A winning streak after a slow start can do wonders for a team’s confidence

A winning streak after a slow start can do wonders for a team’s confidence. Ending a long skid against a certain opponent should do more.On Saturday night at Rogers Place Tyson Barrie Jersey , the Edmonton Oilers go for their first win over the Nashville Predators in more than 4 1/2 years.Since recording a 5-1 victory on March 18, 2014, in Edmonton, the Oilers have gone 0-10-2 versus Nashville. That includes two shutouts among five straight regulation losses.Article continues below ...Edmonton (3-2-0), which is looking for its fourth consecutive win, has yet to hold a lead after one period in any game this season. The club can thank Cam Talbot for the recent surge as he enjoys a resurgence.After a career-best 42 wins and 2.39 goals-against average two seasons ago, Talbot slumped to 31 victories and his GAA rose to 3.02 last season. He credits staying confident early for his recent success as he’s stopped 79 of 86 shots while winning three straight starts.“I’m just going out there and trying to give us a chance,” Talbot said Friday. “I know that if I can get us through that first 10-15 minutes, we seem to take over the game after that point.”Having Connor McDavid on the ice also gives the Oilers a huge confidence boost. He collected two assists, one coming on Leon Draisaitl’s game-winner 37 seconds into overtime, as Edmonton opened its home schedule Thursday night with its third straight win, 3-2 over the Boston Bruins.McDavid, the reigning two-time scoring champion, has four goals and seven assists through five games. He also scored goals in each of the Oilers’ last two matchups with the Preds.Still Matt Martin Jersey Womens , coach Todd McLellan praised Talbot, who stopped all 12 shots in the opening 20 minutes and finished with 27 saves against the Bruins.“Talbs was essential in the first period,” McLellan told the team’s official website on Thursday. “We were flat, we were frozen. Once we got going and once we got skating and supporting puck movement, we were a lot better.“Without Cam’s performance in the first period, we don’t get a chance to come back.”But Talbot hasn’t beaten the Predators since joining Edmonton as a free agent in 2015 despite solid statistics. In seven starts, the 31-year-old is 0-6-1 with a 2.89 GAA.Nashville (6-1-0) opened its road trip through Alberta with a 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Friday night. The Preds’ lone loss of the season came in their home opener on Oct. 9 against the FlamesPekka Rinne stopped 15 of 18 shots Friday before being lifted early in the third period after colliding with winger Kevin Fiala. According to the team’s official website, Predators coach Peter Laviolette did not have an update on Rinne after the game.Juuse Saros made nine saves the rest of the way to get the win, and will likely start with games on back-to-back nights as well as to give the 35-year-old Vezina Trophy winner some extended rest.“Just because we have the backup in doesn’t mean we can’t win,” defenseman Yannick Weber told the team’s official website on Thursday. “Juuse gives us a chance to win every game he plays. We’ve seen it already this year, too, and we have a lot of confidence in him.”Saros, a 23-year-old Finn who defeated the New York Islanders twice in his only two appearances of the season before Friday, has stopped 55 of 60 shots.He also made a career-high 46 saves in a 4-0 win over the Oilers on Dec. 14 Seth Griffith Jersey Womens , 2017, in Edmonton.Rinne is 20-6-1 with a 2.31 GAA and four shutouts in 29 career starts against the Oilers.With a goal and assist Friday, Nashville’s Filip Forsberg has four goals and two assists in a four-game streak. Two of the three career goals the winger has scored at Rogers Place have come on the power play. With center Kyle Turris joining a lengthy list of key players on injured reserve before Sunday night’s game with Anaheim, the Nashville Predators needed someone to step up.Enter Austin Watson.In his sixth game since serving an 18-game suspension for domestic violence to open the season, Watson notched the first hat trick of his career to help Nashville maintain its place atop the Central Division and Western Conference with a 5-2 win.Article continues below ...Without Turris, Viktor Arvidsson and perhaps P.K. Subban, the Predators will try to pick up another two points on Tuesday night when they welcome the Colorado Avalanche to Bridgestone Arena for the second of a five-game homestand.Watson and Ryan Hartman split time on the top line against the Ducks with Ryan Johansen and Filip Forsberg. Both provide grit and better skill than some might think, but clearly on Sunday night, Watson had the hot stick.“I think it’s just a matter of getting back on the ice and getting his timing back,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. “He was in shape when he started but there’s something about the game and the way it moves and getting your game timing down from skating, reading the puck and handling the plays.“We’ve been giving him more opportunity in regards to ice time, penalty kill and defensive zone starts when the game is on the line.”For Watson, who normally plays on third and fourth lines whose roles are to keep opponents from scoring and occasionally create a “dirty” goal, the chance to play with creative players like Johansen and Forsberg was fun.“It’s always nice to score goals and contribute Jack Roslovic Jersey Womens ,” Watson said. “As hockey players, that’s what we like doing. It’s a good change to play with Johansen and Forsberg, two gifted players.”The Predators (17-6-1) have won six straight at home, dating back to an Oct. 27 loss to Edmonton, and own a five-point lead on Colorado and Minnesota in the division. They also own an even longer streak over the Avalanche (13-6-4).Nashville has dumped Colorado in 11 straight regular season games, a streak that started in the last week of the 2015-16 season. The 11th win occurred on November 7 in Denver, where Colton Sissons notched a hat trick in a 4-1 verdict.Pekka Rinne bagged 24 saves that night and also got help from his team’s video coaches. Two Avalanche goals were waved off via review when replay detected offsides.Colorado is coming off a 3-2 home win Saturday night over Dallas, thanks to Mikko Rantanen’s second game-winner of the season off a rebound with less than two minutes remaining. Rantanen and center Nathan MacKinnon are 1-2 in the NHL in scoring with 38 and 35 points, respectively.Add linemate Gabriel Landeskog’s 26 points to the mix, and you have the top-scoring line in the NHL with 39 goals and 60 assists through 23 games.“They have been consistent all year,” said forward J.T. Compher. “It’s just finding a way to consistently support them. You know what you are going to get out of them every night.”