Tips und Tricks » franchise - but their first ever seven-game

EDMONTON -- The San Jose Sharks may not have been all that sharp to start after playing the night before, but that changed once the puck dropped for the second period. Trailing by a goal after 20 minutes of play, Joe Pavelski responded with three goals and an assist as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. "I think after back-to-back nights and not having a morning skate and things like that, youre probably going to be a little sluggish," said Sharks captain Joe Thornton, who had two assists on the night. "We continued to get better and better and it was a good way to end the night. As long as were moving around, moving the puck around, were going to be successful." Patrick Marleau and Marty Havlat also scored for the Sharks (47-18-9), who moved four points up on idle Anaheim for the Pacific Division lead and remained two points back of St. Louis for first in the Western Conference. San Jose clinched a playoff spot in a 2-1 shootout loss to Calgary on Monday. The Sharks power play came into the game ranked just 23rd in the league and had gone just three-for-35 in its last 10 games. They were 3-for-3 against the Oilers, a major factor in the victory. "The numbers arent that important, its when they come and how they come," said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. "Weve had nights like this and it just hasnt gone in. When you look at the power play standings and the numbers and that type of stuff, you panic over it outside the room, but not inside the room. We finally got a reward for playing basically the same way that we have." "I think weve been bad for a long time and in the last few games weve created a little bit of momentum on it," said Pavelski, who had two of the power play goals for his club. "It hasnt been one game and then take a couple of games off, weve been consistent on our opportunities and tonight it just finally went in for us." David Perron and Taylor Hall responded for the second-to-last place Oilers (25-39-9), who have lost three in a row, including a humbling 8-1 loss to the rival Calgary Flames on Sunday on the heels of a 3-1 defeat to the last-place Buffalo Sabres. "We wanted to come back and play solid after our last couple games and get back to the stuff that we had been having some success with," said Oilers captain Andrew Ference. "The power play chances they got, they jumped on and put us behind the eight ball. I think our five-on-five hockey was light years better than our last game. That wasnt too tough to beat, though." Edmonton head coach Dallas Eakins said his team left far too many missed opportunities on the table. "We have to find a way to bury the chances that we have, and there were some that were just laying there in front of their net," he said. "You just have to find a way to put those in." Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens said the team remains very much a work in progress. "We need to show to ourselves that we can play the right way," he said. "I dont know what it is that we refuse to buy in completely. Its not one guy, a line, a defence pairing. Its just kind of waves throughout the team. Its not wanting to do what we have to do. We had some tough bounces tonight that probably added to the scoring differential. You cant give a team like that the chances on the power play because they have skilled guys who will make you pay and they did tonight." The Oilers started the scoring just over four minutes into the first period as Perron danced around Shark Tyler Kennedy before picking a perfect spot on a shot past San Jose goalie Antti Niemi. It was Perrons team-leading 26th goal of the season. The first period shots narrowly favoured the Sharks, who had 11 on Edmonton starter Scrivens to the Oilers 10 in the opening period. San Jose tied the game on the power play six-and-a-half-minutes into the second period. Scrivens made the initial stop on a shot from the slot by Marleau, but the rebound angled to Pavelski at the side of the net with a wide-open cage to put in his 35th of the year. Another power-play goal midway through the second period gave San Jose a 2-1 lead, as Pavelski chopped a puck to Marleau at the top of the opposite circle and the Sharks assistant captains lighting-quick release led to a goal before Scrivens could get across. It was Marleaus 31st goal of the year. The Sharks took a two-goal lead with 30 seconds left to play in the middle period as Edmonton defender Jeff Petry overskated a puck at his own blue-line, allowing Havlat to come in and send a wrist shot that beat Scrivens stick-side. San Jose scored their third man-advantage goal of the game just over a minute into the third period. Pavelski got the puck with space in the front of the net, waited for defender Andrew Ference to go down, and then beat Scrivens over the blocker to make it 4-1. Pavelski earned his third hat trick of the season with seven minutes left in the third as he took a shot that hit the stick of Edmontons Matt Hendricks and deflected into the Oilers net. Pavelskis four-point night gave him 71 points on the season. Edmonton made it look a little better with five minutes left to play as Hall picked up a rebound in front and hooked a diving backhand shot into the net for this 25th to make it 5-2. The Oilers have been outscored 16-4 in their last three home games. The Sharks return home to face the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. The Oilers play the fifth game of a six-game homestand on Friday against the Anaheim Ducks. Notes: It was the fourth of five games this season between the two teams this season. The Sharks won the first two games before the Oilers got one back in the most recent meeting on Jan. 29 when Ben Scrivens recorded a record-setting 59 saves in a 3-0 shutout win in Edmontona Both teams were coming off of losses to the Calgary Flames, although of vastly different degrees. The Oilers were embarrassed 8-1 by the provincial rival Flames at home on Sunday, while the Sharks lost a 2-1 game in Calgary on Monday in a shootouta Laurent Brossoit was called up from the AHL for the game to serve as the Oilers backup goalie after Viktor Fasth was injured in a collision in practice on Wednesdaya Oilers forward Nail Yakupov missed his fourth straight game with an ankle injurya Sharks forward Logan Couture was unable to play after he suffered a lower-body injury while blocking a shot in Wednesdays game in Calgary. Also out for the Sharks were forwards Tomas Hertl (knee) and Raffi Torres, both out with knee injuries. Defenceman Brad Stuart played his second game back since missing 13 games with an upper-body injurya Sharks winger Adam Burish left the game in the second period after taking a hard shot to his hand. Cheap Nike Air Max 270 Ispa . The commissioners office said Friday that Sears tested positive for metabolites of Methandienone. Sears will be 23 in March. He signed with the Braves in June 2013 out of Arizona Christian, an NAIA school, and is on the roster of the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Braves. Cheap Nike Air Max 270 . LOUIS - Two-thirds of the St. http://www.max270cheap.com/. Even that couldnt slow them down against the New Orleans Hornets. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook scored 31 points apiece and the Thunder overcame injuries to two key backups to beat New Orleans 101-93 Monday night for their 10th straight home win. 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Casey: Well the one thing we have to do as a team is we cant listen to the noise, because that same they are going to be on us if we lose a couple games. So I dont pay attention to that. Yes, the Raptors are coming off their winningest campaign in the franchises soon-to-be 20-year history. Theyve had nearly six long months to reflect on it and the league - and its pundits - have had time to react. The basketball universe has taken notice and suddenly Toronto is back on the map. Sports betting site Bodog.ca has set the over/under for Torontos regular season win total at 48.5. Should they exceed that mark it would be a new franchise best. Twenty-six of 28 ESPN prognosticators have them defending their Atlantic Division title, and yes, some believe they could be a 50-win team, a plateau they have never reached. But success in the NBA, like professional sports in general, can be fickle and Casey - head coach of last years most improved club, with over three decades of experience in basketball - knows that as well as anybody and as a result hes continued to pump the breaks, preaching patience. We havent done anything, he continued. Were still in the building process, growing. Along with that we have expectations, so its a double whammy. Im pushing us to grow and everybody around us is saying, hey you gotta win, youre supposed to win. Im reminding the guys that reality is were still a young team. Internally those expectations are consumed differently. Their locker room is filled with optimistic and ambitious personalities but Casey has worked to manage their enthusiasm while igniting their competitive spirit. Balancing confidence and humility has been his focus this fall. Now we know that were a good team and we know what we can do, said Amir Johnson, who - along with DeMar DeRozan - is the teams longest tenured player, entering his sixth year in Toronto. Theres a lot of stuff we can definitely clean up, and were working everyday, but we know that were good and we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it on the court. What would mmake this a successful season for the club? In my eyes, Patrick Patterson said, winning more games than what we did last year and going further in the playoffs.dddddddddddd A reasonable answer and pretty straightforward method of evaluating growth, only Casey knows its not always that clear-cut. Theres a great possibility we could win less games than we did last year and be a better team, said the Raptors coach. Thats a distinct possibility and if that happens so be it. So Im not going on wins and losses or what we did last year. Im more concerned about our development and getting better. To no surprise, neither Casey nor DeRozan were especially interested in playing the how many wins are you targeting game. Nah, I think once you look at it like that youll get caught up in it, said the Raptors All-Star guard. And once adversity hits you might panic because its not going as planned. Thats why weve got to take it day-by-day. However, repeating as division champs is one specific expectation that no one is shying away from. I think defending our division [makes] a successful season, Casey admitted. The Raptors appear to be in an ideal spot to do so, as the Atlantic continues to underwhelm entering the new year. Philadelphia and Boston are still entrenched in the rebuilding phase, New York is in transition learning a new system under a new regime and Brooklyn is another year older and, presumably, slower. With most of the East in flux, there will be pressure to hit the ground running. Doubling down on last years success, the Raptors roster features 10 returning faces. Couple that with a forgiving early-season schedule - nine of their first 12 games at home - and they could have an opportunity to set the bar in their conference. Assuming they take advantage of it. Theres always pressure, Casey acknowledged. I felt pressure back when we won 23 games, even when we were developing and growing. So theres always pressure. Pressure to win, pressure to perform, pressure to produce. So thats always there. The pressure for me is the pressure to continue to grow, at the same time trying to produce. Their biggest test and most accurate barometer of team growth will come in April and May. A 50-win season would be nice - theyve gone without one longer than any current NBA franchise - but their first ever seven-game playoff series victory should top their list of goals for this coming campaign. We dont [know what to expect], Casey said. Nobody does. Thats why I say, when they say 50 games, they dont know. Whoever they are. You dont know who we are until we throw it up for real. Well find out who we really are over the next couple weeks. ' ' '