2012 » of these matches. For us to really put things together was great

NEW YORK -- Captain John Tavares thinks the New York Islanders have room for improvement, even after winning three of four games.It needs to happen fast with whats next on the schedule.Tavares had two goals and an assist, Johnny Boychuk scored for the second straight game and the Islanders beat the Minnesota Wild 6-3 on Sunday night.Calvin de Haan, Alan Quine and Thomas Hickey also scored to help New York get its highest scoring total of the year.The Islanders are 3-3-0 and face the first-place Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday and defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.I still think we can get a lot better, Tavares said. We still havent gotten the power play going. Five-on-five certainly good to see a few go in for a lot of guys. ... So build on it and get ready for a tough week coming up.Thomas Greiss stopped 26 shots for his first win in two starts this season.Islanders rookie Anthony Beauvillier had two assists, giving the 19-year-old at least a point in three straight games.He played well, New York coach Jack Capuano said. I think hes going to be a good player in this league for a long time. He just plays with tenacity, grit and determination in his game.New York failed on its lone power play, falling to 1 for 15 on the season.Zach Parise scored twice for Minnesota to top 300 goals for his career, and Nino Niederreiter also scored. Second-string goalie Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves.Trailing 1-0 early in the second period, the Islanders took the lead with three goals 3:08 apart.Tavares got a pass in the slot from Josh Bailey and fired it in for his second of the season at 4:23. Then, de Haan fired a wrist shot from beyond the left faceoff circle past Kuemper for his first of the season 34 seconds later. Boychuk capped the flurry and made it 3-1 at 7:31 when he fired a slap shot from the right point past Kuempers glove side.After getting denied in close by Greiss twice earlier in the period, Parise pulled the Wild within one with 7:23 left. Greiss appeared to stop a slow puck before it crossed the line, but a video review showed it was across just before the goalie knocked it away with his right pad. It gave Parise 20 goals in 48 career games against the Islanders.I had no idea, really, Parise said of the goal. Even after they reviewed it, I was standing behind the net, and one of the linesmen asked me, `Did that go in? and I said `I dont think so. It really caught us off guard. I didnt see it cross and hit the back of his leg.The Islanders put the game away in the third. Quine took a pass from Beauvillier, skated forward and fired a shot past Kuemper at 6:29 to restore New Yorks two-goal lead. Hickey pushed the lead to 5-2 with a wrist shot just over two minutes later.The goals by Boychuk, de Haan and Hickey gave the Islanders five goals by defensemen in the last two games, after Boychuk and Dennis Seidenberg scored in the 3-2 win over Arizona on Friday night.Niederreiter, the No. 5 overall selection by the Islanders in the 2010 NHL draft, pulled the Wild within two with 2:48 left for his seventh point (four goals, three assists) in seven games against his former team.Tavares added an empty-netter with 1:43 left to cap the scoring. Andrew Ladd, the Islanders top free agent signing in the offseason, had an assist for his first point with New York.After a scoreless opening period, Parise got the Wild on the scoreboard at 1:15 of the second with his 300th goal and first this season.Game notesComing off a 2-1 OT loss at New Jersey on Saturday night, the Wild played the first of 13 sets of back-to-backs this season. ... Minnesota lost for the first time when scoring at least three goals. ... New York D Ryan Pulock was placed on IR on Saturday and is expected to miss 4 to 6 weeks with a lower body injury. Pulock lasted only five shifts in the first period of his season debut in Fridays 3-2 win over Arizona before his injury. ... New York announced LW Eric Boulton cleared waivers and was assigned to Bridgeport of the AHL. ... The Islanders improved to 3-1-0 at home against Western Conference teams this season, and 15-1-2 against West teams at Barclays Center since moving to Brooklyn before last season.UP NEXTWild: At Boston in the third game of a four-game trip.Islanders: Host Montreal on Wednesday night in the conclusion of a five-game homestand.---Follow Vin Cherwoo at www.twitter.com/VinCherwooAPCustom New York Mets Jerseys . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. Stitched Mets Jerseys . Coach Mike Munchak says Fokou stretched ligaments in his left knee Oct. 13 against Seattle, which could keep out up to five weeks even though the linebacker didnt need surgery. https://www.cheapmetsjerseys.us/ . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. Mets Jerseys China .Y. -- Sabres defenceman Tyler Myers had no intention of changing his hard-hitting style before taking part in a disciplinary hearing for his illegal check to New Jersey forward Dainius Zubrus head. Fake Mets Jerseys . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006.LAS CRUCES, N.M. - No. 16 Texas A&M recorded its second sweep of the day, defeating host New Mexico State, 25-20, 25-16, 25-19, in the Borderland Invitational tonight at the Pan American Center.Texas A&M, which swept Arizona earlier in the day, improves to 2-0 in the tournament and 5-3 on the season. New Mexico State, which entered the contest riding a five-match win streak, falls to 6-3 overall.Texas A&M spotted NMSU a 6-1 lead to begin the match before freshman outside hitter Hollann Hans got an out-of-system kill to stop the host Aggies 5-0 run. Texas A&M continued to chip away at the NM State lead and trailed 11-7 before junior outside hitter Kiara McGee connected on three consecutive kills to put Texas A&M within 11-10. NMSU then committed back-to-back attack errors to give the visiting Aggies their first lead, 12-11.NM State regained the lead at 15-14 after A&M hit long on consecutive attack attempts. Kassandra Tohm then put NMSU ahead 16-14 with a kill, but A&M countered, scoring five unanswered points to go up, 19-17. The teams would exchange points before NM State, which was outhit .241 to -.032 in the frame, committed three consecutive errors to put A&M serving for the set, 24-19. A&M hit wide on the next play, but Hans, who led all players with five kills in the stanza, came back with a kill from the back row to secure the 25-20 win.NM State jumped out to an early lead to begin the second set before a dump kill by junior setter Stephanie Aiple, followed by solo blocks by sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Blake and Aiple put Texas A&M ahead, 9-7. NM State, the defending Western Athletic Conference champion, later tied the score at 10-10, before A&M reeled off five consecutive points.NM State cut the margin to 18-15 but could get no closer as senior middle blocker Jazzmin Babers tipped the ball in for a kill and Blake followed with a kill to put A&M up 20-15, forcing NMSU to call its final timeout. The host team got a kill coming out of the timeout, but Blake countered with a kill. Texas A&M, which outhit NMSU .304 to .000 in the set, went up 22-16 on a NM State attack error before Blake and Company closed out the match with three consecutive blocks.NM State held its largest lead of the third set at 14-9 before junior opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor recorded back-to-back kills to spark an 11-2 run that put Texas A&M ahead, 20-16. The teams then traded service errors before McGee and Babers had consecutive kills to put Texas A&M up, 23-17. A&M, which outhit NMSU, .dddddddddddd286 to .080 in the set, served long on the next play, but Aiple put her team at match point with her third kill of the contest. NM State tipped the ball in for a kill to stay alive before McGee put down her seventh kill of the night to close out the match.Babers hit .667 and tied Hans for match-high honors in kills with nine. Aiple dished out 29 assists while directing A&M to a .275 hitting efficiency, and Blake led all players with eight blocks as A&M outblocked NM State, 12-2, and held the host Aggies to a .010 hitting efficiency for the match. Aiple and junior libero Amy Nettles shared team-high honors in digs with seven apiece.Texas A&M closes out the tournament against co-host UTEP, Saturday at 12 p.m. (1 p.m. CT) at Memorial Gym in El Paso, Texas.Texas A&M Head Coach Laurie Corbelli quotes:On getting two sweeps today...I was really happy with the way the team set the tone for the day. This has been a day that maybe on the back of my mind was one of the tougher days of our season; two matches that were really important for us, a third weekend on the road, a great Arizona team and a great conference champion New Mexico State team. I was picturing five set matches for both of these matches. For us to really put things together was great. I thought our blocking really improved, and our middles were involved more this week than they were last weekend in Puerto Rico. Those are the kinds of things we have been working on to continue to improve. Our ball handling was a whole lot better this weekend. That sets us up to have our setter have more options, gives her opportunities to attack and just makes our game look a lot smoother and a lot stronger and harder to stop.On the balanced attack...We are really sold on the balance because so many teams now just really set out to one hitter, with two or three blockers all waiting on one hitter that is sometimes really obvious who is going to get the ball on many teams, and I really dont want to play that way. Some days we have to, but we prefer not to.On the improved serving...I thought we got over the hump with our serving. We did not serve well the first two weekends at all, and I thought today our serving was much more aggressive and much more on point, and we just looked a lot more confident in our serving. That was really good to see. ' ' '