NASHVILLE www.officialcanadiensprostore.com , Tenn. (AP) The Nashville Predators are having their best season yet – and are nowhere near satisfied.Ryan Ellis scored the go-ahead goal with 9:54 left and the Nashville Predators beat the San Jose Sharks 5-3 Thursday night to set a franchise record with 111 points this season.”This is just part of where we’re trying to get to,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. ”I think they understand that the more we win, the better chance we have to secure home ice. Playing in front of our fans and in our building is something we talked about. We want to get that done. We knew that was something that could be done tonight. The guys played hard for us.”With their 50th victory, the NHL-leading Predators padded their lead to four points over Boston in the chase for their first Presidents’ Trophy. Nashville topped the mark of 110 points set in 2006-07 on a night where the franchise also notched its 100th consecutive sellout, a streak that started April 7, 2016, against the Sharks.They also lead Winnipeg by seven points with five games remaining apiece in the Central looking for their first division title.Forward Filip Forsberg said the defending Western Conference champs started the season with the goal of making the playoffs.”Once we nailed that off, now we want to finish as high as we can,” said Forsberg, who had three assists. ”Figure that the best season in Preds’ history is a good way to do it.”Craig Smith and Viktor Arvidsson each had a goal and an assist, and Kyle Turris had a goal. Nick Bonino added an empty-net goal with 17 seconds left for Nashville, which won the season series against San Jose 2-1.Juuse Saros made 39 saves for the win Montreal Canadiens T-Shirts Authentic , including stopping Logan Couture on a penalty shot with 1:53 left. The goalie also helped the Predators kill a penalty with 3:10 remaining with a flurry of stops.”Oh my goodness,” center Ryan Johansen said of the Predators’ backup goalie. ”He was phenomenal. I was pretty impressed being his teammate and watching him play. He was probably the reason we ended up winning that game. He just deserves, if not all, most of the credit.”Couture, Brenden Dillon and Mikkel Boedker scored for the Sharks. San Jose snapped its nine-game point streak.”It’s a tough place to win,” Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. ”We played hard and had some chances to get some points here tonight, just didn’t happen.”Turris opened the scoring at 5:26 when he pounced on a rebound of P.K. Subban’s shot from the point, beating Martin Jones with a snap shot from the left circle. Ryan Johansen stole the puck near the blue line, and he and Forsberg had nobody in front of them but Jones. Arvidsson scored off the pass from Forsberg for his team-leading 29th goal this season midway through the first.Couture took advantage of Evander Kane in front of Saros to score on a wrist shot at 6:55 that went over the goalie’s right shoulder. Dillon tied it at 2 at 12:05 with a shot from the point over Saros’ right shoulder off the crossbar.Smith put the Predators up 3-2 at 10:38 of the second with a wrister from in front that slipped under Jones’ left pad.For all the Predators’ success, their biggest issue has been the power play. They came in 3 of 44 since March 1 and went 0 of 5 against the Sharks, which included 41 seconds of a 5-on-3. Rookie Eeli Tolvanen, who signed his three-year entry-level contract earlier Thursday Montreal Canadiens Hoodies Authentic , could help when he makes his highly anticipated debut, likely Saturday night.Boedker beat Saros with a wrist shot at 5:54 of the third.Ellis put the Predators ahead to stay with a slap shot after the puck bounced out to him off a shot attempt by Forsberg.NOTES: The Predators are 66-21-13 during their current sellout streak. … Nashville also matched its top mark for wins in a single month with 11. The Predators won 11 in March 2010 and January 2012.UP NEXTSharks: Visit the Golden Knights on Saturday night.Predators: Host Buffalo on Saturday night.— DALLAS (AP) Reid Boucher and Nic Dowd are near the bottom of Vancouver’s scoring leaderboard, with the Canucks sitting near the bottom of the standings.They combined to help Vancouver pull Dallas down toward the bottom Sunday night.Boucher and Dowd each scored on the power play in a 4-1 win over the reeling Dallas Stars, who are stuck in an 0-6-2 skid.It was the third goal of the season for each of Vancouver’s surprise contributors. Dowd wasn’t even supposed to be on the ice on the power play.”We were short a guy, and he jumped on the ice,” Canucks coach Travis Green said. ”I think I was yelling at him for going out there, and then yelling at him for scoring.”Jake Virtanen scored in the third period, and Tyler Motte added an empty-net goal with 41 seconds left.”It was nice to get contributions throughout our lineup,” Green said. ”Really four young guys getting on the scoresheet was nice.”Dallas’ Mattias Janmark scored a short-handed goal in the first period. Thirty seconds later on the same Vancouver power play, Boucher scored. All three of Boucher’s goals have come in the Canucks’ two games at Dallas.Vancouver shut down the Stars’ line of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov, who had scored at least one goal in each of Dallas’ previous eight games.”They’re as good as it gets in the league Montreal Canadiens Hats Authentic ,” Green said. ”We put the (Brandon) Sutter line against them as much as we could. (Goalie Jacob Markstrom) was great, made some big saves on those guys.”Markstrom had 30 saves, including one on a 2-on-1 rush in the first period.”(Michael) Del Zotto did a real good job of kind of forcing them to make a difficult pass,” Markstrom said. ”It was a slow pass to give me time to get over.”The Canucks, tied for 28th in the NHL ahead of only Arizona and Buffalo, won for the second time in 10 games.”You see the guys crack a smile now,” Dowd said. ”Regardless of where you are in the standings, you want to win every single night.”Dowd scored his goal with one second left on a four-minute power play in the second period.The Stars have all but fallen out of playoff contention. With six games remaining, they are five points behind St. Louis for the second wild card from the Western Conference. The eight-game losing streak is the longest since the Stars moved to Dallas in 1993.”We don’t deserve to win right now,” Stars defenseman John Klingberg said. ”We don’t have any confidence at all the way we’re playing right now.”Dallas coach Ken Hitchcock agreed.”I think when your scoring chances are all in the first half of the game and not in the second half, that’s kind of telling,” he said. ”I think losing does that Custom Montreal Canadiens Jerseys , you do lose confidence.”Jussi Jokinen assisted on the Canucks’ first two goals.NOTES: Vancouver outscored the Stars 10-1 in the two games in Dallas. … Lehtonen stopped 23 shots. … Janmark’s short-handed goal was his second this season, Dallas’ second in two games and the Stars’ sixth this season. Vancouver has allowed six short-handed goals. … Jokinen began his career with Dallas in 2005 and has played for nine NHL teams, including four this season. He had his first two-point game since Dec. 15 for the Kings against the Rangers. … Canucks D Ashton Sautner made his NHL debut as an emergency call-up for Chris Tanev, who was injured in Friday’s game at St. Louis. Sautner was playing for Utica in the AHL, where he had spent all of his three pro seasons. ”I thought he was really good,” Green said. ”He didn’t panic.” … The Minnesota/Dallas franchise has had four eight-game losing streaks. The North Stars lost nine in a row from Jan. 17 to Feb. 4, 1970.UP NEXTCanucks: Begin their final homestand (five games) against Anaheim on Tuesday night.Stars: Finish a three-game homestand Tuesday night vs. Philadelphia.—

20 Feb 2019, 08:11