SportsHubLA

Y E S T E R D A Y…

Dallas 3, Ducks 1: Uh oh.  The Ducks’ defense of their ‘07 Stanley Cup, already on shaky ground, got a whole lot less stable last night in Big D, as Anaheim made some costly errors and shot themselves in their collective webbed feet and now find themselves down 3-1 in the best of seven series.  A turnover by Sean O’Donnell deep in the Anaheim zone led to Dallas’ first goal, and a breakaway opportunity for Dallas’ Stu Barnes was the backbreaker.   No time for the Ducks to wallow in self-pity, though.  Game 5 is tonight at Honda Center.

Angels 5, Royals 3: It wasn’t a totally empty night for the OC, as the Angels finally solved the mighty Royals, ending a six game losing streak against them.  Seriously.  To the Royals.  All it took was a three run, third inning double from Garrett Anderson, and a bounceback effort from Jon Garland, who held KC to two earned over 6.1 IP.   Makes sense.  Garland owned the Royals last year (3-1, 1.11).  Maybe that’s the real reason Tony Reagins made the deal.      

T O D A Y…

Ducks vs. Stars (7:30 pm, PRIME, Versus): Win, or go home.  Or more specifically, win at home or go home, something the Ducks couldn’t do in Games 1 and 2 of this series.  Now they find themselves facing elimination, and might do it with a new goalie in net.  JS Giguere hasn’t been razor sharp this series (though he’s hardly the reason the Ducks are behind), but with two games in two nights, Randy Carlyle could roll with backup Jonas Hiller tonight.

Dodgers at Braves (4:30 pm, KCAL):  Derek Lowe (1-0, 1.80) will square off against someone named Jeff Bennett (0-0, 5.52 for Atlanta.   It’ll be a homecoming for Andruw Jones, who plays against the Braves for the first time in his career.  Rafael Furcal has done it for a couple seasons now, but never perhaps while looking as strong as he does right now.

Angels vs. Mariners (7:00 pm, FSN):  Joe Saunders, who has been absolutely lights over the first few weeks of the young season, hopes to keep things rolling along against a Seattle team that has won seven of ten and can catch LAA atop the AL West with a win tonight.  Good news for the Halos- Vlad Guerrero says he’ll be back in the lineup after missing last night’s game with finger problem.  Even better news (in that same notebook)- John Lackey says he’s feelin’ fine after pitching a simulated game on Wednesday.

N E W S W O R T H Y…

• Looking for a college basketball scholarship?  UCLA might be the place for you.  They need the dudes.  As expected, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love made themselves eligible for the NBA Draft on Thursday, though neither hired an agent, meaning should things go wrong in the pre-draft process they can return to school.  Still on the fence- Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (expected to at least dip a toe in the NBA waters), Darren Collison, and Josh Shipp.
• OJ Mayo has hired the same guy that reps Steve Nash and Greg Oden.
• The Lakers once again rested Thursday afternoon, taking most of the day off before watching video in the late in the day.   Makes sense, since once the series with Denver begins on Sunday, there will be plenty of running.
• Nikki Caldwell, who coached under Pat Summitt at Tennessee, has been hired to run the UCLA women’s hoops program.
  
• After losing the race for the starting QB gig at Troy, Mitch Mustain is admittedly a little mopey, but hopes he can win the job come August.
• If Ed Roski has anything to say about it, NFL football will be back in LA, with a home in his new stadium.

C O L U M N S…

• Mark Heisler of the Times lays out the big time challenge ahead of the Lakers this playoff season, but it’s worth mentioning that compared to some of their Western Conference brothers, LA has a reasonably good draw.  Not easy, but this year out west, there’s no such thing.
• The Ducks, notes Mark Whicker of the Register, have their backs against the wall because they’ve been killed in the third period throughout their series with Dallas, and haven’t been able to put real pressure on Stars goalie Marty Turco.  They’ve lost their forecheck, and games along with it.  It just goes to show how tough it is to win in the Stanley Cup playoffs, let alone to repeat as champion.  No sport has a more brutal and unforgiving postseason.
• If Steve Dilbeck of the Daily News listens long enough to Roski, he might, maybe, just kinda believe that this NFL thing could happen.  Finally.
• SportsHubLA.com Columns of the Day:  Chris Dufresne of the Times and Gregg Patton of the PE both take a look at UCLA hoops in the wake of Thursday’s exodus… which could just be the beginning, depending on what Mbah a Moute and Collison decide to do down the road.  It’s possible that, given defections and graduation, the Bruins could lose seven of their top eight players from this year, and all five starters.   That’s just life in big time college hoops, notes Dufresne, where coaches can’t rely on program building in a more traditional way.  It’s get the best players, try to win now, and hope for the best.  As for the 2009 version of UCLA, much of their success will depend on who goes, and, says Patton, the play of prize recruit Jrue Holiday.  Whatever happens, the upheaval of this spring serves to emphasize how impressive the success of Ben Howland and Co. has been over the last three seasons.  It’s hard to be good in back-to-back years, let alone reach three straight Final Fours.

Discuss: