Dallas had won the previous 11 games against Eastern Conference opponents

MINSK, Belarus - Olaf Eller watched from afar on his computer as his son Lars and the Montreal Canadiens lost Game 5 to the Boston Bruins, and he didnt believe the series would end well. That changed after talking to his 25-year-old son that night. "He is always very honest," Olaf Eller said Thursday at the world hockey championship. "So I was a little bit surprised when I got the strong feeling from him that they would win that series. After Game 5, he was very clear and very sharp: Were gonna win that thing. That was not the opinion I had after Game 5. "After Game 5, I didnt think they would win. But he said, We are all very sure that were gonna run them out." Run them out, the Habs did 4-0 in Game 6 before finishing off the Bruins with a 3-1 victory in Game 7 on Wednesday night. That was not a result Eller, coach of Denmarks junior team, could have predicted earlier this week. But he felt OK going into the series, based on this past regular season. "You could see during the season that they had the assets, the tools," said Eller, who is in Minsk as a member of the Danish teams support staff. "You could see that in the games against Boston during the season, they were able to play a good game against Boston. ... I had a feeling that if they could come around Tampa, I had the feeling they could beat Boston." Its not easy for Eller and his wife to be in Minsk right now. In addition to Lars being in the East final that begins Saturday against the New York Rangers, 18-year-old son Mads is in the Memorial Cup with the Edmonton Oil Kings. Olaf Eller finds a way to watch all the games on his computer from in Europe — he only missed one game of the Habs-Bruins series — and talks to Lars after each one. The post-Game 7 conversation was a particularly enjoyable one. "He was very, very happy," Eller said of his son. "They were in the bus on their way to the airport, so everybody was very happy." Lars Eller has nine points through 11 games, leading Montreal forwards in scoring and trailing just star defenceman P.K. Subban. His father is proud of how his son rebounded from a rough regular season. "He managed to start another season, show that the post-season is another season and he has been good in the playoffs," said Olaf Eller, who plans to go to Montreal if the Habs reach the Stanley Cup final. Beyond just being a hockey dad, Eller is the coach of Esbjerg IK in Denmarks top hockey league. Because of that, he has an appreciation for the adjustments Montreal coach Michel Therrien and his staff made in these playoffs to get to this point. Eller praised Therrien for shuffling Daniel Briere, Brandon Prust, Travis Moen, Francis Bouillon, Douglas Murray and Nathan Beaulieu in and out of the lineup at the right times. "I think the coaching staff, by their analyzing of their opponents, by their ability to adjust the team in the lineup from game-to-game ... made a huge success there," he said. "All those small adjustments paid off, eh?" --- Follow @SWhyno on Twitter Fake Adidas NHL Jerseys . That further limits the options of Australia coach Ewen McKenzie, who on Monday suspended six players who were involved in a night out in Dublin ahead of the Saturdays 32-15 win over the Irish. The Wallabies play Scotland on Saturday before facing Wales on Nov. Fake NHL Jerseys .com) - Eric Fehrs goal 42 seconds into overtime lifted the Washington Capitals to a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Columbus, halting the Blue Jackets seven-game win streak. http://www.cheapnhlcustomjerseys.com/ . Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris, city natives, handled the catering for teammates that begged them for the tasty postgame feast. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . The Detroit Tigers slugger fell short in his bid to become the first player to win the Triple Crown in successive seasons. Stitched NHL Jerseys . - Florida State has suspended Jameis Winston for the entire game against Clemson on Saturday, extending its initial punishment of one half after the quarterback made offensive and vulgar comments about female anatomy earlier this week.DALLAS - Stan Van Gundy had an explanation for his Detroit Pistons dramatic turnaround:Practice.Specifically, three days of practice from Dec. 22-24. Since then, a team that was 5-23 has become the NBAs hottest team, with a seven-game winning streak.On Wednesday night, Detroit never trailed in beating the Dallas Mavericks 108-95. They also came in with a six-game winning streak.From then on, its just been different, Van Gundy said. Theyve worked harder. Theyve been more attentive. A lot more together. We dont have guys that are getting concerned about whos in the game, or their playing time, or their shots.Theyve had four different high scorers in their seven wins. On Wednesday, it was Greg Monroe, who had 18 rebounds in addition to 27 points for his 13th double-double this season.But D.J. Augustin came off the bench to have an even greater impact, scoring 17 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter. He played only 22 minutes.We dont have a one-man team, Augustin said. We have different guys that can contribute every night. Its fun when were playing together like this and were winning.Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons said the Pistons are a different team from the one Dallas beat in Detroit last month.Night and day, Parsons said. Its all confidence. They obviously always had the talent, same coach, same players, same system, but theyre playing free and theyre playing confident right now.The Mavericks pulled within 81-77 with 8:10 to play, but after drawing a technical foul, Augustin made two 3-point shots to increase the lead to 10 points.Brandon Jennings added 14 points, and Jodie Meeks had 11 for Detroit. Andre Drummond had a game-high 19 rebounds for Detroit, which outrebounded the Mavericks 60-43.Dallas Dirk Nowitzki said,We have to all get in there and help Tyson (Chandler) out, Dallas Dirk Nowitzki said. Tysons been a stud on the boards, all year long, both ends of the floor.Chandler had 15 of the Mavericks 443 rebounds.ddddddddddddWe turned it over quite a bit and our shot-making wasnt great, Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. When you cant mitigate a rebounding deficit with those two things in your favour, then its going to be tough.Nowitzki scored 19 points, while Monta Ellis had 16, Parsons 15 and Devin Harris 14.I give Detroit a lot of credit, Carlisle said. We just werent good enough tonight. I just know that Detroit competed at a very high level, and we didnt match it.TIP-INSPistons: They were coming off a 105-104 victory Tuesday at San Antonio after trailing by 18 points in the second quarter. ... Detroits most recent seven-game winning streak had come between Dec. 23, 2008, and Jan. 4, 2009. Five of the games in the current streak have been on the road.Mavericks: They won the only other game between the teams this season, 117-106 at Detroit on Dec. 17. That was their sixth straight win over the Pistons. ... Dallas had won the previous 11 games against Eastern Conference opponents. ... The Mavericks had made 45 per cent (43 for 95) of their 3-point attempts in the previous four games, but made just 27 per cent (6 for 22) against Detroit. ... Dallas has been outrebounded in six of the last seven games.RENEWING THE RECORDThe Pistons have a five-game road winning streak for the first time since 2007-08. They hadnt won in San Antonio and Dallas in the same season since 1996-97.Each team was playing its third game in four nights.KEEPING UP WITH THE SMITHSOn Dec. 22, the Pistons waived Josh Smith, but Van Gundy indicated that the move wasnt connected with the hot streak.I had no problems with Josh at all, Van Gundy said. Josh worked hard. Joshs a 10-year vet. I wanted to give other people opportunities, and it was going to cut his time and take the ball out of his hands. I didnt really think it was fair (to him).UP NEXTPistons: Home vs. Atlanta on Friday.Mavericks: At Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday. ' ' '