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Saturday, November 30, 2013

{allcanada} Flames edge Kings on Cammalleri's late goal

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LOS ANGELES -- Since franchise goalie Jonathan Quick went down, the Los Angeles Kings still grinded out wins with methodical efficiency.

But on Saturday night, Mike Cammalleri got open in front of the net for Mikael Backlund's pass and backhanded the puck past Kings goalie Ben Scrivens with 23 seconds left in regulation to lift the Calgary Flames to a 2-1 victory at Staples Center.

Karri Ramo and the injury-decimated Flames snapped L.A.'s franchise record-tying 11-game point streak (7-0-4). The Kings had won four straight games in overtime or a shootout.

Justin Williams tied it with 4:31 left on a wrist shot from the right side that beat Ramo. The Flames goalie got a piece of the shot, but it found the upper portion of the net.

Ramo made 21 saves and beat L.A. for the second time this season. Two of Ramo's three wins have come against the Kings.

Scrivens has been masterful in place of Quick, but his gaffe allowed Calgary to take a 1-0 lead into the third period.

During a five-minute power play, Scrivens fell trying to grab the puck. Paul Byron beat him to it from behind the goal line and from a prone position passed it to Jones for an open-net shorthanded goal at 15:50 of the second.

Ramo looked sharp in his first start since Nov.8. He made a blocker save on Jordan Nolan and consecutive stops on Drew Doughty and Jeff Carter in the first period. Ramo also made clutch saves on Carter and Slava Voynov during the five-minute penalty kill in the second.

Calgary, which had three power plays in the previous four games, got four in the first 30 minutes but managed three shots total and one on a two-man advantage.

It wasn't the finest second period for L.A., which entered the game tied for third in the NHL for the most times shorthanded. Captain Dustin Brown's interference penalty was the most egregious and was the result of a hit on Matt Stajan 180 feet from L.A.'s net.

The Flames were guilty too. Ladislav Smid committed the five-minute major boarding penalty when he ran Dwight King and gave King a nasty cut near his eye. Shane O'Brien took a hard elbowing penalty on Williams against the end boards.

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{allcanada} Pacioretty leads Canadiens past Maple Leafs

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MONTREAL -- Max Pacioretty knows how to break a slump.

Pacioretty scored twice, had an assist and had a game-high 10 shots on goal in theMontreal Canadiens' 4-2 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

Pacioretty has seven goals in his past six games after going eight games without scoring, continuing a trend he's shown in the past. Last season Pacioretty went 10 games without a goal and followed that with eight in as many games. In 2011-12 he had another goal drought of 10 games before breaking it with a run of 14 goals in 20 games.

"Confidence is huge, and it's not just confidence for shooting the puck, it's confidence with reading the play," Pacioretty said. "When I'm thinking too much I probably don't get those chances, so it's good to go out there and not think and just play my game."

P.K. Subban and Tomas Plekanec also scored for the Canadiens (15-9-3), who are undefeated in regulation in their past six games (5-0-1). Montreal also allowed two goals or fewer in a 10th straight game; it's 7-1-2 during that span.

Carey Price has been the starter for seven of those 10 games and made 34 saves, including all 12 shots he faced in the third period when the Maple Leafs pressed to tie the game after scoring twice in 22 seconds late in the second to cut a four-goal deficit in half.

Price said the reason he and backup Peter Budaj are having so much success this season is because of the Canadiens' defensive play, and he refused to take much credit for it himself.

"I'm going to keep emphasizing that," Price insisted. "We're playing excellent hockey in front of me. We're putting out 100 percent effort every night. There's no quit. That's been the key to our success so far."

The Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings are tied at 33 points in the Atlantic Division, but Montreal moved past Detroit into third because it has one more non-shootout victory.

The Maple Leafs (14-10-3) are moving in the opposite direction, falling to 1-3-2 in their past six games.

James Van Riemsdyk and Mason Raymond scored late in the second for Toronto, but the Maple Leafs weren't able to carry that momentum into the final period.

"We need points now, they're as important now as they are at the end of the season," Raymond said. "We keep saying we need to learn from these, but we really do."

Toronto was outshot 39-36, marking the eighth straight game and 23rd time in 27 games this season that the Maple Leafs have allowed more shots than they've taken. Toronto is allowing a League-high 35.9 shots per game.

Maple Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier, a native of suburban Laval, Quebec, was visibly disappointed when he didn't get the start in his hometown for Toronto's 4-3 win at Bell Centre on opening night, but his second career start in Montreal did not go very well with four goals allowed. It was the third straight start in which Bernier allowed at least four goals, with his save percentage over that span at .887.

"I've got to be better. Obviously giving up four goals, I need to find a way to keep it a tight game," Bernier said. "I've just got to re-focus. It's a long season and there's going to be lots of ups and downs. I've just got to find a way to get my game back."

Later, while speaking to French reporters, Bernier said the Maple Leafs' tendency to consistently get outshot in games was bound to catch up to them.

"If you look at our games we've been giving up a lot of shots, and at a certain point you can't have luck on your side all season," he said. "There will be highs and lows, and right now we need to find the little spark we had at the beginning of the season and be excited to come play hockey and find a way to score. If we give up four then score five. I think that's what we had at the beginning of the season."

The game couldn't have started much worse for the Maple Leafs, with Carl Gunnarsson called for interference 20 seconds after the opening faceoff. Toronto's top penalty-killing unit then allowed Pacioretty to get in behind them to take a long stretch pass from Subban and go in alone on goal. Bernier stopped his first, second and third shots before Pacioretty finally scored on his fourth attempt at 58 seconds.

"I thought shoot because sometimes you get a second crack at it," Pacioretty said. "In that case I got four cracks at it."

Toronto appeared to tie the game at 5:35 when Dion Phaneuf beat Price with a shot from the blue line, but referee Chris Rooney immediately waved off the goal for incidental contact by van Riemsdyk, who was just inside the blue paint. Though van Riemsdyk didn't appear to make contact with Price, the NHL rulebook states a goal will be disallowed if "an attacking player, either by his positioning or by contact, impairs the goalkeeper's ability to move freely within his crease or defend his goal."

The Canadiens made it 2-0 at 16:13 of the first when Subban moved in from the blue line off a faceoff, deked around Phil Kessel and beat Bernier high to the stick side for his fourth goal of the season.

Kessel came within an inch of making up for the error in the first minute of the second period when he had Price completely out of position and backhanded the puck toward an open net, only to have it hit the inside of the post and bounce out.

The Canadiens went up 3-0 at 15:05 when Plekanec, Daniel Briere and Brian Gionta had a dominant shift in the Toronto zone, resulting in Briere setting Plekanec up for his ninth goal of the season. Pacioretty made it 4-0 with a shorthanded goal at 17:22, deking Gunnarsson to the middle and sliding a backhand through Bernier's legs.

The Maple Leafs got a big lift late in the period by scoring two goals in 22 seconds. The first, at 18:10, was a beautiful flip shot under the crossbar by van Riemsdyk for his 12th goal of the season, the second came when Raymond found a rebound to the right of Price at 18:38 to make it 4-2.

But the Canadiens were able to prevent those 22 seconds from costing them the game.

"There was no doubt they gained some momentum from that," Subban said. "I thought we did a good job, from the coaching staff to our meeting before the third period to the players coming out and executing and nullifying it and making sure that in the first five minutes of the period we were getting pucks deep and doing the right things."

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{allcanada} OHL: LLEWELLYN NETS THREE AS RANGERS DOWN COLTS

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BARRIE, Ont. -- Darby Llewellyn scored three times, including two on the power play, as the Kitchener Rangers downed the host Barrie Colts 5-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League play.

Justin Bailey and Frank Hora also scored for the Rangers (10-14-1) while Ryan MacInnis tacked on two assists.

Andreas Athanasiou, Jake Dotchin and Aaron Ekblad scored for the Colts (14-10-3) and Zach Hall assisted on all three of his club's goals.

Kitchener's Matthew Greenfield made 25 saves for the win as Daniel Gibl turned away 38-of-42 shots for Barrie.

The Rangers went 2 for 6 on the power play while the Colts scored once on five chances with the man advantage.

---

OTTERS 7 STEELHEADS 1

ERIE, Pa. -- The Otters scored five times in the second period en route to crushing Mississauga for its fourth straight victory.

Andre Burakovsky had two goals and two assists for Erie (23-4-1) while Connor McDavid scored once and set up three others. Dane Fox had a goal and two assists for the Otters and Hayden Hodgson, Adam Pelech and Michael Curtis added a goal apiece.

Austin Gerhart scored the lone goal for the Steelheads (13-15-2), who are winless in four outings.

Erie's Oscar Dansk made 18 saves for the win as Mississauga's Spencer Martin gave up seven goals on 32 shots.

---

FRONTENACS 6 BULLS 4

BELLEVILLE, Ont. -- Spencer Watson scored three times and set up one more as Kingston earned its third straight win by defeating the Bulls.

Lucas Peressini gave the Frontenacs (14-9-3) an opportunity to win by stopping 46-of-50 shots while Ryan Kujawinski, Henri Ikonen and Sam Bennett added a goal each.

Jake Worrad scored twice for Belleville (6-18-4) and Cameron Brace and Aaron Berisha had the others.

Braydon Banitsiotis kicked out 31-of-36 shots for the Bulls.

---

KNIGHTS 4 PETES 2

PETERBOROUGH, Ont. -- Josh Anderson had two goals and an assist and Bo Horvat set up three goals as London doubled up the Petes.

Alex Basso had a goal and an assist for the Knights (19-6-2) while Santino Centorame scored once.

Greg Betzhold and Nick Ritchie supplied the goals for Peterborough (11-15-3).

London's Anthony Stolarz made 28 saves for the win as Michael Giuovas stopped 32 shots for the Petes.

---

SPITFIRES 6 STING 3

WINDSOR, Ont. -- Josh Ho-Sang and Ben Johnson each scored twice as the Spitfires doubled up Sarnia.

Remy Giftopoulos and Ty Bilcke also scored for Windsor (16-10-0), which halted a three-game slide, and Alex Fotinos made 31 saves for the victory.

Anthony DeAngelo, Vladislav Kodola and Nikolay Goldobin scored for the Sting (9-17-1).

Sarnia's Brodie Barrick stopped 36-of-41 shots in a losing cause.

---

GREYHOUNDS 5 ICEDOGS 3

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. -- Sergey Tolchinsky scored once and set up three more as the Greyhounds beat Niagara.

Andrew Fritsch, Blake Speers and Jared McCann each had a goal and an assist for Sault Ste. Marie (19-5-3) and David Miller scored once.

Vince Dunn, Eric Ming and Aleksandar Mikulovich supplied the offence for the IceDogs (7-18-4).

Brandon Halverson made 25 saves for the Greyhounds. Niagara's Brent Moran stopped 34-of-39 shots in defeat.

---

GENERALS 5 SPIRIT 2

SAGINAW, Mich. -- Hunter Smith scored twice and Ken Appleby stopped 38 shots as Oshawa handed the Spirit their first regulation-time loss in seven outings.

Bradley Latour and Scott Laughton each had a goal and two assists for the Generals (21-6-1) and Michael DalColle had a goal and an assist.

Saginaw (15-9-4) got goals from Terry Trafford and Kristoff Kontos.

Jake Paterson gave up four goals on 10 shots for Saginaw in just 20 minutes of action. Nikita Serebryakov stopped all seven shots he faced in relief.

---

ATTACK 3 WHALERS 2 (SO)

OWEN SOUND, Ont. -- Thomas Schemitsch scored the shootout winner as the Attack slipped past Plymouth.

Holden Cook and Danial Milne had a goal and an assist apiece for Owen Sound (13-10-1), who are 3-0-1 in their last four contests.

Victor Crus Rydberg and Gianluca Curcuruto scored for the Whalers (11-16-2).

Brandon Hope made 33 saves for the Attack while Alex Nedeljkovic turned away 46 shots in a losing cause.

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{allcanada} CANADIAN PAIR WINS GOLD AT BOBSLEDDING WORLD CUP

 

CALGARY -- First they smashed the start record, then they broke it again.

Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse also set a new Canadian track record while they were at it, emphatically showing to the rest of the women's bobsled field that the Olympic champions are back and better than ever.

The Canadian duo won gold in their first World Cup race together in over two years Saturday, blazing down the Canada Olympic Park track in 55.89 seconds to seal the victory and trim nearly a quarter-second off the previous record in the process.

"It just felt comfortable right from Day 1 as soon as Heather came back in the summer," Humphries said. "Being with her again, everything kind of came back and it just fit."

Humphries, from Calgary, and Moyse, from Summerside, P.E.I., posted a two-run time of one minute 52.77 seconds to finish over a half-second ahead of Americans Elana Meyers and Aja Evans, who took silver in 1:53.33.

Another American duo, Jamie Greubel and Katie Eberling, took the bronze in 1:53.62.

Earlier, American Steven Holcomb completed a sweep of the men's races with a victory in the four-man event while Canadian Chris Spring just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish.

Humphries won a world title last year with Chelsea Valois and has reached the podium at 14 straight events. Moyse, who competed in track cycling and rugby while taking a break from bobsled, has returned in top condition after undergoing hip surgery a year ago.

The Canadians didn't wait long to display the form that led them to gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

Moyse, who won a push competition here last weekend, helped power the Canada 1 sled to a start record of 5.48 seconds. Another three-100ths of a second was trimmed off the mark in the second run.

It was the kind of performance Moyse had in mind over the last year as she underwent a gruelling training schedule and rehabilitation to get back to her previous level after surgery.

"Just determination and the sheer red-headed willpower and stubbornness of wanting to prove to myself that I can do it," Moyse said of her motivation.

The Canadians first started sliding together in 2009. Off and on, they have spent about 2 1/2 years together as a duo.

They beat the previous Canadian track record of 56.06, which was set by Lesa Mayes-Stringer and Jamie Cruickshank in 2005. Shauna Rohbock and Valerie Fleming of the United States set the all-time women's track mark of 55.44 that same year.

It's early in the season, but Humphries and Moyse are already the clear favourites to return to the top of the podium in Sochi this February.

"I think we take the pressure off of each other ... we're doing this because we want to do it, not because we have to do it," Moyse said. "And I think that when we keep reminding ourselves that we're here because we want to be here, then it helps to melt away all the outside stresses.

"I think that's how we did it in Vancouver and hopefully we can just keep doing that this year."

Edmonton's Jennifer Ciochetti and Valois, from Zenon Park, Sask., were ninth.

Holcomb, the reigning Olympic gold medallist, guided his team of Curt Tomasevicz, Steven Langton and Chris Fogt to a two-run time of 1:48.56. Germany's Maximilian Arndt and Russia's Alexander Zubkov finished tied for second place in 1:48.65.

Spring, from Calgary, was fourth in 1:48.67.

"We're a little off the podium, it's not what we wanted but there are lots of positives to come out of this," he said. "We'll leave here pretty happy and moving on to the next stop, we've got some good momentum coming our way."

Spring was eighth after the first run but had the fastest time in the second run on a cool, overcast afternoon.

Holcomb and Langton won gold in the two-man race on Friday at the season-opening event.

"For us to have this first World Cup under our belts with a new team and new equipment, it's kind of like having a monkey off our back," Langton said. "It gives us that confidence moving forward."

Spring and Jesse Lumsden of Burlington, Ont., won bronze in the two-man race. They were joined by Cody Sorensen of Ottawa and Saskatoon's Ben Coakwell for the four-man competition.

The other Canadian men's sleds also cracked the top 10 on Saturday.

Lyndon Rush of Humboldt, Sask., was sixth in 1:48.88 and Justin Kripps of Summerland, B.C., was ninth in 1:49.02.

Rush was joined by David Bissett and Neville Wright, both of Edmonton, and Calgary's Lascelles Brown. Kripps piloted James MacNaughton of Newmarket, Ont., Toronto's Tim Randall and Graeme Rinholm of Medicine Hat, Alta.

The World Cup season continues next weekend with an event in Park City, Utah.

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{allcanada} AMERICAN MEN SWEEP WORLD CUP BOBSLED EVENT IN CALGARY

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CALGARY -- American Steven Holcomb completed a sweep of the men's World Cup bobsled races Saturday with a victory in the four-man event while Canadian Chris Spring just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish.

Holcomb, the reigning Olympic gold medallist, guided his team of Curt Tomasevicz, Steven Langton and Chris Fogt to a two-run time of one minute 48.56 seconds at Canada Olympic Park.

Germany's Maximilian Arndt and Russia's Alexander Zubkov finished tied for second place in 1:48.65 and Spring, from Calgary, was fourth in 1:48.67.

"We're a little off the podium, it's not what we wanted but there are lots of positives to come out of this," Spring said. "We'll leave here pretty happy and moving on to the next stop, we've got some good momentum coming our way."

Spring was eighth after the first run but had the fastest time in the second run on a cool, overcast afternoon.

Holcomb and Langton won gold in the two-man race on Friday at the season-opening event.

"For us to have this first World Cup under our belts with a new team and new equipment, it's kind of like having a monkey off our back," Langton said. "It gives us that confidence moving forward."

Spring and Jesse Lumsden of Burlington, Ont., won bronze in the two-man race. They were joined by Cody Sorensen of Ottawa and Saskatoon's Ben Coakwell for the four-man competition.

The other Canadian sleds also cracked the top 10 on Saturday.

Lyndon Rush of Humboldt, Sask., was sixth in 1:48.88 and Justin Kripps of Summerland, B.C., was ninth in 1:49.02.

Rush was joined by David Bissett and Neville Wright, both of Edmonton, and Calgary's Lascelles Brown. Kripps piloted James MacNaughton of Newmarket, Ont., Toronto's Tim Randall and Graeme Rinholm of Medicine Hat, Alta.

The women's bobsled race was scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Kaillie Humphries of Calgary and Heather Moyse of Summerside, P.E.I., were expected to be medal contenders.

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{allcanada} CANUCKS (13-10-5) at HURRICANES (10-11-5)

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Sunday, December 1, 2013
1:00 PM ET

CANUCKS (13-10-5) at HURRICANES (10-11-5)

TV: SNET-P, FS-CR

Last 10: Vancouver 2-5-3; Carolina 4-4-2

Season series: This is the first of two games between the Vancouver Canucks and Carolina Hurricanes. They will play again in eight days at Rogers Arena.

Big story: The Canucks continue to struggle. Vancouver heads to Carolina after the New York Rangers spoiled John Tortorella's return to Madison Square Garden by beating the Canucks 5-2 on Saturday afternoon. Carolina is wrapping up a two-game homestand; the Hurricanes lost 5-2 to the New Jersey Devils at PNC Arena on Friday night.

Team Scope:

Canucks: Vancouver's four-game road trip continues Sunday in Raleigh; it has split the first two games, winning 5-2 against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday before losing to the Rangers on Saturday. David Booth and Daniel Sedin scored, but Chris Kreider had a hat trick for New York, which chased starting goalie Roberto Luongo 17 seconds into the second period. Luongo allowed three goals on 10 shots before being replaced by Eddie Lack.

"I think we generate [chances] early on in the game, we don't score and we just make a huge mistake five feet from the blue line and it ends up in our net," Tortorella said. "Throw one out of the rink, power-play goal and again we're just climbing the hill."

Hurricanes: Aiming to stay in the race for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the Hurricanes begin a busy month that features eight games in the first 14 days of December. Seven of those eight games will be played against Western Conference opponents. Points in these games could be crucial to Carolina's postseason hopes, and the players know they need to do be more consistent.

"We've had a couple tough stretches, and we're still right there. We want to get to a place where those are behind us," defenseman Jay Harrison told the Hurricanes' website. "It's about surviving the bad times and not allowing them to completely deflate the progress. We're close. We can be better. We think we can be better than a .500 team."

Who's hot: Daniel Sedin's goal on Saturday extended his point streak to five games. He has three goals and five assists during that span. … Hurricanes defenseman Andrej Sekera has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past four games. Captain Eric Staal had 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 14 games in November.

Injury report: Vancouver will be without forward Jordan Schroeder (sprained ankle). … Sekera (upper body) missed the game Friday and did not practice Saturday. He is doubtful to play against the Canucks. The Hurricanes are missing forward Alexander Semin (concussion) and goalie Anton Khudobin (lower body, day-to-day). Defenseman Tim Gleason (lower body) is unlikely to play.

Team Stats
GP Record Home Away L10 G/G GA/G PP% PK% PIM/G S/G S/A FO%
28 13-10-5 5-5-3 8-5-2 2-5-3 2.61 2.57 13.0 88.0 12.6 33.0 27.5 51.0
26 10-11-5 6-5-4 4-6-1 4-4-2 2.08 2.77 12.8 79.8 8.5 28.4 31.6 50.4

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{allcanada} OILERS (8-17-2) at STARS (12-9-3)

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Sunday, December 1, 2013
6:00 PM ET
 

OILERS (8-17-2) at STARS (12-9-3)

TV: SNET-W, SNET-EDM, FS-SW

Last 10: Edmonton 4-6-0; Dallas 6-3-1

Season series: The Dallas Stars defeated the Edmonton Oilers 3-0 on Nov. 13. Kari Lehtonen made 22 saves while Dallas was in the midst of winning six out of seven.

Big story: The Stars will begin life without defenseman Stephane Robidas, who fractured his leg Friday in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. The 36-year-old veteran has not missed more than 10 games in a season since 2003-04.

"It's going to be a void that has to be filled by someone. I think for us collectively as a group, we have to step up," Robidas' defense partner, Brenden Dillon, told the Stars' website Saturday. "He's a big part of this D corps. He's a guy that plays all situations and he plays big minutes. Last night we did a pretty good job, but he's out 4-6 months and it's not like he is going to be back next week. We are going to have to make some adjustments."

Team Scope:

Oilers: Edmonton is wrapping up a road trip of three games in four nights. After defeating the Nashville Predators 3-0 on Thanksgiving, the Oilers lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2 Friday after trailing 4-0.

"It would have been a lot better if we could have won this one tonight," Jordan Eberle told the Oilers' website Friday. "You'd get a lot of momentum going into Dallas, but you get a day off, regroup here. The best part about hockey is you get a chance to play again. It's not like football where you have to wait a week. We get a day here to regroup our minds [then] play a team that's playing well. It's a must-win for us. We've got to start making up some ground."

Coach Dallas Eakins said the poor start Friday was a reflection of the Oilers' conditioning, which caused a lack of faceoff success, penalties, and mental mistakes.

"Our goal ... is to arrive at a fitness level that you can play hard in back-to-back games," he said. "... It's going to take a while. You can't get in shape in two weeks or three months. This takes time to get to a level. ... It's something that we're not going to lay off of because I firmly believe that we looked fatigued."

Stars: Dallas will initially use Jamie Oleksiak (called up from the Texas Stars on Saturday) or Kevin Connauton to replace Robidas, but could turn to Aaron Rome when he recovers from an injury sustained at practice this week.

"We've got three guys here. It's a great opportunity," general manager Jim Nill said. "It's tough when you lose a leader like Stephane, but it's a great opportunity for other guys now. You know there are going to be injuries in this League and that's what you have to deal with."

The Stars are likely to slide the replacement alongside Dillon and maintain the pairs of Alex Goligoski-Trevor Daley and Jordie Benn-Sergei Gonchar.

"We're going to talk about it," coach Lindy Ruff said. "We used Stephane in a huge role when it came to defending against top lines. If we have to break up our other pairs to change the defending aspect of it, or if we can weigh the fact of putting Oleksiak and use him as a defender against other top lines, or switch up the pairs and get Connauton back in the lineup, we'll discuss that today. The tough part is the other pairs have started to play pretty well for us, and I don't know if I want to disrupt them. We'll figure that out."

Who's hot: Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has eight points in a five-game streak. Eberle has eight points in his past five games. … Stars forward Rich Peverley has a three-game point streak. Forward Cody Eakin has five points in his past five games.

Injury report: Oilers forward Boyd Gordon (undisclosed) sat out the third period Friday. Defenseman Philip Larsen (back), goalie Richard Bachman (lower body) and Tyler Pitlick (knee) are out. … Rome (muscle) skated after practice Saturday.

Team Stats
GP Record Home Away L10 G/G GA/G PP% PK% PIM/G S/G S/A FO%
27 8-17-2 3-8-0 5-9-2 4-6-0 2.56 3.41 19.6 81.8 12.2 28.0 30.0 49.1
24 12-9-3 4-3-3 8-6-0 6-3-1 2.71 2.83 11.0 79.7 11.2 31.1 31.9 51.1

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{allcanada} Will eye injury lead Shea Weber to wear visor?

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NASHVILLE - Should Predators defenseman Shea Weber wear a visor when he comes back from his eye injury? The answer is an unequivocal yes, especially after Weber took a puck to the face Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers.

The tagline on Weber's injury is that it could have been a lot worse, though Nashville has listed him as day-to-day.

According to Weber's agent, Jarrett Bousquet of Titan Sports, his client will strongly consider trying out a visor when he comes back from the injury.

"We've spoken that he would think about it, for sure," Bousquet said.

Weber has always been lukewarm to the idea of wearing a visor. He has done so in international competition, but never in the NHL with any level of consistency. Considering Weber's stature as the captain of the Predators — and the fact that he is in the midst of a 14-year, $110 million contract — there's little doubt the team would want him to wear one. But for Weber, it's his choice.

The NHL and NHL Players' Association started grandfathering in visors for younger players this season, and Weber still has the decision of whether to wear one.

When asked whether the visor would have prevented the injury, coach Barry Trotz said, "I'm sure it would have, that's what visors do, they protect guys, so I would probably say yes."

Visors are a touchy subject for older players. While to the outside observer, it makes little sense to not wear one, a lot of players who don't wear them simply don't like the way they feel. In some ways, it is kind of understandable. Would you want to be forced to use something that you believe would hamper how you do your job?

"I just don't like the things," said forward Eric Nystrom, who does not use a visor. "I don't like them. I think it's a reason why the game has become more reckless, it's because guys have too much equipment on and they run around like they're invincible. It is scary for sure. You only have one set of eyes."

But for some, the prospect of suffering an eye injury is difficult. Forward Paul Gaustad said he went without a visor for his first seven or eight seasons before switching.

"I didn't have one for a majority of the time. Then I went to the world championship and I had to wear one, so I decided to keep it on," Gaustad said. "My first NHL game (with a visor) I took a slap shot to the visor and It affirmed a reason to have it. To me the risk and reward thing isn't there."

Even Weber's former defense partner Ryan Suter started wearing a visor this year.

Said Suter to the Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Just not worth it anymore. Everyone else can wear it, why can't I?"

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{allcanada} RED WINGS (13-7-7) AT SENATORS (10-12-4)

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Sunday, December 1, 2013
5:30 PM ET

RED WINGS (13-7-7) AT SENATORS (10-12-4)

TV: RDS, TSN, NHLN-US, FS-D+

Last 10: Detroit 4-2-4; Senators 4-6-0

Season series: This is the third of four meetings between the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators, with the Senators winning two games in Detroit by a combined score of 10-3. Bobby Ryan has three goals and an assist in those games.

Big story: After 17 seasons with the Senators, Daniel Alfredsson returns to Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa for the first time since signing a one-year $5.5 million contract with the Red Wings during the offseason.

"It's going to be great to meet a lot of friends. That's what you miss the most. The game on Sunday will be very special," Alfredsson told the Detroit Free Press after a 5-0 win Friday against the Islanders.

Team scope:

Detroit: The Red Wings are 5-1-1 in their past seven road games and 8-3-1 after Alfredsson and Darren Helm each scored twice in the win Friday. Since a seven-game winless streak, Detroit is 4-1-0, including 14 goals in its past three games.

"I think we're finding ways to put the puck in the net. I don't know if we are doing things a whole lot different from what we were doing when we kept on losing those games in OT and shootout, just the confidence of the puck going in is with us right now," Helm said.

Senators: Ottawa had a 1-0 lead before the Vancouver Canucks scored four second-period goals in less than nine minutes en route to a 5-2 win. It was the Senators' third straight loss at home, and they have not won consecutive games in three weeks.

"We need to string together a couple of wins. … Another big game on Sunday with Detroit coming to town," Senators captain Jason Spezza said after the loss Thursday.

The Senators have 24 points, nine behind the Red Wings in the Atlantic Division.

"We are chasing Detroit and obviously it's going to a big game with [Alfredsson] coming back into town. We've beaten them twice now, so I'm sure they're going to want to have a good game," Spezza said.

Who's hot: Helm has five goals in five games for the Red Wings. Defenseman Niklas Kronwall has a five-game scoring streak (two goals, five assists), and Alfredsson has three goals and two assists in his past three games. ... Ryan has three goals in four games for the Senators.

Injury report: Red Wings defenseman Danny DeKeyser (shoulder) is on injured reserve. Forwards Todd Bertuzzi (shoulder) and Pavel Datsyuk (head) missed the game Friday. ... The Senators enter the game with a healthy lineup.

Team Stats
GP Record Home Away L10 G/G GA/G PP% PK% PIM/G S/G S/A FO%
27 13-7-7 5-4-6 8-3-1 4-2-4 2.74 2.48 21.6 86.4 9.0 31.0 29.7 51.0
26 10-12-4 4-7-2 6-5-2 4-6-0 2.92 3.19 20.2 79.0 13.5 32.0 35.4 51.0

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