men across the back four got exposed in the buildup to

CHICAGO -- The swirling snow came down in waves, dancing around the upper deck before eventually descending to the temporary ice rink in the middle of a football field. Playing in a winter wonderland, Jonathan Toews showed his two-way game is perfect for any conditions. Toews had two goals and an assist at a picturesque Soldier Field, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 on Saturday night in the finale of the NHL Stadium Series. "We felt like we could find a way to score every time we got the puck," Toews said. "It honestly did feel like we were playing (pickup) hockey in the backyard." Patrick Sharp scored in the first period and Patrick Kane set up Kris Versteegs 100th career goal in the second, helping Chicago to its first win since Feb. 5 at Anaheim. The reigning Stanley Cup champions dropped their final game before the Olympic break, and then lost 2-1 at the New York Rangers on Thursday night. James Neal was credited with Pittsburghs only goal when Blackhawks defenceman Brent Seabrook sent the puck into his own net at 6:21 of the third. Marc-Andre Fleury had 35 saves in the Penguins third straight loss, matching a season high. "It wouldnt have mattered if we played this game inside or outside or it was snow or no snow," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. "They were better and more prepared to play, whatever the conditions were." The crowd of 62,921, dressed from head to toe in several layers, usually topped by their favourite jersey, roared when the Penguins and Blackhawks emerged from separate tunnels before the game. The players were greeted by rows of fireworks and shooting flames that sent clouds of smoke into the falling flakes. The snow was heavy for most of the first period, and then died down at the start of the second before picking up in intensity again. The small ice crew tried its best to keep up, but it was fighting an impossible battle, and inches of snow piled up on the surface between breaks in the action. Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith tried to play the puck forward at one point in the first, but only got part of it and it sledded to a stop a few feet away. "One time, I was carrying it up the ice and had to look down three or four times just to kind of see where it was," Kane said. "You could feel the snow down there, so its obviously a little bit harder to push it." The snow and frigid temperatures -- it was 17 degrees when the puck was dropped for the opening faceoff -- made life difficult on the star-studded teams, full of Olympians and other All-Stars. It also provided a prime-time showcase for the considerable skills of Toews, who teamed with Pittsburgh centre Sidney Crosby to lead Canada to the gold medal in the Sochi Games last weekend. Toews and Crosby had never played against each other in an NHL regular-season game. First, Toews found Sharp for a slap shot that went over Fleurys right shoulder and off the left post at 15:35 of the first, giving Chicago a 1-0 lead. Then, Toews made an outstanding move on Pittsburgh defenceman Brooks Orpik before squeezing a backhander between Fleurys legs at 10:47 of the second. Toews celebrated his 20th goal by skating over to the Blackhawks bench and jumping into his delirious teammates. "I guess I definitely got caught up in it a little bit," said Toews, who got his nickname of "Captain Serious" for his stoic demeanour. Kane added his own flashy play, making a perfect pass to Versteeg for a goalmouth tip-in that made it 3-0 at 16:43. Versteeg ended an 11-game scoring drought by scoring at a third Chicago sports venue, joining Wrigley Field in the 2009 Winter Classic and the United Center. "Just drive the net and put your stick down and you know a guy like Kaner is going to find you when he can," Versteeg said. "It was just a great pass." Neal cut the lead to 3-1 in the third, but Bryan Bickell added his ninth goal at 13:57 before Toews finished the scoring with 2:08 to go. "Theyre a good hockey team and they outplayed us," Crosby said. "They had us trapped in a lot of the game." Corey Crawford had 31 stops for the Blackhawks, who lost forward Marian Hossa to an upper-body injury in the first period. It was unclear when exactly Hossa was injured. He took a hard hit from Penguins forward Craig Adams during Chicagos second power play of the first period. "Hossa might miss some time," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "Well get a better idea probably more on Monday, pretty good idea, but well know more in a couple of days. But not long term." NOTES: Its the Penguins third three-game losing streak of the season. ... The NHLs last outdoor game of the season is Sunday in Vancouver, when the Canucks play the Ottawa Senators in the Heritage Classic at B.C. Place Stadium. Chris Doleman Jersey .com) - Houston Texans interim head coach Wade Phillips confirmed Monday that starting quarterback Case Keenum sustained a sprained right thumb during Sundays 25-3 loss in Indianapolis. Dalvin Cook Jersey . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork. http://www.vikingssale.com/Vikings-Paul-Krause-Draft-Jersey/ . -- Officials have approved a deal to build a new $672 million stadium for the Atlanta Braves away from the downtown Atlanta area that has traditionally been its home. Cris Carter Jersey . Roma has a game in hand but now second place is even at risk for the capital side as Napoli moved to within three points with the win. "The result is not always fair," Roma coach Rudi Garcia said. "If we play like this until the end we will win many matches. Minnesota Vikings Jerseys . - Henrik Samuelsson and Curtis Lazar each had two goals and two assists as the Edmonton Oil Kings secured top spot in the Eastern Conference by defeating the host Red Deer Rebels 7-4 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action.Day 6 in 100 words or less There is a demand from the Brazilian public when it comes to their national team. Entertain and win. So far, Brazil are struggling to tick either box. There will be many negative words written about Brazils performance but Brazil are not in the World Cup to convince now. They are in it to win it on July 13th. The result of the game may not be what the public wanted but the competitiveness of the match was exactly what this Brazilian team needed. Brazil 0-0 Mexico - Through two games at the 2006 World Cup there were very few people picking Italy to win it. Four points from a possible six will do that. Through two games at the 2010 World Cup there were very few people picking Spain to win it. Three points from a possible six will do that. Through two games at the 2014 World Cup fewer and fewer people are picking Brazil to win it. Just last Thursday, prior to the tournament kicking off, their bandwagon was full. Now people are jumping off it very quickly. - Of course, they need to be better and there are questions about the hosts, mainly around how they can change a game when it isnt going their way. Bernard for Ramires, Jo for Fred, Willian for Oscar; different piece, same puzzle. It was a game that screamed for a playmaker from a central area to link up with the front three. A man who can play as a third midfielder and match up against opponents in defence but ignite an attack with penetration and vision going forward. A Kaka in his prime, for example. - However, Kaka is only in Brazil as a fan. This team is what it is and Luiz Felipe Scolari seems very hesitant to move away from a disciplined 4-2-3-1 shape. He is a stubborn man with belief and faith in what got him here and he loves stability. - It is a shape that will likely find a high gear against minnows Cameroon in their next match but in arguably their biggest test of the group stages they became too predictable. - Mexico were magnificent. It took until Bernards run inside, in the 76th minute, before a ball was played in behind their defence and Jo poorly shot wide. - Their back five were compact and extremely organized. Their shape meant they had outlets all over the field with technical players demanding the ball. Many of their players excelled and for the second straight game their trio in central midfield of Jose Vazquez (#23), Andres Guardado (#18) and Hector Herrera (#6) impressed, making a number of ball recoveries to start transitions stats powered by Opta - No one was better, however, than goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa who made a number of brilliant saves highlighted by his stop from Neymars thunderous header in the 26th minute. Weve been given many gifts by this World Cup and that was one of the greatest saves you will ever see. - Mexico have given many people a lesson in Brazil, including those who put a lot of faith in qualification processes months ago. Miguel Herreras team are night and day different to the way they played last year and is it really a surprise? Finally they have a coach who has a gameplan, a system he has stuck to and players he believes in. On the biggest stage, so far, it has worked out for them and theyll only need a point vs Croatia to get to the last 16 once again. Belgium 2-1 Algeria - With twenty minutes to go, Belgium coach Marc Wilmots had laid all of his cards on the table. He was all in. The sexy upstarts were in trouble, down a goal to the organised Algerians, and with the world watching now was the time to deliver. - The past 25 minutes, since half-time, had been a much needed improvement from a slow, predicable style in the opening half of the game. - Wilmots has been successful with Belgium because he has leaned heavily on depth - half of their goals in qualifying came from subs - and he was at it again in Brazil. Off came Nacer Chadli at half-time, a disciplined wide player with little creativity, not needed when you are chasing a game. Dries Mertens, unlucky not to start, provided some width and an increase in tempo that the attack needed. Yet it remained 0-0. - Off came Romelu Lukaku for young 19-year-old Divock Origi on 65 minutes. And yet five minutes later they still trailed. - Off came Moussa Dembele, inserting a more attacking threat, in central midfield, with Marouane Fellaini getting his chance. Wilmots was done. It was up to the players. - Kevin De Bruyne, so crucial to their system, linking up centrally between the defensive-minnded six and the three forwards, then took over.dddddddddddd His delivery into the box for Fellaini to head into the net was one of the finest crosses so far in a tournament full of fine crosses. - It has also been a tournament of counter attacks. Algeria attacked and De Bruyne produced a brilliant tackle to start a transition, led by the creative guile of Eden Hazard and finished off with the power from the right foot of Mertens. - It was far from an ideal performance but Wilmots learned quite a bit about his team in the game at Belo Horizonte. They trailed for 46 minutes, seven more than they did combined in the two years it took to qualify to get there. Just like against Croatia early in qualifying, his players answered back and will gain a lot of confidence from it. - Question marks remain, of course, about just how good they are. Some minor changes can be made, such as Mertens for Chadli, possibly, against Russia on Sunday but there are some deficiencies that can not be solved. - Playing four centre-backs is his only real choice at this tournament but the wide men across the back four got exposed in the buildup to Algeria winning their first half penalty. - Initially the back four look like they are in a good position to deal with an attack..... - Then left midfielder Riyad Mahred makes a move inside that causes Toby Alderweireld to follow him, just as centre-backs often do... - This leaves a gap on the left side for Faouzi Ghoulam to run into... - He gets the better of De Bruyne to cross into the box and by now left back Jan Vertonghen isnt quick enough to get back, instead looking in front of him for the threat, rather than behind. - The cross comes in and Vincent Kompany, centrally, puts his arms up thinking it will be easily dealt with but Vertonghen has fallen asleep and allows Sofiane Feghouli to get goalside, forcing him to foul him and giveaway the penalty. - If a fairly limited side like Algeria can expose Belgium in this area expect future opponents to concentrate on exposing the positioning of their full-backs. Russia 1-1 South Korea - It was far from a classic. If you missed it all you need to know is Igor Akinfeev had a Rob Green howler moment midway through the second half to ensure Fabio Capellos World Cup started with a very similar 1-1 to four years ago. - The Italian manager responded by finally placing his ace goalscorer Aleksander Kerzhakov on the field and within five minutes he had leveled the game, bundling home the rebound inside his office, the six yard box. - The commentator gave Capello credit for the goal but it was clearly a bizarre decision by not playing the Zenit striker from the start. - Russia were many peoples picks to advance from this group but based on todays display the slot to go through with Belgium is very much alive for all three other members of Group H. - It will not help that Russia play Belgium next and they will have to be much better. Man of the day Nominees Kevin De Bruyne – The former Chelsea man took over the game in the second half for Belgium and two moments of brilliance swung the game his teams way. Axel Witsel – The central midfielder was clearly the most consistent performer on the day and looks poised to have a very good World Cup. Sofiane Feghouli – The Valencia man won the penalty, dusted himself down and scored the countrys first World Cup goal in 28 years. Neymar – Brazil were frustrated many times with Mexico but we were still fortunate to watch a few special moments from ‘Mr Box Office as he dribbled his way around his opponents. Guillermo Ochoa – Yesterday many people looked up the Wikipedia of John Brooks. Today that man was the Mexican goalkeeper. The winner… Guillermo Ochoa – The Wall of Ochoa dominated day six. He had his moment, brilliantly denying Neymar in the first half but he produced three more magnificent saves and fully deserved his clean sheet. He is on the look out for a new club team and I think his agents phone has been very busy today. What comes next? Australia vs Netherlands (12pm/9am), Chile vs Spain (3pm/noon), Cameroon vs Croatia (6pm/3pm). Burning question for tomorrow What will Spain do differently to keep themselves alive in this tournament and prevent a loss to Chile? Key stat of day 5 Through 17 games the teams that have scored first have only eight wins, drawing once and losing six times. 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