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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Minnesotas struggling offensive line has been handed another setback, with an upcoming absence for left guard Alex Boone.The Vikings ruled Boone and middle linebacker Eric Kendricks out of their game against Detroit because of concussions that kept both of them out of practice all week. Boone was also listed on the injury report with shoulder and knee issues. This will be the first absence of the season for each player when the Vikings (5-2) host the Lions (4-4) on Sunday.Jeremiah Sirles will start in Boones place, leaving rookie Willie Beavers and Nick Easton as the only available backups. Thats because backup guard Zac Kerin was also ruled out on Friday to face the Lions because of a hand injury, further depleting a front five already missing original starting tackles Matt Kalil and Andre Smith. Kalil (hip) and Smith (triceps) are both on injured reserve.Both pass protection and run blocking have been significant problems for the Vikings, particularly in the last two games after the teams bye week. Sam Bradford was sacked 11 times over those losses to Philadelphia and Chicago, and for the season the Vikings have allowed 51 quarterback hits, tied for seventh most in the NFL. Boone, in his first year with Minnesota after leaving San Francisco to sign as a free agent, has been one of the teams most consistent linemen.The loss of Kendricks will be felt, too, especially with the receiving threat posed by Lions running back Theo Riddick. Kendricks has seven pass breakups this season, tied for the second most among non-defensive backs in the league. Hell be replaced by Audie Cole in the base defense, and outside linebacker Chad Greenway will remain on the field in the nickel package rather than coming out for cornerback Captain Munnerlyn.Hes an 11-year vet. I feel comfortable with everything. Chads a great player, coach Mike Zimmer said. Hes always prepared and ready to go. You know if he gets the opportunity to play some more plays, I know hell be excited.Two other starters who missed the game against the Bears because of sprained ankles, safety Andrew Sendejo and running back Jerick McKinnon, were limited participants in practice this week and listed as questionable to play against the Lions.Defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd, who has been replaced in the starting lineup by Shamar Stephen, was also declared out for the sixth straight game because of a knee injury that required surgery.The only player ruled out for the Lions this week was linebacker DeAndre Levy, who has not played since the season opener after hurting his quadriceps.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFLcheap china jerseys . 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Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said.PITTSBURGH -- The NHLs most unlikely post-season success story is nearly bald, his hairline an unwitting casualty to three decades spent hidden under a goaltenders mask. All those long winters -- including 16 in the best league in the world -- never led to long springs, however, for Tomas Vokoun. Until now. Halfway through the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs the two-time All-Star turned journeyman backup holds the key to the Pittsburgh Penguins playoff hopes. He is, for the first time in his life, the "hot goalie" during the most important time of year. Heading into Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Bruins Saturday night, Vokouns numbers appear to be a misprint. Seven starts. Six wins. One very stoic and largely anonymous presence at the back of Pittsburghs star-laden attack. Given a week to ponder his remarkable run after taking over for struggling Marc-Andre Fleury in Game 5 of the first-round series against the New York Islanders, Vokoun insists hes trying not to think about what it all means, with varying levels of success. "You just know that youre playing well, youre trying to do the right things," Vokoun said. "You try not to treat it any differently, even if you know the stakes are just getting bigger." Its a phenomenon unique to goaltenders this time of year. For all the talk about the importance of playoff experience, the guys in the back of the net can sometimes seem immune to the pressure. Vokoun never played on a team that made it past the opening round of the post-season until Pittsburgh ousted the Islanders in six games three weeks ago. He was hardly overcome by the stage in the second round against Ottawa, allowing all of 11 goals in five games, including a pair of of meaningless scores after the Penguins already had things well in hand during Game 4 and 5 routs. NHL history is littered with callow goalies who have ended up lifting the Cup. Martin Brodeur was 22. Patrick Roy was 20. Ken Dryden was 23. Jonathan Quick was 4-8 in the playoffs before going 16-4 and leading the Los Angeles Kings to the championship at 26. Vokoun is at the opposite end of his career but enjoying the same kind of coming-out party. Its uncharted territory for a player acquired for a mere seventh-round pick last summer as an insurance plan should Fleury falter. "He has been one of the better goalies in NHL," Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero said. "He just happened to be playing in Nashville and Florida, not in the media spotlight." One thats certainly going to ratchet up over the next two weeks. It can get unnerving. For proof, he need only look 180 feet down the ice on Saturday night at Bostons Tuukka Rask. The Bruins were on the cusp of a berth in the conference finals inn 2010 with a 22-year-old Rask leading the way.ddddddddddddBoston took a 3-0 lead over Philadelphia in the second round when the season suddenly imploded. A 5-4 overtime loss in Game 4 morphed into three more defeats, including a 4-3 collapse in Game 7 when Rask squandered a three-goal, first-period lead. Though he played 29 games the following season, he didnt see a second of ice time in the playoffs as Tim Thomas carried the Bruins to their first title in nearly four decades. "Its different if youre playing or if youre not," he said. "You had something to do with it on the ice." Rasks role (and his view) will be much more involved this time around. And Boston coach Claude Julien thinks Rask may have turned a corner of sorts in the second round against the New York Rangers. Boston bolted to a 3-0 lead once again and went up 2-0 early in Game 4. The Rangers recovered -- thanks in part to a curious goal in which Rask appeared to screw himself into the ice -- to win in overtime. Rask bounced back in Game 5, turning aside 28 of 29 shots as the Bruins moved on and perhaps obliterated any lingering doubts about their goaltenders resilience. "That Game 4 couldve been a lot more devastating than it was," coach Claude Julien said. "How he rebounded in Game 5 shows me that theres no issues there." Of course, the high-flying Penguins have a way of creating issues. Pittsburgh peppering Evgeni Nabokhov and Craig Anderson into early exits a combined four times during the first two rounds while averaging 4.27 goals per game, the highest scoring average at this point in the playoffs in 20 years. A highly efficient power play and a remarkably skilled roster led by former MVPs Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin helps. Still, for all its considerable firepower, Pittsburgh is not invulnerable. The Penguins were similarly loaded three years ago when they ran into Montreals unheralded Jaroslav Halak in the second round. The then-24-year-old became impenetrable as the series wore on and the Canadiens won in seven games. The memory of that stunning failure remains fresh and the Penguins are well aware Rask and Bostons smothering defence could provide an even more impenetrable shell. "We have to make (Rask) uncomfortable," Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said. In the end, whichever goaltender finds his comfort zone is the one that will extend his teams season into the first days of summer. Its a ride Vokoun is intent on enjoying, one the oldest player on the Stanley Cup favourite thought may never come. "This is what you play for," he said. "Its taken a long time to get here. Yeah theres pressure but really its just about doing your job. "Thats all I can do." So far, so good. ' ' '