Wayne Simmonds and Steve Mason came up big with the Flyers season on the line and forced a Game Seven. Scott Cullen has notes on Simmonds, Mason, Lundqvist, Giroux, Hagelin and more. LETS GO SEVEN Wayne Simmonds scored a hat trick and Steve Mason stopped 34 of 36 New York Rangers shots as the Philadelphia Flyers won 5-2 in Game Six, forcing a Game Seven to decide the series Wednesday night. Simmonds, who scored a career-high 29 goals and 60 points during the regular season, erupted for three goals, all from within a few feet of the net. Officially, Simmonds three goals traveled a total of 20 feet, but thats not unusual -- among players with at least 20 goals, Simmonds average shooting distance of 26.0 feet during the regular season ranked 15th, so he makes his bones as a presence in front of the net. In addition, or at least underlying his three-goal performance, Simmonds generated 11 shot attempts in only 12:50 of ice time. While Simmonds was cleaning up the scraps around the Rangers net, Mason was taking care of business in the Philadelphia net, making quite a few high-quality saves to preserve the Flyers lead, even though the Rangers carried a lot of the play (and before score effects kicked in). Mason has stopped 92 of 98 shots that hes faced (.939 SV%) since joining the series in Game Three. Thats better than usual from Mason, who has a career save percentage of .907 and a .920 mark in 68 games with the Flyers, but Philadelphia needs him to continue at that level for one more game to get through this series. Flyers D Erik Gustafsson, replacing Hal Gill (who was replacing Nicklas Grossman) in the lineup, scored a goal on a breakaway coming out of the penalty box and had solid relative possession numbers. For the Blueshirts, Henrik Lundqvist comes with the much higher pedigree, but after allowing four goals on 23 shots in Game Six (before getting pulled in favour of Cam Talbot), his save percentage in the series has dipped to .892 (132 saves on 148 shots). Lundqvist has a .920 career save percentage in both the regular season and playoffs, over a span of 647 games. That track record ranks him among the elite puckstoppers in the league, but its imperative for the Rangers that Lundqvist bounce back in Game Seven. Its not just Lundqvist that needs to be better, though. The Rangers power play is in a 0-for-20 streak since Benoit Pouliots goal in the first period of Game Two. While RW Rick Nash has yet to score a goal in the series, hes put 25 shots on goal and has the best possession numbers for the Rangers in the series. Flyers C Claude Giroux contributed a goal and two assists to the cause, his goal coming into an empty net with 4:11 remaining in the third period, giving him six points through six games. Rangers LW Carl Hagelin scored a goal, but created many chances in Game Six, registering nine shot attempts in 14:50 of ice time and rookie J.T. Miller had an assist for the second straight game since being inserted into the lineup. No team has won back-to-back games in this series, so perhaps that favours the Rangers going into Game Seven, though owning the possession battle would be more relevant. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. J.J. Watt Youth Jersey . Showing more spark after not taking enough challenging shots on goal in their 1-0 loss Friday night, the Bruins had 18 shots in the first period after managing just 25 in the entire opener. Luke Glendening cut Bostons lead to 2-1 at 13:20 of the second period before Milan Lucic scored late in the second and Zdeno Chara added a power-play goal early in the third. Max Scharping Texans Jersey . -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Colby Rasmus drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Saturday. http://www.officialhoustontexanspro.com/Cullen-gillaspia-texans-jersey/ . - The New England Patriots needed help on defence so they added three experienced players at midseason. DOnta Foreman Youth Jersey . -- A 25-year-old freelance journalist from British Columbia was formally charged on Thursday with a felony, five days after she was arrested in the United States over allegations she threatened to kill her hockey player boyfriend. Justin Reid Texans Jersey . Compared to what hes gone through in recent weeks, that seemed like a breeze. Speaking to The Associated Press on Friday at an NBA Cares event, Silver said hes thrilled that the leagues attention can be on the championship series between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs -- and not, as it was for so much of the post-season, on the off-the-court matters involving the banishment of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and now the looming sale of that franchise.LISBON, Portugal — The encounter between Portugal and Sweden is the marquee matchup in the European playoffs to complete the continents 13 entries for next years World Cup. Portugal and Sweden finished second in their qualifying groups behind Russia and Germany, respectively. Here are five things to know about the first-leg game in Lisbon on Friday. The second leg is at the Swedish national stadium on Tuesday. ___ JUST ONE, NOT BOTH One of Europes most sensational goalscorers wont be thrilling the crowds in Brazil. Portugals Cristiano Ronaldo and Swedens Zlatan Ibrahimovic are two of the games top showmen, and prolific scorers, with the kind of talent that can light up stadiums. And both are in top form — they each bagged a hat trick for their clubs last weekend. Ronaldos third hat trick of the Spanish season for Real Madrid made him the top scorer in La Liga with 16 goals in 13 rounds. He has added another eight in four Champions League games. The 28-year-old winger, who was crowned FIFA world player of the year in 2008, is Portugals second-highest scorer after Eusebio, with 43 strikes in 107 appearances. Swedish defender Mikael Lustig has the job of marking Ronaldo — and says hell need some help, because "support is the secret in a game like this." Ibrahimovic is Swedens second all-time scorer, with 46 goals. He has racked up 15 goals in 16 games for Paris Saint-Germain this season, including seven in the Champions League. The 32-year-old striker was the French leagues top scorer last season and can swing a game in his teams favour. A year ago, he scored all of Swedens goals in a 4-2 win over England, with his late overhead kick counting as one of the sports greatest goals. "We can stop him," Portuguese centre-back Bruno Alves said, "but it means stopping the whole Sweden team because if he doesnt get the ball he cant do much." ___ OTHERS TO WATCH Nani has spent most of his international career in Ronaldos shadow. The Manchester United winger has struggled to make his mark over the past year, being sidelined by injuries that kept him out of four Portugal matches. He didnt find the net for 16 months up to Octobers qualifier against Luxembourg. With 14 goals in 70 appearances for Portugal, Nani is keen to claim his place in the limelight. "Its all about having the right attitude," he said. While the Portuguese focus their attention on Ibrahimovic, they face a big obstacle at the other end of the pitch wheere goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson is one of Swedens standout players.dddddddddddd The 32-year-old is Swedens bulwark, often saving the day when the sometimes brittle Swedish defence cracks. Isaksson produced some spectacular saves in Swedens qualifiers against Austria and Ireland and memorably saved a stunning bicycle kick by Lionel Messi last February. ___ PORTUGALS PROBLEMS The Portuguese commonly play better against big-name teams than less famous ones. Their qualifying campaign was spoiled by home and away draws against Israel and a home draw against Northern Ireland. Inconsistency has dogged Portugal, which has won just eight of its 16 qualifiers and friendly games since the 2012 European Championship finals. This is the third time in a row Portugal has fallen short of automatic qualification for a major international tournament. It also went through the playoffs to reach the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. Despite having Ronaldo on its team, it has struggled to make its superiority tell on the scoresheet. "Even when weve played well weve lacked something vital — effectiveness in front of goal," coach Paulo Bento said. Portugals joint second-top scorer in qualifying was central defender Bruno Alves, whose four goals matched those by Ronaldo. Helder Postiga was top with six. ___ SWEDISH SPIRIT While playing unevenly and sometimes coming up short in defence, Sweden showed an impressive fighting spirit in its qualifying campaign. Most remarkably, the team rallied from four goals down to draw 4-4 with Germany. It also turned around a game against Austria, fighting back from a goal down to win 2-1, and did the same against Ireland for a 2-1 victory. That record isnt lost on Portugal coach Bento. "Sweden is a team that never gives up," he said. "Well have to be totally concentrated." ___ HISTORY LESSONS Portugal is ranked 14th in world by FIFA. Sweden is at 25th. Though the Portuguese have risen to the occasion at international tournaments, reaching the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012, their trophy cabinet is still bare, as is Swedens. Sweden has never lost in Portugal in seven visits. It also has a head-to-head advantage with six wins and three defeats against Portugal. But the Swedes havent beaten Portugal since 1984, and their last three meetings ended in draws. "Neither team can be said to be the favourite," Bento said. ____ Malin Rising contributed to this report from Stockholm. ' ' '
