(SportsNetwork. Lance Stephenson Jersey .com) - Many folks have been waiting for the Calgary Flames to fall off the pace after their impressive start to the season. Calgary hopes to quiet some of those detractors by avoiding a fifth straight loss when it visits the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday. The Flames were expected by some to challenge for the leagues worst record in 2014-15 before jumping out to a 17-8-2 start. Calgary has cooled off considerably in December, however, losing four straight in regulation after only dropping two in a row once before this season from Oct. 25-28. On Sunday, the Flames have an excellent chance to prove their mettle when they take on the Blackhawks, one of the top teams in the West and a conference finalist in last seasons playoffs. Tonights clash is the third and final regular-season meeting between these clubs. Calgary notched a 2-1 overtime win in Chicago on Oct. 15 before the Blackhawks answered with a 4-3 road win on Nov. 20. Chicago has won five of the last eight in this series overall, but the Flames have taken two in a row in the Windy City. Calgary had lost 10 in a row at United Center before claiming the past two road encounters against the Blackhawks in overtime. Calgary hopes to salvage a four-game road trip with a win tonight. The Flames played on back-to-back nights earlier this week in Buffalo and Pittsburgh, losing 4-3 to the Sabres on Thursday before falling 3-1 the next evening against the Penguins. Pittsburgh was able to defeat the Flames despite playing without captain and star centerman Sidney Crosby, who was sitting due to an illness. Blake Comeau and Kris Letang helped pick up for Crosbys absence, posting early scores to put up all the offense the Pens would need. Johnny Gaudreau notched the lone goal for the Flames, while Jonas Hiller made just 19 saves in the setback. We needed to play more in their zone, get more guys in front of the net and go to the dirty areas, Flames forward Paul Byron said. It looks like other teams are scoring those goals right in the paint and were not getting enough of those. Calgary defenseman Ladislav Smid left the game in the second period with an upper-body injury and did not return. Smid was injured when Pittsburgh defenseman Simon Despres delivered a high check that resulted in the Flames blueliner taking an elbow to the head. Smid was placed on injured reserve Saturday while defenseman Corey Potter was recalled from the Adirondack Flames of the American Hockey League. Karri Ramo could get the start in net tonight. He is 1-1-0 with a 3.70 goals against average in his career against Chicago. The Flames are next in action on Tuesday when they host the New York Rangers at the start of a two-game homestand. Calgary is 9-8-0 on the road this season compared to an 8-4-2 mark as the host. Chicago will be eager to get back in the win column tonight after having a season-high eight-game winning streak halted Saturday with a 3-2 loss against the New York Islanders. The Blackhawks grabbed a 2-1 lead with Patrick Kanes goal early in the third period on Long Island. However, Kyle Okposo and Lubomir Visnovsky tallied 51 seconds apart midway through the final stanza to grab the lead for good and cool off Chicago. Sometimes maybe you think youre a little bit better than you really are. This is definitely a wake-up call, Kane admitted. Dan Carcillo also scored for the Blackhawks, while Scott Darling took the loss despite making 38 saves. Antti Raanta could get the call in net for Chicago tonight. He has a 1-0 record and a 3.98 GAA in just two career appearances versus the Flames. Chicago owns a 9-3-1 record on home ice and is playing two straight and four of its next five at the United Center. The Blackhawks have won five in a row as the host and havent lost in the Windy City since falling to Washington on Nov. 7. Reggie Miller Jersey . Seth Smith hit a towering drive for a tying homer leading off the eighth and Chris Denorfia singled home two runs to give the Padres a 3-1 victory against the rival Dodgers in baseballs North American opener Sunday night. Mark Jackson Jersey . Erik Cole scored on a breakaway with 4:49 to play, and the Stars rallied to defeat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Saturday night. http://www.authenticbasketballshoppacers.com/domantas-sabonis-pacers-jersey/ . - The Detroit Lions have 13 takeaways this season — three less than all of last season — and the defence isnt the only unit pleased with the performance.MIAMI - For making an obscene gesture toward heckling fans, Dwyane Wade was fined $15,000 by the NBA and even had his phone and television privileges revoked at home by his family.He knows it was wrong.He also hopes it can spur some change.Wade has asked the NBA to further improve the ways it protects players from the most unruly of fans, making that request during the leagues brief investigation of his incident with the crowd in Charlotte on Wednesday night.The NBA is an unbelievable league, and Im one of the first ones to be doing NBA Cares and all these things in the community, but they need to protect us a little more, Wade told The Associated Press. They need to do a better job of protecting players in the arena. Its open game on us. Were big boys, we can take it, but everyone has their breaking point.The fine was the first time Wade, in his 12th season, has been punished by the league for gesturing at or interacting negatively with fans.The incident occurred after the third quarter of Miamis loss to the Hornets. Wade said a number of fans were saying things about his wife, actress Gabrielle Union, and that the comments got progressively worse as the night went along. He lost his cool, approaching the group with the middle finger raised on one of his hands.The next day, Wade said his children took away his phones and his TV rights.House rules, Wade said, for disrespecting the family nname. Thaddeus Young Jersey. eat coach Erik Spoelstra said players and coaches hear plenty of negativity from the crowd, though hes learned to laugh at some of it — like the time in New York when a fan told the youthful-looking Spoelstra that he needed to go to bed because it was a school night.Players are humans and some of the things that fans say does cross the line, Spoelstra said. It doesnt give you the right to snap back at them with some kind of response but its usually at an emotional time. ... A handful of times a year you hear it and you see it where theyve crossed the line and what it requires is you being the better person and not responding.Wade said hes reacted in the past with words, just not gestures. He also said that hes told the league about other concerns regarding fans, particularly when situations where ticketholders have seats immediately next to a teams bench, a scenario that Wade said he finds uncomfortable.He also knows that regardless of what the NBA and arena security personnel do, the issue of fans potentially going too far will never be nonexistent.You can talk about me all day, Wade said. I really dont care what you say about me because I know at the end of the day when I walk off that court most of those guys would see me in the back hallway and want to shake my hand. When it gets too personal about your family, thats too far. But its not going to stop. 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