Dein erstes Forum » fourth. The Marlins scored four times with two ou

Alex Ovechkin’s slump, big nights for Abdelkader, Datsyuk and Smith; lineup news, fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. Held scoreless in Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to Detroit, Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin has now gone a career-worst five consecutive games without a point. It’s not burying Ovechkin to point out that he’s in a slump (and I’ve already been something of an Ovechkin apologist in the past), but it’s easy to see that Ovechkin is really doing a lot well right now, even if the points haven’t been coming as expected over this short span of games. In the first nine games of the Barry Trotz era in Washington, Ovechkin has posted a career-best Corsi% (measuring even-strength shot attempts) of 59.4%. OVECHKIN POSSESSION STATS YEAR CORSI% CORSI REL% 2007-08 58.1% +4.2% 2008-09 57.4% +4.2% 2009-10 57.8% +7.2% 2010-11 53.9% +4.0% 2011-12 47.4% -2.3% 2012-13 49.2% +0.7% 2013-14 49.3% +2.5% 2014-15 59.4% +5.0% What’s encouraging about these numbers is that Ovechkin is driving play like he did earlier in his career, and a far cry from his 2011-2012 season when his offensive production hit career-low rates (65 points in 78 games). Like last season, Ovechkin is not getting much help from linemates – his lone assist this year has come on the power play – but thanks to a recent decline in shots on goal, his 4.22 shots on goal per game ranks as the second-lowest of his career. In the first four games of this dry spell, Ovechkin had mustered just seven shots on goal and that’s some reason for concern, because he’s always been a high-volume shooter, leading the league in shots on goal in eight of his nine seasons but, let’s not overreact, it was just four games. Wednesday, against Detroit, Ovechin attempted 13 shots, with seven on goal, against the Red Wings, which is a good way to get out of a scoring slump. Because Ovechkin’s underlying numbers have been so good, there’s not so much reason to worry about this slump, because those signs point to goals and points coming back at a more regular rate soon. HEROES Justin Abdelkader – Hard-hitting winger who gets to play a complementary role with some elite players in Detroit and he scored two goals and an assist in Wednesday’s 4-2 win at Washington. He scored a career-high 28 points last season, but has eight points (5 G, 3 A) in nine games this year, riding a 22.7% shooting percentage that won’t last, but he is also playing a career-high 16:30 per game and generating a career-best 2.44 shots on goal per game. Pavel Datsyuk – The Magician tallied a goal and an assist, with a team-leading eight shot attempts (4 SOG) in the win at Washington. Datsyuk has five points in four games since returning from injury, and the Red Wings have eased him in, playing 18:42 per game. The last season in which he averaged less ice time per game (than this admittedly very small sample) was 2005-2006. Craig Smith – The Predators’ leading goal-scorer, with 24, last season, Smith buried a pair of goals on nine shot attempts (5 SOG), while posting quality possession stats (17 shot attempts for, 10 against, 63.0%) in a 4-1 win at Edmonton. ZEROES Niklas Kronwall – The Red Wings’ No. 1 defenceman had a rough night, possession-wise, on for five shot attempts for and 18 against (21.7%). His worst forward matchups, head-to-head, were against Capitals C Nicklas Backstrom (2 shot attempts for, 10 against, 16.7%) and RW Joel Ward (2 for, 13 against, 13.3%). Mark Arcobello – Despite not starting an even-strength shift in the defensive zone, the Oilers’ centre had his team’s worst possession stats (9 shot attempts for, 16 against, 36.0%). SHORT SHIFTS Red Wings C Henrik Zetterberg had a pair of assists…Predators D Roman Josi had two assists and blocked seven shots…Predators G Pekka Rinne stopped 26 of 27 shots for the win in Edmonton. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Capitals RW Eric Fehr was scratched from the lineup as second-year RW Tom Wilson was inserted into the lineup for his first game of the season after suffering a broken ankle in the summer. Predators C Calle Jarnkrok, still looking for his first point of the season, was scratched from the lineup in Edmonton Wednesday. Predators D Seth Jones played a season-low 14:46 at Edmonton, though had a solid possession game (15 shot attempts for, 9 against, 62.5%) in that limited role. FIRSTS Predators C Matt Cullen played his first game of the season, picking up an assist while playing 15:18. FANTASY FOCUS A few players, available in more than half of TSN leagues, to monitor on a busy 10-game night in the NHL: Jori Lehtera – Someone in St. Louis has to get the puck to the Blues’ scoring wingers and with injuries to Paul Stastny and David Backes, Lehtera is clearly the best option down the middle. He has six points in seven games and is centering Alexander Steen and Vladimir Tarasenko heading into tonight’s matchup with Anaheim. Michael Raffl – Getting moved to the Flyers’ top line with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek is working well for Raffl, who has four goals and five points in the past five games. Tonight, the Flyers go to Tampa Bay, which isn’t an easy matchup, but Raffl is still available in nearly 99% of TSN leagues. Seth Griffith – The rookie winger has emerged as the Bruins’ best option on the right side with David Krejci and Milan Lucic, scoring three goals and five points in the past four games. Really, anyone on the Bruins is worth a look since they are in Buffalo to play the Sabres. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca Custom Nike Toronto Blue Jays Jerseys . Portland won Game 4 Sunday night at the Moda Center and are now up 3-1. The last time the Blazers won a playoff series came in the 2000 Western Conference semifinals against the Utah Jazz. Custom Nike Baltimore Orioles Jerseys . - Kevin Labanc and Joseph Blandisi were a potent combination for the Barrie Colts on Friday night. https://www.customjerseysnikebaseball.com/ . Founding members of the Genie Army, a group of Eugenie Bouchard supporters who cheered for the rising tennis star during the Australian Open in January, will be in the city for the Rogers Cup, beginning this weekend. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Fake . LOUIS -- Russell Martin wanted a better fate for his starting pitcher and helped deliver a happier ending. Custom Nike Cleveland Indians Jerseys .J. -- Rampage Jackson scowled, howled, then bellowed to the crowd: "Im back! Im back!" With rebuilt knees and a new promotion, Jackson might have one more act left in MMA.MIAMI -- If Tom Koehler has figured out why he and the Miami Marlins are so tough to beat at home, hes not saying. Koehler outpitched Josh Beckett on Friday night, and the Marlins extended their home winning streak to seven games with a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. "I just know weve got a good thing going right now," Koehler said. "I dont want to jinx it by saying anything else." The Marlins 13-4 home record is the best in the majors, while their 2-10 road mark is the worst. Theyve outscored opponents 29-10 in the first four games of this homestand. Koehler is 0-2 on the road, but he has won all three of his starts in Miami, where his ERA is 0.90. He limited the Dodgers to three hits in seven scoreless innings. "Its a big team win," he said. "Its good to keep the momentum on our side while were playing at home." Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered on his 29th birthday for the Marlins, who climbed above .500. Garrett Jones had three doubles, scored and drove in a run. Giancarlo Stanton drove in a run with a two-out infield single and leads the NL with 32nd RBIs. That was plenty of support for the surprising Koehler, who began the year with a career record of 5-11, made the rotation as a fifth starter and now has an ERA of 2.41. "He pitched excellent," manager Mike Redmond said. "He was up in the zone a few times and got behind a few hitters, but he seemed to bounce back and did a great job." Beckett (0-1) struck out eight but gave up four runs in 6 2-3 innings. He fell to 0-6 in his past 13 starts and remained winless since the end of the 2012 season, even though his ERA this year is 3.14. Is the victory drought frustrating? "If youve got an arbitration case, yeah," Beckett said. "But Im past that point. I want the team to get the victory. I dont care who gets the win. For me, if the team wins, Im happy." The Dodgers arrived in Miami at 6:30 a.m. after playing for more than 8 hours Thursday at Minnesota to earn their first doubleheader sweep in 122 years, and they looked travel-logged while falling behind 6-0.dddddddddddd "I watched both those games," said Beckett, who flew to Miami a day ahead of his teammates. "I was pretty much the only guy that got any sleep last night. The guys played really hard behind me. It wasnt a perfect situation for them." Saltalamacchia hit his sixth homer in the second inning against Beckett, his former battery mate when both played for the Boston Red Sox. "Obviously, Ive seen Josh a little bit," Saltalamacchia said. "He looked good. I remember him throwing a lot more fastballs when I caught him. Tonight he was mixing his curve in a lot, and it made hitters look off balance." Jones hit a two-out RBI double that deflected off the glove of a retreating Yasiel Puig in right field to make it 2-0 in the fourth. The Marlins scored four times with two out in the seventh, with the first run scoring on a single by Reed Johnson, his fifth pinch hit this season. Christian Yelich followed with an RBI triple, and Stanton and Casey McGehee hit RBI singles. The game was Becketts second against the Marlins, who made him the No. 2 overall pick in the 1999 amateur draft. Los Angeles Dee Gordon had three hits, scored and drove in a run. The major-league stolen-base leader was thrown out for only the second time this year but also stole his 16th base. NOTES: The temperature with the roof closed was 77. It was 45 for the first pitch Thursday when the Dodgers played at Minnesota. ... Dodgers SS Juan Uribe was given the night off. ... Two calls by second-base umpire C.B. Bucknor on steal attempts were overturned by replay reviews. ... Yelich was 14 for 14 in his career on stolen-base attempts before he was thrown out by Miguel Olivo in the first inning. ... Marlins RHP Jacob Turner (shoulder) will pitch for the first time since April 3 when he starts Saturday against Dodgers and Paul Maholm (1-2, 4.74). After the game, Marlins left-hander Dan Jennings was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans. ' ' '