MONTREAL -- Kesa Van Oschs British Columbia team feels good now about their choice of veteran Patti Knezevic to serve as alternate at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. Gabriel Batistuta Jersey . With Van Osch out with a flu bug that has been rampaging through the tournament, Knezevic stepped in to lead B.C. (4-3) to a pair of victories on Tuesday before 1,131 at the Maurice Richard Arena. B.C. downed Allison Flaxeys Ontario team 7-3 in the morning draw and then saw Knezevic draw to the button with her final stone to beat Sarah Koltun of the Yukon 8-7 in the afternoon. "We wanted someone with a lot of experience as our fifth player because weve watched the Scotties for years and this happens (often) that the flu goes around," said B.C. third Stephanie Baier. "We wanted someone who could come in at any position so we wouldnt have to shuffle around and wed stay at our comfort level." The illness kept six players out of the morning draw, when Saskatchewans Stefanie Lawton downed Quebec (1-6) 8-4 with only three players on her team. Van Osch was the lone player missing in the afternoon, but then her lead Carley Sandwith had to quit after two ends, leaving them with only three. Quebec was missing second Brittany ORourke in the morning. They got her back for the afternoon session, only to see her leave again after eight ends. "She threw up in the third and the sixth ends, and finally got off the ice," Ross said of her teammate. "Were in contamination mode." In the evening draw, Team Canadas Rachel Homan improved to 6-0 with a 10-3 win over Nova Scotias Heather Smith (2-5). Nova Scotia was also missing coach Peter Gallant to sickness. Manitobas Chelsea Carey and Lawton are tied for second place with 5-1 records. Carey cruised past the Yukon 10-4, while Lawton defeated P.E.I. 7-3. In the other late match, New Brunswicks Andrea Crawford earned a 7-4 victory against Ontario. The last time a Scotties was disrupted by a flu bug was in 2012 in Red Deer, Alta. This time, the sickness is striking players, coaches and officials at random with an illness that seems to last about 24 hours. B.C.s young squad from Victoria looked to be in trouble when they started the tournament at 2-3 and it only looked worse when Van Osch went down. But gritty work by a relatively healthy Baier and second Jessie Sanderson and Knezevics steady hand put the team back in the hunt for a playoff spot. When Team Van Osch won the B.C. provincial championships last month to earn their first trip to the Scotties, they immediately asked Knezevic to be their fifth player. "It was an unexpected call, for sure," said Knezevic, who made it to the B.C. final three times but had never got to the Scotties. "I was very honoured. "I was just hoping that I could bring a bit of experience and support and be able to step in if needed." Baier said that if Van Osch is able to play Wednesday she will return as the skip and that Knezevic would go back to being the alternate. If Sandwith cant play, Knezevic will play lead. "We decided as a team that I would play wherever a player stepped out of, so no situation would be a surprise to us," Knezevic said. "We knew going in that Carley was not well and shed give it her best shot. "Then we just had to make the transition. The girls have been great. We were trying to be as positive as we could and work together with what we had. I think that was the ticket." When a team has only three players, the first two throw three stones each and the skip throws two. It means that most of time, only one player can sweep. It wasnt easy for B.C., as 20-year-old Koltun scored two in the ninth to take a 7-6 lead, then left Knezevic with a tricky draw for two in the 10th. Baier jumped in at the end to help Sanderson in some furious sweeping to get the winning rock to the button. Saskatchewan was in the same boat when second Sherri Singler and third Sherry Anderson were unable to play. Lawton got an early morning call from coach Rick Folk to say that Singler was sick, and later learned that Anderson was down as well. "You plan for the worst, but this scenario of having two players out didnt come up, so we just had to go with it," said Lawton. "The girls jumped right in and felt comfortable with the positions they were thrown into." Marliese Kasner moved up from lead to play third, while alternate Dailene Sivertson stepped in to lead and do most of the sweeping. "The girls did a great job," said Lawton. "Its different when you only have one sweeper. "You want to give it a bit more so they dont have to work too hard, but we managed to pull through and come through with a win. The girls played great in positions theyre not used to." Kasner said she played third on Lawtons teams at the 2005 and 2009 Scotties, so it was a quick adjustment. "It was different," she said. "We knew there would be just one sweeper so we joked that the second sweeper doesnt do much anyhow. We threw like we would in any other game and didnt think about having one less sweeper. We just went shot by shot." A nervy moment came in the seventh end, when Lawton made a clever draw into three Quebec stones to prevent a steal. Maxi Rodriguez Soccer Jersey . MARIE, Mich. Agustin Orion World Cup Jersey . The White Sox gave him one. They staked Peavy to an early eight-run lead and he cruised for seven innings on Thursday night as Chicago rocked Cleveland 8-1 to split the four-game series against the AL Central-leading Indians.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Anaheim Ducks realize theyre in for plenty of tight defensive games in the next seven weeks while the rest of the NHL attempts to catch them atop the standings. In their first game back from the Olympic break, Jonas Hiller and the Ducks handled the pressure splendidly. Hiller made 18 saves in his fifth shutout of the season, Andrew Cogliano scored in the opening minutes, and the NHL-leading Anaheim Ducks returned with a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Friday night. With help from a few Blues shots off his posts, Hiller came back strong from the break after posting two shutouts for Switzerland in Sochi. Coglianos early goal off a neutral-zone turnover stood up in a hard-hitting, choppy game between two of the NHLs best teams. "We learned we can keep up with one of the toughest teams in the league," said Hiller, who matched his career high for shutouts in a season. "On a close game, everybody tries to play as tight as possible. You know you cant let up at all." The Ducks were the NHLs final team to resume play, giving extra rest to gold medallists Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry and bronze medallist Teemu Selanne. Anaheim likely needed the break after losing three of its last four before the Olympics, getting shut out twice during just its second significant skid of the entire season. Coach Bruce Boudreau earned his 300th career victory as Anaheim swept the season series with the Blues. With 89 points from 61 games, the Ducks are five points ahead of St. Louis, Chicago and Pittsburgh in the overall NHL standings. "It was a good first game for us in terms of the competition," Cogliano said. "It was really high-paced. Its good to jump into a game like that. ... To hold them to 18 shots is something were proud of." Cogliano put the Ducks ahead just 3:39 in with a breakaway goal set up by Saku Koivus pass. The speedy Coglianos goal was his 18th, matching his career high with 21 games left in the regular season. Brian Elliott stopped 18 shots for the Blues just a few hours after St. Louis acquired star goalie Ryan Miller in a five-player trade with the Buffalo Sabres that included goalie Jaroslav Halak. St. Louis still hasnnt scored after the break, taking its first two shutout losses of the season. Lucas Biglia Soccer Jersey. Vancouver also beat the Blues 1-0 on Wednesday night. "Weve just got to put a couple in the net and well get going," Blues defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk said. "Were creating the chances. Were doing a great job of that. But theyre one of the toughest teams. Thats a team were probably going to have to compete against down the road." The Blues made a major move for their post-season stretch about three hours before the puck dropped in Anaheim, acquiring Miller and agitator Steve Ott from Buffalo in a deal for Chris Stewart, prospect William Carrier, two draft picks and Halak, the Slovak Olympian who has been with St. Louis since 2010. "Its tough when friends leave, when you get to know families and get in personal relationships with those guys," said St. Louis captain David Backes, Millers teammate with the U.S. Olympic team. "But from a hockey standpoint, the management and ownership is really committed to winning, and winning now, and thats partly shown in the move weve made. Ryan Miller is an all-world goalie that has shown it time and time again." Miller and Ott wont join St. Louis until this weekend in Phoenix, so the Blues backup goalie was Jeff Tyni, the Ducks locker room attendant. Both teams attempted to make up for their post-break rust with aggressive physical play. Backes and Perry fought in the first period, extending their personal feud. Adding to the Canada-U.S. rivalry vibe, Getzlaf and T.J. Oshie also nearly dropped gloves during the same prolonged scuffle. NOTES: Ducks C Mathieu Perreault left the game early in the third period with an upper-body injury after taking a big hit. ... Stewart was traded on a Blues-Ducks gameday for the second time. St. Louis acquired Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk from Colorado on Feb. 19, 2011, and Stewart made his Blues debut against Anaheim later in the day. ... The Ducks scratched F Jakob Silfverberg, who won a silver medal for Sweden last weekend. D Sami Vatanen, who won bronze with Finland and led the Olympic tournament with five assists, is back with Anaheims AHL affiliate in Norfolk. ' ' '
