Wimbledon semifinalist, in the first round Saturday on Center C

BOSTON -- Two teams coming off tough 3-2 road losses Tuesday night get together when the Carolina Hurricanes visit the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.Though both clubs fell, but the Bruins did manage to get a point at Philadelphia, losing a nine-round shootout after rallying for two goals in the third period to force overtime. Boston outshot the Flyers 47-21.The Bruins (21-10-1) are just 5-5-0 at home this season, but the Hurricanes, who are four points from the bottom of the Eastern Conference, are just 3-6-4 on the road.The Hurricanes (9-9-4) held a 2-0 lead in New York but were caught and passed by the Rangers, the second-winningest team in the NHL. Carolina, which felt it was a victim of a bad call late, slipped to 0-8-4 in its past 12 games at Madison Square Garden.For two periods we were by far the better team and didnt allow much of anything aside from the one goal and a couple other chances on the break, said Viktor Stalberg, who scored both Carolina goals Tuesday. He played for the Rangers last season. Other than that, they didnt have any zone time. We were putting pressure on them every single shift. Frustrating ending here.The Bruins, who went 8-6-1 in November, did pick up their first point of the season in nine games trailing after two periods. However, they succumbed in the third-longest shootout in team history (No. 2 was also this season).It was Bostons first game without both Zdeno Chara and John-Michael Liles, two of the teams three best defensemen. Chara, who missed the past four games, is still day-to-day with a lower-body injury, while Liles is out with a concussion he sustained Sunday.Asked Tuesday if Chara could return as early as Thursday, Bruins coach Claude Julien said, No idea. He could, (or) maybe not. I really dont know right now. I think hes supposed to skate back home. I dont have that news. So well see how he progresses. We want to have him back as soon as possible. But theres part of it that hes got to be medically cleared, and then the players got to feel that hes ready to go.The Hurricanes, 7-5-2 in November, dropped three of their past four and scored just seven goals in the four games.Weve got to continue to learn as we go, Carolina coach Bill Peters said. Obviously, this (loss to the Rangers) is one that I dont think too many guys will be happy the way it unfolded over 60 minutes. I thought we were in good shape at the beginning of the game, played real well and did a lot of good things. We just needed to continue that and sustain quality play for 60 minutes.Boston goalie Tuukka Rask is an impressive 7-3-3 with a 1.89 goals-against average and a .939 save percentage lifetime against the Hurricanes, while Carolina goaltender Cam Ward is just 14-15-3 with a 2.62 GAA and a .918 save percentage against Boston.Strangely enough, the Hurricanes go right back to New York and Madison Square Garden to face the Rangers on Saturday afternoon before hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning Sunday.The Bruins move on to Buffalo for a Saturday matinee against the Sabres. Custom Los Angeles Angels Jerseys . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. Angels Jerseys China . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. https://www.cheapangels.com/ .ca. Hey Kerry, big fan of yours, just finished reading your book. I think that we all saw the Canucks/Flames line brawl just after puck drop. It was obvious that something was about to happen, even to the referees because the fourth lines were on to start. Los Angeles Angels Pro Shop . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. Stitched Angels Jerseys . Marincin has played in two NHL games so far this season with two penalty minutes. The 21-year-old has three goals, four assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 games with the American Hockey Leagues Oklahoma City Barons this season. RIO DE JANEIRO -- With a 64-player field and 16 seeds -- half that of the majors -- the Olympic tennis draw set up some intriguing first-round matchups.Play opens Saturday, though many of the big names wont start their tournaments in Rio de Janeiro until Sunday. Novak Djokovic does take the court Saturday, but in doubles, not singles.Heres what to look for on Day 1 of what is scheduled as a nine-day event -- weather permitting.DJOKOVIC DOUBLES: Djokovic, a 12-time Grand Slam singles champion, teams with Nenad Zimonjic for Serbia in doubles. They face Croatias Marin Cilic and Marin Draganja in the first round Saturday.Djokovic and Zimonjic are 6-7 as a pairing in their careers, including a first-round defeat at the 2008 Beijing Games. Djokovic has played two doubles matches this year, both with Zimonjic, and they lost each time -- in Davis Cup in March and in Toronto just over a week ago in an Olympic warmup.The 40-year-old Zimonjic is a three-time major doubles champion.In singles, at least, Djokovic has dominated Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion, winning all 14 of their meetings.Cilic is scheduled to play twice Saturday, opening his singles tournament with a potentially tough matchup in Grigor Dimitrov. Two years ago, Dimitrov made his first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon at 23, seemingly a harbinger of big things to come for the player nicknamed Baby Fed -- as in Federer.A first-time major champion did indeed break through at the next Grand Slam tournament, but it was Cilic, who is seeded ninth in Rio. Dimitrov, meanwhile, hassnt made it past the fourth round at a major since, and his ranking is down to 34th.ddddddddddddVENUS RISING: Its been 16 years since Venus Williams won her singles gold medal at the Sydney Games. At 36, shes rolling into Rio with her best results in more than half a decade.The older Williams sister is No. 6 in the world -- her best ranking since early 2011. And shes coming off a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon -- her deepest run at a major since the 2010 U.S. Open.Williams faces 62nd-ranked Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, a 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist, in the first round Saturday on Center Court. The Williams sisters open their bid for a fourth Olympic doubles gold medal Sunday.FALLING STARS: For Sloane Stephens and Eugenie Bouchard, one player will move on Saturday with a chance for a momentum-building run in Rio. The other will see her tournament end in singles after one match.At times in recent years, Stephens and Bouchard have each looked poised to crash the top of the rankings, but it has yet to happen. Stephens, a 23-year-old American, stunned Serena Williams to reach the 2013 Australian Open semifinals; Bouchard, a 22-year-old Canadian, was the runner-up at Wimbledon the next year.But neither is even seeded in Rio -- with Stephens ranked 22nd and Bouchard 39th.Ninth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain gets a tough first-round matchup against 26th-ranked Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion. ' ' '