MARSEILLE, France -- Defending champion Evgenia Medvedeva began the defense of her Grand Prix Final title in emphatic style, thrilling the crowd with a world record score in the short program on Friday.The 17-year-old world champion landed all of her jumps cleanly and was given a deserved ovation at the Palais Omnisport de Marseille as she recorded 79.21 points, beating three-time world champion and four-time Grand Prix Final winner Mao Asadas 78.66 at the 2014 worlds.Im happy with the world record, but the world record isnt my goal, Medvedeva said. I came close to beating it in Paris (with 78.52 at the Trophee de France last month). Its one step further and it gives me confidence.Although Medvedeva skated with pure elegance to River Flows in You by Lorenzo de Luca, she was still picky about her performance.I can do better in the interpretation of my programs and my spins. Id like to spin faster, she said. Everything has plusses and minuses and I always strive for perfection. I cannot stop because when you stop doing that you stop improving.She leads from Kaetlyn Osmond of Canada (75.54) and Satoko Miyahara of Japan (74.64).Its really rewarding to get a seasons best and a personal best for me, Osmond said. I feel like I connect with the confident character Im projecting in my program.Earlier, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov earned their season-best score in the free skate to win the pairs event for the first time.The Russians scored 135.25 to win with a total of 213.85.Tarasova and Morozov had placed second at the Trophee de France last month and third at Skate America in October, when they also led after the short program.This time they held firm, nailing all of their jumps on both days.We have a lot of emotion inside of us, Morozov said. Were just having fun, dancing and swing with music and we really like it. Music was my first love.The positions stayed the same from Thursdays short program, with Yu Xiaoyu and Zhang Hao of China second, and former champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada third.Duhamel again made a couple of errors, having also done so on Thursday. She put her hand down on the throw quad salchow and had to check her balance to stop from falling after another difficult landing.Were disappointed with our performance. We wanted to come here with two great programs, unfortunately we couldnt do one, Duhamel said. We cant continue like this. We have to do a U-turn.The Canadians won in Barcelona two years ago and finished runner-up there last year. Duhamels frustration was compounded by the fact she was confident before the event.We were very comfortable coming here, she said. We liked the ice and we were well rested.Former Olympic champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada lead in the ice dance with a commanding 80.50 in the short.Personally this title would mean a lot as we have never won it before, Virtue said. We want to accomplish so much in our comeback and there is still so much room to grow technically and artistically.World silver medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani, who are brother and sister, are in second spot with 77.97, and French duo Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron narrowly behind in third on 77.86.It was definitely our strongest performance of the season, Alex Shibutani said. Were excited about this program because the ceiling is so high for it. There is a lot more we can do.The Final ends Saturday with the mens and womens free and the conclusion of ice dance. Yeezy Boost 550 Deutschland . A big centre with all the tools to be an elite player, Johansen paced the Blue Jackets with a standout game Saturday night. 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Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rougned Odor homered twice, and A.J. Griffin also went a little deeper for the Texas Rangers.Odor hit a ball into the second deck of seats for the second game in a row, along with another solo shot that just cleared the wall, and Griffin had his longest outing in seven starts since coming off the disabled list in the Rangers 8-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.I felt like that was a big step. I made a little adjustment in my delivery. I was more direct to the target, said Griffin, who was out of the majors the past two seasons after Tommy John surgery. Two years off from pitching is a long time. It caught up with me a little bit. I feel like I am getting that second wind. My shoulders responding a lot better with each outing.Griffin (4-1) is the only Texas starter other than All-Star lefty Cole Hamels with a win in July.The right-hander has been back just over a month from the disabled list, getting sidelined by right shoulder stiffness after going 3-1 in six starts through the first week of May. He struck out one and walked two while throwing 66 of 98 pitches for strikes in 5 2/3 innings.Probably the best hes used the up-to-down game, manager Jeff Banister said. The high fastball, low fastball, cutter, not really focusing on one location at the plate.Jurickson Profar also homered for the AL West-leading Rangers, and scored three runs.Odors solo homer in the first put Texas up 3-0 against Edinson Volquez (8-9). That 443-foot drive into the second deck in right field came a night after Odors 465-footer that is the longest in his career. His 21st homer, in the se