Johnny Cash » each week, not just against the scuffling Te

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild were reeling as last year ended. Star Zach Parise was on injured reserve. Coach Mike Yeos job was in jeopardy. Then the problems really piled up. Starting goalie Josh Harding was out of action again with an illness. Captain Mikko Koivu broke his ankle. Defenceman Jared Spurgeon got hurt, too. Somehow, the Wild survived -- and thrived. "Ah, it was a piece of cake," Yeo said last week, smiling wryly. "I slept like a baby." With an 11-4-2 record in 17 games since the calendar turned to 2014, the Wild have taken control of the first of two wild-card spots in the Western Conference playoff race. With 69 points, theyre ahead of Phoenix and Dallas, who have 64 apiece and have played one fewer game. Eight of those 11 wins were in regulation. "All I wanted to do is I wanted our players to look at me and say, OK, hes got confidence. OK, well, we should have confidence," Yeo said. "That was the one thing that I wanted. And I did believe in the group that we had still. And I did believe in the game that we played." The Wild still have had trouble scoring, ranking 25th in the NHL with 2.36 goals per game. With Hardings return unknown and Niklas Backstrom injured and ineffective at different times this season, Darcy Kuemper has taken over in the net. Relying on a rookie goalie can be a risk. But Parise is back in form from his broken foot. Spurgeon has returned. Koivu is skipping the Olympics and expected at full strength when the schedule resumes on Feb. 27. Nino Niederreiter, acquired in a draft-day trade, has given the offence a boost. Mikael Granlund has bounced back from a rough rookie year. "I think weve got good character," leading scorer Jason Pominville said. "A lot of guys stepped up in different situations. It wasnt easy at times. You could tell that we were missing some of our key guys, but I think other guys kind of found a way to adjust their game and get adjusted to the level of our play that you have to be successful night in and night out." During Yeos tenure as coach, the Wild have seemed to play better in less-than-ideal circumstances than when in tip-top shape. "Knowing our group, knowing competitors in general, they love a challenge," Yeo said. "So I think we all do." League realignment was welcomed by the Wild, for enhanced regional rivalries to better entice fans and more games in their own time zone. But this season, the new look has made their post-season bid more difficult. Only the top three teams in each division are guaranteed a playoff spot, and St. Louis (84 points), Chicago (84) and Colorado (79) are comfortably ahead of the Wild, who have only 23 games left. "Weve just got to focus on winning games and when we play Colorado, try to beat them and try to lessen that cushion that they have on us and try to slowly creep up on them," Pominville said. Added Parise: "Thats hard to gain that many points. But you never know. ... Youve got to push the teams down that are below you, and we have to take care of ourselves." The non-Olympians on the roster will reconvene for practice next week. The Wild will have to be careful not to lose the momentum they built, with 21 days between games. "Much the same as out of the lockout, its how can you get yourself game ready?" Yeo said. "Making sure that youre ready to execute and play at the pace that you need to play at, making sure that youre ready to battle at the level you need to, and making sure that the conditioning is at the level that you need it at." Cheap Nike Roshe Wholeasle . The Raptors second-year forward has been one of the primary beneficiaries of the early-season trade, breaking out and becoming a vital part of his teams success on both ends of the floor. Around the league, teams are starting to take notice and feature Ross more predominately in their pre-game scouting reports but its not just the opposition that hes impressing. Cheap Nike Roshe Sale . The trade deadline is Monday, Mar. 2 at 3pm et/Noon pt. TRADES COMPLETED SINCE OCT. 1, 2014: Feb. 15, 2015 Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: F Olli Jokinen, F Brendan Leipsic, 1st Round Pick (2015) Nashville Predators acquire: D Cody Franson, F Mike Santorelli Feb. http://www.wholesalenikeroshe.com/ . Its a blessing and a burden for nine sons of former NHL players who are all expected to be taken in the first four rounds of the draft this weekend. Wholesale Nike Roshe . Philippe Desrosiers stopped 42 shots through overtime and three more in the shootout to pick up his third shutout of the season for Rimouski (31-15-7). Zachary Fucale made 28 saves for Halifax (34-17-3) in the loss. Cheap Nike Roshe Online . -- Adam Tambellini scored three times and set up one more as the Calgary Hitmen won their sixth in a row by crushing the host Lethbridge Hurricanes 8-1 on Saturday in Western Hockey League play.INDIANAPOLIS - Colts coach Chuck Pagano befriended John Harbaugh years ago. Now Harbaughs former defensive co-ordinator in Baltimore is about to become a Ravens fan all over again. After seeing three AFC division leader lose in Week 15, AFC South champion Indianapolis moved back into contention for a first-round bye with Sundays 25-3 win over Houston. If the Colts and Ravens each win their final two games, Indy can start prepping for a divisional round game at home. "I always root for those guys, so I guess well be rooting for those guys again," Pagano said Monday. "Our focus is on us because it really wont matter if we dont take care of business, but well root for those guys, too." Last Monday, after losing at Cincinnati, the Colts (9-5) appeared to be locked into the AFCs No. 4 seed and were trying to generate some momentum before hosting their first playoff game of the post-Peyton Manning era. But after losses by Denver (11-3), New England (10-4) and Cincinnati (9-5) this past week, the Colts find themselves right back in the seeding chase. Indy closes out the season with a trip to Kansas City, which locked up a playoff spot with a win at Oakland, and at home against a Jacksonville team that has been much better over the second half of the season. Win both and anything, including a longshot jump to the No. 1 seed, is still possible. Cincinnati finishes at home against Minnesota and Baltimore. New England visits Baltimore and wraps up the regular season at home against Buffalo. Denver has trips to Houston and at Oakland, and the Chiefs close things out at San Diego. So if the Colts and Ravens win their last two, Indy have a better overall record than either the Bengals or Baltimore and would win a tiebreaker over New England on better conference record. Theyre just not looking at it quite the same way. "Regardless of what happens with anyone else, we want to win the rest of our games and kind of be catching fire here at the right time going into the playoffs," left tackle Anthony Castonzo said. "We want to be pplaying our best ball regardless of what happens with any other teams.dddddddddddd" After six weeks of slow starts and mostly frustrating football, the Colts looked more like the early-season team that jumped out to a big division lead. They led 20-3 at halftime, forced two turnovers, set up another score with a long punt return and produced their most lopsided victory since Sept. 29. It was easily their most complete game since Pro Bowl receiver Reggie Wayne went down with a season-ending knee injury Oct. 20, and the difference came down to adjustments Andrew Luck & Co. made this week. Indy started the game with a no-huddle offence, got more receivers involved with a series of screens and was able to run the football in the second half. Darius Butler picked off two passes, too, giving him eight over the last two seasons, and Robert Mathis forced his second safety of the season. Thats how the Colts want things to look each week, not just against the scuffling Texans. "Everybodys jockeying for playoff position," Butler said. "You have the teams that are either fighting in the hunt or trying to climb another seed or two. So were jockeying for playoff position. We know every win counts, thats what we can control and what we do. Hopefully, other teams fall off pace, but we just want to keep stacking up wins." Notes: Pagano said offensive lineman Joe Reitz, who started at guard Sunday, was diagnosed with a concussion and will go through the NFL protocol. ... Most of the Colts other injured players are considered day-to-day. Those on the list are: linebacker Daniel Adongo (hamstring), receiver LaVon Brazill (foot), running back Donald Brown (stinger), safety Sergio Brown (groin), fullback Stanley Havili (knee), centre Samson Satele (elbow), cornerback Greg Toler (groin). ... Pagano said he is hoping to have defensive tackle Ricky Jean Francois (foot) back for the Jacksonville game but noted he could return this week. ___ Online: http://pro32.ap.org ' ' '