2012 » season have come from their defencemen. Boston

Arsene Wenger has defended his decision to start Alexis Sanchez in the 1-1 draw against Manchester United on Saturday, describing the Arsenal forward as remarkable. The Chile international played and scored twice in his countrys 3-1 World Cup qualifying victory over Uruguay last Tuesday, despite Wenger suggesting it would be suicidal to select him.Sanchez had been struggling for fitness after suffering a low grade calf muscle tear in training, and missed the World Cup Qualifier against Colombia five days before the clash with Uruguay because of the problem. Sanchez suffered a low grade calf muscle tear playing for Chile, but returned to feature at Old Trafford Despite his two goal showing for Chile, the 27-year-olds inclusion for the match at Old Trafford remained uncertain, having only reported back to training at Arsenal on Thursday.However, Wenger put Sanchez back into action and allowed him to complete 90 minutes, insisting the Chile international had the qualities to hurt Jose Mourinhos side. Sky Sports Black Friday sale Upgrade to Sky Sports now and get 12 months half price! Its very unusual [to play someone after that], Wenger told Arsenals official website. I chose him because Alexis is a guy who can take people on and I knew that would be a quality that would work. Hes always a player who is not scared of anybody.He is good on the counterattack, good in short spaces as well. Highlights: Man Utd 1-1 Arsenal He played very well in the first half but we didnt give him enough service in the second half because we dropped off too much and we played too many balls in our own half.We didnt give him enough support by coming out more. For a guy who played a decisive game on Wednesday morning, and then travelling after, its remarkable.Upgrade to Sky Sports now and get 12 months half price. Hurry, offer ends December 4! Also See: Wenger responsible for Sanchez Giroud salvages Arsenal a point WATCH: Man Utd 1-1 Arsenal Wenger hails mental toughness Dave Winfield Jersey .C. -- Jackson Whistle made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Kelowna Rockets blanked the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-0 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action. Brad Hand Jersey . First, Ivan Nova decided to have season-ending Tommy John elbow surgery. Then Michael Pineda was suspended for 10 games for using pine tar. http://www.padresrookiestore.com/Padres-Wil-Myers-Kids-Jersey/ . Heather, the first Gaiter to win the award, set a Canadian Inter-university Sport record with 3,132 passing yards in eight league games, an average of 391.5 yards per game. That beat the mark of 3,047 set only one week earlier by Westerns Will Finch, a Hec Crighton finalist. Austin Hedges Jersey .Y. -- The Detroit Red Wings had just enough time to salvage a point. San Diego Padres Jerseys . Giants manager Bruce Bochy told The Associated Press of the decision before NL West-leading San Francisco opened a 10-game homestand Monday night with the first of three games against second-place Arizona.TORONTO -- The Boston Bruins, in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons the previous night, stuck to hockey Sunday. Minus the suspended Shawn Thornton, awaiting his punishment for a red mist that saw him send Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik to hospital on Saturday, the injury-ravaged Bruins rallied to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 on the strength of three second-period goals. Carl Soderberg, Torey Krug, Kevan Miller, Jarome Iginla and Patrice Bergeron -- with an empty-net goal coming out of the penalty box with 11 seconds remaining -- scored for Boston, which came into the game under scrutiny thanks to Thorntons meltdown at TD Garden. The Bruins tough guy is suspended pending a league hearing into his sucker-punch attack. For Iginla, Sundays game was a chance for the Bruins to get back to their game. "It was (good)," he said, choosing his words carefully. "Just to get the focus on just winning a game and playing. Because, yeah, it was pretty emotional. Everybody felt that from (Saturday) night." Thanks to the ugly, violent win over Pittsburgh, the Bruins (20-8-2) were also without the injured Loui Eriksson and Chris Kelly, among others. Defencemen Adam McQuaid and Johnny Boychuk were sidelined with earlier injuries. And the Bruins defensive woes were intensified Sunday when Dougie Hamilton exited after the first period with a lower-body injury after a collision with Leafs blue-liner Carl Gunnarsson. Boston coach Claude Julien said Hamilton was to return home Monday for medical evaluation but was hopeful that Boychuk might be close to returning to the lineup in his absence during the remaining three games of the Canadian road trip. Peter Holland and Jay McClement scored for Toronto (16-12-3) before an announced crowd of 19,165. The Leafs led 1-0 in the first and then cut the lead to 3-2 early in the third before Boston scored two insurance goals. Julien attributed his jury-rigged teams success to the organizations focus on playing a two-way game, whether it be wearing a Boston or AHLs Providence jersey. "The way we play is a very demanding way of playing but we feel our scouts and upper management have done a good job of giving us the types of players who can play that game," he said. "So even with the guys being called up, they play a very similar style back in Providence. And were asking them to do the same thing here. "Its about believing what your teams all about. Going out there and doing it, whether youre a young player or an older player. Our game can never change." The Leafs, who beat Ottawa 4-3 in a shootout Saturday, controlled the early going and led 1-0 after the first. But the Bruins three-goal outburst in the second period, including a pair of power-play goals in a 94-second stretch, left the Leafs in their wake. "The first period it seemed like we had our legs, we were doing a lot of things," said Toronto coach Randy Carlyle. "Then we take the one penalty and their (tying) goal kind of flattened us and the next thing you know were killing (a penalty) again right after. And it was bang-bang, all of a sudden they scored two goals and the life went out of our hockey club." Toronto, which also gave up two power-play goalls against the Senators, went 0 for 4 on its power play Sunday.dddddddddddd. The Bruins, who had to kill off a pair of penalties in the third, outshot the Leafs 39-32. The focus before the game was on Thorntons moment of madness. "I agree, he did cross the line," said Julien. "He got caught in the emotions. Theres nobody thats proud of what happened (Saturday) night. Absolutely not. So hes going to suffer the consequences and so will we." "Thorny did cross the line and some others did too," Julien added. "But sometimes you have to man up to those things and I think he did." Julien saw a woozy Miller leave the game later after being crunched into the boards by Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf. The Boston coach admitted he asked the referee whether it was a penalty. "Its very minor and should impact him playing for us next game but it was a close call -- head first into the boards," said Julien. The Leafs faced Chad Johnson, who was filling in to give Bruins star goalie Tuukka Rask a night off. Jonathan Bernier started for Toronto, after James Reimers 47-save performance in Ottawa. It took the Leafs almost five minutes to get a shot on Johnson but they still showed jump and went ahead at 12:20 when Holland jammed a David Clarkson redirect of a Jake Gardiner shot into a gaping net for his third of the year. Toronto, outshot in 26 of its first 30 games, outshot the Bruins 11-10 in the first period. It took a while before shot No. 12 came, however. And Boston pulled even on the power play at 5:14 of the second period after Reilly Smith found Soderberg alone on the edge of the crease. Torontos Carter Ashton was in the penalty box for delay of game. For Smith, who grew up in nearby Mimico, it was a point in his first appearance at the Air Canada Centre. Twenty seconds after the goal, the Leafs went a man-down again with Gunnarsson sent to the box. And Krug made the Leafs pay with his eighth goal of the season at 6:47, beating Bernier with the hulking Zdeno Chara blocking the goalie in front. Ten of the Bruins 15 power-play goals this season have come from their defencemen. Boston outshot Toronto 8-0 in the second period before the home side finally put a shot on Johnson at 9:57. Defenceman Cody Franson had a good chance from in close with seven minutes remaining but the Bruins goalie made the save. Phaneuf and sniper Phil Kessel ran into each other on a line change, flooring Kessel. It was that kind of period for the Leafs. Smith hit the Toronto crossbar late in the period. Seconds later, Millers wrist shot from the blue-line slipped through Bernier at 15:58. It was his first NHL goal. Boston outshot Toronto 17-9 in the second period. McClement closed the gap to 3-2 just 37 seconds into the third, winning a faceoff in the Bruins end and then driving the Boston goal and slapping in his own rebound for his first of the year. The Bruins had to kill off consecutive penalties to maintain their lead. The Leafs, meanwhile, needed a huge save from Bernier on Jordan Caron to stay within one as the clock wound down. But he was powerless to stop Iginla after Milan Lucic accelerated past Phaneuf and fed Iginla in the crease for his sixth goal at the 16:00 mark. ' ' '