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NASHVILLE -- The Nashville Predators are glad captain Shea Weber managed to play with an upper body injury that sent him out of their previous game.Customized San Francisco Giants Jersey . Weber scored two goals, including the game-winner at 1:29 of overtime, and the Predators rallied late in beating the New Jersey Devils 3-2 on Friday night. "Its going to take a lot to keep him out of a hockey game," Predators forward David Legwand said of the big defenceman. "He loves playing the game and shows that over the course of his career. He was big for us tonight. Obviously on the first one and in overtime, two huge goals." Weber didnt practice Thursday and was a game-time decision after leaving Tuesday nights win in Winnipeg early in the third period. Nashville coach Barry Trotz said Weber deciding to play made all the difference. "Hes one of the best at his position plain and simple," Trotz said. "Hes our building block, and hes a difference maker in this business. There arent too many guys at his level." Legwand scored with 10.8 seconds remaining in regulation with goalie Carter Hutton on the bench to force the extra period. The puck squirted out to Legwand, who scored on a slap shot from the right circle. Hutton, who struggled giving up the two goals to New Jersey, stopped Michael Ryder on a breakaway 80 seconds into overtime to keep the game tied. "It is good to get the win obviously," Weber said. "It took us 60 minutes to get it tied up, but we found a way. We battled hard and got it tied up. Obviously, Hutton made a huge save in overtime and gave us a chance to win." Then Colin Wilson took the puck back the other way and drove toward the net before dropping the puck off to Weber, who beat Cory Schneider with a wrister from the left circle. "We played four games in six nights," Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. "We got an unfortunate bounce at the end, and well take the point and move on." Patrik Elias scored a goal and had an assist, and Jaromir Jagr had a goal for the Devils. Travis Zajac had two assists. Out of the 16 games played between these teams, this was the 13th decided by a goal. This was a rare visit to Nashville with the Devils playing only their 10th game here Friday night and first since Oct. 15, 2011. The Devils, who beat Nashville 5-0 in New Jersey on Nov. 10, wrapped up a three-game road trip against the Western Conference with their second game in as many nights after beating the Stars in overtime in Dallas on Thursday night. "Its tough two nights in a row ... giving up a lead in the last minute, and we shouldve had an extra point tonight again," Schneider said. The Predators want to build some momentum before the Olympic break, and they have earned points in five of six games going 4-1-1. They had a couple days off since their last game and outshot the Devils 9-3 in the opening minutes and 33-26 for the game. Weber gave Nashville a 1-0 lead after the first period, beating Schneider with a slap shot 6:45 into the game off an assist from Patric Hornqvist. New Jersey tied it at 13:00 of the second when Elias came skating up the left side and fired off a shot that might have gone wide if not for Hutton trying to snag it with his glove. The puck glanced off Huttons glove and redirected into the net for a goal. Jagr got his 17th goal this season late in the second putting the Devils ahead 2-1. Jagr skated behind the net and fired a wrister that hit off Hutton and slipped between the goalie and the left post for a 2-1 lead at 18:59 of the second. But the Predators gave Hutton a chance to make up for those goals in overtime. Notes: Jagr has 698 career goals. ... Weber leads all defencemen with 15 goals, and eight have come in the first period. Nashville is 11-1-2 when Weber scores. ... Nashville is 19-2-5 when scoring first this season and just 2-22-2 when trailing after two periods. ... The Devils are 7-1-2 in Nashville. Marco Scutaro Jersey . The game has been rescheduled for Tuesday at 4:05 p.m. Tickets for Monday will be honoured Tuesday. The forecast Monday calls for heavy rain throughout the day. Matt Cain Jersey . A week after collecting the Professional Footballers Association trophy, the Uruguay international won the 2014 vote by the Football Writers Association on Monday. CHICAGO -- Paul Konerko is a spot starter and pinch hitter in his 18th and final major league season, and he is determined to succeed in his new role. He looked very comfortable Wednesday night. Konerko had a big three-run double and Gordon Beckham homered for the second straight game, leading the Chicago White Sox to an 8-3 victory over the sliding Chicago Cubs. "Its a good attack. I mean we feel like one through nine we can score runs at any moment," Konerko said. Jose Abreu collected three more hits as the White Sox roughed up Travis Wood on their way to their fourth straight win, extending their season-best streak. The rookie slugger doubled twice to run his major league-best total to 24 extra-base hits. The White Sox also got a nice game from shortstop Alexei Ramirez, who singled in a run in the first and made a great over-the-shoulder catch to rob Welington Castillo of a hit in the ninth. Ramirez then threw to first to double off Starlin Castro for the second out. "Just an awesome play," said Beckham, who was standing near second when Ramirez grabbed the ball in short centre field. "Just fun to watch." The last-place Cubs dropped their fourth consecutive game. Frustrated rookie manager Rick Renteria was ejected for arguing with home plate umpire Tom Woodring after he pulled Wood (2-4) with no outs in the fifth. Mike Olt hit his fifth homer for the Cubs, who have managed just five runs and 12 hits in the first three games of the city series against the White Sox. Luis Valbuena and Emilio Bonifacio each had a run-scoring double. "I think we still have to put ourselves back in the situation where we continue to get better at grinding out at-bats," Renteria said. "Putting balls in play with some impact in hitters counts, which are things that we talk about. Things that are being addressed on a daily basis." Bonifacios sharp grounder off the glove of diving third baseman Marcus Semien got the Cubs within 4-3 in the fifth and put runners on second and third with one out. But John Danks (3-2) limited the damage by striking out Junior Lake and Anthony Rizzo to end the inning. The White Sox then put the game away iin the bottom half. Bruce Bochy Jersey. The first three batters reached before Konerko hit a rope into the left-field corner for his second double, chasing Wood and giving him five RBIs in limited action in his final season. Konerko advanced on a groundout and scored on Semiens single, giving the White Sox an 8-3 lead. Konerko doubled again in the seventh in his seventh start of the season. "Its the same name on the back and all that, but nothing this year is connected to the past," said Konerko, a .300 hitter in 75 career games against the Cubs. "This is a new thing and Im trying to be good at it. Its taking some practice and I think Im getting better at it." Wood allowed a season-high eight runs and matched a career high by issuing five walks in his shortest outing of the year. The left-hander, who made the All-Star team last season, was 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in two previous starts against the White Sox. "I dont like walking anybody let alone as many as I did," Wood said. "I dont even know how many I had, but I know it wasnt good." Danks had a season-high eight strikeouts in six innings. The lefty gave up three runs and four hits while stopping a two-game losing streak. Danks got a lift in the fourth when Beckham drove a 1-0 pitch from Wood over the wall in centre for a three-run shot, making it 4-1. Beckham had four hits in a 5-1 victory over the Cubs on Tuesday night, including a tiebreaking solo homer with two out in the eighth. NOTES: White Sox 3B Conor Gillaspie was activated from the 15-day disabled list. He had been sidelined with a bruised left hand. To make room on the roster, OF Jordan Danks was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. ... The Cubs placed RH reliever Pedro Strop on the 15-day disabled list with a moderate left groin strain. LHP Zac Rosscup was promoted from Triple-A Iowa for his third stint of the season with the major league club. ... Iowa Cubs pitcher Chris Rusin threw a no-hitter in a 3-0 victory over New Orleans. The 27-year-old left-hander struck out three and walked two while throwing 118 pitches. ... Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (0-0, 0.00 ERA) takes on White Sox RHP Scott Carroll (1-1, 0.68 ERA) in the series finale on Thursday night. cheap jerseys from china cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
