LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- Canadas womens hockey team didnt play its best game in its Four Nations Cup opener, but it was enough to beat Finland 3-1. Rebecca Johnston, Natalie Spooner and Vicki Bendus scored for Canada, which is playing this tournament without star forward Hayley Wickenheiser and five other veterans. Canada scored two goals in 1:34 in the first period and wound up outshooting Finland 39-23. "We were a little soft," said forward Meghan Agosta-Marciano, who assisted on Spooners goal. "We need to be able to chip the puck a little more, come out of the zone together and come with speed, and thats something that we kind of lacked a bit tonight. Thats not the best hockey that were going to be playing this tournament." Coach Dan Church praised his teams adjustments in the third period but said the consistency needs to be better. "Finlands a tough team to play against because they clog the neutral zone and theyre very good at their neutral-zone forecheck," he said. "We didnt make an adjustment in the second period, but I thought the third period we did a good job." Finlands only goal came in the third period, when Tea Villila scored on the fifth of six power plays to make it 3-1. Canada took seven minor penalties but Johnstons goal, from Haley Irwin and Brianne Jenner, came on the power play. Goaltender Charline Labonte stopped 22 of the 23 shots she faced. "Charline had a solid game in net for us, turned aside a bunch of shots and was consistent back there," Church said. In addition to Wickenheiser, Canada is without experienced forwards Caroline Ouellette and Marie-Philip Poulin and defencemen Meaghan Mikkelson, Lauriane Rougeau and Laura Fortino, who are getting a rest. Church wants to win the Four Nations Cup, but this tournament is also about evaluating players for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. "Its a prestigious tournament, and its an important step on the road to Sochi. But there are things that we need to do to build our team," he said. "We brought 21 players here that are going to play all four games, and thatll be an important process for us selecting our team down the road, leaving some players behind in Calgary." Those in Lake Placid, N.Y., have their sights on winning now and worrying about Sochi later. "When I think Canada I think winning every single opportunity we have in any game or any tournament," Agosta-Marciano said. "Its great tournament to kind of see where everybodys at, and at the end of the day we want to come out of this on top." Canadas next game is Wednesday night against the United States, which it has already defeated twice recently. This is a renewal of that rivalry, even with some of Canadas best players not participating. "I think itll be good to see some of our younger players, having some of our more experienced veterans at home in Calgary, its an opportunity for them to step up," Church said. Nike Air Max 270 Goedkoop .J. Ellis have avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year contract. Air Max 1 Goedkoop .C. -- Theyll remember the OT from the first Syracuse-Duke game -- and the Ts that decided Round 2. http://www.airmaxkopennederland.com/uitverkoop-air-max-200.html . With the players association in the midst of meetings in Las Vegas, a vote will be held on Friday to decide the CFLPAs presidency and other executive positions. Nike Air Max 90 Dames Uitverkoop . Brooks replaces right-hander Yordano Ventura, who left his last outing with a sore elbow. Ventura is expected to miss one start. Brooks has made one relief appearance for the Royals this season, allowing six runs in two innings in a May 3 loss to Detroit. Nike Air Max 720 Nederland .com) - The NBA will be on display overseas Thursday with the New York Knicks taking on the Milwaukee Bucks at O2 Arena in London.Sacramento, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday. Harden scored a season-high 44 points to lead the Rockets in a 113-109 decision over the Sacramento Kings. Harden, who scored 34 points in a loss to Golden State on Wednesday, sent the game to overtime with a deep 3-pointer, then scored the first 10 Houston points in the extra session. Trevor Ariza and Patrick Beverley each netted 15 points and Donatas Motiejunas added 14 points for Houston, which has won five of its last six. Darren Collison had 24 points with seven assists and Ben McLemore tallied 21 points for the Kings. Harden fueled the Rockets comeback in regulation and continued in the extra session as he opened with seven straight points to give the Rockets a 102-95 lead with 3 1/2 minutes to play. The Houston offense ran through Harden in the overtime period. He slashed through the lane for a layup following a free throw from Jason Thompson, then split a pair of free throws to extend the lead to nine. Rudy Gay trimmed the deficit to six with a 3-pointer, but Harden drove on two defenders and skipped a pass over to Beverley, who nailed a corner 3 with 45.3 seconds left. Beverley missed 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch that allowed the Kings to hang around as Nik Stauskas trey made it a three-point game. Collison buried a 3 following a pair of free throws from Jason Terry, but Harden closed his evening with two free throws to account for the final margin. Harden tied the game at 88-88 with a tough dunk througgh traffic with 2 1/2 minutes left.dddddddddddd Each team traded a basket before Gay drove and kicked out to an open Derrick Williams, who hit a 3-pointer to make it a 93-90 game. Motiejunas was whistled for his sixth foul at the other end, which allowed Thompson to make a pair of free throws and stretch it to a two-possession game. Houston trailed by three when Harden tossed up a high-arching trey that hit nothing but cotton to tie the game at 95-95 with 20.5 seconds on the clock. Gays jumper from just inside the arc rattled out on Sacramentos final chance in regulation. The Rockets grabbed the rebound and called a timeout with under a second left, but Hardens final effort was long. Sacramento led 46-36 at the half. Houston opened the third quarter on a 10-3 run to close the gap to 49-46 just 2 1/2 minutes in. Later in the quarter, Beverley nailed a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two, 55-53, then the Kings ripped off 10 straight as a McLemore dunk off a feed from Collison highlighted the surge. Harden scored the final four points of the third to cut it to 69-61 entering the fourth. Game Notes Houston has won four straight over the Kings ... Sacramento has lost two straight overall ... Williams scored 17 points off the bench in the setback ... Joey Dorsey had a career-high five steals in the win ... Houston went 15- of-44 from beyond the arc ... The Rockets scored 27 points off turnovers, while the Kings netted 20 off turnovers ... Thompson finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds for Sacramento. ' ' '