| Under new coach Authentic Jaccob Slavin Jersey , the Edmonton Oilers are thinking grit and grind first. That new philosophy will be tested against a strong team playing its best hockey of the season.The Oilers will try to snap the Vegas Golden Knights‘ five-game winning streak on Saturday night at Rogers Place.Since Hitchcock took over for the fired Todd McLellan on Nov. 20, Edmonton has gone 3-1-1 with four games each decided by one goal. That includes Thursday’s 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings.Article continues below ...“That’s the Western Conference,” Hitchcock said. “You’ve got to take points out of close games. It’s a one-goal league and it’s really a one-goal conference and we don’t want to be the first to crack.”Winger Ryan Nugent-Hopkins told the league’s official website that Hitchcock is getting to team to succeed when it seemed as if the season was spinning out of control.“He’s pushing us to be our best,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “It is tough to come in a quarter of the way through the season and try to change things, but he has done a good job of reminding us the things we already know but also pushing us and keeping us honest.”While Edmonton (12-11-2) boasts Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — tied for the team lead with 13 goals each — the club has also gotten surprising production all season long from Alex Chiasson and more recently from Oscar Klefbom.Chiasson, a journeyman who joined the team just before the start of the season, already has 11 goals in 19 games. Klefbom, a defenseman Jeff Skinner Jersey , registered game-winning goals against the Kings and in overtime of a 1-0 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.“It’s been good timing for my first two goals,” Klefbom said Thursday. “These wins feel better than we win 5-1. It gives us a lot of confidence. We should build off this and focus on the next game here because we can play way better, I think.”Hitchcock believes Klefbom can keep delivering.“I think 25 (minutes a game) to me is the floor and you’re going to see him play more and more,” Hitchcock said.Saturday’s tilt is arguably Edmonton’s biggest test under Hitchcock as Vegas (14-12-1) is reminding fans why it advanced to the Stanley Cup final as an expansion team. The Golden Knights’ surge continued with a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.“We’re just on a bit of a roll here lately so we just have to keep going,” said coach Gerard Gallant, whose team has outscored opponents during the streak by a 23-8 margin.Max Pacioretty has been the key to Vegas’ offense with six goals and three assists during the streak. The former Montreal Canadiens captain, who scored in a 6-3 win over Edmonton on Nov. 18, goes for his fourth straight multipoint game.“Patch has been good. He’s hot now http://www.officialhurricanes.com/authentic-adidas-jordan-staal-jersey , he’s getting a good feel around the net,” Gallant said.Another key is Marc-Andre Fleury, who’s yielded only 11 goals while winning six straight starts — including shutouts of the Calgary Flames and San Jose Sharks on back-to-back nights last Friday and Saturday.“He’s the key,” Gallant said. “When we got him in the expansion (draft) last year, we knew that he’s a difference maker and he’s a leader of our group.”Fleury is 5-0-0 with a 1.77 goals-against average, a .940 save percentage and a shutout in his last five visits to Edmonton. ST. LOUIS (AP) Three days after missing the playoffs, the St. Louis Blues learned their star forward Vladimir Tarasenko will need surgery on Wednesday for a dislocated left shoulder.Tarasenko was hurt in the first period of the regular-season finale on Saturday in Colorado. The Blues needed a point in the game to reach the playoffs, but lost 5-2.Tarasenko revealed he had a dislocated shoulder while standing with his left arm in a sling Tuesday as teammates cleared out their lockers. The recovery after surgery can take up to six months.”We’ll see how it goes Womens Justin Faulk Jersey ,” Tarasenko said. ”It was a hard year all the way around.”The 26-year-old led the team with 33 goals and 66 points. It was his lowest point total in four seasons. The Blues won 44 games this season and finished with 94 points.Mike Yeo wrapped up his first full season as the Blues coach. St. Louis is 66-40-8 since Yeo replaced Ken Hitchcock as coach on Feb. 1, 2017. That’s the 10th-best regular-season record in the NHL in that period.But it’s little consolation for a team missing the playoffs for the first time after six straight seasons. Two years ago, the Blues were playing for the conference championship.”We understand we’ve taken a step back this year,” General Manager Doug Armstrong said. ”That lies firmly on my shoulders. My job is to deal in reality. The formula we had this year did not breed success and we need to find that formula.”Armstrong said the play of special teams needs to improve.The Blues were 30th on power-play success at 15.4 percent. They finished 18th in penalty killing at 79.7 percent. During the previous six seasons making the playoffs, the Blues ranked No. 1 in the NHL in penalty killing with a rate of 84.3 percent.However, the Blues scored only 38 power-play goals.”As a coaching staff, I promise you we won’t just sit around and just assume things will get better next year,” Yeo said. ”We have to look at everything from the way we manage it Justin Williams Jersey , operate it and holding guys accountable and the personnel we’re using and the tactics.”When Yeo coached the Minnesota Wild, the power play also was stagnant.”I’ll take responsibility for it,” Yeo said. ”I don’t dodge that. That’s on me.”Armstrong backs his coach.”Mike and I are tethered together and we’re going to figure this thing out,” Armstrong said.St. Louis was just 24-17 on home ice this season.”You can’t have the home record we had and be satisfied,” Armstrong said. ”The people that come here work for a living and we need to send them home happy. If we’re in the top 10 in home records, we’re in the playoffs.”The salary cap should increase about $4 million for next season. Armstrong said the Blues ownership will continue to spend to the cap.”We spend to the cap,” Armstrong said. ”We’ve had a good run here. We’ve got to get back to that.”Goalie Jake Allen was signed to a four-year, $17.4 million contract on July 1 Custom Florida Panthers Jerseys , 2016. He finished with a 27-25-3 record, a 2.75 goals-against average, a .906 save percentage and one shutout.”I definitely need to be more consistent,” Allen said. ”I know I’m capable of it. I don’t think I need to change much. I’m a pretty good goalie.”Backup goaltender Carter Hutton is an unrestricted free agent. Hutton was 17-7-3 with a 2.09 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. He had three shutouts.Armstrong said he wants to bring Hutton back. |
