vis Zajac won an offensive draw back to Ja

MONACO -- Canadas Milos Raonic opened his clay-court season with a second-round victory over Taiwans Yen Lu-Hsun at the Monte Carlos Masters on Wednesday. The No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., rebounded nicely after dropping a first-set tiebreaker in the 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1 victory. "I did a lot of things well today," Raonic said. "I had the discipline I needed when things were not going so well. "I played a clean match, on a lot of his service games I was creating opportunities for myself." Raonic, who had a first-round bye, fired 19 aces and completed the win in just under two hours in cool, windy conditions. He had three set point opportunities in the opening set but couldnt convert. "Even losing the first set, I still had chances in his service games," he said. "During the rest of the match on every game on his serve I was at least getting close. "I felt at ease despite the situation after the end of the first set." The Canadian rallied in the second set with an early break to lead for 2-0, eventually taking a 5-2 lead and serving it out to pull even. He ran away with the third set for the win. Raonic will next play No. 11 Tommy Robredo of Spain, who earned a 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 win over Julien Benneteau of France. "My goal is to do as well as I can this clay season and better than I did last year," said Raonic. "My main focus will be on the tournaments in Madrid and Paris." Also Wednesday, Roger Federer was happier than eight-time champion Rafael Nadal after their straight-sets wins to reach the third round. Federer took just 52 minutes to beat veteran Radek Stepanek 6-1, 6-2, while Nadal overcame a rusty start to put away Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 6-1. The top-seeded Nadal, who lost the title to Novak Djokovic last year, dropped his opening service game and trailed 3-1 in the first set. But from 4-4, the Spaniard reeled off six straight games, then the Russian qualifier broke his serve again. "I think I started little bit slow," Nadal said. "But he was playing very, very aggressive, hitting very strong, with no mistakes." Nadals body language suggested he was far from happy with his performance. At times he looked glum-faced, other times annoyed with his shots. His serve was vulnerable, too, as he conceded four break-point chances -- including in consecutive service games during the second set. He clinched victory with a crisp forehand winner. "I felt comfortable in the second set," Nadal said. "I think I was playing better. " Federer, returning to the tournament for the first time since 2011, was far more ruthless as he raced to 5-0 in 17 minutes. He improved his record against the 35-year-old Stepanek to 14-2. The Czech has not beaten Federer in six years. "A bit surprised how well it went. On clay, when you have the upper hand from the baseline, its kind of hard to get out of it," Federer said. "Thats kind of how it was for Radek. I had a good start to both sets, I was solid on my own service games. It was clearly a good match to start my clay-court campaign." The fourth-seeded Federer next plays another Czech, Lukas Rosol, who beat Frenchman Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-4, while Nadal plays Italian Andreas Seppi, who won 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-4 against Spaniard Pablo Andujar. Federer has never won Monte Carlo, losing in three straight finals to Nadal from 2006-08. They cant meet again until the final. Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka, seeded third, was slightly faster than Federer, needing only 46 minutes to thrash Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-0, 6-2. "I expected a more difficult first round against him. I felt good on the court," Wawrinka said. "I know that if I feel good physically, then I am able to put a lot of pressure on my opponent." No. 10 Fabio Fognini of Italy, No. 11 Tommy Robredo, No. 12 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and No. 15 Nicolas Almagro -- both Spanish -- also advanced to the third round. Raonic rallied to beat Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1; Fognini downed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4; Robredo won 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 against Julien Benneteau of France; Dimitrov downed Spaniard Albert Ramos 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and Almagro beat Nicolas Mahut, 7-6 (3), 6-3. Grand Prix Hassan II winner Guillermo Garcia-Lopez beat No. 17 Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-1, 7-5, and Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta next faces defending champion Novak Djokovic after winning 6-3, 7-6 (6) against Gael Monfils. Mirco Mueller Devils Jersey . Linemates Ryan Johansen and Boone Jenner each had a goal and an assist in the first period, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 36 saves to lead the Blue Jackets past the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Saturday night. Miles Wood Jersey . -- Jacksonvilles offensive makeover is just getting starting. http://www.devilssale.com/authentic-sami-vatanen-devils-jersey/ . Seriously. Seven years of losing has brought many different faces, players and management, to the annual pre-season get-to-know-the-team round up. Cory Schneider Devils Jersey . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries. Will Butcher Devils Jersey . In a pregame tribute commemorating his final contest at Coors Field on Wednesday night, Helton caught the ceremonial first pitch from his daughter with his wife, younger daughter and good friend Peyton Manning watching from the field.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Toronto Maple Leafs enjoyed a memorable win on New Years Day, but little has gone right for the club since. The Leafs hope to avoid a fifth consecutive loss since their victory in the Winter Classic as they play host on Sunday night to the New Jersey Devils. Since beating the Detroit Red Wings outdoors on Jan. 1, Toronto has been outscored 21-7 over its longest skid since dropping a season-high five in a row from Nov. 25-Dec. 3. After losing by a five-goal margin at Carolina on Thursday, the Maple Leafs were more competitive in a 3-2 setback to the hosting Washington Capitals the following night. Phil Kessel and James van Riemsdyk each posted a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs, while Jonathan Bernier gave up all three goals on 35 shots. "We had some unlucky bounces tonight and thats the way it goes for us," said Bernier. "I thought we all played really hard out there tonight and had a good game, just came up short." Bernier, who beat the Red Wings in the Winter Classic, has yielded 12 goals in three straight setbacks, while fellow netminder James Reimer has yielded 11 goals in his past three appearances, including two starts. Reimer is 4-1-2 with a 2.04 goals against average in seven career starts versus the Devils, while Bernier is 1-1-0 with a 1.92 GAA in two meetings. He got the start in the first of three encounters this season, posting 34 saves in a 2-1 shootout win at home over New Jersey on Nov. 8. Bernier is expected to get the call between the pipes this evening. Kessel tallied in regulation and van Riemsdyk had the shootout winner, giving the Maple Leafs their fifth victory in a row over the Devils..dddddddddddd. That includes three straight as the host. Toronto is 6-0-2 in its past eight over New Jersey overall. Michael Ryder had a goal and Cory Schneider made 27 saves in the most recent setback to the Leafs. Ryder scored for a fourth game in a row on Saturday night in a 2-1 overtime victory against the Florida Panthers, while the biggest goal of the game went to Marek Zidlicky. The defensemans eighth tally of the campaign came with just 2.1 seconds left on the clock and gave New Jersey a 2-0-1 mark on its three-game homestand. With just seconds left on the clock, Travis Zajac won an offensive draw back to Jaromir Jagr, who then quickly sent a pass that Zidlicky one-timed into the upper right corner of the net. "I can tell you we draw up a thousand faceoff plays over the course of a season and they very rarely work," said Devils head coach Peter DeBoer. "You either lose a draw or you dont get a bounce. The credit was to the execution. Zajac, Jagr and Zid and (Steve) Bernier did a great job." Jagrs assist on the play gave him 1,724 career points, moving him pass Hall of Famer and former teammate Mario Lemieux for sole possession of seventh place on the NHLs all-time list. Schneider, fresh off a 26-save shutout of Dallas on Thursday, turned back 29 shots to help New Jersey prevail. He is expected to get a third straight start tonight when the Devils begin a four-game road trip. Schneider, who will face the Maple Leafs for just the second time in his career, would make three straight starts for the second time this season. He is 7-9-5 with a 1.97 GAA, .921 save percentage and three shutouts in 21 starts this season. ' ' '