Ottawa made it 2-0 as Backstrom allowed Hoffmans sho

Concord, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Saturday nights Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway will be a pivotal race for six-time and defending Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. Charlotte is the second of three races in the Contender Round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Talladega (Oct. 19) is the last event in this round. After Talladega, the playoff field will be trimmed from 12 drivers to eight for the Eliminator Round, which includes the races at Martinsville (Oct. 26), Texas (Nov. 2) and Phoenix (Nov. 9). Johnsons hopes of winning a record-tying seventh title in NASCARs premier series this year are in jeopardy after he finished 40th this past Sunday at Kansas, the first race in the Contender Round. He was involved in an accident with Greg Biffle in the early going. Johnson, the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, is now 12th in the Chase point standings. He is 27 points behind eighth-place and teammate Jeff Gordon. Per NASCARs new playoff format for Sprint Cup, any current championship- eligible driver who wins a race during a round will automatically advance into the next round. Joey Logano won at Kansas and secured one of the eight positions for the Eliminator Round. If Johnson can win at either Charlotte or Talladega, he will move on to the following round as well. In May, Johnson won at Charlotte for a record seventh time when he took the checkered flag for the Coca-Cola 600 -- NASCARs longest race of the season. He scored a season-sweep at this 1.5-mile track in both 2004 and 05. His last victory in the fall race here occurred in 2009, the same year he claimed his fourth of five consecutive series championships. Were ready to go racing, Johnson said. I love competing at this racetrack, and I look forward to a great race on Saturday night. The mindset is really to come in and try to take a trophy out of here. That would really solve our problem in the points that we have right now. If we cant get a win, then we need to focus on finishing as high as we can. And the reason that leaves us a little bit of hope is if you miss the big ones (major crashes) at Talladega then you could assume that some of the Chasers will be involved in one or two of those. You might have another chance. Johnson has three wins this season but has not been to victory lane since June 15 at Michigan (18 races ago). Surprisingly, he has not led a lap in a race since the Aug. 17 event at Michigan. Johnson started the Chase with a 12th- place finish at Chicagoland, followed by a fifth-place run at New Hampshire and then third at Dover before finishing 40th at Kansas. Were just not where we want to be, bottom line, he said. Were working very hard to get there. This sport is not forgiving. And what youve accomplished in the past doesnt buy you a damn thing for the present. Youve got to go out there and earn it and make the most of it. Weve been a third-to-fifth-place car, and we can run and finish there, but we havent been a dominant car. Were certainly hoping that when we come to tracks that have been very good for the 48 then we can be able to find that little bit and find that extra tenth (of a second) to put us in that position and get our mojo going in the right way. Johnson has several good tracks ahead of him. He has eight wins at Martinsville, three at Texas, including a victory there one year ago, and four at Phoenix. I know what our team is capable of, and I know if we can find that last stone to flip over, where the speed is at, whats holding us up, then we can go, Johnson said. Were eagerly awaiting for that moment in time to happen. So I feel like good tracks are going to promote that and help us find that way sooner. Dover, although we didnt lead a lap there, we were still very competitive and ran third. Were here at another great track (Charlotte). Martinsville is right around the corner, so were hopeful to get on our way. For now, Johnson is just hoping to stay alive in the Chase and make it into the Eliminator Round. Forty-four teams are on the entry list for the Bank of America 500. Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Saturday, Oct. 11. Race: Bank of America 500. Site: Charlotte Motor Speedway. Track: 1.5-mile oval. Start time: 7:30 p.m. ET. Laps: 334. Miles: 501. 2013 Winner: Brad Keselowski. Television: ABC. Radio: Performance Racing Network (PRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio. Steve Nash Jersey .Two San Francisco radio stations say they wont play the song during the duration of the World Series. A Kansas City, Missouri, station responded with plans to play the Grammy-winning track every hour from 7 a. Luka Doncic Mavericks Jersey . "There are a lot of things that are going very well in this organization. Im not coming in here to rip things apart," Nicholson told reporters Friday. "I know what Hockey Canada was when I started, and I know where this (Oilers) organization is today. http://www.mavericksteamofficial.info/ . Tensions rose in the first period when Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik hit Bruins forward Loui Eriksson with what appeared to be a clean hit. Custom Dallas Mavericks Jerseys . -- Those impatient for the Stanley Cup to return to Canada will have just one team to root for in the NHL playoffs -- the Montreal Canadiens. Jalen Brunson Jersey . (AP) -- The head of the committee that developed Major League Baseballs plan to expand instant replay says he is optimistic the system will be in place this season, even though owners and unions for players and umpires have yet to approve.OTTAWA - Some nights are just more fun — and this was one of them for Craig Anderson.The Ottawa Senators goaltender made 34 saves to blank the Minnesota Wild 3-0 Thursday night to pick up his second shutout of the season and 28th of his career.Anderson, who earned the win Tuesday against Detroit as well, has looked relaxed of late and was often seen laughing and smiling after whistles as he spoke with teammates.Its easier to smile when youre winning by three goals, said Anderson. When things are going well and youre winning (its fun). The team just seemed to be throwing a lot of pucks at the net and you get a lot of whistles and freebie shots.The Senators (7-3-2) got offensive contributions from Mike Hoffman, who scored twice, and Clarke MacArthur.Niklas Backstrom made 14 saves in the loss for Minnesota (7-5-0).The Senators remain the only team in the NHL without a regulation loss on home ice — which is impressive considering how much Ottawa struggled on home ice last season. The Senators are 4-0-2 on home ice.We definitely have more confidence at home, said MacArthur. Whether were feeding off the crowd or were making good plays. Were playing the way we should play at home and winning games at home is going to be big for down the stretch.Once again the Senators got some big contributions from its kid line — the trio of Hoffman, Mark Stone and Curtis Lazar.Shh dont tell anybody, joked Senators head coach Paul MacLean when asked about the lines success. I thought again they provided a lot of energy and obviously they provided offense and lets just keep putting them out there.The young line enjoys playing together and has been one of Ottawas most consistent since being formed late last week.Since game one we feel like we clicked and we feel good playing with each other, said Hoffman. Moving forward here we want to continue to improve and obviously the chemistry is there and I dont think teams really expect it too much so we kind of catch them a little bit.The Wild have outshot their opponents in all 12 of their games this season, but have lost their past two.Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo said not much should be made of that stat.I think that our team game gives us a chance to do that, said Yeo. I do feel that there are some guys that are going right now and I do know that there are some other guys who could give us more.dddddddddddd I feel like there are some guys that are doing the minimum, the minimum as far as playing the system. Youve got to do those things that are expected of everybody, but then youve got to bring a little something extra on top of that and I think thats one thing thats missing right now.Hoffman made it 3-1 at 2:06 of the third period with his second goal of the night in front of 16,867 at Canadian Tire Place. Stone, who extended his point streak (2-3) to five games, found Hoffman all alone and he fired a shot that easily beat Backstrom.Despite just four shots on goal in the second the Senators managed to score on two of them.MacArthur scored his team-leading seventh of the season on the power play at 2:23 to open the scoring. Erik Karlsson found Bobby Ryan down low and he made a quick pass to MacArthur, who beat Backstrom short side from just outside the crease.Just over two minutes later Ottawa made it 2-0 as Backstrom allowed Hoffmans shot to trickle through his pads.The Wild had a number of chances, but Anderson was unbeatable. The Senators goaltender made two huge saves on the same power play, Jason Zucker hit the post on what would have been a sure goal and then Anderson made a glove save on Thomas Vanek.Andy played great for us, said MacArthur. We tried to give him a couple, but he was there to make some good saves in the second and in the third too he made a couple great saves.Anderson was just as good in the first period when the Senators were outshot 9-5.Ottawa had two great chances to open the scoring as it had back-to-back power plays, but was unable to register a single shot on goal on either opportunity.Notes: The Senators will be without D Marc Methot (back, indefinite) and D Chris Phillips (lower body, day-to-day). RW Erik Condra and LW Colin Greening were healthy scratches for Ottawa. The Wild were without LW Zach Parise (lower body, day-to-day), LW Matt Cooke (lower body, indefinite), D Jared Spurgeon (shoulder, indefinite), D Keith Ballard (flu, indefinite). D Jonathan Blum was a healthy scratch. RW Justin Fontaine celebrates his 27th birthday Thursday. ' ' '