Gäste-Ecke » than what he previously has let go. We saw a prime

NASHVILLE -- The Philadelphia Flyers have started their six-game, 13-day road trip off in winning style even if they needed more than overtime to pull out the victory. Vincent Lecavalier scored the only goal in the shootout, and the Flyers edged the Nashville Predators 3-2 Saturday night for their second straight win. Claude Giroux scored in the first period, and Sean Couturiers goal at 13:06 of the third tied it up at 2-2 to help the Flyers reach the shootout. "Its huge to start off the road trip the right way," Couturier said. "I think we deserved the win by battling hard, not quitting and coming back." Steve Mason made 34 saves and stopped Craig Smith, Matt Hendricks and Matt Cullen in the shootout for the second win in as many days. "Its nice to come out on top in one of these games," Mason said. "Weve struggled in tight situations like this before. Being able to come out and get the extra two points is huge." Mike Fisher and Colin Wilson each scored for Nashville, which has lost two straight. "We should have won the hockey game, but we didnt," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "We couldnt hold onto the lead. Their one play, they capitalized on it, got it tied up and I thought Mason came up with some pretty big saves for them." The Predators were playing their fourth game in six nights and without captain Shea Weber who is day to day with an eye injury after taking a puck to the face in Thursday nights 3-0 loss to the Oilers. Their most experienced defenceman on the ice was Roman Josi with 116 career NHL games. Mason gave the Flyers a chance to win in the shootout. He had a big save inside the final 30 seconds of regulation when Seth Jones passed to David Legwand for a shot in front. In overtime, Wilson hit a post at 2:30, and Mason stopped him on a breakaway with about 30 seconds left. Matt Read was wide on a shot on Nashville goalie Marek Mazanec during the extra period. In the shootout, Lecavalier was the first shooter for the Flyers and beat Mazanec with a forehand. Giroux was stopped at the post, but the Flyers didnt need a third shooter when Cullen missed. Not only did Nashville not have its leading goal-scorer in Weber, but defenceman Kevin Klein also was out for the Predators with a lower body injury, their team leader with 58 blocked shots. Goalie Pekka Rinne also hasnt played since Oct. 24 because of an infected hip. "When you lose your two All Stars, everybody has to pick up the slack, they say it, but I think everybody becomes a little bit more aware," Wilson said. "Everybody is taking care of the D zone and being more detailed. I think we saw that tonight the way everybody was playing and playing as a unit." The Flyers missed a prime chance at scoring on their lone power play of the first period when a shot slipped under Mazanec and was lying just near the line only to be poked away by Philadelphia forward Jakub Voracek. The Flyers went 0-for-3 with the man advantage but killed off five power plays. "I didnt think we were very sharp, but they hung in there, they battled and they won a game," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "A win is a win. The team showed character tonight, and thats what is important. But we have got some things that need to be ironed out." A couple of minutes after the power play ended, the Flyers took advantage of a Nashville turnover as Giroux scored on a slap shot that went up into the net over Mazanec at 16:49. The Predators answered right back a minute later when Fishers snap shot from the left circle beat Mason five-hole. Giroux hit the post during the Flyers second power play early in the third period, and Nashville killed it off. Then Wilson put a backhand under Masons left leg at 5:05 to put Nashville ahead 2-1. Couturier tied it up when Andrej Meszaros found him in front at 13:06. Notes: The Flyers are 1-1 in the shootout this season and 11-3-1 when scoring first. ... Fisher has three goals in four games, and Nashville is 4-2-0 when he scores this season. ... Wilsons goal was the 50th of his career. ... Cullen played his 1,100th career game. Aaron Donald Jersey . He will just have to wait a little longer. Bester grabbed an early lead before Scotlands Darren Burnett took over and ran away with the mens singles lawn bowling final 21-9 on Friday. Jack Youngblood Jersey . - Bryan Price sat down in the cushy chair. http://www.officiallaramspro.com/Orlando-pace-rams-jersey/ . With the players association in the midst of meetings in Las Vegas, a vote will be held on Friday to decide the CFLPAs presidency and other executive positions. Robert Woods Jersey . Dwyane Wade followed a few days later. Custom Los Angeles Rams Jerseys .500 ball against teams with winning records, so they needed a huge lift from somebody Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, With a lot of playoff games this year already going deep into overtime, weve all heard talk about how no player wants to be the one who makes a mistake prompted by exhaustion that leads to the game-winning goal. But to what extent does all this extra play time affect the officials? How much do they feel the physical and mental fatigue caused by a game heading into its second or third overtime period, and is this related to the perception - real or imagined - that officials tend to "swallow their whistles" in OT? Best,Mark Hill Mark: Fatigue was much more of an issue to contend with in the one referee system when we chased the play from end to end and didnt get much of an opportunity for a rest. A refs best friend can be a moving puck. Whenever possible, I attempted to force players to "move it"! Aside from enhancing the entertaining value of the game another upside of sustained action was that players gave and received hits with less likelihood of retaliation and scrums developing. On occasion I wore a heart monitor and during three to five minute runs without a whistle the readings would be sustained between 165-175 bpm. By comparison the highest my heart rate ever got in the two referee system was 98 bpm. There should be no reason (in the two-ref system) where physical fatigue might negatively impact the decision making process for an official regardless how many overtime periods are played. The mental aspect of a referees performance is a whole different kettle of fish! While players dont want to become the "goat" by making a bad play or mistake, the referees internal struggle is all about rendering a decision that might be perceived as a game ending bad call. (You notice I said perceived.) The best remedy in dealing with this pressure is for the official to maintain a rock solid focus of concentration by remaining in the moment and react to call penalties whenever they occur. Once a ref stops refereeing and puts his whistle away he becomes a spectator instead of an enforcer of the playing rules. Each referee can feel intense pressure to make sure any call he makes is viewed as a "must call" in the late stages and overtime. The referees best work is done well in advance of the late stages of a game by maintaining the expected standard of enforcement and to keep the players in check throughout the entire game.dddddddddddd The best deterrent against infractions being committed is "fear" a ref can instill in players that he will call the penalty whenever it is committed. When that is achieved players tend to play much more disciplined. The onus is placed more squarely on the players not to commit infractions once the referees enforce the rules more consistently and when expectations are met. I notice a difference in these playoffs as to which referees the players respond to and those they take full liberties with. Once the penalty standard slides and obvious infractions are let go it is extremely difficult for the referee to make a call in the late stages unless it involves a scoring opportunity, a puck over the glass or a major infraction. At times such as this the referee crew become spectators and fly on a wing and a prayer in hopes that the players will not do something really stupid that might force a call. If the referee chooses to turn his whistle into a fossil the worst thing he can do is upset the apple cart with a penalty call that doesnt have a direct bearing on the play or is of less quality than what he previously has let go. We saw a prime example of this with fewer than two minutes remaining in Game 4 of the Habs-Lightning series. While it is difficult to deny that the trip by Cedric Paquette on Michael Bournival was a legitimate foul, given the countless infractions that were not penalized, the referee(s) were subjected to justifiable ridicule for calling a trip in the corner of the rink at that time of the game. It is important to note there have been some real solid performances by the zebras in games thus far. The officials we notice most however are ones that stop refereeing the game and employ a standard of enforcement that resembles shifting sand. This isnt a result of fatigue; physical or mental. There is an answer to this dilemma. The referees have to be given clear direction by the Officiating Management to know and maintain the expected penalty throughout the entire game. In this regard the officials need to be better coached and held accountable when the expected standard is not met. Finally, when the officials do the job and make the tough calls they need to know they will be supported. ' ' '