FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. Jim Tyrer Jersey . -- Brier champion Kevin Koe rebounded from an opening loss at the Syncrude National Grand Slam of Curling event with a convincing 11-4 win over Mark Dacey in Draw 3 action Thursday. Koes Calgary rink scored three in the first end and four in both the third and fifth ends. Both Koe and Halifaxs Dacey are at 1-1 in the tournament. Defending champion Jeff Stoughton of Winnipeg is also 1-1 after a 6-3 win in six ends over Edmontons Brendan Bottcher. Stoughton scored steals of two in the second and one in the third to lead 4-0 after three ends and never looked back. Winnipegs Mike McEwen improved to 2-0 with a lopsided 10-3 win in five ends over Japans Yusuke Morozmi. McEwen opened the game with a huge five-point first end. Glenn Howard, from Coldwater, Ont., kept pace with McEwen with a 7-4, seven end win over Switzerlands Pascal Hess. Elsewhere, Switzerlands Sven Michel improved to 2-0 with a 7-4 win over Torontos Travis Fanset. There are two more draws scheduled for Thursday. The tournament is the third instalment of the Grand Slam of Curling with the series finale Players Championship scheduled for next month in Summerside, P.E.I. Reggie Ragland Jersey . Lawries batting helmet hit an umpire during his ninth-inning outburst in the Jays 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday. The 22-year-old threw his helmet to the ground and it bounced up and hit home plate umpire Bill Miller on the right hip after Lawrie was called out on strikes for the second out. Tanoh Kpassagnon Jersey . -- Masahiro Tanaka knows that first appearance in a spring training game for the New York Yankees will be scrutinized.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Montreal Canadiens aim to extend their impressive start on the road this season as they visit the Minnesota Wild for Friday nights encounter. The Canadiens have won four of five on the road this season, including a 2-0 triumph over the New York Rangers on Monday. They then made it two straight wins and three in the past four games by beating the visiting Dallas Stars the following night. Listen to the game live on TSN Radio 690 at 8pm et. Carey Price made 26 saves, while both Rene Bourque and Michael Bournival had goals. Raphael Diaz notched assists on both tallies. "Weve been pretty good at defense lately," said Price. "That makes my job a lot easier if they can block shots and keep the rebounds away. It was a grinding game and we kept things simple." The rookie Bournival has also been pretty good as of late, notching three goals and four assists over his last seven games. Travis Moen missed his second game in a row after he took a puck to the face and suffered a facial fracture in last Saturdays loss to San Jose. He joined an injured list that includes Max Pacioretty, Daniel Briere, Brandon Prust and Alexei Emelin, though George Parros is slated to return tonight for the first time since suffering a scary concussion in a season-opening loss to Toronto on Oct. 1. Parros was engaged in a fight with Colton Orr and landed face-first on the ice at the conclusion of the scrap. He had to taken off the ice on a stretcher and was transported to a local hospital. Montreal assigned forward Patrick Holland to the American Hockey League on Tuesday, signaling a possible return for Parros. Pacioretty, meanwhile, could also be back in the lineup this weekend. Montreal will visit Colorado on Satturday. Fred Arbanas Jersey. Price is in line to start tonight and is 2-1-0 with a 2.63 goals against average in three career meetings with the Wild. Peter Budaj, a former Avalanche netminder, is likely to get the start tomorrow. The Wild try to avoid a second loss in a row tonight after having a three-game win streak snapped with a home loss on Monday versus Chicago. Minnesota had bested the Blackhawks on the road Saturday, but lost a 5-1 decision two days later. Jason Pominvilles seventh goal of the season with 8:33 left in the second period made it a 1-1 game before the Blackhawks offense got rolling. Niklas Backstrom ended up yielding five goals on 28 shots. "It was clear to me our execution wasnt as good as it needs to be against that team," Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo said. "You need to make plays." Minnesota lost the opener of a four-game homestand and lost in regulation for the first time this season on home ice (4-1-2). Yeo will likely alter his lineup before tonights game as defensemen Keith Ballard and Jonas Brodin, as well as forward Charlie Coyle could all return from injury. Ballard and Coyle are both probable for tonight, while Brodin is questionable after having been out since suffering a broken cheekbone on Oct. 22 when he was hit in the face by a puck. Ballard has missed seven straight with a concussion, while Coyle has missed 11 in a row with a sprained knee. The Canadiens have won two straight over the Wild and are 5-1-1 in the past seven meetings. They won a 5-4 shootout at home in the most recent encounter on March 1, 2012. Montreal is also 3-1-1 all-time versus the Wild in Minnesota, winning the past two. Backstrom is 1-1-0 with a 3.10 GAA in four career meetings with the Habs, including three starts. ' ' '
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