MONTREAL (AP) — All eyes were on P.K. Subban and Shea Weber. Craig Smith stole the show.Smith scored twice and the Nashville Predators
defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 on Saturday night in the second matchup
between Subban and Weber since the blockbuster trade in 2016.Weber scored
against his former team and Subban had two assists in a game in which Smith’s
team-leading 13th and 14th goals of the season were the difference.“He had a
super strong game
Cheap Christian McCaffrey Jersey ,” coach Peter Laviolette said of Smith. “He was physical, he was fast, he was competitive on pucks. And obviously he
chipped in on offense as well.”The Predators were playing their second game in
as many nights, coming off a 4-3 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on
Friday. But Nashville came out with speed and the Canadiens couldn’t match
it.Smith extended his personal point streak to five games when he put Subban’s
rebound past Carey Price at 10:44 of the first period to give the Predators a
1-0 lead. Smith has scored in three straight games.The Predators outshot
Montreal 16-11 in the first period as the Canadiens lost for the first time in
three games.“Tough first period really set us behind,” said Weber, who scored
his second career goal against Nashville. “Tough team to come back against. They
played last night and they came out with a better effort to start the game. They
caught us sleeping.”Nashville went up 2-0 with 36 seconds remaining in the first
period after Mattias Ekholm’s slap shot deflected off Max Domi’s stick and beat
Price high.Weber got one back for the Canadiens at 12:47 of the second period
when he threw a bouncing puck on net.Smith answered 18 seconds later on a
wraparound. Subban’s assist on the goal was his 300th in the NHL.“It was
simple,” Smith said of his second goal. “It was a hard forecheck. We got it up.
Subby just found a hole to get it in. And you never know what could happen.”The
Canadiens felt Smith prevented Price from making the save and challenged for
goalie interference, but the call on the ice stood.“I haven’t seen the replay of
it so I can’t make a fair assessment of it,” said Price, who made 28 saves. “But
it was explained to me that I made contact outside the crease. It’s a moot point
because it was their third goal and we obviously only scored one.”Montreal made
a push in the third period, but Juuse Saros stopped all eight shots he faced.
Saros made 27 saves in place of Pekka Rinne, who played Friday.Viktor Arvidsson
scored into an empty net with 45 seconds left for Nashville.“That’s what you
have to do on the road. You can’t give teams breathing space,” Subban said. “For
me to just come in and get two points, for our team to get two points on the
road
Authentic Christian McCaffrey Jersey , that’s big for us. We haven’t had much consistency on our team for the past 15 or 20 games, so it’s a big win for
us.”The Predators have collected points in four straight games (3-0-1) despite
recent injuries to Filip Forsberg, Kyle Turris and Yannick Weber.NOTES: The
Predators play four more games on their current season-high six-game trip. …
Weber and Subban faced off for the first time on Mar. 2, 2017, when Montreal won
2-1 at Bell Centre. . This was the fifth game between Montreal and Nashville
since the trade in the summer of 2016.UP NEXTPredators: At Toronto on
Monday.Canadiens: Host Minnesota on Monday. ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) Russ Brandon
abruptly resigned his dual role as president of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and
NHL’s Buffalo Sabres after being confronted by the teams’ owners regarding an
alleged inappropriate relationship with a female employee, two people with
direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.The people spoke on
the condition of anonymity because it is an internal matter, and owners Terry
and Kim Pegula did not provide a reason for accepting Brandon’s resignation in a
statement they released Tuesday.The relationship in question first became
apparent to a number of team employees during the Sabres’ visit to New York for
a game against the Rangers on Jan. 18, the people said. The trip included the
team hosting a fan event at a bar the day before the game.Kim Pegula will take
over Brandon’s roles overseeing the Bills, Sabres and Pegula Sports
Entertainment, the company which controls the owners’ numerous holdings.In a
text to The AP, Brandon said he has contemplated stepping down from the job for
some time, and felt the timing was right after the conclusion of the NFL
draft.”My goal when the Pegulas purchased the franchise was to reach 20 years
with the Bills, in which I achieved this past November
http://www.pantherscheapshop.com/cheap-authentic-christian-mccaffrey-jersey ,” Brandon wrote.”As grateful as I am for the amazing experience and the incredible
people I’ve had the privilege to work with the past two decades, I am just as
anxious for the professional opportunities that lie ahead,” he added.Brandon did
not respond to follow-up questions regarding his relationship.Brandon’s
departure comes after the Bills made a big splash in the first round of the
draft by trading up to select both Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen with the
seventh pick, and Virginia Tech linebacker Tremaine Edmunds with the 16th pick.
The new additions join a Bills team that went 9-7 and ended a 17-year playoff
drought last season.On Saturday, the last-place Sabres earned a boost by winning
the NHL draft lottery and the right to the No. 1 pick for the third time in
franchise history.”We have a tremendous amount of confidence in the strong
leadership team we have built within each of these entities over the last
several years,” the statement from the Pegulas read.”We are excited about the
direction of our teams, especially after this past weekend’s NFL draft and NHL
lottery results. Our focus remains on building championship teams on and off the
field for our fans and community.”Brandon most recently served as the Bills’
managing partner, was the Sabres alternate on the NHL’s board of governors and a
member of the NFL’s business ventures committee.The timing of Brandon’s exit
comes at a time he was supposed to oversee the Bills’ next big venture in
determining their future home. Brandon was expected to lead the team’s stadium
search committee in deciding whether the Bills should continue playing at their
current home or develop a new facility in downtown Buffalo.He served in various
roles with the Bills, involving both marketing and football decisions during a
two-year stint as general manager from 2008-09.He also took the lead in
negotiating the Bills’ most recent lease five years ago, which played a critical
role in securing the franchise’s long-term future in Buffalo especially
following Hall of Fame owner Ralph Wilson’s death in March 2014.The lease
included a strict non-relocation clause that included a $400 million penalty the
team would be forced to pay if it considered moving before 2020.Brandon also
oversaw the Bills’ eventual sale to the Pegulas, who completed their $1.4
billion purchase of the franchise in October 2014.The Pegulas retained Brandon
and elevated him to the role of managing partner. The Pegulas thought so highly
of Brandon, the Sabres were added to his responsibilities after the team reached
a mutual agreement to part ways with Ted Black in July 2015.Brandon’s
resignation continues a large turnover of Bills executives who served under
Wilson. Bruce Popko is the senior holdover and now becomes the top executive as
chief operating officer of Buffalo-based Pegula Sports and Entertainment, which
oversees the Pegulas’ numerous holdings.Brandon grew up in nearby Syracuse, New
York
Baker Mayfield Jersey Elite , and began making his mark in Buffalo shortly after being hired by the Bills in 1997 to serve as the team’s business
development and marketing director.He began by spearheading a campaign to
transform them into a regional team by expanding the franchise’s fan base to
offset Buffalo’s dropping population base.That process began in 2000, when the
team shifted training camp to Brandon’s alma mater, St. John Fisher College in
suburban Rochester, to capitalize on the community’s corporate and larger
population base.Later, the Bills boosted their presence across southern Ontario
by negotiating a deal to begin playing annual regular-season games in Toronto
starting in 2008. The ”Bills In Toronto” series lasted through 2013 before the
deal was placed on hold the following year and then terminated by the
Pegulas.Toronto-based media giant, Rogers Communications, paid the Bills $78
million to essentially lease eight games (five regular season and three
preseason) during the initial five-year agreement. The price was almost double
what the Bills were projected to generate if those games were played at their
home facility.The series also spurred a large bump in season-ticket purchases
from across the border. By 2015, the Bills estimated southern Ontario fans
accounted for about 18 percent of their season-ticket sales, surpassing their
support from Rochester.Not everything succeeded under Brandon, who drew
criticism for a number of decisions, including failing to build a winner during
his two-year stint as the Bills GM when Wilson elected to promote from within
the organization after Marv Levy stepped down following a two-year tenure.—This
story’s third paragraph has been corrected to note the relationship first became
apparent during the Sabres’ visit to New York for a game against the Rangers on
Jan. 18—
