VANCOUVER - David Backes went to Sochi hoping to bring back some stories. Instead, he brought back a couple of stray puppies. The St. Louis Blues captain, who played for the U.S. in the 2014 Winter Olympics, and his wife Kelly rescued the dogs from the streets of the Russian city with members of the Canadian teams entourage. Now in quarantine in St. Louis, the dogs will eventually be given to good homes. "Were just trying to widen our scope to help animals across the (U.S.) and across the world, and doing what we can," Backes said Tuesday. Backes said he and his wife did not originally intend to bring any animals back. They were hoping to create awareness about shelters that have been set up in Sochi to help hundreds of stray dogs that have received international media coverage. "She doesnt take no very lightly," he said. "So when she saw those two pups and a few more, she said weve gotta do something to get these out of here and tell their story and broaden the awareness of some of the mistreatment of animals - and just the difference in (how) they treat their companion animals and we treat ours." The Backes, who have four rescue dogs and two rescue cats in their home set up their own foundation, Athletes for Animals, last November, received helped from Canadian winger Jeff Carters girlfriend Megan Keffer and defenceman Drew Doughtys girlfriend Nicole Arruda and others. The three-to-four-month-old pups, named Sochi Junior and Sochi Jake, were brought back to the U.S. on an Air Atlas charter to Newark and another flight to St. Louis. Markus Wheaton Eagles Jersey . 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Andre Dillard Eagles Jersey .C. -- LeBron James called comments on an audio recording of a man identified as Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling "appalling" and said hes not sure if he would suit up for the remainder of the NBA playoffs if he played for the Clippers.PORTLAND, Ore. -- Coach Caleb Porter pumped his fist at Portlands fans following the Timbers victory over FC Dallas: The push for the playoffs is on. Darlington Nagbe scored the go-ahead goal in the 33rd minute and the Timbers held on to defeat FC Dallas 2-1 Saturday night. Ryan Johnson also scored for Portland, which moved into third place in Major League Soccers Western Conference, a point ahead of the Los Angeles Galaxy and two in front of Vancouver. "We want to start sprinting now," Porter said. "And I think we showed how hungry we are for the playoffs tonight." Dallas is winless in a season-high 11 straight matches. The teams longest drought came last season when they went 13 straight games without a victory. The loss dropped FC Dallas (8-7-9) into seventh place in the Western Conference. Coach Schellas Hyndman said he feels his team is close to breaking out of its funk. "With the artificial surface and the fans, this is a tough place to play," he said of Portlands Jeld-Wen Field. The victory snapped a three-match winless streak for Portland (9-3-11), which had last weekend off after playing to a 1-1 draw with Cascadia Cup rival Vancouver on Aug. 3. "When you get to this point in the season, its all about getting points on the board," Timbers goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts said. "It doesnt matter how you do it." Both teams were struggling with injuries. FC Dallas right back Zach Loyd was out with a knee strain and central midfielder A.J. Jacobson sat with a sore hamstring. They were injured in last weekends 3-3 draw against the Galaxy. The Timbers were without Will Johnson, who has six goals and three assists this season, because of a right shoulder injury.dddddddddddd Forward Frederic Piquionne also sat out because of an ankle injury he sustained in the Vancouver match. Midfielder Jack Jewsbury, also nursing a sore ankle, was listed as a reserve. The Timbers had a good chance in the 21st minute on Diego Valeris fast-break to the top of the box, but he stumbled on the kick, which went wide. But Ryan Johnson scored on a header off Valeris well-placed corner kick in the 26th minute to give Portland the lead. Johnson leads the Timbers with eight goals. Only two minutes later, Mauro Diaz scored his first goal for FC Dallas to even it. Ricketts slid to the turf out in front of the goal, allowing Diaz to take advantage. Diaz, who is from Argentina, was acquired by FC Dallas last month and had appeared in just one match for the team as a reserve before his start Saturday night. Nagbes goal, off an assist by Valeri, gave the Timbers the lead back -- for good, as it turned out. Valeri has had an assist on each of Portlands last six goals, and is the first Timbers player with 10 assists since the team joined MLS in 2011. "We are a very good attacking team and I try to help," Valeri said. "I try to do my role." The match featured a flurry of yellow cards in the second half, with Portlands Valeri and Ben Zemanski and Dallas Jackson and Blas Perez each called for a yellow in the span of less than five minutes. "I dont know if it was getting more physical, I just think the yellow cards started coming out," Hyndman said. ' ' '