so on April 30, 1990 in a Norris Division final-clinching 8-2 rout of the St. Louis Blues . Kane hasnt scored a goal since getting the OT winner and series clincher in Game 6 of Chicagos second-round series against Minnesota, but the reigning Conn Smythe winner has posted five assists over the last two games..dddddddddddd Corey Crawford looked shaky at times, but emerged with the win thanks to 40 saves. On Thursdays off day, Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews talked about keeping the pressure on Los Angeles from the start of tonights battle. "Were going to work on getting our first win on the road against this team," said Toews. "We want to stay with the mentality, that were putting all the pressure on them. Its going to be tough for them to close it out and win that fourth game against us. We showed how resilient of a group we are last night. Were going to do it again." Dustin Brown, Marian Gaborik, Jarret Stoll and Tanner Pearson lit the lamp for L.A. Pearsons tally extended his point streak to six games, matching the Kings postseason record for a rookie along with Warren Rychel (1993) and Daryl Evans (1982). L.A. has the comfort of home ice on Friday to try and reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in the last three seasons, but the club knows the fourth win of a series can be extremely hard to come by. "If anyone thinks that its easy ... its not easy," Kings forward Justin Williams said of closing out an opponent in the third round. "Attaining your ultimate goal is never easy and were going to do our best to get it done." Jonathan Quick took the loss despite stopping 40 pucks. Kane had a hand in all three Blackhawk scores in the opening 20 minutes on Wednesday before notching the secondary assist on Handzus winner. However, after going up by scores of 2-0 and 3-1 in the opening period, the Blackhawks found themselves down 4-3 heading into the final stanza of regulation, but Smith scored early in the third to even things. Saad fired a low shot from the left wing that was kicked aside by Quick, but Smith beat his checker and potted the rebound for a 4-4 game just 77 seconds into the third period. The Blackhawks had a prime chance to win in regulation when Stoll committed a tripping infraction with 3:11 on the clock. Quick made two acrobatic stops, one from Kane and the rebound on Bryan Bickell early in the advantage and added two more before its completion. Acting on adrenaline and instinct, the first overtime featured a dozen quality chances split between the clubs. Los Angeles claimed a 10-8 shot edge in a briskly-paced fourth period. "Overtime, Ive seen a lot of games, been involved in a lot of those," said Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville. "That might have been the greatest overtime Ive seen." The Blackhawks have come back from down 3-1 to win a series only once in their history, but it was last spring against Detroit, which won three of the first four games against Chicago in the Western Conference semifinals before losing the final three tilts. The Blackhawks also needed to win Game 7 in overtime to down the Red Wings. ' ' '