Allgemeines » Diego to get its first hit until the fourth inning. Th

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Calvin Pickard backstopped the Colorado Avalanche to their most complete victory of the season.The 22-year-old rookie keeps turning heads in the Avalanche dressing room, this time leading Colorado to a 5-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night.He deserves a lot of credit, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. He competes hard out there. In the first he made three very good saves look pretty easy.Alex Tanguay scored a pair of goals to help Colorado snap its two-game skid. Afterward, he praised Pickard.Hes come here, hes battled and hes given us a chance every night to win, Tanguay said. Hes been nothing but spectacular.Colorado also got goals from Cody McLeod, John Mitchell and Erik Johnson. Mitchell and Tanguay added assists, and Jarome Iginla had three.Last-minute call-up Johan Larsson scored his first NHL goal for the Sabres, who had won six straight home games.Colorado has won its last eight against Buffalo dating to 2005, and jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Johnsons goal 2:23 into the game.Larsson nearly tied it when he got free in the slot, but his quick wrist shot was scooped by Pickard.The Sabres had several chances to tie the game during their first power play, but Pickard made a number of saves, including an in-close stop of Zemgus Girgensons.Im feeling comfortable, more and more so, said Pickard, who is 5-5-2. Its nice playing every game. I thought I had a good outing in Pittsburgh, too, and I just wanted to build off that.Colorado picked up a short-handed goal moments later when Ryan OReilly found McLeod on a 3-on-2 to make it 2-0 at 7:07.We skated, we moved the puck and we used our best tool, which is our speed, Tanguay said.It was Buffalos fifth short-handed goal allowed this season, tied for the highest total in the NHL.Colorado skated into the dressing room with a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.Best first period weve had all year, Johnson said. Kind of, foot off the gas a little bit in the second.Thats when Pickard shined brightest, making 10 saves.When were playing with the lead all game, youre going to be called upon a few times each period and I just wanted to be solid for the guys, Pickard said.Colorado got its third goal 1:51 into the third when Iginla sent a cross-ice pass to a wide-open Tanguay, who beat a sliding Jhonas Enroth over the left shoulder.Mitchell beat Enroth between the legs at the 5:09 mark.Theyre a very skilled team, Sabres coach Ted Nolan said. If you give them a chance, theyre going to put them in.Larsson, who said he arrived from Rochester with two minutes left in warmups, one-timed Chris Stewarts pass into the net, ruining Pickards shutout hopes with 6:33 to play.Disappointed we couldnt get the shutout for Pickard. That stings a lot, but really good group effort, Johnson said.Nolan pulled Enroth with nearly four minutes remaining, and Buffalo drew a penalty with the man advantage. Pickard held strong, however, including a glove save on Tyler Ennis.Buffalo lost Patrick Kaleta in the first period and Tyler Myers in the second, finishing the game with 16 available skaters. Myers is questionable for Saturdays game in Boston, while Kaleta wont travel to Boston due to an illness.Enroth made 18 saves in the loss.NOTES: Buffalo had to call up Mikhail Grigorenko from Rochester on Saturday morning when Torrey Mitchell was deemed unfit to play, and then recalled Larsson just before game time after Matt Moulson fell ill. ... The Sabres went 0 for 4 on the power play. ... It was Larssons 34th NHL game. Hes played 33 with Buffalo and one with Minnesota. Mike Palmateer Jersey . TSN 1290s coverage begins with Hustler & Lawless at 3pm. Rick Ralph hosts the Official Jets Pre-game Show at 5pm. Darcy Tucker Jersey .C. -- Al Jefferson knows few people will be giving the Charlotte Bobcats a chance to upset the Miami Heat in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. http://www.officialmapleleafsfanstore.com/authentic-felix-potvin-maple-leafs-jersey/ . Specifically, thumbs up to the Canadian-based teams in the NHL, or at least most of them. William Nylander Jersey . -- Marty Havlat scored three goals for the first time in nearly nine years, and the San Jose Sharks prevented Colorado from clinching the Central Division title with a 5-1 victory over the Avalanche on Friday night. Adam Cracknell Jersey .com) - The Dallas Mavericks had a five-game winning streak snapped last time out, but theyll try to get back into the winners circle Sunday evening when the Milwaukee Bucks pay a visit to American Airlines Center. SAN DIEGO -- A front-office shakeup had no impact on the San Diego Padres performance. After the team announced general manager Josh Byrnes was fired minutes before the first pitch with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, the Padres put up another punchless performance in a 2-1 loss against Hyun-Jin Ryu. Although Padres President and CEO Mike Dee said there were a number of factors that figured into the firing, Padres Executive Chairman Ron Fowler made it clear that the ownership group was not happy with the product on the field. "When you invest 50 per cent more money over the last two years, in terms of payroll, you expect better performance," Fowler said. "We gave baseball ops a clean slate as far as who did they want, what did they want to do. For my perspective, we are standing here as a consequence of that not working." Byrnes off-season moves included free agent signings of starting pitcher Josh Johnson, who has yet to pitch for San Diego since straining his right forearm in spring training, reliever Joaquin Benoit and outfielder Seth Smith. "We were led to believe, and I think its fair to say we believed, based upon the investment that we made, the additions we made in the off-season, the addition of certain players during the off-season, that would put us over the top," Dee said. "We felt confident that we would be in a position to compete for post-season baseball." Dee added that manager Bud Black has been told that his job is safe at least through the end of the season. Until the club hires a new general manager, senior vice-president for baseball operations Omar Minaya and assistant general managers A.J. Hinch and Fred Uhlman, Jr. will assume the GM duties. Minaya was the general manager of the New York Mets from 2005-10. Byrnes was hired by the Padres as their senior vice-president for baseball operations in December 2010 after he was let go as general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he was in the middle of an eight-year deal. He was promoted 10 months later to GM and was given a five-year contract. Under Byrnes, the Padres payroll increased nearly $400 million to $89,881,696 on opening this season -- 23rd overall -- but the team has made little progress.dddddddddddd After finishing with 76-86 records in his first two seasons, the Padres are 32-43 and 12 1/2 games back in the NL West during an injury-plagued season. Byrnes was touted by the Padres as excelling at scouting and player development, but his biggest moves came through trades. He sent first base prospect Anthony Rizzo to the Cubs for top-line starter Andrew Cashner, and he dealt starting pitcher Mat Latos for infielder Yasmani Grandal, catcher Yonder Alonso, and right-handers Edinson Volquez and Brad Boxberger. Byrnes also acquired starter Tyson Ross, closer Huston Street, outfielder Carlos Quentin and right-hander Ian Kennedy. Ryu (9-3) had few problems against the light-hitting Padres, as he won for the sixth time in seven starts since missing more than three weeks with shoulder inflammation. The left-handed Ryu gave up one runs and four hits in six innings, and he did not allow San Diego to get its first hit until the fourth inning. The Dodgers, winners of 10 of 14, took two of three games in the series and have either won or split their last 11 series in San Diego. The last time they lost a series in San Diego was a three-game sweep in September 2010. Adrian Gonzalez and Dee Gordon drove in runs against Eric Stults (2-10). J.P. Howell pitched 1 1-3 perfect innings and Brian Wilson got two outs before Kenley Jansen finished off the four-hitter by pitching the ninth for his 22nd save in 25 chances. NOTES: Dodgers LF Matt Kemp extended his hitting streak to 10 games, while Ramirez increased his to nine games. ... San Diego has scored 23 runs in Stults 16 starts. ... Padres 3B Chase Headley (back) missed his fourth straight game. ... Dodgers RHP Zack Greinke (9-3, 2.57 ERA) faces Royals RP Jeremy Guthrie (4-6, 3.86) Monday in the opener of a three-game series at Kansas City. The Padres travel to San Francisco on Monday with RHP Andrew Cashner (2-6, 2.36) squaring off against Matt Cain (1-3, 3.66). ' ' '