finish with 294 total yards against the Alouettes
Posté: Mar Nov 01, 2016 10:09 amEDMONTON -- Not many teams have managed to make the Buffalo Sabres look good this season, but the Edmonton Oilers found a way to do it on Thursday. Cory Conacher had two goals and an assist as the Sabres snapped a lengthy seven-game losing skid, emerging with a 3-1 victory over the Oilers in a battle between the teams with the worst records in the NHL. Drew Stafford also scored for the Sabres (20-42-8) who had been outscored 21-6 in their previous seven losses. "It was huge," Stafford said. "The way that this year has gone and the challenges we have gone through, we will take any win at this point, regardless of who it is against. That was one of our more complete efforts. "We had some discipline issues, but had a great PK. We also had more than one goal, which is big. Getting a 3-1 lead, Im not sure I can remember the last time we had a comfortable lead like that where we could lock in our system and take over the game." Sabres head coach Ted Nolan said his team earned the two points on the night as they ran their road record to just 8-22-3. "It is good to finally play a half decent game," he said. "When you lose, you get what you deserve, and we have been getting what we deserved. We werent playing very well, but tonight we got what we deserved." Conacher scored his first goal as a Sabre since being claimed on waivers from Ottawa at the trade deadline, and his first goal overall since Dec. 28. "It was refreshing," he said. "Ive already had to get the monkey off my back once before this year, and it feels like it came off again tonight. Maybe this was the game I needed to open the floodgates a bit. The most important part was getting the win, though. Taylor Hall responded for the Oilers (25-37-9) who saw a two-game winning streak end. The Oilers, now 10-5-3 in their last 18 games, are in second-last behind the Sabres. "You look at some games on the schedule and you think, oh, its going to be an easy night, but Ive learned in this league that anything can happen," Hall said. "Whether youre playing the St Louis Blues or Buffalo, you have to come in with the same mind-set. "It doesnt matter what place theyre in or anything, every game is hard and just because we lost to the team behind us doesnt mean were going to come to the rink and sulk tomorrow. As long as the work ethic is there and the battle and the compete ... as long as we have that, were proud." Oilers captain Andrew Ference said his team just didnt seem to have that second effort that has seen them come back in games of late. "Weve been able to take the tempo of game and take control of the third period recently and we just didnt do that tonight," he said. "Their second goal was just putting the puck to the net and it didnt seem as though we responded as well as weve had in the last two weeks. "We just lacked that extra couple of notches on the dial tonight." Little happened for the bulk of the first period, save for a spirited scrap between Edmontons Luke Gazdic and Buffalos Zenon Konopka. Edmonton had numerous chances on the power play late in the first, including posts hit by Justin Schultz and Hall, before the two connected for a man-advantage goal on Buffalo goalie Matt Hacket, who was making his first start of the season for the Sabres. Schultz made a quick pass to Hall in the centre of the right faceoff circle and he blew a one-timer past Hacket with two minutes left in the first period for his 24th goal of the season. Hacket was recently called up from Rochester of the AHL with normal goalies Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth out with injuries. The Sabres tied the game with a power-play goal of their own just before the midway point of the second period as Conacher was able to tip a Jamie McBain point shot past Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens. Buffalo took a 2-1 lead 1:09 into the third period as a soft Schultz clearing attempt was intercepted by Torrey Mitchell and his shot on net was once again tipped past Scrivens by Conacher for his second of the game and sixth of the season. The Sabres took a two-goal lead five minutes into the third as Scrivens was down and out on a rebound that came back to Stafford, who scored his fifth goal in the last seven games. Hacket made 35 saves for the victory in the Buffalo net. The Oilers play the third game of a six-game homestand on Saturday against the Calgary Flames. The Sabres play the third game of a five-game road trip on Sunday in Vancouver. Notes: It was the second of a pair of meetings between the Oilers and Sabres this season. Edmonton won the first game 3-2 on Feb. 3a In their seven losses before facing the Oilers, only two Sabres players recorded goals - Drew Stafford (four goals) and Tyler Ennis (two goals)a Hacket became the fourth goalie used by Buffalo in the last four gamesa Both teams were fairly ........................ up for the game. Notable absences for the Oilers included forwards Jordan Eberle (knee) and Nail Yakupov (ankle), while the Sabres were without defencemen Tyler Myers (elbow) and Alexander Sulzer (upper .......) and forwards Chris Stewart (ankle) and Zemgus Girgensons (lower .......). Nike Shox r5 Shoes UK . The teams were scoreless for most of the first two periods before Canada scored three times in a span of less than four minutes. Sarah Potomak opened the scoring on the power play. Cheap Nike Shox Oz UK . - Vince Wilfork has played only two career games in Kansas City. http://www.cheapshoxsaleuk.com/cheap-nike-shox-nz-eu/nike-shox-eu-black.html . PETERSBURG, Fla. Cheap Nike Shox r4 Trainers For Sale . - Buffalo Bills running back C. Cheap Nike Shox Oz UK All Black . "Its way better than running gassers, thats for sure," the inside linebacker said Monday, when the Chargers started their third and final week of organized team activities, which are practices in shorts, jerseys and helmets.VANCOUVER - The Calgary Stampeders say Brandon Banks wont be getting any preferential treatment in Sundays Grey Cup.Seven days after torching the Montreal Alouettes for 226 punt return yards and two touchdowns in the CFLs East Division final, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats speedster will take the field at B.C. Place Stadium against a Calgary team that isnt planning on changing its kick coverage for one player.Play fast, play aggressive, cut him off, make him stop his feet, Stampeders linebacker and special teams ace Karl McCartney said of the keys to stopping Banks. Obviously hes a speed guy, so once you make him stop his feet, his timings off and we can catch up.But if hes allowed to run hes going to change the angles. The main thing is getting on top and trying to slow him down and trip him up.Slowing down Banks — nicknamed Speedy-B — was something the Alouettes were unable to accomplish in the East final.Apart from his two TD returns of 93 and 88 yards, Banks had another 78-yard run back negated by a penalty in Hamiltons 40-24 victory. The 226 yards were a playoff record, while the two punt return scores tied a CFL post-season mark.Despite the gaudy numbers, the Stampeders dont plan on altering their scheme.Were going to try and play our game. We feel good about the guys we have covering kicks and the way that we do it, said Calgary special teams co-ordinator Mark Kilam. Our guys are looking forward to the challenge.Brandon Banks is a special player, and not only is he making a lot of plays, the guys that are playing in front of him are doing a great job. Weve got to be able to win our 1-on-1s against them and get into position to make a play.The Stampeders defeated the Edmonton Eskimos in the West final and have a core group of veterans on their cover teams — including McCartney and Rob Cote — who have been through the battles and know what to expect on Sunday.Those guys have worked hard all year. Theyre leaders with what they do, said Kilam. They play their roles very well, they understand their roles and thats why weve been successful.McCartney said making Banks life uncomfortable early in the championship game will be critical in setting the tone.You have to get on top, smack him good a couple times, said the Saint Marys University product. That might slow him down.Cote said keeping Banks from getting into the open field will be key.We will try to hit him and smother him in coverage then there wont be much room for him, said Cote, who signed with the Stampeders out of junior football in 2007. Hes not a big guy. Hes not a huge tackle breaker, but hes got a lot of speed. If you take away the space thats to our advantage.Cote stressed that while Banks is a talented returner, the preparation is no different than any other week.Hes not the only guy in the league thats a great returner. We see those guys all the time, he said. We just approach itt all the same way.ddddddddddddAdded Kilam: Its one of those dynamic positions on a roster and week in and week out we try to bring the same urgency, the same mentality.Hamilton Tiger-Cats head coach Kent Austin said he expected the Stampeders to be ready for the threat Banks poses while emphasizing that his blockers will have to rise to the challenge.I dont think hes going to surprise Calgary, said Austin. Theyre really good on defensive special teams. They cover well. And weve got a big challenge in front of us to continue to hold blocks and give Brandon a chance.Banks, who also had three carries for 35 yards and four catches for 33 yards to finish with 294 total yards against the Alouettes, was allowed to touch the ball so much in the East final in part because of the kicking rules in the CFL that favour the return game.Apart from the five-yard halo, teams are penalized for kicking the ball out of bounds in the air between the 20s, greatly impacting field position.Its a stiff penalty to kick the ball out of bounds, said Kilam. If youre kicking it out of bounds youre maybe netting 20, 25 yards at the most. Its a tough way to go if you believe in the guys that are covering your kicks. You want to give them a chance to make plays.This league is set up for returns. Its a returners league. The rules are set up that way, the field is set up that way. Thats an exciting part of our game and I think its a good thing that you cant kick the ball out of bounds. It forces people to play.Calgary punter Rob Maver netted an average of 38 yards per boot in 2014 and said the coverage unit wont be intimated by Hamiltons five-foot-six 153-pound gamebreaker.You cant play the game scared because if youre worrying about somebody else youre not focusing on what youre doing, said Maver. We have a lot of vets on our punt team and the young guys we have play fast, play aggressive.At this stage of the game its about what you do and how you do it.McCartney, who makes his living tracking down players of Banks ilk, said Maver putting the ball in the right spot on the field can make all the difference.Kick placement means a lot, said McCartney. If you kick to the sideline the lanes are a lot smaller, its harder for (the returner) to get out.Its always said that along with offence and defence, special teams is one third of the game, but McCartney still chuckled that so much focus has been put on the kicking game this week — mainly because of Banks.Its very important and it always has been, he said. I dont know why this game were getting all the credit, because every time we play the returner is the best player on the field and you always have to be ready because one move and theyre changing the game.We can only do what we do. We cant have one guy changing our game plan so were just going to keep playing the same way — play fast, play physical. Thats it. Wholesale NFL Jerseys ' ' '