AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Australia coach Ewen McKenzie denies he is "poking a bear with a stick" by challenging New Zealand to play at its best in Saturdays Rugby Championships test at Eden Park. New York Mets Shirts . Australia drew confidence from last weekends 12-12 draw with New Zealand in Sydney and McKenzie epitomized their bullish attitude when he baited the All Blacks at a news conference Friday. McKenzie said "its not about poking a bear with a stick. Its a competitive game. We want them to bring their A game because we are going to bring ours." The All Blacks have vowed to produce a much better performance at Auckland as they defend a 20-year unbeaten record on Eden Park. In 2008, Australia won in Sydney but were well beaten in Auckland a week later. "Over the years theres been occasions where a week apart things change a lot," New Zealand captain Richie McCaw said. "Back to 2008, when we got put to the sword in Sydney, there was a fair bit of edge that week." The Wallabies have been unable to win at Eden Park stretching back to 1986, but now believe they have the personnel and the form to break that hoodoo. "We know weve improved a lot from last week, we have been focusing on that," McKenzie said. "We know what we are capable of. We were off the pace at key moments last week, there were key decisions we didnt get right. We expect to do better this week." McKenzies comments are likely to further incite the All Blacks team that felt a significant factor in the Sydney draw was referee Jaco Peyper, who sin-binned two All Blacks, blew 14 penalties against them and prevented them asserting their superiority in scrums. Head coach Steve Hansen said Peyper later admitted making errors, and hoped for a more even performance on Saturday from French referee Roman Poite. McCaw said the All Blacks cannot blame the referee alone, and should recognize other shortcomings. "In the first quarter of an hour we did all right, but we certainly let the Wallaby pack get back into it," he said. "Perhaps they had the edge in the second half, so you can imagine telling the big boys that on Monday, they werent that happy. But its all words, its about putting it into action tomorrow night. Weve got to supply our backs with better ball than we did last week." New Zealand has been forced to make three changes to its lineup for a match in which victory would retain the bi-lateral Bledisloe Cup for the 13th-straight year. "There was plenty of criticism that was warranted last week," Hansen said. "We just didnt play well enough. We have to be honest about that, and if we want to retain the Bledisloe Cup we have to go up 10 or 12 notches and get on with it." Custom New York Mets Jerseys . -- Terry Francona likened the atmosphere at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday to a playoff game in October. Stitched Mets Jerseys . It will then be back to business once the puck drops as the two clubs battle for key points in their respective playoff races. Watch the game live on TSN Canadiens and listen on TSN Radio 690 starting at 7:30pm et. https://www.cheapmetsjerseys.us/ .com) - Ames, IA (SportsNetwork.St. Paul, MN (SportsNetwork.com) - Nino Niederreiter scored the winning goal with 4:33 to play as the Minnesota Wild rallied in the third period to take a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders. Mikko Koivu and Thomas Vanek each posted a goal and an assist while Jason Pominville and Erik Haula also scored for the Wild, who have won two of their last three. Niklas Backstrom made 15 saves for the win. Josh Bailey, Matt Martin, Brock Nelson and Michael Grabner all lit the lamp for the Islanders, who have lost their last two. Chad Johnson allowed all five goals on 30 shots. Trailing by three goals entering the third, the Wild got one back 2:51 in after Koivu skated from the right of the net to the circle and used a defender as a screen to zip a wrister past Johnson. The next goal didnt come until 11:03 when Haulas turnaround shot from the right side went off the skate of New Yorks Thomas Hickey in front and went in. Just 45 seconds later, the Wild tied the game as a right circle faceoff win saw the team control the puck, and a shot on net from the right point saw Vanek eventually jam home the rebound. Niederrreiter scored the winner less than four minutes later as the bouncing puck wound up in front and he tapped home his own rebound. New York Mets Pro Shop. The Isles were given a power play with 2:28 to play and pulled Johnson to skate 6-on-4 for much of the advantage, but were unable to pot the equalizer. It was all New York in the first period as Grabner scored on a wrister from the slot 8:31 in, and Nelson tipped in a Nick Leddy shot at 17:15 on the power play. Just 32 seconds later, the Isles made it a 3-0 game when Martin shot home a rebound from the left side. The Wild got one back at 9:01 of the second on the power play thanks to Pominvilles tip of a Ryan Suter shot. New York didnt have its first shot of the second period until there was 2:43 left in the frame, but the team made it count as Bailey buried a backhand for his fourth of the year. Game Notes Minnesota hits the road for the next three games starting Thursday in San Jose ... New York plays in St. Louis on Thursday ... Each team went 1-for-5 on the power play ... Suter had three assists in the contest. ' ' '