TOKYO -- Frank Dancevic wanted to give it his all in Canadas do-or-die singles match against Japans Kei Nishikori at the Davis Cup on Sunday. But unfortunately for the Niagara Falls, Ont., native, a pulled muscle wouldnt allow him to go past the second set. Japan sealed its victory over Canada in the first-round Davis Cup tie after Nishikori downed an ailing Dancevic 6-2, 1-0. Later Sunday, Peter Polansky of Thornhill, Ont., lost to Go Soeda in the fifth match 6-1, 6-4 to increase Japans margin to 4-1. "Kei came out playing really well today and once I pulled a stomach muscle early in the second set there was no way I could stay with him when I could only serve at 20 per cent..." Dancevic said. "Under other circumstances I probably wouldnt have even stepped on the court with the way I was feeling, but this is Davis Cup and I wanted to give it all I had and push to the limit because this situation means a lot to me." Dancevic, ranked 119th in mens singles, held his serve during the first game, but World No. 18 Nishikori went on to break twice and win the next five games to eventually take the set. After being broken to start the second set, Dancevic took a medical timeout and was forced to retire, handing the match and the tie to Japan. Canada will play a World Group playoff in September in hopes of keeping its spot in the upper echelon of the competition. Japan, meanwhile, will face the winner of a tie between the Czech Republic and the Netherlands in the Davis Cup quarter-finals. The Canadian squad was missing its top two singles players at the tournament as both No. 11 Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., and No. 25 Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver were unable to recover from injuries in time to play. Polansky, who lost Canadas first singles match to Nishikori on Friday, replaced Raonic. Dancevic stepped in for Pospisil in the doubles match with Daniel Nestor on Saturday. The Canadian duo, who hadnt played together in three years, lost to Nishikori and Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-3, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-4. "We just battled with so many things this week and nothing really went our way when it came to injuries," said Canadian team captain Martin Laurendeau. "Its obviously disappointing but you cant blame these guys. They gave their all. "... Frank and Peter stepped in and left everything on the court every time they went out there. With what we accomplished last year (reaching the semifinal) we didnt want to take a step back like this but hopefully everyone gets healthy and has a strong season and we can fight hard to keep our spot in September." Cheap Shoes From China . Calgarys Bo Levi Mitchell and Montreals Troy Smith will be the starting quarterbacks in a CFL season-opener for the first time in their careers. Both want to reinforce their No. 1 status. You can watch the game live in the first half of a doubleheader on TSN and TSN GO at 3:00pm et/Noon pt. 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Wholesale Shoes Authentic . - A mixed martial arts fighter who changed his name to War Machine was ordered Friday to stand trial in Nevada state court on 34 felony charges including attempted murder, sexual assault and kidnapping that could get him life in prison for allegedly attacking his porn star ex-girlfriend and her friend.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Columbus Blue Jackets took advantage of the Minnesota Wild, who were coming off an emotional game a day earlier. The Blue Jackets got goals from Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner and R.J. Umberger and Curtis McElhinney posted his first shutout since 2011 in a 4-0 victory on Friday night. "We talked about them playing last night and there was definitely an emphasis to jump all over them," Umberger said, referring to the Wilds 4-3 home win over Chicago. "We were moving pretty good." The Blue Jackets had not played since Tuesday, filling the time with two hard, full practices in which they were able to work on several problem areas. Minnesotas Zach Parise knew his team didnt have its heart in the game. "We were just flat and not crisp," he said. "We were pretty brutal through the neutral zone and couldnt get anything generated." Wild coach Mike Yeo didnt want to use his clubs first home win over the Blackhawks since 2008 as an excuse, but still thought that was the root of his clubs problems. "We played right into that (being tired), too, turning pucks over," he said. "We were on our heels, slow reacting, slow getting to places. We were not pressing the way we needed to be." It was the Blue Jackets second win in a row, the first time theyve won back-to-back games since Oct. 25. They did it in their first game without last years Vezina Trophy winner as the NHLs top goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky, who will miss the next month or so with a strained groin. McElhinney made 20 saves in his first shutout since Feb. 5, 2011, while with the Anaheim Ducks. "Its a good feeling for me to step in here again and have another shutout game, another win," he said, referring to the Blue Jackets consecutive shutouts. "Hopefully, its the start of something good and we can keep it going." Foligno and Umberger each also had assists and Ryan Johansen added two assists to stretch his points streak to four games. The Blue Jackets have been struggling with injuries. In addition to Bobrovsky, top offensive threat Marian Gaborik (sprained knee) is out for another two weeks and top off-season free-agent signing Nathan Horton (shoulder surgery) has yet to play in a Columbus sweater aand likely wont be ready for at least another month.dddddddddddd McElhinneys third NHL shutout came in his 78th game. After a scoreless first period, the Blue Jackets took over. At the 1:17 mark of the second, Atkinson took a pass from Dubinsky and wristed a shot from the top of the right circle that Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom didnt appear to see. He barely moved as the puck beat him high and near his right shoulder. "Some games its tougher to swallow the puck when you dont see it," he said. The Blue Jackets went on their first power play when Matt Cooke went off for hooking. Columbus soon took advantage on the man advantage. Johansen passed to Umberger for a shot from a hard angle that handcuffed Backstrom, with Johansen then following the puck to get a whack at it on the rebound. Before the puck could be cleared, Foligno found the net on his second attempt from the right doorstep at the 5:40 mark. "We were able to maintain our energy and continue to push," Foligno said. "You saw great efforts from everybody tonight -- and Curtis McElhinney shut the door." The Wild had a prime chance to get back in the game when they had 1:13 of a 5-on-3 advantage midway through the second period. But McElhinney smothered a hard slap shot from the left point by Jason Pominville and then later appeared to stop a high shot by Zach Parise off his mask. "The big thing was that 5 on 3," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "That was a critical point of the game. Curtis made probably three great saves for us and our (penalty) killers did a great job." Columbus was still controlling the play early in the third when, on a 3-on-3 rush, Jenner wristed a shot from the top of the left circle that eluded Backstrom high on his glove side. The goal, at the 4:38 mark, was the rookies third of the season. Umberger closed the scoring at the 9:05 mark when, while trailing the play, he benefited from a nifty feed from Foligno. Foligno had only one defender to beat but instead whipped a blind pass to Umberger who had virtually an empty net. Notes: The Blue Jackets improved to 35-0 under Richards when leading after two periods. ... It was the Wilds third loss in a row on the road. ... Minnesota has been shut out in two of its past three games. ' ' '