Allgemeines » remembering the Battle du Linge in 1915

OTTAWA - A pair of struggling clubs will fight for a much-needed win on Saturday afternoon, as the Ottawa Senators welcome the Phoenix Coyotes for a battle at Canadian Tire Centre. The Coyotes enter Saturdays matinee on a three-game slide and also have dropped five of seven and nine of their last 13 tilts. Ottawa hasnt fared much better recently, losing two straight as part of a 6-10-2 stretch over its last 18 games. Phoenix has lost the first two tests on a four-game road trip, giving the Coyotes four defeats in their past five games as the guest. The club is only 8-7-4 as the road team this season and will complete the trek Monday in Buffalo. After dropping a 3-1 decision Tuesday in Montreal, the Coyotes were dealt a 2-1 shootout setback by the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday. James van Riemsdyk and Joffrey Lupul both scored in the shootout to help the Leafs snap a two-game slide with the close win at Air Canada Centre. Martin Hanzal tied the game late in the third for Phoenix, while Mike Smith stopped 26-of-27 shots through regulation and overtime. "We wanted to play a hard road game. Our tempo got better as the game went on. We had multiple opportunities in the third period to tie and then take the lead. We got the one we needed," said Coyotes coach Dave Tippett. "Its a step in the right direction. Were a little banged up and looking for some guys to elevate their game." Coyotes captain Shane Doan has missed the last six games with an illness that Phoenix has categorized as Rocky Mountain fever. Doan is on medication to battle the bacterial disease and his status is considered week-to-week. Defenseman Zbynek Michalek will miss a second straight contest today for the Coyotes and is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury. The Senators, meanwhile, could be without forward Mika Zibanejad on Saturday after he sustained an upper-body injury in Ottawas most recent loss, a 4-2 home defeat on Thursday against Florida. Zibanejad, who has eight goals and seven assists this season, is considered day-to-day and will be a game-time decision for this afternoons tilt. Ottawa lost its second straight game in regulation on Thursday despite going into the closing minutes of the third period tied with the Panthers. Tom Gilbert scored the go-ahead power-play goal for Florida with 2:32 remaining in the third and Tomas Kopecky added the insurance tally just 51 seconds later with a shorthanded goal. Chris Neil and Jason Spezza scored for the Senators, who have dropped four of six. Craig Anderson took the loss despite 31 stops. "Its my job to stop the puck," said Anderson. "Its one of those things where we were there, we were close (to winning). But close isnt good enough." The Senators, who began a three-game homestand on Thursday, fell to 7-10-3 as the host this season. Ottawa will close the residency when it welcomes Pittsburgh to town on Monday. Ottawa has gotten the better of the Coyotes in recent years, claiming seven of the past nine overall encounters in this series and winning six straight on home ice. Phoenixs last win in Canadas capital city came on Dec. 12, 1998. Clearance Shoes Online Australia . -- J.R. Sweezy was the one part of the Seattle Seahawks offensive line that had avoided injuries or having to change positions this season. Wholesale Shoes Australia .com) - Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points with eight rebounds to lead the New York Knicks to a 92-80 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. http://www.shoescheapaustralia.com/ . On Saturday, the paths of Drew Tate and Kevin Glenn cross again as opposing quarterbacks. Wholesale Shoes Australia Online . The 55th-ranked Istomin saved 11 of 14 break points to win in just over two hours, setting up a second round meeting with Australian Marinko Matosevic. It was the Uzbeks third win in three matches against fifth-seeded Kohlschreiber, the 2007 and 2012 tournament winner. Discount Shoes Australia . The Toronto Argonauts (11-7) look for an opportunity to repeat as CFL champions when they host the surging Hamilton Tiger-Cats (10-8) on Sunday. MULHOUSE, France -- On a day local Roman Catholics were celebrating the feast of Saint Anthony, two other Tonys had their own reason to celebrate in the Tour de France. Germanys Tony Martin took the stage win Sunday, and Frances Tony Gallopin took the yellow jersey during an up-and-down Stage 9 in the eastern Vosges mountains. Martin, a three-time world champion known more for time-trial dominance, showed that he could climb too; Italys Vincenzo Nibali, who has been wearing the leaders yellow jersey, didnt lay a hard enough chase of Gallopin to keep it. French media -- delighted to see the countrys first yellow jersey holder since Thomas Voeckler wore it in 2010 -- reveled in the fact that Gallopin will lead Frances most beloved race on the Bastille Day holiday Monday. The 29-year-old German, meanwhile, said his stage victory might have been an "omen" for Germanys World Cup ambitions against Argentina -- which it turned out to be. Gallopin, of the Lotto Belisol team, said hed been plotting a move for the yellow jersey since Stage 5 -- when he positioned himself for a challenge because Nibali was unlikely to want to hold it all the way to Paris on July 27, when the race ends. Its a lot of pressure to try to carry the leaders shirt so long, through the Alps and Pyrenees ahead. But Nibali knows that Gallopin is unlikely to make it up the big climbs ahead, and the Italian didnt lose any time against his biggest rivals -- highest among them, two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador. Gallopin, by finishing about 5 minutes ahead of Nibali, easily erased his deficit to the Italian and now leads him by 1:34. Portuguese rider Tiago Machado is third overall, 4:08 back. But, like Gallopin, he is not considered a Tour contender. "Its with great pride that I will ride on the national holiday day in the yellow jersey," said 26-year-old Gallopin, adding that he feared he may not keep it after an uphill finish at the super-steep Planche dees Belles Filles on Monday.dddddddddddd"Its a little bit scary, but I will enjoy the day." "It was always a dream of wearing the yellow jersey," said Gallopin, who finished 2:45 back of solo breakaway leader Martin. Contador finished safely in the main pack along with Nibali and is 4:08 back in ninth place overall. They will resume their contest in the toughest stage so far -- Mondays 161.5-kilometre (100-mile) trek from Mulhouse to the famed La Planche des Belles Filles, featuring four steep Category 1 climbs. The pack takes its first rest day on Tuesday. "It was a tough day," Contador said, looking ahead to Monday. "Well have to decide whether or not we try to attack or ride defensively." The Tour paid tribute to those who died in the First World War -- 1914-18 -- by riding along the battlefields where millions died. Sundays route took the peloton past a landmark remembering the Battle du Linge in 1915, where some 17,000 French and German soldiers fell in three ferocious months of fighting. The groves and thickets in Le Linges mountainous pass helped mask lethal sections of barbed wire protecting tight German defensive lines. Shortly before the days most difficult climb -- a Category 1 ascent of 10.8 kilometres (6.7 miles) up Le Markstein -- Martin broke away, and Gallopins chasing group was about two minutes behind with Nibali more than six minutes adrift. Martin, some 18.5 minutes back, was no threat to Nibalis yellow jersey. Nibali lost more and more ground, and urged his Astana teammates to step up the pace as they reached the last of the climbs -- a short, sharp ascent up Grand Ballon. But they left themselves with far too much to do. Martin, who narrowly beat Tour champion Chris Froome in a time trial last year, continued to surge ahead, with tail winds making for a quick descent down to the finish. The departure of Froome in Stage 5 due to injury has blown the race wide open. ' ' '