about it." Caldwell would not speculate on who will replace Tulloch

TORONTO -- Toronto Marlies coach Steve Spott challenged his leadership group following an embarrassing 4-3 loss Saturday afternoon to the Rochester Americans. The Marlies responded Sunday, as Sam Carrick led the way with two goals in a 3-2 win over the Utica Comets that clinched Torontos third straight North Division title. "I think if its necessary, we can take the criticism, we can live with that," said alternate captain Korbinian Holzer. "I think thats part of the business. Im fine with it. Were all grown ups." Kenny Ryan had the other goal for the Marlies (42-22-6). Rookie defenceman Eric Knodel picked up his first two AHL points. Garret Sparks made 23 saves for his 10th win of the season, helping ensure the Marlies will finish no lower than the third seed in the Western Conference. Toronto became just the sixth team in history to clinch a division title in three consecutive years. "Im very proud of our whole staff," Spott said. "All of my support staff, the coaches, obviously Piero (Greco) our goaltending coach, our trainers, our equipment people. Everybodys worked so hard. "Not a lot of people gave our hockey club much of an opportunity to make to even make the playoffs, nonetheless win the division. Very proud of our group." With goaltender Joe Cannata pulled for an extra attacker, Cal OReilly got Utica to within one with 43.5 seconds remaining. But Toronto held on for the win this time. On Saturday, Toronto allowed two goals in a 15 second span during the final minute of play to fall to the Rochester Americans 4-3. Pascall Pelletier had the other goal for Utica (31-30-9) while Cannata made 33 saves in the loss. The win helped Toronto avoid losing its third straight for just the second time this season. The Marlies improve to 3-2-0 in the season series with one game remaining between the two clubs. "We know when we dont have our best game," said Holzer. "Its about us pulling the group together, keeping everybody accountable and I think the whole team did a good job today. We responded to the last two (losses) especially defensively, we did a better job." With Comets forward Alexandre Grenier in the box serving a double-minor for high sticking, Carrick scored on the rebound off a Knodel point shot for his 10th goal of the season, giving Toronto a 3-1 lead at 7:40 of the third. The Marlies scored twice on their first three shots of the game. Carrick opened the scoring at 3:06 getting a couple of chances at his own rebound before beating Cannata for his ninth of the season. With his assist on the goal, Knodel picked up his first career AHL point. Ryan made it 2-0 backhanding a shot over the shoulder of Cannata at 4:49. The Comets got on the board at 16:59 of the second period, on a power play, as Pelletier put a Brandon DeFazio feed past a sprawling Sparks for his 18th of the season. Utica is five points back of Rochester for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Toronto sets out on their final road trip of the season -- a five-game, eight-day trip beginning Friday in Rochester, N.Y. The Marlies and Comets play for a sixth and final time this season on April 18 in Utica, N.Y. Notes: Goaltender Drew MacIntyre, who was with the Maple Leafs on emergency recall, was reassigned to the Marlies Sunday morning. MacIntyre was a healthy scratch as Christopher Gibson backed-up Sparks. Marlies forward Fabrice Herzog made his professional debut on a line with Carter Ashton and Greg McKegg while defenceman Zach Yuen made his AHL debut paired with T.J. Brennan. Adidas Ultra Boost Cheap Sale . Gough finished in fourth, 0.433 seconds behind American Erin Hamlin, who took the bronze medal at the Sanki Sliding Center in Rzhanaya Polyana. Adidas Ultra Boost Wholesale . -- The Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets will forever be tied together for making the same spectacular misjudgment on budding NBA sensation Jeremy Lin. http://www.cheapultraboost.net/ . Compared to what hes gone through in recent weeks, that seemed like a breeze. Speaking to The Associated Press on Friday at an NBA Cares event, Silver said hes thrilled that the leagues attention can be on the championship series between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs -- and not, as it was for so much of the post-season, on the off-the-court matters involving the banishment of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and now the looming sale of that franchise. Adidas Ultra Boost Online Sale . Yahoo! Sports columnist Marc Spears says that the Boogie Smooth album may have been an elaborate April Fools prank. Adidas Ultra Boost Clearance Sale . In Englands first game since its worst-ever World Cup showing, Roy Hodgsons side rarely looked like scoring against unambitious opposition and the breakthrough in the friendly only came when Raheem Sterling was tripped in the penalty area.ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- The Detroit Lions, riding high after stuffing Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay in a 19-7 win, got a dose of bad news Monday. Middle linebacker Stephen Tulloch will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL he suffered while celebrating a sack of the Packers star quarterback. "Tully did indeed injure his knee and is going to need surgery," coach Jim Caldwell said. "I havent had a chance to discuss it with him in detail, but obviously hes been disappointed. Hes a fighter, so expect him to rehab like he always does everything else -- full go and hell get back soon." The Lions held the Packers to 223 total yards on Sunday. Tulloch suffered the injury in the first quarter, looking as though he was trying to mimic Rodgers famous "title belt" celebration and then falling awkwardly to the ground. He returned soon after but was unable to continue playing, spending the remainder of the game on the sidelines. Caldwell would not speculate on exactly how the injury occurred, instead pointing to the fickle nature of the game. "The obvious was everybody saw him go up and come down and get up limping afterward," Caldwell said. "But often times, some of these injuries, things happen a couple plays before but maybe at a certain point in time it may be affected a little bit more than others and come to the forefront. So Im not absolutely sure." Caldwell said he wont ask his players - or coaches - to relax on the celebrations.dddddddddddd "Often times youre trying to defeat 2-3 people to get something, and when it does indeed happen, a guy lays it on the line, gives everything he has, its kind of an emotional reaction, " he said. "We want enthusiasm, we want our coaches to be excited about it, we want our players to be excited about it." Caldwell would not speculate on who will replace Tulloch, though on Sunday linebacker DeAndre Levy finished the game in Tullochs absence, and Tahir Whitehead was slotted into Levys spot. Detroit will use the remainder of this week to evaluate its options and make a decision from there. The Lions (2-1) visit the Jets (1-1) this Sunday. "I think you saw from the number of guys that were playing in roles that they had not been playing previously due to injury, guys step up and do the job that theyre expected to do. Whomever we put into that spot, the same thing will be expected from them as well. And I think youll see them step forward and play well." The Lions also said they had released rookie kicker Nate Freese and will sign former Eagles kicker Alex Henery to replace him. Freese missed a 41-yard field goal Sunday and was just 3 for 7 on the year. "Obviously performance counts in this league, and thats no matter who you are, no matter what position you play, no matter what you do," Caldwell said. "Everybody is evaluated and were expected to perform accordingly." ' ' '