The Colorado Rapids missed a golden opportunity to put the Seattle Sounders in a serious hole in their Western Conference finals showdown on Tuesday.No matter. The Rapids are coming home with a trip to the MLS Cup on the line, and they feel good about their situation heading into Sundays second leg against the Sounders.I feel really comfortable with the mindset of that group in that locker room, Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni told The Denver Post after the Rapids 2-1 loss in the first leg of the series in Seattle on Tuesday. They understand that were in a better position than we were against L.A.The Rapids lost the first leg of that series, 1-0, but came back to win in kicks a week later to advance. It continued their season of success at Dicks Sporting Goods Park, where they have allowed just seven goals and were just the fifth team in league history to be undefeated at home.Not lost in all this is the fact that the Sounders won Tuesday night and have the edge. They can negate Colorados advantage by scoring at least one goal, something the L.A. Galaxy was unable to do three weeks ago after beating the Rapids at home.Seattle is confident and ready for the challenge.Since weve taken over, theres only one game that we havent scored a goal. Only one, Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer told The Denver Post. So, that changes things. We understand that soccers a fluid game. It could end up 1-0 for them, it could end up 3-1 for us. It could be a variety of scores. I think if you did the math, 1-0 to them, sure; 2-1 is overtime. Theres a lot of scores -- 0-0, 1-1, 2-2 -- a lot of scores go in our favor as well.Colorado is playing without star goalkeeper Tim Howard, who was injured playing the U.S. national team between the series against the Galaxy and Seattle. Howard suffered fracture of the right adductor longus, located in the upper groin, and had season-ending surgery on Nov. 17.Zac MacMath started the first leg of the series and is expected to be start Sunday, too.The Sounders were in trouble when Colorados Kevin Doyle scored in the 13th minute Tuesday night, but they quickly responded with Jordan Morris goal in the 20th minute.It stayed tied until the second half when Nicolas Lodeiro made it 2-1 on a penalty kick. Colorado defenseman Marc Burch was called for a foul in the box that led to the kick, but he thought Lodeiro embellished the contact.Its not a penalty, Burch told The Denver Post. Thats pretty much it. I went close to Lodeiro and he fell down, thats it. I dont think flopping in the box is something thats called for. But thats what he did.Seattle held on, and now theyll try to do what nobody has in a long time in Colorado -- get a goal.We have to score a goal down there and its not just sitting back and protecting this 2-1 lead for 90 minutes, Morris told soundersfc.com. We have to push and go at them. When the game gets tough, we have to continue to try and keep the ball and do the stuff that were good at. Air Max 97 Bianche Outlet . The quest begins with what is supposed to be an easy one, although Germany has traditionally been a stubborn opponent to Canadian teams at international tournaments. Air Max 97 Plus Shock Orange .com) - The Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks both take aim at their first wins of the season on Saturday, as the Canucks open their home slate at Rogers Arena. http://www.airmax97outlet.it/scontate-air-max-97-premium.html . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. Air Max 97 Plus Outlet . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. Air Max 97 Shockproof . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. NEW YORK -- The Tampa Bay Lightning continue their six-game road trip on Sunday night when they visit the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.After starting the jaunt with victories against the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs, the Lightning have dropped consecutive 3-1 decisions to the Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils. Although the Lightning started 5-1-0 and hold a 5-3-0 record, slow starts have been an issue all season -- the team has scored in just one first period in eight games.Weve got to find ways to start games on time, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said to the Tampa Bay Times. You can have all the skill in the world, but if you dont stick to the game plan and structure and work at it, youre going to win a couple games because youre more skilled than the other team. But usually youre not going to win in this league. The parity is too great.Goaltender Ben Bishop is expected to get the start in net after watching backup Andrei Vasilevskiy allow three goals on 23 shots Saturday. Right winger Nikita Kucherov, who missed the game Saturday with an upper-body injury, is listed as day-to-day.Is it possible that Kucherov, who led the team with 30 goals last season, is back in time to face the Rangers?Could is the word. Can he? Im not so sure, coach Jon Cooper said to the Tampa Bay Times before Saturdays game. But I know hes feeling much better today...Its not a good situation, but lets just hope its only a couple games or maybe one game.Kucherovs offensive talents could be sorely missed against the Rangers (5-3-0), who lead the NHL in goals per ggame at 3.dddddddddddd63. They remodeled the team in an attempt to add speed throughout the lineup and it has worked beautifully.The problem is whether the quick team has the makeup to score enough ugly goals when the pretty ones arent coming. That was the case in a 3-2 road loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, when the Rangers couldnt get anything done in the dirty areas with their opponent sitting back and playing it safe with a lead.You know that teams are going to be patient back there, captain Ryan McDonagh said to the New York Daily News. Weve had a couple of games now needing a goal like that. We certainly had some chances, but you know theyre going to be sagging, theyre going to be taking away a lot of the slot area...So guys going to the net and getting a rebound is something we have to look at a little bit when we find ourselves in that situation.If the Hurricanes gave the league a blueprint for slowing the Rangers offense, it may be something the Lightning employ Sunday. After all, they are playing the second half of a back-to-back while the Rangers are at home and rested so turning the neutral-zone to mud could benefit the road-weary Lightning.Shooting pucks...thats something weve got to learn, Rangers center Derek Stepan said to the New York Daily News. When teams get up and are going to sit in that neutral-zone trap or whatever you want to call it, we have to find a way to get through it with speed and generate offense. ' ' '