Sports Redux: Road To Victory

After starting the year with a 2-3-0 record that, quite possibly, looked worse than the actual record did, the Bruins left Boston looking to play better hockey. Coach Claude Julien actually said it's not that bad. Bostonist will just agree to disagree.

One quick road trip to Dallas and a complete 3-0 victory later over the Stars, and all is agreeable to Coach Julien and Bostonist. Call us crazy if you wish, but some Bruins hockey was on display in the first two periods. Marc Savard asserted himself with two goals and Patrice Bergeron added the third score. Tim Thomas turned back all 27 Dallas shots for his first shutout of 2009-10.

Three members of the New England Patriots were fined a total of $17,500 by the NFL for penalties levied during the club's 20-17 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Logan Mankins (unnecessary roughness) is light $5,000, Brandon Meriweather (taunting) $7,500 and Ty Warren $5,000 for roughing the passer. In injury news, Fred Taylor is out Sunday - no surprise - and Matt Light is listed as doubtful, which means it's a 75% chance he is out.

In NLCS action, baseball went retro as L.A. and Philadelphia treated fans to an afternoon pitcher's duel in game two. At least until a sloppy eighth-inning "rally" by the Dodgers clinched a 2-1 victory that evened the series at 1-1. The decisive runs scored on an error and a walk. Pedro Martinez showed a glimpse of what he once was by dominating the Dodgers for seven innings, allowing no runs and two hits. Buck Martinez mentioned 2003's Gradygate when Pedro came out for the seventh inning with a 1-0 lead.

The Yankees took a 1-0 lead in the ALCS with a 4-1 win over the Angels. CC Sabathia checked the Angels by going eight innings with one run on four hits. Mariano Rivera got the save in the ninth. Three errors from the LAA helped the Nnew York offense. Hideki Matsui had two RBI and Johnny Damon scored twice.

In a case of odd timing, Bobby Abreu rejected a two-year, $16 million contract extension from the Angels, SI.com reported on Thursday. Is the day before a playoff series the best day to inject a distraction like contract negotiations into a team's preparation?

Goals from Mike Legg and Aaron Foxx are making a splash on the Internets lately as examples of stick-scooping awesomeness. Now, Oliver Wahlstrom, 9, of Cumberland, Maine, has surpassed both of them. Wahlstrom buried a spinning/scooping/flipping backhand shot during a Mini 1-on-1 taping. Try it Phil Kessel! Bostonist dares you!

Stat of the Day

According to WTBS, Manny Ramirez is a career .154 (6-39) hitter versus Pedro Martinez.