Brodeur called it a career at a Thursday press conference in St. L

RENTON, Wash. - Patrick Lewis never started a game at centre.Garry Gilliam never took a snap at any level of football as a guard.DeShawn Shead was a converted cornerback and was in on every defensive play for the Seattle Seahawks at strong safety.Injuries left the Seahawks depleted and scrambling to try and fill spots during Sundays 30-24 win over Oakland. There were makeshift roles being created to make up for the starters that were relegated to the role of spectators.But heres the upshot for Pete Carroll: The Seahawks (5-3) withstood the absences and came away with a needed victory. And there is optimism that those injured starters will be back on the field sooner than later.Under the circumstances of this game where so many guys played that hadnt played before I take even more out of it because of that, Carroll said on Monday. ... The kind of effort we need to be a good football team was there and thats a good sign for us and a couple weeks in a row of feeling that.Lewis, Gilliam and Shead were just three of the backups being thrust into key roles against the Raiders. Alvin Bailey was a late replacement at left tackle after Russell Okung suffered a calf strain during practice last week.Shead only got his chance because Kam Chancellors backup Jeron Johnson was out with a concussion. Undrafted rookie Brock Coyle started at middle linebacker with K.J. Wright moving back to weakside linebacker due to an injury suffered by Malcolm Smith.Not everything was clean, as to be expected. Shead was in for all 60 defensive plays, but missed some tackles and got fooled in coverage. The offensive line shuffling was extremely challenging in protecting Russell Wilson even before left guard James Carpenter when down with a sprained ankle in the second half.But the Seahawks held on and it appears theyre about to get healthy.Its incredibly valuable for them personally but for the team. They gain so much out of the play time. You can only gain so much out of watching, Carroll said. For a guy like Patrick Lewis to play all those snaps and get through it and it just makes in his mind and in ours as well we know that he can play. And so right across the board with all of those guys, everybody that stepped up did a nice job.Carroll expects at least four to six players back for Sundays game against the New York Giants as long as they make it through the week.Centre Max Unger (foot) was the closest to playing this past week. Unger dressed for the win against Oakland, but was only going to be used in an emergency situation. Chancellor (groin) and Okung (calf) both suffered muscle strains in practice last week. Carroll said both players feel theyre ready to go.Johnson (concussion) and defensive tackle Jordan Hill (ankle) are both likely to be cleared and cornerback Jeremy Lane should be activated off short-term injured reserve after being out since the season opener with a groin injury. Lane could move back into a starting role as Seattles nickel cornerback even with how well Marcus Burley has played.Its a big turn, Carroll said. It depends on how much good fortune we have. Well have four guys back that werent ready for us this week and we could have eight. Its amazing that it could be like that, but were on the verge of getting some guys back.That wasnt the end of the uplifting injury news for Seattle. Linebacker Bobby Wagner (toe) is recovering quicker than expected and while hes not likely to be ready for the Giants, he could be back in the next couple of weeks. Tight end Zach Miller (ankle) is not as far along as Wagner, and has yet to run on flat ground but is progressing also.This is just day to day. They have to come back from the work load, Carroll said. Thats always what the case is; he works hard today, can he go tomorrow without stepping backward? Well see what happens.___AP NFL websites: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Wholesale Baseball Jerseys Online . The Wild, playing their first game since leading scorer Mikko Koivu broke his ankle Saturday at Washington, have won three straight for the first time since Nov. 1-5. Koivu underwent surgery on Monday and is expected to miss at least four weeks. Cheap MLB Jerseys Free Shipping . And yet as they left TD Garden amid the slush and snow of a winter storm on Thursday evening, there was a sense among the Leafs that they had finally stood toe to toe with their long-time bully, only to fall just short. http://www.cheapmlbjerseysusa.com/ . Erik Logan, president of the network, said Friday that the postponement was made after meetings with the St. Louis Rams. Cheap MLB Jerseys China . Braves reliever David Carpenter was also fined for throwing at Rockies outfielder Corey Dickerson in the same game, which featured several ejections, including Colorado manager Walt Weiss. Discount Baseball Jerseys . Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Fiorentina levelled on aggregate in the 14th minute when Joaquin Sanchez Rodriguez headed back a long ball from David Pizarro and Pasqual smashed home an angled volley.(SportsNetwork.com) - The New Jersey Devils will try to record their first three-game winning streak since the opening week of the season when they host the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins in Thursdays battle at Prudential Center. New Jersey beat San Jose 5-2 in its final tilt before the All-Star break and followed that road victory with Wednesdays shootout victory over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs. The recent triumphs marks only the fourth time the Devils have posted consecutive wins since opening the season 3-0 from Oct. 9-14. Although picking up a third straight win tonight would be nice, the Devils would still have plenty of work to do in order to get back into the playoff race. New Jersey is currently 14 points behind the New York Rangers for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. While the Devils are hoping to gain momentum tonight, the Penguins are aiming to get back on track after losing five of their last six games. Despite the recent rough patch, the Pens are still second in the Metropolitan Division and sit three points behind the New York Islanders. Pittsburgh also is three points ahead of third-place Washington. The Pens began their post-All-Star break schedule with Tuesdays 5-3 win over visiting Winnipeg, but were dealt a 4-0 loss the following night at Washington. Alex Ovechkin scored twice for the Capitals and Braden Holtby made 27 stops for the shutout victory. The setback marked only the fourth time this season Pittsburgh has been shut out and the last two times have come against the Capitals. Holtby also helped Washington blank the Penguins, 3-0, on Dec. 27 in the Steel City. Marc-Andre Fleury allowed all four goals on 36 shots in the loss. The Penguins fell to 1-3-2 in their last six despite getting captain Sidney Crosby back from a lower-body injury which kept him from participating in All- Star weekend. We had a few opportunities but we need to create more if we want to win a game, said Crosby. Although Crosby returned on Wednesday, fellow star forward Evgeni Malkin, who also skipped the All-Star festivities due to a lower-body injury, sat out a third straight game.dddddddddddd Malkin, who is tied with Crosby for the team lead in points with 51, is likely to miss his fourth consecutive tilt on Friday. Maxim Lapierre made his Penguins debut in the recent loss and the defensive forward logged 14 minutes, 15 seconds of ice time. Lapierre was acquired in a trade with St. Louis on Tuesday, with forward Marcel Goc going to the Blues. The Devils recorded a 2-1 win over the Maple Leafs on Wednesday, as Patrik Elias registered the winner in the shootout. Adam Larsson scored in regulation for the Devils, while Cory Schneider came up with 29 saves in regulation and two in the shootout. It wasnt a pretty game but Schneider, without question, played outstanding throughout, Devils interim coach Lou Lamoriello said. New Jersey plays tonight just one day after former franchise goaltender Martin Brodeur announced his retirement. Brodeur called it a career at a Thursday press conference in St. Louis after spending 21 stellar seasons with the Devils and seven games this season with the Blues. Brodeur, a future Hall of Famer who led New Jersey to three Stanley Cup titles, was 3-3-0 with a 2.87 goals-against average and one shutout during his brief stint in St. Louis. He will remain with the St. Louis organization as the senior advisor to the general manager. Tonights test is the second contest of a five-game homestand for the Devils, who are 8-7-6 as the host. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, is 10-6-5 on the road compared to a 17-7-3 mark at home. The Pens won the first two of five regular-season meetings with the Devils in Pittsburgh by a combined 9-3 score, but New Jersey posted a 3-1 home win when the clubs last met on Dec. 29. The Devils have won five in a row and 13 of their past 15 home games versus the Pens. Schneider will make his 43rd start of the season tonight. He is just 1-4-0 with a 2.81 goals against average in his career against Pittsburgh. Fleury expects to go for the Pens and is 19-23-4 with a 2.46 GAA in this matchup. ' ' '