Both teams will therefore play four skaters

Connacht earned a home Guinness PRO12 semi-final courtesy of a 14-7 win over Glasgow Warriors at a rain-soaked Sportsground. The 14-man Warriors, who had their Tongan prop Sila Puafisi sent off, finished just behind second-placed Connacht in the table and will make the return trip to Galway in two weeks time, live on Sky Sports. The Sky Sports panel discuss the thrilling conclusion to the Guinness PRO12 regular season Pat Lams men will hope for a repeat result as they strive to reach their first final at the end of what is already the Irish provinces best league campaign. Bundee Akis 17th-minute try gave the westerners a 7-0 half-time lead, with Finn Russell missing two kickable penalties for Glasgow. Stuart Hogg is tackled by Connacht duo John Muldoon and Nidi Adeolokun Gordon Reids well-taken try tied things up, but his front row colleague Puafisi was sent off in the 49th minute for a dangerous head-first challenge on Kieran Marmion.Replacement Shane OLeary provided the assist and conversion for Tiernan OHallorans vital 59th-minute touchdown, and the hosts saw out the hard-fought victory with some defiant late defence. PRO12 play-offs confirmed Connacht to host Glasgow while Ulster visit Leinster Russell sent an early penalty wide after Leone Nakarawa had slipped clean through from a ruck to launch Glasgows first attack from deep.A nervy Russell also overcooked a touch-finder but Nakarawa soon broke the line again, stretching the home defence until prop Reid knocked on in the 22. Bundee Aki scores Connachts first try But Connacht were clinical from their very first attack, Marmion and AJ MacGinty linking smartly off a close-range maul before Aki used his power to make it over by the posts. MacGinty converted for 7-0.A scrum penalty was nudged wide by Russell and with Sean OBrien and Ultan Dillane leading a resolute Connacht defence, the Warriors remained scoreless. Five-try Munster beat Scarlets Munster secure Champions Cup place with 31-15 victory Aki, who continued to threaten off limited ball, was a pass away from putting Robbie Henshaw over and their captain John Muldoon was also denied just a metre out.The home side were unable to profit from a snappy break by Marmion, the Ireland scrum-half hardly putting a foot wrong on his 100th appearance for Connacht. Gordon Reid celebrates scoring his second-half try However, the Warriors were level within seven minutes of the restart. They won a series of penalties and prop Reid managed to crash over off the back of a close-in ruck. Russells extras made it 7-7.Connacht quickly got back into scoring range, though, and as tempers flared, input from TMO Olly Hodges saw referee Ian Davies dismiss Puafisi for leading with the head on Marmion at a ruck.The home side, who had to move hooker Tom McCartney to loosehead in a patched-up front row, should have scored from Marmions blindside burst off a scrum and flanker OBrien was also thwarted near the posts. Tiernan OHalloran beats Stuart Hogg to score Connachts second try The breakthrough finally came when full-back OHalloran rose above his opposite number Stuart Hogg to collect OLearys cross-field kick and dot down wide on the right.The conversion was added by OLeary before a smashing break by Simone Favaro and kick ahead almost put Hogg in for a quick response. Ulster secure play-off spot Irish province score six tries in 46-26 victory at Ospreys Some superb handling had Glasgow hammering on the door again with five minutes left, but Connacht forced another error and a final ruck penalty was enough to see them home. Kiki VanDeWeghe Jersey . -- Most satisfying to Russ Smith about No. Custom Portland Trail Blazers Jerseys . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. https://www.cheapblazersonline.com/1058i-wesley-matthews-jersey-blazers.html ., for the next three years with the signings on Monday of Daryl Townsend and Michael Carter. Rodney Hood Jersey . - Blake Griffin had 30 points and 12 rebounds, J. Lloyd Neal Jersey .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca! Hey Kerry, I have a question that is probably pretty minor regarding all that goes on in the playoffs, but it still confused me. Is there a rule to prevent fighters from getting into it immediately out of the box? I could be wrong but after serving coincidental majors, isnt it a requirement that both guys begin the next shift on the bench to head off any potential silliness? As Evgeni Malkin (in Game 1) came from the box having served his major he took a position at the very next faceoff. Like I said, I thought this was against the rules. Anyway, thanks for reading. Paul Kozyn Hi Paul: No question is ever too minor to ask or to answer. There is no rule that restricts players from participating in the very next shift once they have served major penalties for fighting. As you know players are not allowed out of the penalty box until after the first whistle following the expiration of their coincidental major penalties. What takes place at this point is for the penalty box door attendant to hold the "fighters" in their respective box until the linesmen (one or both) arrive on the scene to keep them separated and if necessary escort them to their players bench. The readiness and intervention by the Linesmen wasnt always standard operating procedure and many times I witnessed players continue the fight as soon as they were released from the penalty box. Once the players started to go at it a second time I made a point of instructing the Linesmen to let the fight go the full distance! My objective in this unwritten procedure was two fold: i) Hoping the protracted slugfest would allow the adversaries to get hostilities for one another fully out of their system; ii) To send a message to other would-be combatants that might want to start something (but not really) should they feel a sense of security through any anticipated quick intervention by the linesmen. Usually the sight of two heavyweights being allowed to slug it out in a three minute round while the zebras stood around the ring restored a calming effect to the game. Whenever players exited the penalty box and immediately restarted the fight I always assessed 10 minute misconduct penalties in addition to their second majors for fighting as a result of continuing the fight. (46.5)By virtue of rule 46.10 if a fight was to break out prior to the drop of the puck during the course of a normal face-off, the altercation shall be penalized as if it occurred during the regular playing time.dddddddddddd Back in the day, the three most feared words in hockey by many was when the Ref said to the Linesmen, "Let Em Go!" Also: I received two requests for a clarification on the same rule in the past day from two different sources. Last night Matt Loughlin, an executive with the NJ Devils, passed the question along from one of their fans. This morning, my son Matthew, a fire fighter in London, Ontario passed along the same question from his crew at the fire hall. The question is: "When coincidental minor penalties are called, sometimes the teams play a man short (4 on 4) and sometimes they stay 5 on 5. What determines whether it is 4 on 4 or 5 on 5?" There is only one situation that applies where the teams play 4 on 4 when minor penalties are assessed at the same stoppage of play. It is found in rule 19.1 which states, "When one minor penalty is assessed to one player of each team at the same stoppage in play, these penalties will be served without substitution provided there are no penalties in effect and visible on the clock. Both teams will therefore play four skaters against four skaters for the duration of the minor penalties." The only other penalty to be assessed to allow this situation to exist would be a misconduct penalty in addition to the minor to one or both players at which point the team(s) would place a substitute in the box immediately to serve the minor penalty. When multiple minor penalties are assessed or minor penalties to multiple players from each team the Referee would cancel out as many minor, bench minor or double-minor penalties as possible; which if equal would result in the teams playing 5 on 5. There you have it, one minor penalty to one player of each team at the same stoppage of play where no penalties are being served on the score clock results in 4 on 4 numerical strength! This also applies if Team A player receives a minor penalty at the 8:00 minute mark and following the line changes (power play & penalty killing unit) but prior to the puck drop Team B receives a minor penalty, these two minor penalties are served and the teams will play 4 on 4 as per this rule. The teams are allowed to make additional line changes following Team B receiving the minor penalty. (Theory: penalties assessed at same stoppage of play since 8:00 minutes remains on the game clock.) The resulting face-off would then take place at the nearest face-off dot where the play was stopped to assess the original minor infraction. ' ' '