SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Patrick Marleau is right where he wants to be: Outside the spotlight trained on Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo, yet still scoring big goals and leading the San Jose Sharks to important victories.
Marleau scored two goals and Vesa Toskala stopped 16 shots in the Sharks' 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators in Game 3 on Tuesday night, putting San Jose up 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
The Sharks went ahead on rookie Steve Bernier's first playoff goal late in the second period, and NHL goal-scoring champion Cheechoo also scored in the third as fifth-seeded San Jose moved halfway to the second round with its second straight hard-nosed victory despite no points from Thornton, the league's leading scorer.
They survived Nashville's latest impressive defensive game thanks to Marleau, the longest-tenured Shark who's thriving while centering a line with two rookies. Marleau shuns attention, but the Predators might be wise to turn some of their focus on Thornton over to the captain in teal.
"He's the captain, he's a veteran, and when you see him play like he's playing right now, you just have to follow him," said Bernier, Marleau's right wing. "It's tough to follow the way he plays, but Patty is leading the way for all the team."
As usual, Marleau had no interest in evaluating himself. He was much more impressed with San Jose's gritty game of offensive keep-away against Paul Kariya and the Predators, who have just two goals in the last 160 minutes since their three-goal first period in the series opener.
"We want to play them in their end and always have the puck and start making plays in their zone," said Marleau, whose Sharks outshot Nashville 40-17. "When we're successful, we get results like this."
Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff had three assists for the Sharks, who lost their final four home playoff games during their run to the Western Conference finals in 2004. Game 4 is Thursday night at the sold-out Shark Tank, with Game 5 back in Nashville on Sunday.
Cheechoo and Marleau both scored on shots that probably should have been stopped by Chris Mason, the Predators' backup goalie thrust into the playoffs two weeks ago when Tomas Vokoun was sidelined with blood clots. With Mason's inexperience finally showing despite his 36 saves, Toskala's steady play was even more impressive in both goalies' third career playoff starts.
Kimmo Timonen scored a short-handed goal in the first period for the Predators, who have done excellent work against Thornton despite a raft of penalties called for their defense on the Sharks' superstar.
"He protects the puck very well, but I'm starting to look at those penalties, and they're pretty weak," coach Barry Trotz said. "But they are penalties, if you want to go the letter of the law. On some of them, I'm not exactly sure what the rules are. They're different rules for him, I guess."
The Predators managed just nine shots in the first 35 minutes, but they were relentlessly physical with Thornton, who won his first scoring title this season with 125 points.
Nashville sent a defender after Thornton every time he touched the puck, never content to sit back watching out for his expert passes. Thornton couldn't exploit the defense's holes in his small windows of opportunity.
"He's the best player in the league, but we have a couple of lines who are capable of going at him," Nashville center Scott Nichol said. "We're just trying to take away as many of his options as we can."
But Bernier put the Sharks ahead with 1:12 left in the second period when Ehrhoff's shot ricocheted off defenseman Dan Hamhuis and went directly to the rookie wing, who flipped it home.
After the Sharks killed two Nashville power plays in the third period, Cheechoo scored on a shot near the blue line with 4:22 to play, slipping the puck through Mason's pads. But there was nothing cheap about Marleau's second goal just 67 seconds later: He split two defensemen and deked Mason to the ice before firing it home.
Nashville won the series opener 4-3 with four power-play goals, but San Jose tied it up with three power-play goals of its own in a Game 2 shutout.
Marleau tied it midway through the second period, skating unimpeded to the right circle and ripping a stoppable shot past Mason for his second goal of the series.
Notes: Former Sharks captain Owen Nolan, who still lives in the area and owns a local bar, attended the game. Nolan, who missed the season with injuries, hasn't announced where he'll play next year. ... Toskala was sharp, making an exceptional pad save on Nashville's 2-on-1 break late in the second period. Evgeni Nabokov, who has played in 34 postseason games for the Sharks, has been relegated to backup duty ever since getting a minor abdominal injury after his strong play at the Olympics. ... San Jose has outshot Nashville in all three games of the series.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- The Calgary Flames powered up on the power play to take the lead in their Western Conference series against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
The Flames scored three man-advantage goals in seven opportunities, and Chuck Kobasew and Robyn Regehr had the game's only even-strength scores Tuesday night in Calgary's 5-2 victory over Anaheim.
The Flames lead 2-1 in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Thursday night, also in Anaheim.
The Ducks were 2-for-9 on the power play, including scoring once in the two times they had a two-man advantage. Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere gave up five scores on 24 shots.
Five players scored for Calgary, and coach Darryl Sutter, asked who played especially well, said, "I don't think you can single out anybody. You can single out 27 minutes of special teams, and that's where it paid off."
He added, "If they are going to call this many penalties, it's going to put a lot of pressure on goalies during this series."
Twelve penalties totaling 27 minutes were called against the Flames, and 10 penalties for 23 minutes against the Ducks. Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff stopped 27 shots.
"Thank goodness our power play smartened up; it's a big part of our game," said Regehr, who gave the Flames a three-goal pad when he scored just 34 seconds after teammate Darren McCarty in the third period.
"There are a lot of penalties being called and we need to continue to improve on special teams," Regehr added.
Kobasew's goal at 15:34 of the second period snapped a 2-2 tie. Kristian Huselius had a goal and two assists for Calgary, and Daymond Langkow also scored for the Flames.
Rookie defenseman Francois Beauchemin provided all the Ducks' offense, becoming the first Anaheim rookie to notch two goals in a playoff game.
"I don't think we got our game going at all the whole night," Beauchemin said.
Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer said, "Being in the penalty box as much as we were is tough. But we've got to find a way to stay out and to do a better job of killing penalties."
McCarty scored his second goal of the series 4:59 into the final period, then Regehr quickly added his first.
Giguere said he needs to do a better job and, "As a team, we need to be better on the penalty kill. We need to stay disciplined and work harder as a group to kill penalties."
Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle, asked about Giguere's play, said, "I think he fit in with our hockey club. Tonight we weren't good enough."
Disappointed in the Ducks' performance, Carlyle said, "Is it the end of the world? No, they're up 2-1 in the series. The bottom line is we have to prepare ourselves for more of a team effort than we got from our group."
The first four goals came during power plays -- two by each team -- and included Beauchemin's second-period score with the Ducks holding a two-man advantage.
Beauchemin's second goal of the game and the series evened it 2-2 in the second period after Huselius had put Calgary ahead.
The teams traded power-play goals in the opening period, with Langkow getting the Flames on the board at 14:01.
Beauchemin then scored at 17:26 to end Anaheim's 0-for-12 drought on power plays during the series, one-timing a 50-footer past Kiprusoff.
Notes: The teams will return to Calgary to play the fifth game on Saturday night. ... Giguere sat out Calgary's series-opening 2-1 overtime victory because of an undisclosed injury. He returned to stop 22 shots in the Ducks' 4-3 win in Game 2. ... Langkow's first-period score was his ninth career playoff goal. ... The teams split their regular-season meetings 2-2.

DENVER (AP)
-- Kenyon Martin was unhappy about his limited playing time in Denver's playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers. Now he won't be suiting up for the Nuggets at all.
The Nuggets suspended their forward indefinitely on Tuesday night for what they called detrimental conduct.
"This is an internal matter that we will deal with in-house," coach George Karl said in a statement.
Martin, who has been bothered by knee tendinitis all season, was dejected over his limited playing time in Game 2 Monday night, when he played sparingly in the first half and sat out the second half of Denver's 98-87 loss to the Clippers.
Martin didn't arrive on the Nuggets bench until several minutes into the third quarter and then sat with a towel over his head. He left the arena without comment, but teammate Ruben Patterson suggested Martin felt he could have played and was frustrated that he had been held out.
Hours before suspending him, Karl seemed miffed that Martin was upset over his benching.
"I will talk to him and see what's happening," Karl said Tuesday afternoon. "He told me and the staff at halftime that he couldn't go. Now, there's stuff filtering out that there's frustration there. We'll see."
Martin apparently banged his bothersome left knee in the first half while going against Elton Brand.
"He's got a heck of a matchup," Karl said. "The guy is a very physical player. I don't think people understand how big that man is. He's 260, maybe 270 pounds. I'm sure he not only hit Martin's knee, but probably hit a lot of other parts of the body."
Besides, "it's been a year of frustration for everybody," said Karl, who watched forward Nene go down for the season with a knee injury in the opener, then had to juggle his lineup all season with injuries to Martin and center Marcus Camby.
"We've always worked through it. We've always picked ourselves up," Karl said. "I trust this team is going to do the same thing on Thursday."
Before deciding to suspend Martin, Karl was asked why he wasn't giving him more minutes.
"Well, it is hard for me to visualize him actually playing 20 minutes of basketball again because he doesn't participate in practice very often. He just wants to play in the games," Karl said. "That philosophically doesn't make any sense to me. I think he has a big-time heart. I think he is a big-time competitor and he did a heck of a job in the second half against Brand for Game 1.
"Right now I evaluate all my players. I think Carmelo is going to go a lot of minutes, Andre [Miller] is going to get a lot of minutes, Marcus is going to get a lot of minutes. After that I have no idea who is going to get the minutes. It's the guy who earns the minutes and who plays the way we want him to play."
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday night at the Pepsi Center.
The Nuggets are accustomed to playing without Martin, who has been bothered all season by his surgically repaired left knee and began regularly sitting out games over the last month in hopes he'd be better for the playoffs, where he has traditionally stepped up his game.
He had six points and two boards in the Nuggets' 111-109 loss in Game 1, and was scoreless with one rebound in just under seven minutes in Denver's loss in Game 2.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Finesse and offensive skill will only carry you so far in the NHL playoffs. If the Ottawa Senators are going to shake their reputation as playoff failures, they know they have to be aggressive on defense, too.
Two nights after a third-period collapse at home revived talk about past postseason disappointment, the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference regained control of its first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning with an impressive 8-4 victory on Tuesday night.
The Senators showed why they were the league's highest-scoring team this season, but they also were more physical in taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven matchup. Game 4 is Thursday night in Tampa.
"We said to ourselves we have to play hard and fight for every inch on the ice," Ottawa defenseman Zdeno Chara said.
Martin Havlat scored his third and fourth goals of the playoffs, and defenseman Wade Redden had a goal and two assists after missing Game 2 to fly to Saskatchewan to be with family following the death of his mother.
Antoine Vermette also scored twice for the Senators, who got another solid performance from goaltender Ray Emery. The rookie stopped 35 shots and again showed why Ottawa is confident it can go deep into the playoffs, even without injured goalie Dominik Hasek.
"It's a different game being up three goals in the first period. I thought we were flying out there," Emery said.
"That magic that a lot of these guys have, you could see it in the first and even in the third. When we got chances, we buried them."
The Senators have been one of the top two seeds in the East four times since 1999, but have yet to advance to the Stanley Cup finals. They entered this series as heavy favorites after sweeping four regular-season meetings and taking 17 of 20 games from the Lightning over the past five years.
"We played a little bit nervous and made some mistakes that burned us," Tampa Bay's Brad Richards said.
"But it's over with. We've had stinkers before and we'll have them again. It's how you rebound."
Paul Ranger scored twice and Martin St. Louis once for the Lightning, who trimmed a four-goal deficit to 5-2 on Ranger's unassisted goal just 20 seconds into third period. But any realistic chance to make it interesting faded when Tampa Bay's Chris Dingman gave the Senators a 7-minute power play by drawing penalties for instigating and fighting.
Dany Heatley and Chara scored during the stretch for Ottawa to make it 7-2. Tampa Bay came back with power-play goals by Ranger and Pavel Kubina, but by that time the game was well out of reach.
Heatley and Chara didn't make it to the end as they were part of a brawl with 2:17 left.
Heatley squared off in a fight with Nolan Pratt, and Chara locked up with Vincent Lecavalier. Ottawa's 6-foot-9 defenseman cocked his right arm and held it menacingly over Lecavalier, who was down on the ice, but restrained from throwing the big punch.
The melee, sparked by Vaclav Varada's boarding penalty against Tampa Bay's Ruslan Fedotenko, capped a physical game that featured 139 penalty minutes -- 79 for Tampa Bay -- five fighting majors, and seven misconducts.
"We were more passive in the first two games. We kind of laid back and allowed a lot of time and space for the skill players on their team to attack us," Ottawa coach Bryan Murray said. "I thought tonight we were quicker and tried to challenge more."
Despite winning Game 2 to even the series and end a nine-game losing streak against the Senators, Lightning coach John Tortorella insisted earlier Tuesday that the pressure to win the series remains on Ottawa because of expectations created by a stellar regular season.
The Senators answered questions about how they would respond by scoring three times in their first 11 shots, with Havlat finding the net for the third straight game and Redden and Patrick Eaves adding their first goals of the playoffs.
The Lightning were fortunate to only trail 3-1 after one period.
Tampa Bay has been putrid on the power play in the first three games of the series, going 4-for-23 with two of the goals coming in 5-on-3 situations, including St. Louis' shot that got through Emery late in the first period.
The Lightning yanked goalie John Grahame after Havlat's second goal made it 5-1 midway through the second period. Backup Sean Burke yielded goals to Heatley, Chara and Vermette in the third.
"They came out strong. They didn't seem to sit back and wait and see what was going to happen," Burke said. "When you play from behind against that team, it's going to be hard."
Notes: Ottawa C Jason Spezza had four assists. ... The Lightning were 3-for-11 on the power-play. Ottawa was 3-for-4. ... Redden's three points were a playoff career high. ... Tampa Bay LW Vinny Prospal, slowed by an upper body injury, was in the lineup. ... Ottawa C Chris Kelly, who left during the third period of Game 2 with an upper body injury, was

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -- The significance of the Oilers' double-overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings wasn't lost on Jarrett Stoll.
"It's big for everything," Stoll said. "We needed that win, and we needed it bad."
Stoll's goal 8:44 into the second extra period gave Edmonton a 4-3 victory over the top-seeded Red Wings and a 2-1 lead Tuesday night in their first-round playoff series. The goal ended the Oilers' third-longest overtime game and first home playoff game in three years.
Stoll fired a shot past Manny Legace after the Detroit goalie made a nice save on Sergei Samsonov to send the frantic crowd home happy.
"I thought I had the overtime winner in my glove," Legace said. "It must have just popped off my thumb."
The Oilers will look to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference series at home Thursday night. Detroit came into the 1 vs. 8 matchup with the NHL's best regular-season record at 58-16-8.
After Edmonton blew a 3-1 lead in regulation Tuesday, it hardly seemed likely the Oilers would pull this one out at the end.
The Red Wings were celebrating almost 15 minutes into the first overtime when they thought Jason Williams won the game with a low shot off the wing.
However, video replay showed that the puck slid under the side of the goal after Oilers netminder Dwayne Roloson bumped into it and caused it to lift up slightly.
"It is tough when you think you win," said Detroit's Kirk Maltby, who scored at 2:39 of the second overtime in the opening game of the series. "We were hoping if we got off the ice soon enough, they wouldn't review it."
Roloson finished with 18 saves in the first overtime, and 44 in the game.
"This is just great for the team," Roloson said. "Emotionally, it was a very draining game."
Jaroslav Spacek, Ryan Smyth and Raffi Torres scored in regulation for the Oilers.
Henrik Zetterberg had two goals, and Mathieu Schneider added another for Detroit.
Spacek opened the scoring 4:15 into the first period when he wired a shot past Legace, taking the noise level at the already loud arena to a new high.
The Oilers responded with continued pressure until Smyth took a penalty for goaltender interference, and Zetterberg made it 1-1 at 12:05 on the power play.
It didn't last long. Rookie Brad Winchester, who scored the winner in Game 2, worked the puck behind the net to Smyth and watched as he made it 2-1 with a quick wraparound goal.
Edmonton looked as though it had the game comfortably in hand when it took a 3-1 lead to the intermission thanks to Torres' goal early in the period.
But the Oilers came out tentatively in the final 20 minutes, and the veteran Red Wings made them pay.
Zetterberg made it 3-2 at 11:52 with Edmonton's Marc-Andre Bergeron in the penalty box. Williams faked a shot, stepped around a defender and sent a perfect cross-ice pass over to Zetterberg, who chipped it into the empty goal.
Schneider tied it just 18 seconds later by hammering a low slap shot past Roloson after Steve Yzerman won a faceoff back to him.
"We played a so-so first two periods," Legace said. "And we couldn't buy a goal in overtime."
Notes: Red Wings D Jiri Fischer, who collapsed on the bench during a November game due to a heart condition, made his first road trip since he was forced to stop playing. ... Edmonton LW Ethan Moreau missed a third straight game because of a groin injury. ... The previous home playoff game in Edmonton was April 19, 2003.

MIAMI (AP) -- Ricky Williams will sit out another season.
The NFL suspended the troubled Miami Dolphins running back for one year Tuesday after he violated the league's substance abuse policy for the fourth time.
Williams met April 10 with NFL counsel Jeff Pash in an attempt to have the league overturn the test. He had been participating in the offseason training program at the Dolphins' complex, and he was there working out shortly before league announced that his appeal had been rejected.
"I'm disappointed with the decision, but I respect it," the 2002 NFL rushing champion said in a statement released by the team. "I'm proud of my association with the National Football League and look forward to returning to the Dolphins in 2007."
Williams also sat out the 2004 season after retiring shortly before training camp. He returned last year to play for new Miami coach Nick Saban.
Williams' previous positive drug tests were for marijuana, which he acknowledged using. The latest test apparently involved a substance other than marijuana and may have been related to his interest in holistic medicine.
Since his return last season, the NFL required Williams to undergo drug tests up to 10 times a month. He was in India studying yoga when news of his latest failed test surfaced in February.
Williams served a four-game suspension at the start of the 2005 season for his third violation of the drug program, then ran for 743 yards and averaged 4.4 yards a carry while sharing playing time with rookie Ronnie Brown.
Saban repeatedly has praised Williams' conduct and performance last season and supported him in the appeal process.
"This is a league decision, and we are disappointed in what it means for Ricky and the team," Saban said in a statement. "Ricky did an outstanding job for the Dolphins, not only as a player but also what he added as a person to the team's chemistry and to our overall success."
One sliver of good news for Saban is the timing of the decision: He now knows he's in the market for a running back in the NFL draft this weekend to back up Brown.
The suspension represents a financial blow for Williams, who owes the Dolphins $8.6 million for breaching his contract when he retired in 2004. His return last season was motivated partly by the need for a paycheck, and that may be a reason for him to return in 2007.
Attorney David Cornwell represented Williams in his appeal.
"We raised substantial and legitimate issues arising out of the application of the NFL's policy and program for substances of abuse," Cornwell said in a statement. He urged the players' union and ownership to "review the issues we raised on the appeal ... and restore the original intention of the NFL's policy to put equal focus on helping NFL players as is put on testing and suspending them."
Last season Williams laughingly described himself as weird and compared his career to a roller coaster. But he also dispelled his reputation as an aloof, selfish pothead, winning praise from teammates and winning the local media's annual postseason Good Guy Award, given to the player most cooperative with reporters.
Williams won the 1998 Heisman Trophy at Texas, and the next year, New Orleans Saints coach Mike Ditka traded his team's entire draft to acquire the running back. Williams wore a wedding dress for an infamous photo shoot with Ditka upon arriving in New Orleans, and the resulting backlash began to sour Williams' three-year stay with the Saints.
The Dolphins made their biggest trade in more than 30 years to acquire him in 2002, giving up two first-round draft picks, and he rushed for 1,853 yards that season.
Now his career could be over. If Williams does try to return next year, he'll be 30 years old and will have played a total of 12 games in the previous three seasons.
"Ricky is obviously disappointed," said his agent, Leigh Steinberg. "He'll need to work hard to get back to the league in 2007."

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (AP)
-- Barry Bonds' personal trainer has been subpoenaed to testify before the federal grand jury investigating whether the San Francisco Giants' slugger committed perjury, the San Jose Mercury News reported Tuesday night.
In a story posted on its Web site, the newspaper reported that a spokeswoman for Greg Anderson's attorney confirmed that the trainer and BALCO coconspirator had received the subpoena.
The newspaper, citing a unidentified source close to the investigation, also reported that former Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative vice president James Valente was subpoenaed.
A phone message left with Anderson's attorney and an e-mail to Valente's attorney were not immediately answered.
Anderson and Valente both pleaded guilty last year to steroid distribution charges in the BALCO case. Bonds testified in December 2003 to the grand jury investigating that case and denied knowingly taking performance-enhancing drugs, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Anderson, who did not implicate Bonds in his plea deal last summer, is alleged to have provided Bonds with the performance-enhancing drugs from BALCO.
That prompted a new grand jury to start investigating Bonds for perjury charges. Giants athletic trainer Stan Conte and Bonds' surgeon, Dr. Arthur Ting, have already been called to testify in front of that grand jury.
According to excerpts of the testimony previously reported by the Chronicle, Bonds testified that he used a clear substance and a cream given to him by a trainer who later pleaded guilty in a steroid-distribution ring, but said he didn't know they were steroids.
Bonds told the grand jury that Anderson told him the substances he used were the nutritional supplement flaxseed oil and a rubbing balm for arthritis.
The substances Bonds described were similar to ones known as "the clear" and "the cream," two steroids at the center of the BALCO scandal. Investigators seized calendars that recorded schedules for Bonds' use of those drugs, as well as human growth hormone, clomid, insulin and other steroids, according to the Chronicle.
Bonds hit his 710th career homer Tuesday night and is five shy of passing Babe Ruth for second place all-time. Hank Aaron holds the career record with 755.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)
-- SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Xavier Nady hit a tiebreaking solo home run over Barry Bonds' outstretched glove in left leading off the seventh, and the New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants 4-1 Tuesday on a night Bonds connected for his 710th homer.
Cliff Floyd splashed a Bonds-like two-run homer into McCovey Cove in the eighth for his second career homer into the water and the 12th by a San Francisco opponent. The Giants have done it 40 times -- 31 by Bonds.
Steve Trachsel (2-1) pitched six strong innings and kept the Giants in check after allowing Bonds' second homer of the season and the slugger's first of the year at home, a drive starting the second.
David Wright and Kaz Matsui had two hits apiece for the Mets, who avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season. Billy Wagner worked the ninth for his fifth save.
Bonds sent a 1-1 pitch from Trachsel into the left-field seats for his first homer in the Giants' waterfront ballpark since last Sept. 18 against the Dodgers -- one of only two he hit at home last year in an injury-shortened season.
The 41-year-old Bonds, nursing a tender surgically repaired right knee and a swollen left elbow, grimaced noticeably as he limped around the bases after his homer. He arrived at home plate to chants of "Barry! Barry!"
He returned to play left field in the top of the third, waving several times to the cheering fans before tipping his cap in two directions.
Bonds, who has said in recent days his knee is hurting him, struck out on four pitches in the fourth, walked in the seventh and flied out in the ninth.
About an hour before the game he received a massage on his knee, which underwent three operations in 2005 and kept him out all but 14 games. He also briefly stopped his clubhouse card game in the afternoon to watch his television series.
Bonds, who hit his first homer of the year Saturday at Colorado, wasn't expected to be in the lineup for Wednesday's day game -- the finale of the three-game series with New York.
Trachsel, who allowed only two other hits, challenged the seven-time NL MVP and gave up his third career homer to Bonds, whose last seven homers at home have been solo shots. This one came a night after Bonds drew the 617th and 618th intentional walks of his career and went 0-for-1 with three walks in all.
Moises Alou drove in five runs following the intentional free passes in Monday's 6-2 win, giving the Giants 18 runs scored after Bonds' intentional walks this season.
Bonds is five homers from passing Babe Ruth for second on the career list -- which would give him the most homers by a left-hander -- and 46 away from breaking Hank Aaron's mark of 755.
Jamey Wright (2-1) allowed three straight base hits to start the game, including an RBI single by Paul Lo Duca. They right-hander followed by retiring 15 of the next 17 batters he faced.
Wright gave up four runs and 10 hits but didn't walk a batter and struck out four.
Notes: Randy Winn, the Giants' leadoff hitter, extended his skid to 0-for-17. ... Floyd also homered into McCovey Cove on Aug. 21, 2004, against Brett Tomko. ... Giants C Mike Matheny committed his first error of the season in the first when he tried to throw out Jose Reyes stealing second. He only had one error in all of 2005. ... Wright's second-inning pickoff of Matsui was the 45th of his career, best among active right-handers in the majors and eighth among all pitchers. Mets lefty Tom Glavine is next on the list with 50. ... Bonds' last seven homers at home have been solo shots.

CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Washington Wizards got mad, then got even.
Angry at allowing LeBron James to dominate them with a triple-double in Game 1, the Wizards roughed up Cleveland's superstar and downed the Cavaliers 89-84 Tuesday night to tie their Eastern Conference series at a game apiece.
Gilbert Arenas scored 30 points, Antawn Jamison added 21 and Caron Butler was the primary defender on James, who wasn't the same after he got wrapped up by massive Wizards center Brendan Haywood in the first quarter.
"Actually, that wasn't the plan going in," Arenas said of Haywood's hack. "Brendan just decided he was going to give a hard foul to let him know he was there. For some reason, that just threw him off a little bit."
James got 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in his playoff debut, but he played like a mere mortal in his second postseason game as a pro.
He finished with 26 points on 7-of-25 shooting, and matched his career high with 10 turnovers. James also made some mental errors, including a costly one late when he made an out-of-bounds save under his own basket that was picked off by Arenas for an easy layup.
The Wizards, who returned to Washington after Game 1 to regroup, came up with all the right adjustments and snatched away Cleveland's home-court advantage.
"We destroyed ourselves in Game 1," Arenas said. "So we decided to come out and play better basketball."
The Wizards stopped James and also snapped Cleveland's 12-game winning streak at home. Instead of double-teaming the 6-foot-8 James, who dissected them with passes to open teammates in Game 1, Washington coach Eddie Jordan let Butler and Jared Jeffries guard him with no assistance.
"They had a great scheme by playing me 1-on-1," said James, whose 10 turnovers were a team playoff record. "I missed a lot of shots, layups that I usually make. They did a great job. I didn't come to play."
The series shifts to the Verizon Center for Game 3 in the best-of-seven series on Friday night.
Drew Gooden scored 24 points on 11-of-12 shooting and added 16 rebounds, and Larry Hughes had 16 points for the Cavaliers, who trailed 85-77 with 1:34 left following Arenas' gift layup and free throw.
A free throw by James and two by Gooden got the Cavs within 85-80, and Cleveland was still alive when Arenas missed an ill-advised 3-pointer.
Hughes' jumper made it 87-82, and James made two more free throws with 20 seconds left to pull Cleveland within three. Billy Thomas then missed a pair of free throws for Washington, and the Cavs looked as if they would get closer.
James rushed the ball up the floor, but instead of calling a timeout or trying a game-tying 3-pointer, he passed inside to a wide-open Anderson Varejao.
But as Cleveland's backup center was gathering himself for a shot, Arenas slapped the ball away. Varejao fouled Jamison, who made two free throws to ice it as the Wizards bounced back to knot what is expected to be a long series.
Arenas wasn't surprised James would pass up the shot.
"That's what he does," Arenas said. "He's a playmaker. He makes great decisions out there."
Getting nasty with James wasn't on the Wizards' drawing board, but it worked and they might as well stick with it.
"As long as it's not flagrant," Jordan said. "We're not the toughest team in the NBA, but tonight we brought it out."
Unable to slow James much in the opener, Washington decided to bang him around in the first half. The Wizards held him to just two points in the second quarter and Cleveland's star went 17:40 between field goals.
At one point, Cavs coach Mike Brown sat his superstar for 2:15 of the second quarter. During a timeout, Zydrunas Ilgauskas offered some advice to James, who was just 2-for-9 with zero assists and four turnovers.
"I thought he still played great -- 26 [points] and nine [rebounds]. That's a bad night for him?" Butler said. "That's unbelievable."
Down by 11 points early, the Wizards started to play rough with James. First, Jeffries wrapped him up on a drive and then Haywood committed a hard foul to stop another attack by James, who initially took exception to the second horse collar.
"Hard fouls are going to happen," James said. "But that's just playoff basketball."
Notes: Jordan downplayed an encounter with a profane fan, who yelled at Washington's coach as he left the floor at halftime. The Cavaliers released a statement saying they couldn't establish what happened and pledged their support of Jordan. ... James also had 10 turnovers on March 28, 2005, against New Orleans. ... Mark Price had nine turnovers on April 29, 1995, in a playoff game against New York. ... Brown, who led the club to 50 wins in his first year, received one first-place vote and finished eighth in coach of the year balloting won by Dallas' Avery Johnson. "He deserves it," Brown said. "A big-time coach, great team, terrific sea

MILWAUKEE (AP)
-- The Green Bay Packers haven't reeled in any big-time free agents, but that didn't prevent them from pulling off their biggest offseason move of all: Convincing Brett Favre to return.
"The Green Bay Packers are very pleased that Brett has come to this decision, and look forward to a successful 2006 season," general manager Ted Thompson said in a statement posted on the team's Web site.
ESPN.com reported Tuesday night that Favre had told the Packers he will return to play this year.
The report said Favre informed Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy of his decision in a telephone conversation Tuesday morning.
Calls by The Associated Press to McCarthy and Favre's agent, James "Bus" Cook, were not immediately returned.
Worries about Favre's future have become an annual rite of winter for Packers fans, as the quarterback has contemplated retirement during the past several offseasons -- only to return each time.
This year apparently was no different.
In his most recent comments on retirement, made April 10 at his annual charity golf tournament, Favre said he wondered whether the team had improved enough in the offseason to justify coming back.
"I'd like to say I think we are better, but I don't know if we are," he said.
Favre said the team needed to make a "statement" similar to the signing of Reggie White in 1993.
But Favre, the NFL's only three-time MVP (1995-97), also said football is "in my blood."
As the Packers' season slid toward a 4-12 finish -- the team's only losing season under Favre -- the three-time NFL MVP said repeatedly that he wasn't sure if he would come back to play a 16th season.
The 36-year-old Favre, who threw a career-high 29 interceptions last season while playing for a team depleted by injuries and free-agency losses, said he wasn't sure he wanted to be part of what he saw as a possible long-term rebuilding effort.
He also claimed he wasn't sure if the team wanted him and his hefty salary to be a part of that effort. He hinted that the team's moves in free agency would play a role in his decision to come back. Favre also questioned his own motivation to continue playing.
Favre ranks second behind Dan Marino on the NFL's career list in touchdown passes (396), yards passing (53,615) and completions (4,678) and hold the records for most consecutive starts by a quarterback with 221 (241 including the playoffs).
Favre has led the Packers to six division crowns and a Super Bowl title, restoring success to one of the NFL's most famous franchises.
The Packers fired coach Mike Sherman after the final game of the season and replaced him with McCarthy, who was Favre's quarterbacks coach in Green Bay during the 1999 season. They also re-signed running back Ahman Green, who missed most of last season because of a knee injury.
But Favre continued to waffle in the offseason as the Packers struck out on high-profile free agents.
Sticking to Thompson's stated philosophy of not splurging for the sake of splurging in the free-agent market, the Packers lost veteran kicker Ryan Longwell to the division rival Minnesota Vikings and lost out in the bidding for a potential replacement, free agent kicker Adam Vinatieri, who signed with the Indianapolis Colts.
Linebacker LaVar Arrington spurned an offer from the Packers to sign with the New York Giants. The team continues to wait for an answer from defensive back Charles Woodson.
The Packers' two most high profile free-agent signings have been former St. Louis Rams defensive tackle Ryan Pickett and former Seattle Seahawks safety Marquand Manuel. The team also has re-signed fullback William Henderson and wide receiver Rod Gardener.