The Vancouver Canucks were hoping for an improved showing when they signed former Vezina Trophy winner Ryan Miller to a three-y

The Vancouver Canucks were hoping for an improved showing when they signed former Vezina Trophy winner Ryan Miller to a three-year deal this summer. Pat ODonnell Jersey . The Canucks have experienced that so far with a promising start and Miller might have a chance to make another contribution Friday night if he gets to face a team thats never beaten him in seven starts, the scuffling Arizona Coyotes. Catch all the action on TSN 1040 starting at 5pm PT. After ending a streak of five consecutive playoff appearances in 2013-14, Vancouver appears very capable of making it back to the postseason with a 12-5-0 start. After an uneven beginning, Miller did his part with a 1.70 goals-against average during a recent seven-game win streak, but he needed a boost from his teammates for a league-best 11th win, a 4-3 overtime victory against Ottawa on Tuesday. After allowing the tying goal with 11:18 left in regulation, the Canucks finished it off when Daniel Sedin scored with 55 seconds remaining in the extra period. We are happy, obviously, defenseman Kevin Bieksa said. Its a good start for us. We wanted to get out of the gate early with the way the summer went and all the new changes. A lot of guys coming in wanted to prove themselves and reprove themselves. Weve got that accomplished so far. The Canucks have won back-to-back games since a 5-1 defeat to Los Angeles on Saturday and took a 2-1 shootout win over Anaheim the next day with Eddie Lack in net for the finale of a four-game trip. We find ways to win. Its fun, forward Henrik Sedin said. Having been off for two days and with a four-day break coming up, Vancouver will likely turn to Miller again as hes 7-0-0 with a 1.27 GAA all-time against the Coyotes. Thats easily his lowest GAA versus any opponent and his second-best record versus any team behind a 10-0-0 mark against Edmonton. Western Conference-worst Arizona (6-9-1) heads into Vancouver seeking to avoid a season-high fourth consecutive loss. Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith has been charged with a combined nine goals in the past two defeats, the latest a 5-3 loss in Calgary in Thursdays opener to a three-game trip. There are plays that have to get made, saves that have to get done. We just have to play better as a group, coach Dave Tippett said. Its unknown if Smith, 4-9-0 with a 3.43 GAA this season, will start on back-to-back nights. He started all five games against Vancouver last season and led the Coyotes to a 3-0-2 series victory while posting a 1.93 GAA. Smith, though, also gave up a combined eight goals in two overtime losses in Vancouver. Backup Devan Dubnyk allowed a total of nine goals in a pair of defeats in Vancouver last season while with Edmonton. Its also unclear if Vancouvers Radim Vrbata will get to face his former club, but he did practice Thursday. Vrbata has missed the past two games with a leg injury after producing six goals and seven assists in his first 15 with the Canucks. He had 20 goals and a career-best 31 assists last season with the Coyotes and scored a career-high 35 goals for them in 2011-12. Former teammate Antoine Vermette has nine goals and three assists in his last nine games against Vancouver and scored six times in last seasons series. He recorded the latest of his three career hat tricks in a 5-4 overtime defeat in Vancouver on Jan. 26. PROJECTED LINES: Forwards D. Sedin - H. Sedin - Vrbata Higgins - Bonino - Burrows Matthias - Richardson - Jensen Dorsett - Vey - Hansen Defence Edler - Tanev Hamhuis - Weber Stanton - Bieksa Goalie Miller Lack Scratched Horvat, Sanguenetti Injured Kassian (knee), Sestit (groin), Sbisa (ankle) Dick Butkus Jersey .com) - The Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies have finalized their agreed-upon trade that sends former National League MVP Jimmy Rollins to the West Coast for a pair of minor league pitching prospects. Doug Atkins Jersey . With their coach gone, they finally played offence the way he would have wanted. Amare Stoudemire made all seven shots in the first half, Anthony passed and shot well, and the Knicks shook off the surprising departure of their coach to rout the Portland Trail Blazers 121-79 on Wednesday night, snapping a six-game losing streak. http://www.custombearsjersey.com/custom-matt-suhey-jersey-large-1576t.html . Meanwhile, the Jets extended their winning streak to four and remain perfect under Paul Maurice. Its the Jets second four-game winning streak of the season, the other coming in mid-November.ATLANTA - The Atlanta Hawks overcame 37 points by Portlands LaMarcus Aldridge to extend their franchise-record winning streak to 18 games with a 105-99 victory over the Trail Blazers on Friday night.The balanced Hawks had six players score in double figures. Paul Millsap had 21 points, Al Horford finished with 17 and Kyle Korver scored 16. Mike Scott went 3 for 3 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points in 14 minutes.Portland led after each of the first three quarters but couldnt stretch the advantage to more than six points. The Blazers have lost four of five.Aldridge also had 11 rebounds. Wesley Matthews scored 16 points, and Damian Lillard added 13 points and 11 assists.Atlanta outscored Portland 36-25 in the final period.CAVALIERS 101, KINGS 90CLEVELAND (AP) — Kevin Love had 23 points in Clevelands ninth consecutive victory, and LeBron James scored 19 in his return from a one-game absence.Kyrie Irving finished with 21 points for the Cavaliers in his first game since he scored 55 against Portland on Wednesday.James returned after the win against the Blazers with a sprained right wrist. He was 7 for 16 from the field in 33 minutes, but made five straight shots as Cleveland put the game away early in the fourth quarter.A team trainer placed a brace on James wrist in the third, which he wore the remainder of the game.DeMarcus Cousins, who was added to the Western Conference All-Star team Friday, had 21 points and 13 rebounds in Sacramentos eight consecutive loss.PELICANS 108, CLIPPERS 103NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Eric Gordon scored a season-high 28 points, and the Pelicans snapped the Clippers six-game winning streak.With power forward Anthony Davis sitting out because of his sore left groin, the Pelicans benefited from exceptional shooting from behind the 3-point line, hitting 13 of 25, and at the foul line, where they made 23 of 26 free throws, including their last 17.Ryan Anderson, starting for Davis, scored 24 as New Orleans won for the fifth time in six games.Chris Paul had 24 points for Los Angeles, while Blake Griffin added 19 and DeAndre Jordan had 12 points and 15 rebounds.JAZZ 110, WARRIORS 100SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Gordon Hayward had 26 points, 15 rebounds and six assists, helping the Jazz beat the Warriors for the first time this season.Hayward was 9 for 20 from the field and 7 for 8 at the line, showing no lingering effects from sinus congestion that held him out of practice Thursday. Trevor Booker had 17 points, and fellow reserve Trey Burke finished with 15.Utah dropped its first two games against Golden State, losing 101-88 on Nov. 21 and 116-105 on Jan. 13.Stephen Curry scored 32 points for the Western Conference-leading Warriors, who were coming off a 113-111 overtime loss to Chicago on Tuesday. Klay Thompson had 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting after averaging 31.6 points over his previous seven games.MAVERICKS 93, HEAT 72MIAMI (AP) — Charlie Villanueva scored 20 points, and the Mavericks went on an incredible 37-2 run in the second half.The win was the 600th for Dallas coach Rick CCarlisle, and snapped a four-game losing streak. Jim Miller Jersey. Dallas was down by 16 in the third quarter, down nine with about 3 minutes to go in the third and then turned the game completely around.Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis each scored 12 points for the Mavericks, and Tyson Chandler had 11 points and 13 rebounds.Hassan Whiteside had 16 points and 24 rebounds for Miami. James Ennis scored 15, Chris Bosh had 12 and Mario Chalmers scored 10 for the Heat.RAPTORS 127, NETS 122, OTNEW YORK (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points for Toronto, and Amir Johnson made the tiebreaking basket with 41 seconds left in overtime.Lou Williams finished with 25 points and Johnson had 24 for the Raptors, who led by 17 in the second half before their fifth consecutive victory turned into a difficult one. Johnson made the tying dunk with 12 seconds left in regulation, and scored inside after DeRozans shot was blocked to make it 124-122, making him 10 for 11 from the field.Jarrett Jack scored a career-high 35 points for the Nets, and had 13 assists and eight rebounds. Brook Lopez came off the bench for 35 points and 12 boards.Brooklyn lost its fourth straight and finished a miserable 3-12 January with its seventh straight home loss.SUNS 99, BULLS 93PHOENIX (AP) — Eric Bledsoe scored 23 points and Goran Dragic had 21, leading Phoenix to the win.Bledsoes six-footer high off the glass put the Suns up 97-93. It came after a 7-0 Chicago run that cut the lead to 95-93 on Aaron Brooks layup with 31.9 seconds to go.Markieff Morris had 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Suns. His twin brother, Marcus, also scored 12.Derrick Rose scored 23 for the Bulls, who were coming off a double-overtime loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Thursday night and didnt arrive in Phoenix until 3:30 a.m. on Friday.The Suns finished 6-2 in a franchise-record eight-game homestand.ROCKETS 93, CELTICS 87BOSTON (AP) — Donatas Motiejunas scored 10 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, leading Houston to its fourth straight win.Motiejunas also had 12 rebounds as the Rockets improved to 17-7 on the road. Houston led by 18 at halftime.Rockets star James Harden, the NBAs leading scorer, had 14 points on 4-for-21 shooting. Terrance Smith had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Houston, and Corey Brewer scored 10.Marcus Thornton and Brandon Bass each scored 17 for the Celtics. Tayshaun Prince had 13 points.76ERS 103, TIMBERWOLVES 94PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Michael Carter-Williams had a triple-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and Philadelphia got the win in a matchup of two of the leagues worst teams.Luc Mbah a Moute had a team-high 18 points, and Nerlens Noel and Robert Covington chipped in 14 apiece for the 76ers, who won consecutive games for the third time this season while snapping a streak of 23 straight games without reaching 100 points.Minnesotas Kevin Martin had 19 points in his second game back after missing 34 due to a fractured right wrist. The Timberwolves were trying to win consecutive games for the first time this season. ' ' '