RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Rafael Nadal is taking it easy at the Rio Open, nursing a back injury and hoping it gets better. Jerseys From China . No. 1-ranked Nadal defeated fellow Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver in his first-round match on Tuesday night, his first in more than three weeks after losing the Australian Open final to Stanislaw Wawrinka. Nadal was an overwhelming favourite in Australia to win his 14th Grand Slam title, but he picked up the back strain warming up and was never the same. "When one comes back from an injury in a short period of time, you can always feel a need to be cautious," he said. "I felt it (the back) a bit. But I hope things continue to improve day by day. Little by little the back will be strong again. Ill get used to the competition and the back wont keep me from playing future tournaments." The Spaniards next test is on Thursday against countryman Albert Montanes. "I had a problem from Australia," Nadal said. "I tried to work on it at home and Im back playing again. At the beginning one is a bit afraid coming back from a problem. Ive worked hard to try to come back." Nadal was sidelined for much of the 2012 season with a left knee injury. He used the Latin American clay-court circuit as his testing ground for the knee early in 2013. It went OK. He won the French and US Open. Hes at it again early in 2014 with his back, reminding some that Nadals big swings and aggressive play may be taking a toll on his 27-year-old body. Nadal said after Tuesdays match -- his 800th -- that hed played better than hed practiced. "Of course there are aspects of the game I have to improve," he said. "Its been a long time since Ive played on the surface (clay), so Its normal to return without the best feeling." Cheap NFL Jerseys . It also extends the teams home winless skid to six. Their last win at MTS Centre was November 15 over Philadelphia. The Jets will play seven of the next 10 on the road, starting with a two-game trip -- Monday in Columbus and Tuesday in Buffalo (both games on TSN Jets, TSN Radio 1290). Cheap Soccer Jerseys . -- Ben Maxwell scored 27 seconds into overtime Sunday as the St.The Montreal Canadiens, behind a 35-save performance from Dustin Tokarski, squeezed out a 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers in Game Three, cutting the Rangers lead in the series to two games to one. Tokarski, a somewhat controversial choice -- with his 10 games of NHL experience and all -- to replace an injured Carey Price in Game Two had a night to remember, turning back a Rangers team that was dominating play from the get-go, outshooting the Canadiens 14-4 in the first period and 37-25 overall. The Rangers had 58.2% of the shot attempts during 5-on-5 play. The winning goal, at 1:12 of overtime, came on a rebound that was kicked out by Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist and hit Canadiens LW Alex Galchenyuk in the neck, bouncing back into the Rangers net. It was Galchenyuks only shot attempt of the game in his second game of this years playoffs. The games last three goals all came on unusual bounces. The Canadiens took a 2-1 lead with 3:02 remaining when Daniel Brieres attempt to stuff a rebound off the end boards was knocked in by a sliding Ryan McDonagh. Then, with the Rangers goaltender pulled in the final minute, Dan Girardi sent a puck towards the net, it deflected off Rangers LW Chris Kreider, then off the heel of Canadiens D Alexei Emelin, earning a tie with 29 seconds left in regulation. Galchenyuk wasnt the only Canadiens player to score his first of the postseason in Game Three. Veteran D Andrei Markov scored Montreals first goal. The Rangers first goal was knocked in by Carl Hagelin, his fifth of the playoffs, tying him with Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards for the Rangers team lead. St. Louis had a game-high 11 shot attempts in Game Three, including a couple of Grade A chances, including a onne-time shot on a 2-1, which immediately preceded Hagelins goal, and was stopped by Canadiens D Josh Gorges.Cheap Jerseys. . Rangers D Kevin Klein doesnt get the tough matchups, but he had success in his role in Game Three, on the ice for 24 shot attempts for and six against (80.0%) during 5-on-5 play. The Rangers had 50.0% of the even-strength shots when Klein was off the ice. Klein and partner John Moore started every one of their shifts in the offensive or neutral zone. Canadiens C Lars Eller was the opposite to Klein, on for 23.1% of the shot attempts at 5-on-5 and Eller didnt attempt a shot the entire game, in 15:02 of ice time. Montreals win makes for a much more interesting series, to be sure. Game Three brought out some hostility that hadnt appeared earlier in the series. Canadiens LW Brandon Prust laid out Rangers C Derek Stepan (who returned to the game) with a late hit and later fought Derek Dorsett, but it wasnt just Prust. There were more extra pokes and physical confrontations throughout the game. Canadiens RW Brendan Gallagher and Rangers D Ryan McDonagh waged quite a battle throughout the game. While hostility between the clubs can make for a more interesting series, the fact that the series is 2-1 in favour of the Rangers, rather than 3-0, is reason enough to believe that the Canadiens have a chance to make something out of this situation. They probably cant count on having Tokarski get the better of Lundqvist in the goaltending matchup too often, but that got the Canadiens through Game Three and thats enough to keep their hope alive. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. 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