ting across the crease to beat Ovechkin and

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FUKUOKA, Japan -- Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan brushed off a fall and merely increased his lead in beating three-time world champion Patrick Chan of Canada at the Grand Prix Final on Friday. Hanyu, who had a 12-point lead after Thursdays short program, fell on his opening quad salchow but completed all of his other jumps, including seven triple jumps plus a quad toe loop in the free skate to eclipse Chan by 13 points. "I wasnt completely satisfied with the long program," Hanyu said. "But after falling on the quad I was able to pull myself together and complete all my jumps and that was huge." Chan also hit all his jumps, but he was unable to erase the deficit and finished with 280.08 points to Hanyus 293.25. Nobunari Oda of Japan, a late substitute for defending GP Final champion Daisuke Takahashi, was third with 255.96. "It was a good day and Im happy with how I skated," Chan said. "I felt nervous going into the long program. It was a mental battle even before I got on the ice." Beating Chan was a huge boost for Hanyus chances of being selected to represent Japan at the Sochi Olympics. "This is a huge step for Sochi," said Hanyu, who will turn 19 on Saturday. "I feel I am meeting all the requirements. We still have the national championships but obviously, I am feeling pretty confident." Chan said he wasnt disappointed with the result. "I finished the event strong," the Toronto skater said. "There was a lot of good things I did here, and that was regaining my composure and regaining my concentration after a bad short program and putting out a great long that I dont usually do. Its not very Patrick Chan of me. "Most of the time, I think people know me well that the short program has always saved me ... but I think today was proof that Im getting better and really becoming a more well-rounded competitor." He said his long skate was even more satisfying given his previous track record skating in Japan. "Honestly, I started thinking about my previous performances here in Japan, and I dont really have the best track record," he said. "The last two times I competed here has for the World Team Trophy, and I really havent skated well at every single one of those in Japan, just because its at the end of the season. "Every time I come back to Japan I feel like I relive those moments where I didnt skate my best and those were really tough times. Thats why I think I learned a lot today." In ice dancing, world champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States led after the short dance with 77.66 points, seven-tenths of a point ahead of Tessa Virtue of London, Ont., and Scott Moir of Ilderton, Ont. "Overall it was strong," said Virtue. "Technically we got all the points we wanted which was our objective. We just have to go out and perform the same way in the free dance." Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev of Russia stand third at 68.90 just ahead of Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., at 67.68. "We captured the essence of the program," said Poje. "We didnt lose that uniqueness. We wanted to utilize the taps and the back and forth between the two of us." Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia were first after the pairs short program with 82.65. World silver medallists Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany were second with 79.46 while Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China were third on 75.40. Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., totalled 73.07 and are fourth less than three points behind third spot. Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto are sixth. "This is the type of skate weve been waiting for," said Radford. "After some rough short programs this season, this one gives us a lot of confidence." Moore-Towers and Moscovitch also came off the ice satisfied. "We cant do much better than a clean short," said Moore-Towers. "The best part was our energy. We felt comfortable and at home out there. It was fun and when we get to feel it that way, its enjoyable." The GP Final is the first and only event where most of the worlds top skaters will meet before the Sochi Olympics. The womens free skate and the ice dance and pairs free programs are scheduled for Saturday. Jamie Meder Jersey . Azarenka needed exactly one hour in a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Austrian Yvonne Meusburger to start the night session at Laver Arena. Sharapova had a much easier time earlier in the day with cooler conditions and took full advantage in 6-1, 7-6 (8-6) win over Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, while Radwanska had to rally for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Ozzie Newsome Jersey . The Brad Jacobs team from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., advanced to Fridays championship game with a 10-6 win over Chinas Rui Liu in the semifinal. http://www.authenticbrownsnflfansmall.c ... ersey.aspx. At 11:06 of the first period, Neal struck Marchand with his knee when Marchand was down on the ice. Marchand remained in the game. Neal was assessed a kneeing penalty for his hit on Marchand. JC Tretter Jersey . The defending champions sent their preliminary list to FIFA on Tuesday, with coach Vicente del Bosque to announce the final 23-man squad on May 25. Costa is set to lead the attack in his native Brazil, with Atletico Madrid teammate David Villa and Chelseas Fernando Torres also included, while David de Gea replaces injured goalkeeper Victor Valdes. Kenny Britt Jersey . Mohamed Diame put West Ham ahead in the 47th minute before goals by substitutes Carlton Cole and Joe Cole condemned Fulham to a fifth straight defeat, keeping the visitors in the bottom three.WASHINGTON -- Playoffs or regular season, New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist has been absolutely perfect the past three times he has faced Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. So what if the Rangers were struggling under first-year coach Alain Vigneault? Lundqvist felt good about his teams chances Wednesday night, then backed that up with his 46th NHL shutout in New Yorks 2-0 victory over Washington. "I felt like we came in here with a lot of confidence that we can beat them," the Swedish goalie said, "even though weve had a rough start." It was his third shutout in a row against familiar post-season foe Washington, including Games 6 and 7 of the teams first-round playoff series in May. New York and Washington have met in the playoffs four times in five years, splitting those series. "The games against the Rangers are always tight," Capitals forward Brooks Laich said. "We knew that going in. We knew it wasnt going to be a shootout." Lundqvist only needed to make 22 saves, thanks in part to 22 blocked shots by his teammates. By the end, Rangers fans in the crowd were chanting, "Hen-reek! Hen-reek!" "Tonight Hank was on, and we didnt give them a whole lot," said Brad Richards, who assisted on goals by Ryan Callahan and John Moore less than two minutes apart in the second period. One key sequence both teams pointed to came in the first period, when the Capitals had a 5-on-3 advantage for 55 seconds after hooking calls on Anton Stralman and Taylor Pyatt. One chance went awry when Ovechkin snapped his stick in two while trying to get off a shot. Another was wasted when some tic-tac-toe passing set up Joel Ward for a close-range, backdoor try, but he pushed the puck against the side of the net. "We had an empty net on the 5-on-3. We didnt bury it," Capitals coach Adam Oates said. "Its a different ballgame if Wardo puts that in." Vigneault chose to credit his goalie after the Rangerss won for only the second time in six games this season.dddddddddddd Their season-opening road swing still has three more stops. "To go down 5-on-3 and get a couple of nice saves from Hank -- that sort of helped us get a little momentum," Vigneault said. Unable to generate much offence, even with their formidable power play, three-time NHL MVP Ovechkin and the Capitals fell to 2-5. The Capitals entered the night second in the NHL on the power play, at better than 35 per cent, but went 0 for 4. Ovechkin was credited with more than a third of his teams shots -- a game-high eight -- but didnt add to his goal total of six. "We have our chances out there and we just, to be honest with you, cant score," Ovechkin said. New York dominated the second period, outshooting Washington 21-6 and getting the puck past Braden Holtby. Moore scored his first goal of the season 12:05 into that period during 4-on-4 play, after Ovechkin was sent to the penalty box for slashing Derek Stepan during a short-handed breakaway. Callahan then knocked in his third of the season -- and third in two games -- by cutting across the crease to beat Ovechkin and defenceman John Carlson to Richards centring pass. "Our (defensive) zone, our neutral zone, everything was a lot more in sync," said Richards, who has four goals and three assists the past five games. "You could tell we were on the same page a lot more." Notes: New York lost its preceding three games by a combined 20-5. ... Rangers D Michael del Zotto was scratched because of illness. ... The Rangers wont play their first home game until Oct. 28 against the Montreal Canadiens, New Yorks latest home opener in a non-lockout season since 1947. ... New York LW Rick Nash missed a third consecutive game because of a head injury from a hit by San Joses Brad Stuart last week. 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