mpton, though he took positi

TAMPA, Fla. -- Daniel Briere might have been the most comfortable player on the ice. Playing in his 109th career playoff game and first for the Montreal Canadiens, Briere skated around in overtime feeling fresh and like something good was going to happen. The least surprising thing was that Briere, a patented playoff performer, made the play to set up Dale Weises goal to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1. It was Brieres 110th point in the Stanley Cup playoffs but also evidence of how strong an overall game he played. "I had lots of chances," Briere said. "I really liked the play of our line. Talking to ourselves before the game, we wanted to bring energy to our team. I believe we were able to do that. Personally I felt like I had a lot of jump and probably couldve scored a few goals before that overtime." Briere had a couple of the games better scoring chances despite playing in a role with Weise and Michael Bournival in which he wasnt expected to bring offence. But thats exactly what he brought on the game-winner, taking advantage of a Tampa Bay defensive breakdown to feed Weise for the winner. "It was an excellent reward for them because they played an excellent game," coach Michel Therrien said. "They deserved to score the winning goal." Given his noticeable play for much of the night, Briere probably deserved more than just a point. But Weise will take what he got. "I thought he was awesome tonight," Weise said of Briere. "Hes a guy that I grew up as a little kid watching him play, and he just raises his level in the playoffs and you saw that tonight." Briere helped beat the Habs in the 2010 Eastern Conference final while with the Philadelphia Flyers, putting up three points in the series first two games. He led all players in those playoffs with 30 points in 23 games. Even though his minutes arent that of a top-liner, Montreal hopes to continue to reap the benefits of Brieres playoff prowess, as it did Wednesday night. "Hes played a ton of playoff games and played some big games," captain Brian Gionta said. "No different tonight." Briere didnt want to blow one primary assist out of proportion, even though it was a significant one. "I dont know, its just one game," he said. "I dont want to get too crazy. Its a huge win. Its a great feeling." Marcus Smart Jersey . Pretty good hitting, too. Dan Haren pitched six innings and sparked the go-ahead rally with a single, leading Los Angeles to another win over the skidding Atlanta Braves, 4-2 on Tuesday night. Kevin Mchale Jersey . He will be practicing with the Norfolk Admirals (AHL) on a conditioning assignment. - @AnaheimDucks Corey Perry has a knee sprain and will miss the next three to four weeks. http://www.shopceltics.com/Cheap-Dennis-...Celtics-Jersey/. "I honestly dont know," he said. Try this: 20 points, nine assists and seven rebounds by Rajon Rondo, a 62-37 rebounding advantage by the Celtics and a horrible 4-for-30 shooting performance on 3-pointers by the Nets. Bob Cousy Jersey . The Oilers will try to get back in the win column on Monday when they continue a four-game road trip with a battle against the Buffalo Sabres. Edmonton won its third straight game last Wednesday against visiting San Jose, beating the Sharks 3-0 as Scrivens stopped 59 shots to set an NHL record for saves in a regular-season shutout. Bill Russell Jersey . PAUL, Minn.Two midfield all-rounders could decide Tottenhams game against Manchester United at White Hart Lane this Sunday, live on Sky Sports. Tottenham host Manchester United with both sides keen to keep pressure on the sides above them. Mousa Dembele and Morgan Schneiderlin are two players enjoying strong seasons in midfield and both will play crucial roles in this match.The presence of several key English players often generates attention at Spurs, but Dembeles return to form and full fitness has arguably been as integral to their fine season as anything else. The Belgium international has generally partnered Eric Dier in midfield, augmenting much of what Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb produced last year. Spurs midfield comparison Stats per 90 mins Dembele - PL 2015/16 Mason - PL 2014/15 Bentaleb - 2014/15 Tackles 4.5 3.3 2.4 Interceptions 2.3 2.0 2.4 Successful dribbles 3.4 0.7 1.1 Chances created (open play) 1.0 1.0 0.7 Successful passes 51.2 52.1 56.4 Passing accuracy 90% 84% 87% Sprints 49.4 44.9 47.2 Distance covered 10.8km 11.6km 11.2km Dembeles major strength is his tackling; only three players have recorded more tackles in the Premier League this season and only four average more than the Belgians 4.5 per 90 minutes. Most tackles PL 2015/16 Tackles Tackles per 90 mins NGolo Kante (Leicester) 139 5.0 Idrissa Gueye (Aston Villa) 123 4.4 Erik Pieters (Stoke) 108 3.5 Mousa Dembele (Tottenham) 96 4.5 Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea) 94 3.3 While this is impressive enough, and a platform from which Tottenham have sprung many attacks this season, its the midfielders actual proficiency in this department that stands out further.Tackles won and lost are easily accessible stats, but they dont reveal a players actual tackling ability. Lost tackles are still successful actions, just ones where the opposing team maintains possession. Therefore, Optas dribbled past category, a stat highlighting when a player is beaten, can be used to explore this better. Challenge success PL 2015/16 Tackles Dribbled past Challenge success Mousa Dembele (Tottenham) 96 8 92.3 Gabriel Paulista (Arsenal) 32 3 91.4% Virgil van Dijk (Southampton) 55 6 90.2% Angelo Ogbonna (West Ham) 37 5 88.1% Wes Morgan (Leicester) 39 6 86.dddddddddddd% Dembele has only been dribbled past eight times while making 96 tackles this season, giving him a 92 per cent success rate which officially classes him as the Premier Leagues hardest man to beat.Furthermore, those near Dembeles ratio havent made anywhere near as many tackles. No player with more than 55 tackles maintains a ratio higher than 85 per cent and the vast majority have been dribbled past at least twice as many times.For example, NGolo Kante leads the way with 139 tackles, but hes been dribbled past on 45 occasions, the tenth most in the division. Similarly, Idrissa Gueye (26 times), Erik Pieters (35) and Cesar Azpilicueta (24) have all been beaten on at least three times as many occasions as Dembele. Jamie Carragher says Dembele should be seen as a top defensive midfielder The Spurs man is not just one of the Premier Leagues most frequent tacklers this season; more importantly, hes been the best.Schneiderlin has similar disruptive responsibilities for Manchester United. While his stats dont quite match up to Dembeles, he still offers the most to his side in this department. Man Utd tackles and interceptions PL 2015/16 Tackles per 90 Interceptions per 90 Tackles and interceptions per 90 Morgan Schneiderlin 3.1 2.9 6.0 Matteo Darmian 3.8 2.0 5.8 Marcos Rojo 2.7 2.7 5.4 Daley Blind 2.8 2.4 5.2 Chris Smalling 1.8 2.9 4.6 Uniteds inconsistencies in attack often detract from the fact they have one of the Premier Leagues best defensive records and Schneiderlin has played his part in that. With the Frenchman involved, United win 54 per cent of games, taking 1.92 points per game, compared to just 29 per cent and one point without him.While United appear more compact with Schneiderlin protecting the defence, hes yet to offer as much in the final third as he did while at Southampton. Given his sides publicised struggles to get shots on target this season, one can understand Louis van Gaals occasional urge to leave the midfielder out in favour of more attacking combinations. Schneiderlin year-on-year Premier League only Man Utd 2015/16 Southampton 2014/15 Goals 1 4 Assists 0 1 Shots 10 30 Chances created 9 20 In a similar amount of time on the pitch, Schneiderlins been directly involved in just one league goal at United, shooting and creating chances far less often than at Southampton, though he took positive steps in this direction against Everton on Sunday.Although Marcos Rashfords back-heel, Timothy Fosu-Mensahs cross and Anthony Martial scoring took the headlines in the move for the only goal of the game, it was Schneiderlins long, defence-splitting pass that prompted the move. Schneiderlin (28) produced the pass for Anthony Martial (9) to score against Everton This more rounded involvement is what Van Gaal and Manchester United fans will hope to see more of from their summer signing over the next few seasons.While Schneiderlin and Dembele wont always be head-to-head on Sunday, charged with screening their respective defences, each man will look to disrupt opposing attackers and switch defence into attack. The player who is more successful at doing that will provide his side with the better platform from which to take the points. Also See: Old Spurs boys to decide title Schneiderlin: Plenty to come ' ' '