11/17/2008 - Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Devin Setoguchi and Patrick Marleau both registered a goal and an assist, as the San Jose Sharks bested the Nashville Predators, 4-1, at the Sommet Center.
Jody Shelley and Tomas Plihal also scored for San Jose, which leads the NHL with 33 points. Brian Boucher made 32 saves in his sixth straight start since Evgeni Nabokov suffered a lower-body injury.
The Sharks avenged last Tuesday's 4-3 overtime loss at home to the Preds, their lone blemish at the HP Pavilion (10-0-1).
Dan Ellis made a franchise-record 54 saves for Nashville in that overtime win but didn't fare as well this time around, yielding four goals on 32 shots.
In addition to losing the game, the Preds watched with heavy hearts as captain Jason Arnott was carried off on a stretcher late in the first period after he crashed head-first into the net.
He was taken to Vanderbilt Hospital for precautionary reasons and released prior to the completion of the contest. Arnott will be re-evaluated in the coming days.
San Jose jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Setoguchi's team-leading 11th goal of the season. While on the power play, Joe Thornton picked up the puck behind the net and whipped a pass to Setoguchi in the right circle for a one-timer that tickled the twine with 5:22 remaining in the opening stanza.
Rob Blake fired a shot from the point that was stopped by Ellis, but Shelley was able to bang in the rebound just 1:27 later for a 2-0 advantage.
With time winding down in the frame, Arnott drove hard toward the crease when he was bumped by San Jose's Joe Pavelski, lost his balance and smashed into the net, where he remained motionless for several minutes. He was then placed on a stretcher and carried off the ice with 2.4 seconds remaining.
The Sharks grabbed a 3-0 lead 7:43 into the second period, as Plihal ripped a slap shot from the top of the left circle that sailed over the blocker and beat Ellis on the short side.
Marleau put San Jose up 4-0 with 8:48 to go in the second before David Legwand's short-handed tally spoiled Boucher's shutout bid at the 9:27 mark of the third period.
Game Notes
Nashville honored head coach Barry Trotz prior to the game after he became the 31st coach in league history to coach 750 games. He reached the mark back on November 4...San Jose converted one of its seven power play opportunities, while the Preds finished 0-for-6.
<< Houston's McGrady leaves game early, Artest follows suit
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Rockets guard Tracy McGrady left
in the third quarter of Monday's 100-89 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder
with a knee injury and forward Ron Artest came out in the final minute after
twistin
<< Rockets send Thunder to eighth straight loss
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Scola led the way for Houston with
23 points and nine rebounds as the Rockets defeated the Thunder, 100-89, at
the Ford Center.
Yao Ming added 19 points and 12 boards for the Rockets, who
<< Conklin, Red Wings blank Oilers
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ty Conklin stopped all 21 shots he faced for
his first shutout of the season, and the Detroit Red Wings blanked the
Edmonton Oilers, 4-0, at Joe Louis Arena.
"It's nice to get that first (shutout) o
<< Thomas strong between the pipes as Bruins clip Maple Leafs
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Thomas made 28 saves and withstood a late
Toronto surge as the Boston Bruins edged the Maple Leafs, 3-2, at Air Canada
Centre.
Phil Kessel, Michael Ryder and Matt Hunwick had the goals for the Bruins,
Griffin leads Sooners over Miss. Valley State >>
Norman, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blake Griffin finished with 20 points, 19
rebounds and six steals, and 12th-ranked Oklahoma cruised past Mississippi
Valley State, 94-53, in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off.
The Sooners (2-
Mason's three puts Spurs past flailing Clips >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Mason scored 21 points, including the
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streaking San Antonio Spurs in an 86-83 victory over the struggling Los
Angeles
Memphis crushes UMass to give Calipari coaching record >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Antonio Anderson scored 15 points and grabbed
12 rebounds, and 13th-ranked Memphis ripped Massachusetts, 80-58, to make John
Calipari the winningest coach in program history.
The win was Calipari's 221st a
Matthews leads Marquette past Chicago State >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wesley Matthews scored a team-high 26 points
and grabbed nine rebounds, and the 15th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles routed
Chicago State, 106-87, at the Bradley Center.
Lazar Hayward added 21 points and
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
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The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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