Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
knows next season is going to be a crawl. The
#1
EDMONTON - It took a full-team effort from the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday to halt a six-game losing streak. Five players had a multi-point performance and goaltender Ben Scrivens made 34 saves as Edmonton avoided a seventh straight loss by defeating the visiting Nashville Predators 5-1. "It was a good team win, all four lines and all six defence were rolling pretty good," said Edmonton defenceman Justin Schultz. "We got contributions from everyone tonight. Whether they were on the score sheet or not, everyone played well. It was nice to get a win." Ryan Smyth, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Schultz had a goal and an assist apiece for the Oilers (16-32-7), who captured just their fifth win in the last 22 games, while Taylor Hall chipped in with two assists. Nail Yakupov added a single goal. "It was nice to get out to an early lead and I thought we carried momentum shift after shift in the first period," Smyth said. "We desperately needed a win, to build some confidence. Now we have confidence that we can win. We can come from behind if we need to, but it was nice to play with the lead." The Oilers have had five losing streaks reach five games or more this season, with six being their longest. David Legwand responded for the Predators (23-23-8), who have lost two in a row against a pair of Alberta teams that are both in the bottom three spots in the standings, blowing a lead in a 5-4 shootout loss in Calgary on Friday. "Im quite disappointed," said Nashville head coach Barry Trotz. "We had a game in Calgary the other day and let a point slip away and tonight we had it 1-1 late in the first and I thought we would be in good shape. We gave up a poor goal in terms of our structure, it was bad coverage by us. When they got the third goal it took a lot of steam out of our bench." Veteran Predators forward Paul Gaustad said the last two losses have hurt for a team trying to claw its way into the playoff picture. "Its obviously not the result we wanted," he said. "Every team in this league is a really good team, no matter what the standings always say. We need to find ways to get two points. We have to start making a move up, we cant go down in the standings right now. These last two games, we needed to find a way to get more points. Its something were not happy with." Edmonton started the scoring three minutes into the game as Jesse Joensuu saw Schultz streaking in from the point and hooked a pass to the defender for a hard shot that beat Predators starter Carter Hutton. Nashville tied the game up with four-and-a-half minutes to play in the opening period as Legwand elected to shoot it himself on a two-on-one break and picked the top corner past Scrivens. The Oilers went into the dressing rooms on a positive note after a goal with 12 seconds left in the first period as Hall sent a great pass through the legs of defender Roman Josi to give Eberle an easy redirection into the net from the doorstep. It was a significant goal, as the Predators came into the game with a 1-16-2 record when trailing after the first period. Nashville thought it had clawed even just 48 seconds in to the second period, but Taylor Beck was called for goalie interference for running over Scrivens as he chipped the puck in and the goal was disallowed. Edmonton went up by two goals midway through the second as Smyth picked up a rebound in the crease and hooked it past Hutton. It was Smyths 125th power-play goal as an Oiler, tying him for second spot on the teams all-time list with Wayne Gretzky and putting him one back of leader Glenn Anderson. "For Ryan, that was a special thing to do," said Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins. "Hopefully he can keep moving up the charts. Anything that has Mr. Gretzkys name on it and you can match it, its a great, great accomplishment." Smyth is also one goal back of hitting the top 100 list of all-time NHL scorers. Edmonton made it 4-1 with three minutes left in the second frame as Sam Gagner hit a trailing Yakupov on an odd-man rush and the 2012 first overall NHL draft pick sent home his 10th of the season. The Predators turned the third period into something of a shooting gallery at the Edmonton net and thought they had finally been rewarded on what looked to have been a Craig Smith goal, but once again Beck was called for goaltender interference as he was actually lying on top of Scrivens when the puck trickled across the line. "Ive never seen anything like that," Beck said. "On the first one I was just taking the puck hard to the net and my momentum kind of ran the goalie a little bit. I think the puck would have gone into the net regardless, but the ref called it no goal. On the second one I was getting hacked and whacked and ended up falling on the goalie and again it was disallowed. Those things happen, I guess. Hopefully next time it is called the other way." Edmonton put the game away for good with four-and-a-half minutes left to play after some quick passing on the power play led to Nugent-Hopkins 15th goal of the season. Scrivens was peppered with 35 shots on the night, 17 of which came in the third period. "Scrivens did an unbelievable job tonight, he was barking and talking and he was conducting the orchestra back there," Eakins said. "Ben was excellent directing traffic." The Oilers return to action on Monday night with a quick trip to Vancouver. The Predators conclude a four-game trip in Winnipeg on Tuesday. Dorian Johnson Jersey . - Zac Leslie scored two goals and assisted on two more, and Justin Nichols made 34 saves as the Guelph Storm blanked the Kitchener Rangers 6-0 in Ontario Hockey League action on Sunday. Haason Reddick Youth Jersey . -- Sonny Grays fastball wasnt as sharp as it usually is, and the Oakland Athletics young pitcher even had a quirky replay go against him. http://www.azcardinalsfanspro.com/Black-...ml?cat=918 . - The Chicago Bears have agreed to a one-year contract with free-agent centre Brian de la Puente. Chad Williams Jersey . The Detroit Tigers closer blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning Wednesday night against the Dodgers. Chad Williams Youth Jersey . - The Detroit Lions have 13 takeaways this season — three less than all of last season — and the defence isnt the only unit pleased with the performance.TORONTO -- Eugenie Bouchards best off-court memory in a season full of them was attending the 40-Love Party at Wimbledon. The party celebrated the 40th anniversary of the WTA, and 17 of the former No. 1-ranked female players -- from Chris Evert to Serena Williams and almost every top player in between -- were in attendance. It was one of those pinch-me moments for Bouchard, and said a lot about how far the rising Canadian tennis star had come. "Moments like that are really special to me, and obviously I was just happy to be invited there," Bouchard said in a conference call Thursday from her training base in Florida. A day earlier, the 19-year-old from Montreal was named WTAs newcomer of the year after reaching at least the quarter-finals five times in the 2013 season. Bouchard is ranked No. 32 in the world, tops among teenagers and Canadians. She reached her first WTA final in Osaka last month before losing to Samantha Stosur. Bouchard beat Stosur earlier in the year, her first victory over an opponent ranked in the top 10. She also beat No. 10 Jelena Jankovic as part of an impressive year. The young Canadian cant pinpoint any one thing that led to her swift rise through the ranks this past season. "I think its a bunch of factors, not something specific," she said. "Its really my first full year on the pro tour, I learned a lot. Playing week in and week out against great players, and even great champions, is really tough, and it makes you mentally though. I think that helped me improve, and gave me a lot of experience for the rest of the year, so those big matches helped me a lot." Bouchard earned US$415,742 in prize money iin 2013 by going 39-24 in singles play and 6-8 in doubles.dddddddddddd Bouchard was the first Canadian to win the award since Carling Bassett in 1983. "To be the second Canadian only is a cool thing I think, and obviously its a great award and its an honour to be named the Newcomer of the Year. So Im proud of that," said Bouchard. While she raced more than 100 spots up the rankings this season, she knows next season is going to be a crawl. The higher she goes, the more difficult it is to move. "And then each small move, each small jump is more significant," she said. "Strategy-wise, I have my coach (Nick Saviano) and Im just going to train really hard in this off-season and try to improve. I dont think theres a secret recipe, just a lot of hard work will definitely go into it on the practice court and then once Im in matches as well, really work hard and try to be the best I can be." While Bouchard has become more comfortable as shes gained experience on the tour, she said theres no sense of "been there, done that." "I think its hard to have that feeling . . . when you walk onto the grounds at the Australian Open or any Grand Slam or any tournament for that matter," Bouchard said. "Tennis is what I love doing, so Im never going to get bored of it, and Im never going to feel like Im tired of it. "Im saying that now, but maybe when Im ready to retire at 30, maybe Ill have that feeling. But for now, its what I love doing, I cant think of doing anything else, and Im just going to go into every tournament with the same energy and motivation that Ive always had and always will have." Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)