Bishop blanks Hawks, Timonen picked up from Philadelphia

TAMPA—Ben Bishop made 28 saves for his second shutout, Steven Stamkos scored two goals, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Blackhawks 4-0 on Friday night.Brian Boyle and Ryan Callahan also scored for the Lightning, who returned home after a 3-2 road trip against Western Conference teams.Stamkos has 11 goals and 17 points in nine games against the Blackhawks.Scott Darling stopped 25 shots.The Blackhawks beat Florida 3-0 Thursday in their first game since losing leading scorer Patrick Kane, placed on long-term injured reserve Wednesday with a broken left collarbone suffered in Tuesday’s 3-2 shootout win over the Panthers.Boyle opened the scoring in the second period from the slot off a nifty pass from behind the net by Jonathan Drouin. Stamkos made it 2-0 after deflecting Jason Garrison‘s shot from just inside the blue line with 2:07 left in the second. He added his 34th goal on a late third-period power play.Callahan put the Lightning ahead 3-0 by redirecting Valtteri Filppula‘s pass during a power play in the third period.Tampa Bay’s second-ranked home penalty-killing unit killed off three Chicago power plays during the first session. Bishop made six saves on the Blackhawks’ third try late in the period.Duncan Keith was given four minutes for high-sticking Cedric Paquette midway through the first, but the Blackhawks’ road-best penalty killers limited Tampa Bay to two shots.The Blackhawks got a break when Nikita Kucherov beat Darling just seconds after the first period ended.

NOTES—The Hawks acquired D Kimmo Timonen from Philadelphia for a 2015 second-round draft pick and a conditional 2016 fourth-rounder. Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman said he is also looking to add a forward before the trade deadline.

Rose has successful surgery, Bulls hold back T-Wolves

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The Bulls got a positive update on Derrick Rose, and then used another big night by Jimmy Butler to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 96-89 on Friday.Butler had 28 points and 12 rebounds and the Bulls won for the seventh time in their last nine games. Mike Dunleavy made five 3-pointers on his way to 21 points, and Joakim Noah finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. The Bulls trailed 85-84 before Kirk Hinrich drove inside for a layup with 4:29 remaining, and then Tony Snell made a smart pass to Dunleavy for an open 3 that made it 89-85. Butler added a clutch bank shot to help the Bulls improve to 10-1 in their last 11 games against Minnesota.Kevin Martin scored 18 points for the Timberwolves, who have lost four of six. Ricky Rubio had 15 points and 10 assists, and Andrew Wiggins finished with 14 points.Minnesota was hurt by a whopping 48-16 deficit in points in the paint.It was the Bulls second game since the team announced Tuesday night that Rose had a medial meniscus tear in his right knee. The dynamic point guard had surgery Friday morning and is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks, raising the possibility he could return this season.It was an encouraging development in a difficult week for the Bulls, who were still processing another significant injury for the 2011 NBA MVP when they lost 98-86 to Charlotte on Wednesday night. Rose missed the 2012-13 season while he recovered from left knee surgery, and played in just 10 games last season before he had surgery on his right knee.

”He’s a tough-minded guy,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. ”There’s normal emotion when you get injured and then there’s the fight in him that I think we’ve all seen. He’s not going to back up and he’ll put everything he has into the rehab and then coming back.”

The Bulls also were without All-Star Pau Gasol for the matchup with the Timberwolves, and forward Taj Gibson left in the first quarter with a left ankle injury. Gasol, who is averaging 18.4 points and 12.1 rebounds, was shelved by an illness.Minnesota coach Flip Saunders decided to rest Kevin Garnett in the first part of back-to-back games for the Timberwolves. The veteran forward, who was reacquired by Minnesota in a trade with Brooklyn last week, played 19 minutes in an emotional 97-77 home victory over Washington on Wednesday night.Garnett, who turns 39 in May, had his warmups and high tops on as he cheered for his teammates from the sideline throughout the game.Thibodeau, who was an assistant coach with Boston when Garnett helped the Celtics win the NBA title in 2008, said he thinks the 7-footer will have a significant impact on the young Timberwolves.

”When you watch the way he plays offensively and defensively, it’s all about winning,” Thibodeau said. ”When you have a guy like that on your team, the young guys can’t help but improve quickly. He’ll bring a spirit to that team that’ll tie everybody together.”

NOTES—Making his second straight start in place of Rose, Aaron Brooks had six points on 2-for-15 shooting. … The Bulls swept the season series against Minnesota, also winning 106-105 on the road on Nov. 1…..The Bulls host the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday afternoon.

Teravainen gets Hawks off to quick start in 3-0 win over Panthers, 20 save shutout for Crawford.

SUNRISE—Teuvo Teravainen got off to a quick start in his first game since being recalled from the minor leagues.Teravainen, taking the roster spot of the injured Patrick Kane, scored on his first shift and Corey Crawford earned his second shutout of the season in the Blackhawks’ 3-0 win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday.Teravainen got the puck in the right circle and wristed it past a defender and Roberto Luongo’s glove 3:08 in.It was the first game for the Hawks since losing leading scorer Kane, placed on long-term injured reserve Wednesday with a broken left collarbone suffered in Tuesday’s 3-2 shootout win over the Panthers.

”Everyone needs to step up a little bit,” Teravainen said. ”I don’t think too much (about replacing Kane). I just try to be myself. I’m living my dream right now.”

Teravainen impressed Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville.

”He’s very astute, there’s an awareness to his game. That was a nice play,” Quenneville said.

Brandon Saad also scored a goal before Jonathan Toews added an empty-netter with 46.8 seconds left.The Blackhawks won their second consecutive game after previously losing three straight and beat the Panthers for the seventh straight time. The last time the Blackhawks lost to the Panthers was March, 8, 2011.Crawford stopped 20 shots by a sluggish Florida offense, which took only four shots in the first period and didn’t take its fifth shot on goal until 10:47 of the second.

”I didn’t see too many pucks,” said Crawford, who had lost his previous three starts. ”That’s a big win. We played well defensively, kept them to the outside for the most part, and the score showed it.”

On Saad’s goal, Duncan Keith made a nifty pass from the slot to Saad in the right circle. He shot past Luongo on the glove side early in the second period.Saad is tied with Toews for the team scoring lead with 19 goals, and tied his career high, set last season.Luongo made 26 saves for the Panthers, losers of four in a row and seven of their past nine. The Panthers have scored just four goals in the four straight losses.

”We just weren’t good enough tonight,” Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said.

The Panthers hope to change their offensive woes with the acquisition of 22-year veteran forward Jaromir Jagr, the league’s oldest player.The Panthers acquired Jagr, who turned 43 earlier this month, from the New Jersey Devils earlier Thursday for two draft picks: a second-rounder this year, and either Florida’s or Minnesota’s third-round selection in 2016. Jagr had 11 goals and 18 assists in 57 games this season for New Jersey.The Panthers are adding Jagr for an anticipated run at the playoffs, and Jagr can hopefully to jump start their offense.

”We’re in a battle right now for the playoffs,” Luongo said. ”If you can bring something to our team, it’s definitely going to be big for us. Hopefully he can add some offense on the power play and 5 on 5. We just want to keep it going and stay in the fight here.”

Jagr is expected to arrive in South Florida on Friday, and to play when Florida hosts Buffalo on Saturday afternoon.

NOTES—The Blackhawks have earned points in nine of their past 11 games….Johnny Oduya was scratched with an injury. … Panthers forward and former Blackhawk Dave Bolland missed his second game with an injury.

Rose surgery set for Friday morning

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The Bulls announced Derrick Rose is scheduled to have surgery on Friday morning to repair a medial meniscus tear in his right knee.
The Bulls said Rose will undergo a meniscectomy, which is a removal of part or all of the meniscus. The Tribune, citing sources, has reported there is considerable optimism that Rose’s second meniscus tear is small.If the tear is small and only a small portion of the meniscus is trimmed, it’s possible Rose’s timeline could be in the three- to six-week period. Rookie Doug McDermott, who didn’t have the injury history Rose did, returned to the court following his meniscus surgery in three weeks and to practice in four.Since Rose had a similar tear a season ago, it’s unlikely he’d be able to just get it repaired again this time around. The removal of part or all of the meniscus is the most likely scenario. If you remove all of the meniscus, Rose could potentially return this season and be able to help the Bulls attempt to march toward the NBA Finals. It’s a much less problematic recovery process for getting back on the court than if you just remove part of the meniscus.

Removing part of the meniscus instead of the entire disc of cartilage would put Rose out for months and effectively end his season. It would also mean a lower likelihood of pain and re-injury to that same knee, whereas the removal of the entire meniscus increases the chances of pain and a shorter playing career, depending on how Rose is able to change his game going forward.

Since Rose has always been so dependent on athleticism, speed, and explosiveness, playing with bone-on-bone contact in the knee might end up being too painful over the next few years as he tries to battle to get back onto the court and play at a high level. To be able to leave some of the meniscus in the knee joint allows the benefit of cushioning in there.

The two scenarios that often get compared in situations like this are Russell Westbrook, who had the meniscus repaired. After a couple of procedures to fix a suture and clean up the knee, he’s back to his same explosive self that we’re used to. However, the removal of the meniscus or part of the meniscus also brings about comparisons to Brandon Roy, who ended up playing with bone-on-bone pain that eventually ended his career early.

Bulls, without Rose, also without victory vs Hornets

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Joakim Noah‘s emotions after he heard Derrick Rose will have yet another knee surgery could be summed up in two words. ”Angry. Sad,” Noah said. The news that Rose is out again hit theĀ Bulls hard. And they didn’t get much relief from the Hornets.Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 18 points and 12 rebounds, Mo Williams scored 17 and Charlotte beat the Bulls 98-86 Wednesday night.Al Jefferson added 16 points to help the Hornets snap a five-game losing streak. But all that was overshadowed by the news that Rose needs another operation.

”For them, I would think that, mentally, there’s no question it will take a few games to get used to playing without him,” Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said.

The Bulls revealed Tuesday night that their star point guard has a torn meniscus in his right knee, a big blow to the franchise and its fan base. That fueled more doubts about whether the 2011 NBA MVP will ever be the same, let alone lead the Bulls to their first championship since the Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen era. A similar injury limited Rose to 10 games last season and cut short his long-awaited comeback. He sat out the 2012-13 season recuperating from a torn ACL in his left knee. It’s not clear exactly when he will have surgery or how much time he will miss.

”We all were affected by it,” Pau Gasol said. ”They might have been through this before, but it’s the third time it’s happened.”

It’s an all-too-familiar feeling for the Bulls.who dropped into a tie with Cleveland for the Central Division lead. The Bulls had won six of seven, but clearly, there was a hangover from the news about their point guard.Gasol, who came to Chicago hoping to make a run at a championship after winning two with the Lakers, led the Bulls with 25 points and 13 rebounds for his league-leading 38th double-double. He also had four blocks.Jimmy Butler scored 14. Aaron Brooks, starting for Rose, was off target in a 12-point performance. He was 4 of 12 from the field, including 1 of 5 on 3-pointers, and 3 for 8 at the free throw line. The Bulls were 3 of 17 from long range and 15 of 23 at the foul line.Kidd-Gilchrist capped a seven-point spurt with a pair of dunks, making it 85-74 midway through the fourth quarter. Jefferson scored six in an 8-0 run that boosted the lead to 95-78 with 2:25 left.

NOTES—Taj Gibson and G Kirk Hinrich were back after being sidelined by illness. Gibson missed one game and Hinrich sat out two. … Coach Tom Thibodeau indicated any signings the Bulls make with Rose out probably won’t impact the rotation much. He said the Bulls still have a versatile rotation, which ”helps a lot.”…The Bulls host Minnesota on Friday.

ANOTHER knee surgery for Rose-torn meniscus likely ends his season-again

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Bulls point guard Derrick Rose will undergo surgery after an MRI revealed a medial meniscus tear in his right knee, the team announced.No timeline has been determined for Rose’s recovery from the procedure, which has yet to be scheduled.Rose also required surgery to repair a torn medial meniscus in the same knee in Nov. 2013 and missed the remainder of the 2013-14 season while recovering. Prior to that operation, he had surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee, causing him to miss the 2012-13 season.Rose has averaged 18.4 points and 5.0 assists in 46 games.

Kane hurt by Petrovic cheap shot, Hawks beat Panthers in shootout.

Jonathan Toews made a couple of big plays. Scott Darling stayed calm in net. Kris Versteeg and Patrick Sharp pitched in at key moments.The Blackhawks needed several players to step up after Patrick Kane left with an injury, and they delivered with a scrappy performance Tuesday night.Toews scored in regulation and the shootout, and the Blackhawks stopped a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers.

”That’s a big two points,” coach Joel Quenneville said. ”As a group, we’ve got to make sure everybody plays the right way, plays tighter, and has some responsibility to their games. We’ve got to look to play tight, low-scoring games.”

Kane, tied for the NHL lead with 64 points coming into the day, lost his balance and crashed into the boards after he was cross-checked by defenseman Alex Petrovic with 12:11 left in the first period. Kane stayed down on the ice for a short time and appeared to be favoring his left arm or shoulder as he skated to the bench and went straight to the locker room with an un-announced(as always in the NHL) injury.

”Looks like he might miss some time, but we’ll know the extent of it tomorrow,” Quenneville said. ”We’ll see.”

With Petrovic in the box in the first, Toews got a measure of revenge by following his own shot for his 18th goal. But any prolonged absence for the dynamic Kane would be a big blow for the Hawks, who are fighting for playoff position in the loaded Western Conference.

”You can’t replace Kaner,” said Versteeg, who scored his 13th goal in the second. ”He’s a special talent, somebody who’s really irreplaceable. It’s going to have to be by committee. Guys are going to have to step up and find ways to get the job done.”

Vincent Trocheck and Jussi Jokinen scored in the third for Florida, which has lost three in a row and six of eight. Panthers center Derek MacKenzie missed a penalty shot in the second period after Bryan Bickell slid a broken stick into his way in the corner.

”The comeback definitely, the point, was huge when you’re down 2-0 to a team like that,” Trocheck said. ”We didn’t have any doubt we could come back in that game. The third period showed we had a lot of character that we came back and tied that game.”

Florida announced before the game it had traded forward Sean Bergenheim and a seventh-round pick to Minnesota for a third-round selection in the 2016 draft. Bergenheim, who has eight goals and 10 assists in 39 games this season, had requested a trade.

”We live and die by the draft,” general manager Dale Tallon said. ”That’s how we build things. It’s a good pick. Bergy’s a good hard-worker. He’ll help Minnesota, but he wasn’t happy here.”

Toews went first in the shootout and beat Roberto Luongo with a backhand. After Darling stopped Trocheck, Sharp scored into the right side and Nick Bjugstad was unsuccessful on Florida’s final chance to stay in the game.

”It’s unfortunate they got two goals and got back into the game,” said Darling, who made 34 saves in his first start since he was promoted from the minors Sunday night. ”But the guys battled all the way to the end and we won the shootout.”

Luongo made 36 saves for the Panthers, who host the Blackhawks on Thursday night.Versteeg put the Blackhawks ahead 2-0 when he jumped on a loose puck for his fourth goal in his last six games at 14:28. But the Panthers rebounded in the third.Jokinen converted a wrist shot from the right slot at 12:20. Then Florida caught a break with 3 1/2 minutes left in regulation when Trocheck’s centering pass went off the right skate of Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith and over the goal line before Darling could get his glove on it.

”We would have loved the two points, but down 2-0 against Chicago in their building and a real hockey team, it was good character from our team to come back and get that point,” Florida coach Gerard Gallant said.

NOTES—The Blackhawks went 3-2-3 on their longest homestand of the season. … Sharp got an assist on Versteeg’s goal for his 500th point with the Blackhawks. … The Hawks improved to 8-3 in shootouts, while Florida dropped to 6-9. … Darling, who is from Lemont, improved to 6-2 with a 1.96 goals-against average in his first NHL season. The Blackhawks also announced a two-year contract extension for the goalie after his promotion on Sunday night.

Creighton out does Demons

ROSEMONT—James Milliken scored 18 points, helping coach Greg McDermott win his 400th game as Creighton beat DePaul 75-62 on Tuesday night.Creighton led by as many as 13 in the first half, but DePaul roared back in the second frame, cutting its deficit to two on a Forrest Robinson 3-pointer with 6:57 left. That turned out to be the Blue Demons’ last gasp, however. The Bluejays strung together a 14-6 scoring stretch over the next 5:27, highlighted by a Milliken jumper and an Austin Chatman 3-pointer, to extend their lead back to 10 to put the game away.Chatman added 12 points for the Bluejays (13-15, 4-11 Big East), who have won 27 straight when scoring 70 or more points including 9-0 this season.Robinson led DePaul (12-17, 6-10) with 14 points. The Blue Demons have lost five straight and seven of eight.McDermott is 400-248 in his 21st season as a head coach. His son Doug McDermott, the 2014 National Player of the Year and currently a rookie with the Bulls, was in attendance.

Bulls win battle of ‘awful shooting’ 87-71 over Bucks

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Tony Snell scored 20 points, Nikola Mirotic had 16 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, and the surging Bulls pounded the Milwaukee Bucks on the boards on their way to an 87-71 victory on Monday night.Pau Gasol added 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Bulls enjoyed a whopping 62-41 advantage on the glass. Joakim Noah had eight points and 16 rebounds on his bobblehead night, and Jimmy Butler finished with 11 points and nine boards.Milwaukee shot 34 percent (30 for 89) from the field in its second straight loss after a stretch of nine wins in 10 games. Ersan Ilyasova had 15 points and 11 rebounds in his first start since Jan. 27 at Miami.The Bulls played without key reserves Taj Gibson and Kirk Hinrich, who were away from the team due to an illness. But Snell and Mirotic each provided a big boost off the bench.The Bulls grabbed control in the first half and led by double digits for most of the final three quarters. Butler had an impressive rebound dunk off a miss by Aaron Brooks, and Mirotic made two foul shots to make it 75-56 with 6:29 left.The Bulls won for the sixth time in its last seven games despite an awful performance for Derrick Rose, who had eight points on 1-for-13 shooting.The Bucks have dropped two of three since they shipped leading scorer Brandon Knight to Phoenix in a three-team trade on Thursday. Milwaukee got Michael Carter-Williams from Philadelphia in the deadline deal, but the point guard has been sidelined by a right foot strain.

”We have to get him on the floor, he’s been out,” coach Jason Kidd said before the game. ”Once we get him on the floor we’ll kind of restart and get everyone comfortable playing with him. Hopefully that will be soon.”

Asked specifically when Carter-Williams would be back, Kidd responded: ”We’ll see.” In the meantime, Jerryd Bayless had eight points, eight rebounds and five assists in his third consecutive start at the point, but the Bucks looked like a team in transition while playing without Knight and Carter-Williams.Led by Mirotic and Snell, the Bulls grabbed control in the second quarter. Mirotic hit a fadeaway jumper and a 3-pointer in a 13-2 run that made it 34-17 with 6:13 left.Snell scored 13 of his 18 first-half points in the second, helping the Bulls to a 48-33 lead at the break. Mirotic had six points and 10 rebounds at halftime.

NOTES—Kidd said the Bucks try to schedule Jabari Parker’s treatment and rehab around practice and shootarounds so the former Simeon star can stay around the team. Parker is out for the season after injuring his left knee on Dec. 15. ”He looks great,” Kidd said. ”All the texts and the emails that we got on his rehab (indicates) that it is going really well.” … The Bucks dropped to 15-14 on the road. The last time they finished with a winning road record was a 21-20 mark for the 2000-01 season…..The Bulls improved to 3-0 against Milwaukee this season and have won six straight against the Bucks dating to last season. … Gasol was frequently double-teamed in his first game against Milwaukee since he scored a career-high 46 points in the Bulls 95-87 victory on Jan. 10.The Bulls host Charlotte on Wednesday night.

Hawks embarressed by Bruins 6-2.

Patrice Bergeron was happier that the Boston Bruins ended their losing streak than he was about reaching a personal milestone.Bergeron opened the scoring with his 200th goal, then added two assists in Boston’s four-goal second period and the Bruins snapped a season-high six-game losing streak with a 6-2 rout of the slumping Blackhawks on Sunday.Reilly Smith had a goal and assist for the Bruins, who were 0-4-2 during the slide, their longest winless stretch since 2010. Loui Eriksson, Milan Lucic, Gregory Campbell and Dougie Hamilton also scored for Boston, which pulled away in the finale of a five-game road trip.

”It was nice to see us stay focused no matter what, and just be strong mentally and find a way to keep pushing the pace,” Bergeron said.

And the Bruins’ slide – which has put them in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007 – is over.

”It was definitely a tough situation,” Bergeron said. ”It was a little harder this time around. Hopefully we can build from what we’ve done today.”

The 29-year-old Bergeron said he wasn’t aware of scoring his 200th until he was told on the bench after he scored at 3:00 of the first period.

”I never thought, starting as an 18 year old, I was going to score 200,” he said.

Bruins coach Claude Julien liked what he saw, as the Bruins quickly nipped a comeback early in the second and then took charge.Boston’s Tuukka Rask made 26 saves and coasted to the win, but he took two penalties late in the first period that allowed the Hawks to trim a 2-0 Boston lead to 2-1.

”We could easily have been flustered and stressed and it could have gone the other way, but our guys did a great job of staying with it and going back and executing,” Julien said.

Jonathan Toews and Bryan Bickell scored for the Blackhawks, who have lost three straight (0-2-1) for the first time since last March. The six goals matched a season high and the four against the Blackhawks in the second set a season mark for a period.

”It goes without saying that we need to be better, and what level we need to get to as a group,” Toews said. ”Every single guy needs to look at himself.We’re not going to let these last couple games snowball in the wrong direction for us.”

Corey Crawford was pulled midway through the second after allowing four goals on 14 shots. Antti Raanta finished and stopped 14 of 16 shots.

”It was 4-1, we weren’t happy, there’s a lot of hockey left,”Joel Quenneville said. ”You could argue with some of the goals that went in.”

The Blackhawks played most of the game with just five defensemen after Johnny Oduya left the game in the first period after being hit along the boards by Lucic.Bergeron opened the scoring from the edge of the crease when he tapped in Smith’s cross-ice pass. Eriksson made it 2-0 during a power play at 14:03 of the first on a tip-in of Torey Krug’s drive from the left circle.But Rask got himself and the Bruins in trouble briefly as the period ended.The Boston goalie was assessed a delay of game penalty when he ventured outside the trapezoid area behind the net to play the puck with 8 seconds left in the first.Toews’ power-play tip-in directly from the ensuing faceoff – with 1.4 seconds left in the period – cut it to 2-1.When Rask smashed his goal stick in anger against the left post, he also clipped Kris Versteeg. The goalie was whistled for slashing on the play, but the Bruins killed off the penalty.Boston took charge of the game in the second, connecting four times against the listless Hawks.Lucic gave Boston a 3-1 lead at 6:18. He had difficulty controlling David Pastrnak’s centering pass, but Lucic kept plowing through traffic down the slot and eventually muscled the puck past Crawford.Campbell made it 4-1 at 12:19 of the second on a shot through traffic from about 30 feet in the slot. Raanta took over in net after the score.Hamilton increased Boston’s lead to 5-1 from the faceoff with 2:33 left in the period when his drive clanked in off the right post for a power-play score. Smith then beat Raanta from the right circle with 3.1 seconds left in the period.Bickell had the only goal in the third, a tip-in with 5:42 left, to complete the scoring.

NOTES—Boston center David Krejci missed the game with a lower-body injury, suffered in a 5-1 loss at St. Louis on Friday, but accompanied the team to Chicago….The Blackhawks inserted D David Rundblad into the lineup in place of D Kyle Kumiskey, who skated in the past four games following his recall from AHL Rockford. F Ben Smith and D Tim Erixon also were healthy scratches for the Hawks.