each side brought an aggressive game plan, with

NEW ORLEANS (3-4) at CAROLINA (3-4-1)Thursday, 8:25 p.m. ET, NFL NetworkOPENING LINE — Saints by 1 1/2RECORD VS. SPREAD — New Orleans 3-4, Carolina 4-4SERIES RECORD — Panthers lead 20-18LAST MEETING — Panthers beat Saints 17-13, Dec. 22, 2013LAST WEEK — Saints beat Packers 44-23; Panthers lost to Seahawks 13-9AP PRO32 RANKING — Saints No. 18, Panthers No. 21.SAINTS OFFENSE — OVERALL (2), RUSH (7), PASS (2).SAINTS Defence — OVERALL (28), RUSH (10), PASS (31).PANTHERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (24), RUSH (27), PASS (17).PANTHERS Defence — OVERALL (21), RUSH (32), PASS (18).STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Saints coach Sean Payton is 28-16 in NFC South games since 2006. Hes 7-7 vs. Carolina. ... Saints 26-0 under Payton when not committing a turnover. ... QB Drew Brees has thrown for three or more TDs in three of last five games vs. Carolina. ... RB Mark Ingram ran for 172 yards last week vs. Packers. ... Saints have converted NFL-best 47.4 per cent of third-down opportunities. ... TE Jimmy Graham has scored in five straight games vs. Panthers. ... WR Brandin Cooks had a rushing and receiving TD last week. ... DE Cameron Jordan has five sacks in last five games vs. Carolina. ... Saints averaging 5.1 yards per carry, second best in NFL. ... Saints have allowed eight sacks. ... QB Cam Newton is 3-1 vs. Saints in last four starts, and won nine of last 11 starts in home games. ... Panthers RB DeAngelo Williams (ankle sprain) expected to start. Williams ran for career-high 210 yards vs. Saints on Dec. 30, 2012. ... Panthers have allowed 18 sacks. ... WR Kelvin Benjamin on pace for team rookie record of 76 receptions, 1,142 yards and 10 TDs. ... TE Greg Olsen has TD reception in three straight home games. ... S Roman Harper played eight seasons for Saints. ... LB Luke Kuechly had career-high 24 tackles in last meeting.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Kevin Shattenkirk Jersey .com) - The Buffalo Bills will return to the friendly confines of Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday when they welcome the upstart Cleveland Browns to town. Eddie Giacomin Rangers Jersey . Fans in the Jets viewing region can watch the game on TSN Jets at 5:30pm ct and listeners can tune in to TSN Radio 1290 Winnipeg. http://www.rangershockeyonlineshop.com/chris-kreider-hockey-jersey/ . In the second game of their day/night doubleheader at Minneapolis, three Blue Jays pitchers, Steve Delabar, Sergio Santos and J. Mark Messier Jersey .com) - Bayern Munich winger Xherdan Shaqiri is expected to miss the next two weeks because of a thigh injury. Mika Zibanejad Rangers Jersey .Hoffenheim forward Anthony Modeste opened the scoring on a counterattack in the 15th minute, shooting though Jaroslav Drobnys legs after Lewis Holtby lost the ball in midfield. ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Chicago Blackhawks were chasing for much of the game, and the Minnesota Wild just kept generating chance after chance to score. Once overtime arrived, though, all Patrick Kane needed was one friendly bounce to finish off another opponent. Kane scored on a backhand at 9:42 of the extra period to lift the Blackhawks to a 2-1 victory over the Wild in Game 6 to clinch their second-round Western Conference series on Tuesday night, the fourth playoff overtime winner of his career. "Hes a special player, and guys have that instinct, have that knack of finding pucks, wanting to be out there, wanting to score," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. Kris Versteeg scored 1:58 into the game and Corey Crawford came up with tough save after tough save among his 34 stops for the Blackhawks, who advanced to the Western Conference finals to meet either Anaheim or Los Angeles. The Ducks lead the other semifinal series 3-2, with the Kings hosting Game 6 on Wednesday night. Since 2009, the first post-season appearance for Kane and co-star Jonathan Toews, the Blackhawks are 14-0 in Games 5 and 6 of playoff series that were tied after Game 4. Theyre also 12-2 in games with a chance to win a series, including 6-1 on the road. "We probably didnt play our best tonight, but just finding a way to win is something this team has done for many years now," Kane said. Erik Haula scored his fourth goal of the playoffs and Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 25 shots for the Wild. Minnesota pushed a frenetic pace for much of the night but paid for all those missed prime opportunities when a simple dump-in behind the net by Brent Seabrook took a strange bounce off the glass back toward the slot. The puck slid past Peter Regin as he was tied up with a defenceman. Kane snagged it, deked once and flipped it into top of the net. He said he wasnt sure right away if the puck was in. But he soon found out. "It seems like it was not our luck tonight," said Bryzgalov, who nearly matched Crawford save for save. "We hit some posts in the third period and they got like the first goal after some crazy two bounces." The Wild kept up the pressure on Crawford that they created in the middle of the game, but whether it was the goalies pads, blocker or a crossbar in the way, the pucks didnt go in.dddddddddddd. "We really believe that we were capable of doing more than just winning this game," a dejected Wild coach Mike Yeo said, adding: "Our guys did everything that we asked and they laid it on the line, and thats what hurts." The Blackhawks scored first in six of their previous 11 games in these playoffs and won each time, their only victory without taking the first lead coming in Game 5 against the Wild. Versteeg put them right back in control just 1:58 in on his 28th birthday, when he outmuscled Keith Ballard for possession in the corner and flipped an bad-angle shot that bounced awkwardly among the bodies around the crease, hit the back of Clayton Stoners leg and skidded past Bryzgalov. The Wild got their break -- or, rather, breakaway -- soon after the first intermission when Haula sped to snag a pass by Matt Cooke that banked perfectly off the boards and he snapped the puck on the rush past Crawfords glove. Each side brought an aggressive game plan, with defencemen pinching down often and all kinds of rushes developing both ways, particularly in that breathless penalty-free second period that had the home team buzzing so much that Quenneville used his timeout. Crawford made two saves apiece on a pair of breakaways by Justin Fontaine. Cody McCormick tried a spin move to fend off Duncan Keith and nearly got the puck past Crawford, who used his left pad to stop it. "On the road this was probably one of my bigger games of the playoffs so far," Crawford said. "This team seems to enjoy that position where we have a chance to eliminate and move on to the next series. We had a chance to do that and we stuck with it all game." NOTES: Kane moved into the NHL lead with 35 post-season goals since 2009. ... The Wild had goalie Darcy Kuemper dressed for action for the first time since he was removed in the third period of Game 6 of the first round series against Colorado because of what the team labeled an upper body injury. ... The Blackhawks fended off two more power plays in the third period and dropped the Wild to 2 for 20 in the series. ' ' '