LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland -- Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway retook the lead in the overall World Cup standings Wednesday by placing fifth in a downhill won by Olympic champion Matthias Mayer of Austria. Peter Forsberg Avalanche Jersey . Svindal earned 45 points to move 41 ahead of two-time defending overall champion Marcel Hirscher of Austria, who skips downhills. "If I had to put money on someone I have no idea who it would be," said Svindal, who will race against Hirscher in a super-G on Thursday. Mayer earned his first career World Cup win in one minute, 29.99 seconds, 0.11 faster than Christof Innerhofer of Italy and American Ted Ligety, who tied for second. Svindal was 0.20 seconds behind Mayer. Mayer and Innerhofer finished 1-2 in the downhill at the Sochi Olympics. "Its very important," Mayer said of his win. "It was a target for me to win a World Cup race this year. Its perfect." Manuel Osborne-Paradis of North Vancouver, B.C., was 13th while Erik Guay of Mont-Tremblant was 19th but finished the season a career-best third in the overall standings despite persistent knee issues. "Theres no question it was a successful year in downhill," Guay said. "With no skiing throughout the summer and having those knee difficulties in January, there have been a lot of ups and downs. To finish third overall is great. "I feel like I could have been competitive for the Crystal Globe if Id been healthy. Its a little bit of a bummer to finish on this note but finishing third overall gives me (hope) for next year." Osborne-Paradis was ranked 18th in downhill while Calgarys Jan Hudec, who sat out Wednesdays race due to a back injury, was 24th. On Thursday, Guay and Osborne-Paradis will conclude their World Cup seasons in the super-G. Osborne-Paradis will return to Canada to defend his national downhill title in Whistler, B.C., later this month, Guay, though, will head home to Quebec, where his wife, Karen, is expecting their third child. "The super-G is going to feel fast, it will be interesting," Osborne-Paradis said. "Im going to ski hard and hope for the best. "Ive got nothing to lose so Im going to push my line and take what Ive learned from today. Ill see what I can get away with." Ligetys career-best result in downhill lifted him to third in the overall standings. His previous best in downhill was fourth, in 2007 at Lenzerheide where the steep, twisting course suits his technical skills. "This is a hill I know I have a good chance on," said Ligety, the world champion in super-G. "I also dont count on this carrying through to other races on the World Cup downhill tour." Svindal, a two-time overall champion, already clinched his second straight season-long downhill title before the World Cup Finals. "I used to be 1-2-3 every race, and now Im 4-5-6," said the Norwegian, who has finished just off the podium since the Olympics. "But Marcel is too." Manuel Osborne-Paradis of North Vancouver, B.C., was 13th and Erik Guay of Mont-Tremblant, Que., was last among the 19 skiers who finished the race. Svindal is scheduled to start the giant slalom on Saturday, but skip Sundays season-ending slalom which is typically Hirschers best event. American Bode Miller seemed poised for victory Wednesday until going wide near the end of his run. He placed eighth, 0.62 behind Mayer. Several racers found trouble on the hard, bumpy snow despite the clear, sunny conditions. Austrian Georg Streitberger twisted in the air while crashing when more than a half-second ahead of Mayer midway down. Bobby Hull Blackhawks Jersey . Conversely, the Rangers find themselves in the Cup final for the first time since the team last won the Stanley Cup in 1994, when Mark Messier captained the team. The Rangers understand the Kings enter this series as the favourite, but plan to approach this series the same way the team approached their previous three. "Throughout these playoffs, and its not going to change now, weve been the underdog," Rangers coach Alan Vigneault said on Monday. Frederik Andersen Ducks Jersey . Marian Gaborik had two goals and an assist and Martin Jones made just 17 saves to record his fourth shutout of the season as the Kings snapped a three-game losing skid with a 3-0 victory over the lowly Oilers on Thursday.Dusan Lajovic and Filip Krajinovic won the reverse singles Sunday to cushion Switzerlands triumph over Serbia to 3-2 in their Davis Cup first round World Group tie. Switzerland had already secured the match with its doubles victory on Saturday. On Friday, Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka both won their singles matches and pulled out of the reverse singles. Lajovic beat Michael Lammer 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to win Serbias first point of the match. The 102nd-ranked Lajovic is Serbias top player in the absence of Novak Djokovic, Jankoo Tipsarevic and Viktor Troicki. James Wisniewski Hurricanes Jersey. "I am glad I won at least this one point for Serbia," said Lajovic, who was beaten by Wawrinka on Friday. Filip Krajinovic beat Marco Chiudinelli 6-4, 6-4. Serbias coach Bogdan Obradovic expressed hope that Serbias top players will return to the team "and we will once again be what we truly are -- a leading team in the Davis Cup." Switzerland will face Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals in April, while Serbia dropped to the playoffs in September. Cheap Jerseys nfl jerseys cheap authentic wholesale jerseys jerseys from china authentic Cheap Jerseys wholesale stitched jerseys ' ' '
