MANKATO, Minn. -- Whenever Mike Zimmer has felt uneasy about the safety situation on his defence, hes called Chris Crocker to come in and stabilize things. So its no surprise with the safety position opposite standout Harrison Smith up for grabs, Zimmer is bringing back old reliable one more time. Crocker signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings on Monday, giving Zimmer some much-needed insurance on the unproven back end of his defence. Each of the previous two seasons, as defensive co-ordinator in Cincinnati, Zimmer talked Crocker out of retiring to play for the Bengals. Zimmer also brought Crocker with him when he moved from defensive co-ordinator of the Atlanta Falcons to the Bengals in 2008. Now that Zimmer is in his first season as a head coach with the Vikings, Crocker is again coming back to help him out. "I never retired," said Crocker, who had 37 tackles and two interceptions in 12 games last year. "You always are kind of ready. Especially when you know you got a guy like Zimmer that you can play for. You know we have rapport and we talk often and in this part in my career I wouldnt want to go (with) anyone else. Im not starting over, I wanted to play for a guy who has meant a lot for my career and Ive given him everything that I have. Just empty the gas tank and see where it goes." The position opposite Smith has been in flux since Zimmer took over. Robert Blanton appeared to be in line to be the starter but injured his hamstring during training camp and will likely miss several weeks. Jamarca Sanford missed much of the spring with injury and has yet to impress in training camp. Mistral Raymond has been equally unimpressive to this point and Andrew Sendejo was just activated from the physically unable to perform list on Monday. "Ive given everything I have to him," the 34-year-old Crocker said of Zimmer. "I think Ive been accountable. Thats the biggest thing that Ive not only been accountable, but Ive been a playmaker for him and thats all he can ask for in a player. "From a coaching standpoint hes just so honest and you can really appreciate that the guy is going to tell you whether youre good or whether youre bad, but at the end of the day youre going to know where you stand. Ive always played at the highest level playing for a guy like that." Cheap NFL Jerseys China . Clevelands manager had just watched his team lose 5-3 to Kansas City, which completed a 2-6 homestand and dropped the Indians 2 1/2 games behind Detroit in the AL Central. Wholesale Hockey Jerseys . - In about six minutes, the Memphis Grizzlies had allowed their 23-point lead to be cut to seven. http://www.wholesalenhlauthenticjerseys.com/ .com) - John Wall supplied 24 points and 11 assists in leading the Washington Wizards to a 102-91 win over the New York Knicks on Christmas Day. Cheap Olympic Hockey Jerseys .Voegele will next play Anna Schmiedlova of Slovakia, who saved 10 of 16 break points to defeat Annika Beck of Germany 7-6 (6), 6-4.Also, Marina Erakovic of New Zealand defeated eighth-seeded Caroline Garcia of France 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. NHL Jerseys China . The Vancouver coach and an announced sellout crowd of 18,910 watched in dismay as the Canucks lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Monday night by squandering a 3-0 lead in the third period.NEWARK, N.J. -- For the second straight game, the Los Angeles Kings used a strong third period to get a road victory. Dwight King and Anze Kopitar scored third-period goals and Ben Scrivens made 26 saves to lift the Kings to a 2-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night. Scrivens, playing for the injured Jonathan Quick, got a 3-2 win on Thursday over the Islanders when the Kings scored three times in the third period. The Kings finish their New York City metropolitan area trip with a game at Madison Square Garden on Sunday against the Rangers. "The confidence was there after winning on the island," Scrivens said. "Its obviously important to stop every shot." Scrivens came up with 12 saves in the first period when he was tested by the Devils. "We probably deserved to have one or two in the first period," Devils coach Pete DeBoer said. "We just didnt take advantage in the first. Were not a pretty group offensively. We have to score some ugly goals. We all feel for (Schneider) He cant do more than what hes doing. Its frustrating for all of us." Kings sixth goal of the season came at 13:08. Defenceman Jake Muzzins drive from the left point was redirected by King, standing in front of goalie Cory Schneider. "It came off a line change," King said. "They were battling on the wall and it got to the point, I was wide open at the net and he slid one on the ice and I got a stick on it. We came back last night and tonight. We had to find a way to win and thats what good teams do." Kopitar scored an empty-net goal with 2.9 seconds left. Schneider made 19 saves. "Hes a solid goaltender," Kopitar said of Scrivens. "We got off to a little bit of a slow starrt and we kept building up our game, making plays.dddddddddddd Eventually in the third, we got one." Fridays game was the Kings first visit to the Prudential Center since playing the Devils in the 2012 Stanley Cup finals. The Kings nearly scored 7:33 into the third period. Muzzin centred a puck from the left side of the blue line. New Jersey defenceman Andy Greene put out his stick and deflected it on goal, where Schneider alertly made the save. In the second period, defenceman Peter Harrold was whistled for a four-minute penalty when he was called for high sticking Tyler Toffoli of the Kings. But King was penalized for hooking 50 seconds into the power play and sat for two minutes. Harrold was the recipient of a hit to the head by Jordan Nolan with 1:31 left in the second. The centre put his shoulder down and levelled Harrold with a shot to the side of his head. Harrold was face-down on the ice, but, after play was stopped, he managed to skate off on his own. Harrold returned to regular shifts in the third period. The Devils were the aggressors in the scoreless first period, but couldnt solve Scrivens. "(Schneider) has played unbelievable for us so far this year and we havent given him the goal support," Devils winger Stephen Gionta said. "I thought we played a pretty good controlled game in their end, but we could have gotten to the net a little more." NOTES: The power-play goal by Kopitar in the closing seconds broke a string of 12 straight kills over three games by the Devils. ... Jaromir Jagr has 120 career game-winning goals, just one behind the NHL record held by Gordie Howe. ... Patrik Elias returned after a six-game absence for the Devils, who also got back Stephen Gionta. ' ' '