The Edmonton Oilers visit New Jersey to face the Devils this evening for their final contest before the Olympic hiatus. The Oilers are coming into the contest following a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers last night at Madison Square Garden. Ben Scrivens was excellent with 35 saves and Nail Yakupov netted the game-winner with 1:38 to go in regulation. Scrivens helped Edmonton move to 5-1-0 in its last six games, stoning Ryan Callahan on a short-handed breakaway just past the midway mark of the second before posting another 12 stops in the final frame. "I think that was our top game of the season," said Yakupov. "Not too many turnovers and our goalie played an awesome game." Ryan Smyth scored Edmontons first tally and the go-ahead goal came after Taylor Hall won a battle for the puck behind the New York net. He sent it out to Sam Gagner, whose centering pass from the left corner was rocketed by a charging Yakupov. "It was one of those games where we had to scratch and claw for everything we got," Hall remarked. "Sometimes those games are a lot more fun than the 8-2 wins or the wins where youre ahead off the bat." Scrivens improved to 3-3-0 with a 2.01 GAA and .948 save percentage since being acquired from the Los Angeles Kings, but Ilya Bryzgalov could still start tonights game for the Oilers. Bryzgalov is 5-5-0 with a 2.09 GAA, .919 save percentage and two shutouts in his career versus the Devils. Edmonton moved to 10-19-4 as the visiting team this season and wraps a four- game road trip tonight. The Oilers play their first five at home following the Olympic break. The Oilers posted a 5-4 shootout win over the visiting Devils back on Oct. 7, snapping a two-game series losing streak. They are 3-0-2 in the past five encounters overall, but have lost three of the last four in New Jersey. The Devils have allowed a game-tying goal in the final two minutes of their past three games, going 1-0-2 as each contest went to overtime. They recovered to beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Jan. 30, but lost a 3-2 decision in Nashville the following night before again getting burned in a 2-1 setback versus the Colorado Avalanche on Monday. Ryan Carter scored an early goal for New Jersey, but Colorado picked up a game-tying goal with 1:47 to go in regulation as P.A. Parenteau tipped home a Tyson Barrie shot from the point. New Jerseys Andy Greene then took a slashing penalty with 42 ticks left in regulation and the Avalanche cashed in 28 seconds into overtime on another deflection goal. "Tonight, the story is we have to find a way to get the second and third goal," noted Devils head coach Peter DeBoer. "We got one goal out of our fourth line and enough chances to get five. If you let anybody hang around in this league long enough, bad things will happen and thats the story lately." Cory Schneider made 23 saves in his fourth straight start as the Devils fell to 1-2-2 in their past five games. They sit five points back of Detroit for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference. Schneider will get the start again tonight and ranks second in the NHL with a 1.91 goals against average. He is 4-2-0 lifetime versus the Oilers with a 1.98 GAA. Martin Brodeur is likely to start Saturdays contest in Washington before the start of the Olympic break for the Devils. Damien Harris Jersey . According to the CFL Scouting Bureaus January rankings, four of the top five Canadian prospects line-up on the offensive side of the trenches, which is good news for Bombers general manager Kyle Walters. With only one selection in the first two rounds — Walters sent his second-round pick to Saskatchewan in the days ahead of the 2013 trade deadline — the No. Cheap Patriots Jerseys Authentic . -- Wes Welker is unlikely to suit up for Denvers game Thursday against San Diego after leaving Sundays win over Tennessee with his second concussion in four games. http://www.cheappatriotsjerseysauthentic...-cajuste-jersey. That assertion is getting harder and harder to make, especially given the way 23-year-old Danilo Gallinari has been playing this season. Andre Tippett Jersey . Mission accomplished. Now the Royals will take the field on Saturday with a World Series lead for the first time in team history when they play Game 4 of the Fall Classic against the Giants at AT&T Park. NKeal Harry Jersey . Serves hit by her surgically repaired shoulder often missed the mark, resulting in 12 double-faults.There has been trade speculation about Carolina Hurricanes center Eric Staal recently – and even though he has a no-move control, it’s impossible to resist considering the possibilities. The organization appears headed towards a full-fledged rebuild, and Eric Staal – whose $8.2-million AAV contract expires at the end of the 2015-2016 season – is an asset that could be shopped to potential suitors. If Staal’s ever made available, expect numerous playoff-hopeful teams to show interest. A lot of this is because Staal has been durable for most of his career and has been a regular point-producer for as long as he’s come into his first-line, twenty-minute-a-night role. He’s averaged about 2.1 points per 60 minutes over the last seven years at five-on-five, which is in the upper echelon of forward talent. Like most players inching toward their 30’s – he actually turns 30 Oct. 29 - Staal’s underlying numbers have been in decline. It’s the type of trend less concerning if you’re buying Staal as a true rental at some point this season, but far more concerning if you are considering negotiating a new contract. Let’s focus on basic numbers at 5-on-5 for Staal since the 2007-2008 season to capture where things have slowed. In the table below, you’ll find his per 60 scoring rates and shot-attempt rates. So, for example, in the 2007-2008 year, Eric Staal scored 2.1 points and attempted 17.2 shots for every 60-minutes played at even-strength. Staal Shooting Year Per 60 Scoring (EV) Per 60 Shot Attempts (EV) 2007-08 2.1 17.2 2008-09 2.1 22.4 2009-10 2.1 18.9 2010-11 1.6 16.9 2011-12 1.9 14.8 2012-13 3.3 13.9 2013-14 2.0 14.3 The year-to-year, downward trending shot-attempt rate is alarming. Further, consider this: from 2007-2010, only six forwards in the league generated more shot-attempts per 60 than Eric Staal. From 2010-2014, 75 forwards have been better in the shot generation department. Only Alex Ovechkin, who still ranks first in the league over that span, has experienced a bigger decline in the individual shot-share. The point-scoring hasn’t caved yet, but it’s interesting to note that his high-scoring 2012-2013 was created almost entirely by unsustainable on-ice shooting percentage. That year, Eric Staal and his linemates – primarily Jiri Tlusty and Alexander Semin - shot a ridiculous 12.8% at 5-on-5, masking his individual shot generation numbers. One wonders where the point-scoring will go in a year where the percentages slide unfavorably, particularly since the shot generation has started to slide. Let’s look at a couple of additional data points for Eric Staal. In the table below, I have compiled Eric Staal’s RelativeCorsi% and Relative Offensive ZoneStart% over the same time span. RelativeCorsi% is simply a comparison of a team’s Corsi% with the player on the ice, versus a team’s Corsi% with the player off of the ice. The higher the RelativeCorsi%, the more favorable the numbers are when the player is on the ice. As for Relative Offensive ZoneStart%, it gives us a quick glance to how the player was deployed. Players with high numbers here start a lot of shifts in the offensive zone relative to the team average, deployed in a more offense-oriented role; players with low (negative) numbers here sttart a lot of shifts in the defensive zone relative to the team average, deployed in a more defense-oriented role.dddddddddddd Staal Relative Stats Year Relative Corsi% Relative Offensive Zone Start % 2007-08 +4.6% +2.5% 2008-09 +15.2% -1.0% 2009-10 +6.7% +4.1% 2010-11 +11.3% +1.4% 2011-12 +6.6% +2.1% 2012-13 -4.2% +5.3% 2013-14 +6.8% +16.8% The RelativeCorsi% has held up for the most part, but the last two years make you wonder. The acquisition of Jordan Staal in Carolina has really given the coaching staff the luxury of deploying Eric Staal in big, offense-heavy minutes, but raw point-scoring aside, Staal’s 2012-2013 season wasn’t impressive – the Carolina Hurricanes were actually 4.2% better in Corsi% with Eric Staal off of the ice. These poor possession numbers in 2012-2013 were followed by extremely high offensive zone start numbers (+16.8%) in 2013-2014, which does raise the question of whether or not the coaching staff identified a problem and felt the need to insulate Eric Staal’s line. Is there something to the radical change in deployment, or are the last two years simply noise? If I’m a front office considering trading for and extending a player like Staal, it’s precisely the kind of question I need to find an answer to prior to making a move. There’s one other metric I like to glance at when it comes to pinning down whether players are losing a step via aging, and that’s penalty differentials. It makes intuitive sense that players who aren’t as fleet of foot will see a spike in penalties taken, and a drop in penalties drawn. Staal Penalty Differential Year Per 60 Drawn Penalties Per 60 Taken Penalties Per 60 Differential 2007-08 2.1 0.7 +1.4 2008-09 1.6 0.7 +0.9 2009-10 0.9 1.1 -0.2 2010-11 1.1 1.1 0.0 2011-12 1.1 0.9 +0.2 2012-13 0.9 1.5 -0.6 2013-14 0.7 1.2 -0.5 The early years of Staal’s career saw him drawing penalties like a maniac and basically never being shuffled to the penalty box. Put six years of mileage or so on Eric Staal’s body, and the story has flipped. He doesn’t draw virtually anything these days, and he’s committing penalties at nearly double the frequency. I think there’s merit to conducting this sort of multi-level data evaluation to any player, but it’s infinitely important when you’re talking about trading likely multiple assets for a player nearing the end of his long-term contract. In the case of Staal, you’d like to think that the trading team would like to extend him, too. In Staal’s case, I don’t think there’s any question he’s still an impact player. On the other hand, knowing what we know about the aging curve and the deterioration of players in their 30’s, there’s reason to be concerned about Staal before you even get into the declining shot rates and increased insulation and growing predilection for taking penalties. Thus, teams looking to go for it may be right to pursue Staal as a hired gun at the trade deadline. Teams looking to improve long-term? There may be better options. 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