Following his teams 4-0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday, L. Brian Leetch Jersey .A. Galaxy coach Bruce Arena had some good things to say about his Canadian opposition. The former MLS Coach of the Year believes the Whitecaps are a good team and feels they should have a better record from their performances this season. But those words will have been little encouragement to Whitecaps fans who watched their team fall to its biggest defeat since arriving in Major League Soccer. In the final half hour of Saturdays match, the Whitecaps were taken apart by the leagues best team, and given a master class by arguably the leagues best player Landon Donovan, negating the positive feeling that had been created around Empire Field as the home side competed toe-to-toe with the Galaxy in a free flowing game over the course of the first hours play. For 60 minutes, the attacking formation, which included Davide Chiumiento playing just behind the front two of Eric Hassli and Mistapha Jarju, seemed to work. The Whitecaps created a number of chances on goal and played some attractive soccer in front of their record MLS attendance of 27,500. Salinas followed up his two-assist game in San Jose with another positive performance on the wing. He also tracked back when needed. Gershon Koffie was effective and showed plenty of potential in the holding midfield role. However, as the game wore on, the Whitecaps became increasingly more vulnerable on the counter attack, and once the breakthrough arrived, Los Angeles showed their class and took complete control. Unfortunately for the Whitecaps, the last quarter of the game looked like men against boys, with the Galaxys dominance aided by poor defending. It was alarming how quickly the Caps confidence seemed to drain away. Just moments after Shea Salinas shot against the post at the other end of the pitch, a slip by Michael Boxall allowed the Galaxy to open the scoring. For a team yet to lose when scoring the first goal, it was a situation the Galaxy took full advantage of. The handball in the area by Jordan Harvey soon after was inexplicable, and the defending on the third and fourth goals was non-existent. The 4-0 result was harsh on the Whitecaps and not reflective of the overall game, but it was a stark lesson about the big differences between teams competing at the top of the standings, and those at the bottom. This weekend, the Whitecaps face a much different challenge as the Chicago Fire arrive at Empire for a meeting between the two teams who occupy last place in the Western and Eastern standings. With the Fire having won just twice all year, anything less than a Vancouver win would be a major disappointment. At the other end of the standings, Arena has little to worry about after watching his Galaxy team add another three points in their quest for a second successive Supporters Shield as the best team in the MLS regular season, and he will have been delighted to see another compelling display from Donovan. The Americans two goals took his tally for the season to 11 and tied him with New Yorks Thierry Henry at the top of the leagues goal scoring standings. That total is even more impressive considering Donovan has only played 15 league games this season due to injuries and international duty. While fans of other clubs berate Donovan at every chance they get, his value to his team is unmatched, even in a line-up that usually includes David Beckham. Donovan leads by example, as shown by his decision to skip the bright lights and big stage of the MLS All-Star game on Wednesday in order to ensure he had fully recovered from a calf strain in time for the trip to Vancouver. He could very easily have opted to put himself first and play against Manchester United in New York, putting his place in the squad for his teams trip north of the border in jeopardy. Instead, Donovan chose to put his team first and ended up producing a Man of the Match performance as the Galaxy extended their unbeaten run to 14 matches, one short of tying their club record. Donovans influence on the game from wide areas in midfield is extremely impressive, finding space to create opportunities, but also cutting inside to central positions. After scoring two against Vancouver, he then provided the cross for Sean Franklin to add the third goal. Donovan continues to make a compelling case for another MLS MVP award. He is an inspiration for his team, and Major League Soccer is lucky to have him. Landon Donovan and the Galaxy will be live on TSN2 on Wednesday night as they take on Portland Timbers at 10:30pm et/7:30pm pt. Mats Zuccarello Jersey . Grant was fired a day after the Cavs dropped their sixth straight game, an embarrassing home loss to a Los Angeles Lakers team that started with eight players and finished with five. Derek Stepan Rangers Jersey ., native Andrew Wiggins wasnt around a year ago for one of the worst nights in Kansas basketball history.GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Between a three-day layoff and a quirk in the schedule, the San Jose Sharks were concerned about getting off to a slow start. They did, yet still found a way to pull out a road victory, something that had been hard to come by recently. Patrick Marleau scored in regulation and in the shootout, Joe Pavelski had a goal and an assist, and the Sharks beat the Phoenix Coyotes 4-3 on Friday night. "They had a little more jump and much better execution than we did early in the game, in fact off the opening faceoff," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "But I was pleased with the way our guys stuck with it and fought through it." San Jose had to fly out Friday morning because the new NHL labour agreement requires teams to take three full days off for the holiday break. The Sharks were flat early, and the Coyotes jumped on them, creating numerous good scoring chances in the first period to go up 1-0. The Sharks found their rhythm after they fought back. In regulation, Brent Burns had a goal and an assist, and Joe Thornton had two assists. Once San Jose hit the shootout, Logan Couture and Marleau scored, and Antti Niemi stopped Radim Vrbata and Oliver Ekman-Larsson for the Sharks second win in their past seven road games. "Its been tough for us on the road, so for us to go out and get the two points was nice," Marleau said. The Coyotes were much better in their own end than previously against the Sharks, allowing 28 shots in regulation after giving up 101 combined in a pair of games in San Jose earlier this season. Phoenix pulled out a victory in one of those first two games, but couldnt earn the extra point Friday after struggling in the shootout. David Moss had two goals, and Vrbata scored late in the third period to help Phoenix earn a point in its fourth straight game -- all after regulation. "The last time we got two points on San Jose, we probably didnt deserve those two points," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "Tonight, I thought that game was a toss-up. Unfortunately, we didnt get the extra point, but we put the work in to get the two points." With their early travel, the Sharks seemed a step slow in the openingg period, and the Coyotes jumped on them, generating several good scoring chances. Martin St. Louis Blue Jersey. San Jose gave them an extra one midway through the period, when Sharks forward Matt Nieto flipped an errant pass right to Moss, who whirled around in the slot and beat Niemi. The Sharks nearly scored early in the second period when a shot by Justin Braun hit the left post, bounced off a stick and hit the right post before being cleared away. They did get one through after a Coyotes turnover. Thornton ended up with the stray puck, skated up the middle and found Pavelski, who beat Smith over the glove shoulder from the left circle. The next two goals came quickly. Phoenix answered 68 seconds after Pavelskis goal when Moss fought off Nieto and redirected a shot from David Schlemko past Niemi. San Jose responded on a power play two minutes after that, tying it when Marleau gathered a pass from Tommy Wingels and beat Smith with a wrist shot from between two defenders. The Sharks made a big push to start the third period, and Burns scored midway through, one-timing a feed from Pavelski behind the net that went through Phoenix defenceman Derek Morris legs. Phoenix again had an answer, scoring with just over 6 minutes left on a power play when Mike Ribeiro sent a pass through traffic to Vrbata, who scored his 11th of the season from the left circle to tie it at 3-all. Smith made a big save on Burns after a turnover right in front in overtime, but couldnt stop Couture or Marleau in the shootout. "Theyre such a good team, those first two lines have really good players," Vrbata said. "We played much tighter defensively and didnt give them much. Obviously, (they scored) three goals, but its a good team." NOTES: Friday night was the 10th anniversary of the Coyotes first game at Jobing.com Arena -- a 3-1 loss to Nashville. ... Thornton, the NHL assists leader with 37, has five in his past two games. ... Coyotes captain Shane Doan missed his ninth straight game because of Rocky Mountain Fever. He skated Friday morning, but no timetable has been set for his return. ... Couture has gone seven games without a point, leaving him stuck on 99 goals and 98 assists for his career. cheap nfl jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
