Allgemeine News » Sometimes that shows

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jake Voracek thought he wasn’t very good for most of the first two periods. The Flyers were plenty happy with his performance.“You guys have to watch the game a little bit more Adidas Anthony Duclair Jersey , you know what I mean,” Voracek said. “It’s not only about points.”Voracek scored the go-ahead goal and added two assists, and Philadelphia finally played some solid defense in a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.Voracek, who was demoted from the Flyers’ top line, took a loose puck at center ice and kept it himself on a 2-on-1 breakaway, beating Keith Kinkaid for his third goal of the season to put the Flyers ahead 3-2 with 3:10 remaining.“I was thinking pass all the way,” Voracek said. “But their defenseman played tight to that side, and when I decided to shoot I was too close to the goalie, so I had to do something — and it worked.”Earlier, Voracek stripped Will Butcher and made a cross-ice pass to Nolan Patrick for a tap-in goal that put the Flyers ahead 2-1 with about a minute left in the second period. Voracek added his second assist on Scott Laughton’s empty-netter.“I’m glad his expectations are high,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. “He’s playing some really good hockey right now. With his dynamics he can change the look of a hockey game. … If he wants to do more, that’s good. … Hey, we’re .500, so everybody has got to be a little bit better.”Travis Konecny also scored a goal and Wayne Simmonds added an empty-netter of his own for the Flyers, who limited the Devils to just 21 shots. Philadelphia had allowed four goals or more in five of its first seven games.Brian Elliott Adidas Martin Hanzal Jersey , who was pulled after giving up four goals to the Florida Panthers last Tuesday, bounced back to make 19 saves and earn his second win of the season.Damon Severson and Brian Boyle scored for the Devils, who have lost two straight games after winning their first four. Kinkaid made 16 saves.“To lose a game against a good team on the road, it was casual,” Boyle said. “Yeah, it’s disappointing, but we gotta get better. All of us could be better. Everybody who goes on that bench, for every game we got to be ready to go, need to be dialed in. It’s really disappointing.”Konecny scored the Flyers’ first goal with a wrist shot from the right circle on a power play, his second goal of the season after going without a goal in his first six games. It was the first goal this season from Philadelphia’s second power-play unit.Simmonds’ goal was his team-leading sixth of the season.Severson put the Devils ahead just over four minutes into the game.Boyle tied it for New Jersey with a power-play goal early in the third period. Hakstol challenged the goal, citing goaltender interference, and although Kyle Palmieri’s skate was in the crease and made contact with Elliott’s stick, replay officials ruled the contact was incidental and let the goal stand.“We don’t win many challenges here,” Elliott said. “So I wasn’t surprised.”NOTES: The Devils have scored at least one power-play goal in each of their six games. … This was the Devils’ first true road game of the season, although they played their season opener in Sweden against the Edmonton Oilers. … Hakstol juggled his defensive pairings in-game Adidas Blake Comeau Jersey , breaking up his top pairing of Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere for the first time in nearly a year. The Flyers entered play Saturday with the second-most goals allowed in the league. … Patrick returned to the Flyers’ lineup after missing three games with an upper-body injury, replacing Corban Knight, who played in his first NHL game last Thursday.UP NEXTDevils: Get four days off before hosting the Nashville Predators on Thursday.Flyers: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday. The Flyers lost 5-2 on their lone visit to Denver earlier this month. After a strong start under new coach Ken Hitchcock, the Edmonton Oilers are proving to be a work in progress.With the league’s Christmas break in the rearview mirror, the Oilers have to figure out how to squeeze more production out of every player, starting with Thursday’s matchup against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place.In the first 3 1/2 weeks under Hitchcock, Edmonton (18-15-3) picked up 20 of a possible 26 points, but the Oilers slumped recently.With a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, the Oilers have been outscored 14-6 during a three-game skid. The club also surrendered five power-play goals during that span, including three in a 4-2 loss at Vancouver on Dec. 16.Article continues below ...Lack of consistent production from players other than Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Alex Chiasson combined with injuries to defensemen Oscar Klefbom and Kris Russell have contributed to Edmonton’s slide.“We’re going to have to figure out who’s helping and who’s hurting for us to get to another level,” Hitchcock said. “We can’t keep doing it the same way over and over because it’s not going to work.”One core player — and a Stanley Cup winner — believes the team needs to show more mental toughness.“This group has to learn how to play in close games,” said Chiasson, who won a championship with the Washington Capitals last summer before joining the Oilers in October. “If you want to be a playoff team Adidas Erik Condra Jersey , a team that has the chance to go deep, you have to learn how to play down one goal and stick with it for 60 minutes.”Chiasson is third on the team with a career-best 16 goals, including four in his last five games.Edmonton has won four straight and is 6-0-1 in its last seven at home against the Canucks.Vancouver (17-18-4) kicks off a six-game road trip looking to continue its strong play away from home. After six consecutive road losses in November, the Canucks went 3-0-1, including a win over the Columbus Blue Jackets and a point against the Nashville Predators.Travis Green’s team comes off a 1-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday. After his team took three of five on the homestand, Green offered praise.“I like the way our team is progressing. I like the way they are playing. I wish we had a few more wins, I think we easily could,” he told the team’s official website.Vancouver is 10th in the Western Conference, but Green also points to a culture change for a club long linked to now-retired twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin and that hasn’t been to the postseason since 2013.“We’re still young in a lot of areas. Sometimes that shows. We’re in it right now. We’re playing to win,” Green said. “Our guys are believing in themselves. We talk about playing fast and hard and playing with confidence, and they are.” The team features young stars in Brock Boeser and Bo Horvat, who has scored 12 of his 17 goals this season on the road.However, rookie Elias Petterson may be the best of the bunch.The 20-year-old winger has points in eight of 11 games this month, including his second five-point effort on Dec. 9 in a rout of the St. Louis Blues.Petterson leads all rookies in goals (17) and assists (19). No other first-year player has more than 23 points.One of Petterson’s five game-winning goals came against the Oilers this month.