ABBOTSFORD, B. Dixon Machado Jersey .C. -- The Grand Rapids Griffins made a statement Saturday that the defending American Hockey League champions intend to make another long playoff run. Andrej Nestrasils three-point night helped Grand Rapids to a 7-2 win over the Abbotsford Heat and a 2-0 lead in its best-of-five first-round series. The third-year pro scored his first two career AHL playoff goals and added an assist in the blowout victory. "Hes been good," said Griffins captain Jeff Hoggan. "He was in Toledo (ECHL) last year but hes a skilled player. When we lose guys like (Tomas Tatar) and (Tomas) Jurco, guys who go up to the Red Wings, we need somebody to fill that role and hes done a fantastic job for us." The Griffins now head back home in hopes of a sweep after taking both games at the Abbotsford Centre. The Griffins won 2-1 on Friday in double overtime. "Yesterday was the first game of the playoffs, so everyone was kind of nervous," said Nestrasil. "I felt that sometimes we were trying to make plays, even if they werent there. Today we started a little more simple and it came out of that. We didnt let them shoot. They scored two first-period goals, five shots on net, so were going to try to play better defensively, because when you play well defensively you get the offensive chances after." Ryan Sproul, the Game 1 overtime hero, and Teemu Pulkkinen each had a goal and two assists for Grand Rapids while Trevor Parkes, Cody Emmerton and Hoggan also scored for the visitors, whose parent club Detroit was eliminated from the NHL playoffs and is expected to send some bodies back for Game 3 on Wednesday. "Weve got some talented young guys back there," said Hoggan of rookie defencemen like Sproul. "This is the time when you want to see what theyre all about. Playoff hockey is the toughest hockey. For them to step up, its going to be huge for us to go on and go far. We know theyre capable and theyre doing it at crunch time." Petr Mrazek had to stop just 15 shots, compared to his 55-save performance the night before. Max Reinhart had a goal and an assist for Abbotsford, which may have played its final home game after it was announced last week that the franchise will not be back in the city next season. Emile Poirier had the other goal, while Joni Ortio stopped 25-of-30 shots before being pulled. Doug Carr mopped up, making 14 saves. Though the Heat were embarrassed on home ice, and cancelled their regular post-game presser, the Griffins know that Game 3 wont be easy. "We have to make sure its hard for them to get opportunities," said Nestrasil. "Every chance, they need to earn it and make sure they have to come through us all the time." Abbotsford opened the scoring at the 7:40 mark of the first. Reinhart stepped into a shot in the high slot. Mrazek kicked it right to Poirier, who quickly brought the puck to his forehand and snapped it blocker side for his first professional playoff goal. The visitors, however, tied the game not long after. Mattias Janmark drove hard to the net and centred for Parkes, who chipped it by Ortio for his first AHL playoff goal at 10:13. The Heat regained the lead with a power-play goal at 15:32. Reinhart tried to centre for Ben Hanowski but it ricocheted off the skate of Brennan Evans. Just 35 seconds later the Griffins again drew even when Sprouls one-timer from the point was deflected by Nestrasil. Grand Rapids scored a short-handed goal late in the first to take their first lead. Emmerton made a move around one defender, then fought off another and chipped the puck past Ortio while falling to his backside, giving Detroits 2006 second-round selection his first AHL playoff goal in five years. Hoggan doubled the lead two minutes into the second period when he took a cross-ice feed from Pulkkinen and fired a wrist shot over the glove of Ortio, giving him 14 career AHL playoff goals. Nestrasil chased Ortio at 11:19 of the second, snapping a shot short side from a bad angle. "I just wanted to dump the puck in, but nobody came to me," said the Prague native. "I was basically walking into the zone. I just threw it at the net and it went through. Im glad I can score a goal like that. Im glad we scored a lot of goals because it gives the guys confidence." Sproul scored a power-play goal at 6:45 of the third and Pulkkinen added another on the power play at 12:09. Sparky Anderson Jersey . With the team he supported as a child on the verge of reaching the Champions League semifinals for the first time in 19 years, Ba instead scored the goal that knocked them out. Omar Infante Jersey . It was a day that saw England slump off a World Cup field once again battered and bruised. This time there was no red card to wonder about, no goalkeeping error or individual mistake. They were thoroughly beaten by something they have nothing of – genuine world class ability. http://www.tigersgearshop.com/Tigers-Ryan-Carpenter-Kids-Jersey/ . Johansen scored twice and Derek MacKenzie, Brandon Dubinsky and Cam Atkinson also had goals to lead the Blue Jackets to a 5-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night, ending a three-game losing skid.MOSCOW - Russia will cut the budget for hosting the 2018 World Cup as part of plans to slash state expenditure while recession looms, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Thursday.The Russian government is cutting its spending by 10 per cent across the board after the central bank predicted last month that the economy could contract 4.5 to 4.7 per cent this year, under pressure from low oil prices and international sanctions.Mutko, also a FIFA executive committee member, said in comments reported by the Tass news agency that World Cup stadiums and associated infrastructure would be exempt from the cuts. However, various organizational issues and subsidies to the organizing committee would be cut, he said, along with spending related to the draw ceremony.Mutko did not provide specific figures, but suggested the cuts would also apply to the non-exempt areas of World Cup spending.This month, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said he had been assured by President Vladimir Putin that economic problems would not affect the tournament, and FIFA told The Associated Press it was not worried by Mutkos announcement of cuts.We are not concerned that this will have any impact on the delivery of general infrastructure required for a successful staging of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, FIFA spokesman Olegs Sokols said in emailed comments.In a statement issued to the AP, the organizing committee said, This rationalization of federal funding will not affect key infrastructure essential for staging the tournament, like stadiums, training ssites, and team base camps, public transportation, IT infrastructure, and safety and security measures. Kirk Gibson Jersey. Russia has already cut the capacity of two of its 12 World Cup stadiums from 45,000 to 35,000, citing financial and legacy reasons, but Mutko ruled out further shrinking of stadiums to save money, saying FIFA was unwilling to lose any more ticket revenue from hosting games in front of fewer fans.FIFA wont give us any more concessions, and all the stadiums should be 45,000-capacity, he said. The ticketing program has started, its economics, its FIFAs earnings. The fact that they lowered two of the stadiums to 35,000 people for us; according to their projections, they already lost $60 million.Mutko said the Industry and Trade Ministry was tasked with gathering World Cup contractors for meetings at which they were encouraged to lower the price of concrete for tournament-related projects.According to government figures before Mutkos comments on Thursday, more than half of Russias projected $9.6 billion World Cup spending will come from the federal government budget, with much of the remaining sum paid for by Russian regional authorities and state-owned companies.At previous World Cups, FIFA has occasionally picked up the tab when the host nations government has been unable or unwilling to fund certain aspects of the preparation. In the run-up to last years tournament in Brazil, for example, FIFA covered a reported fee of $20 million to provide generators to power broadcast facilities. 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