Plauderecke » Blake Wheeler and Olli Jokinen lead Winnipeg

The Winnipeg Jets conclude a five-game regular season series with the Nashville Predators this afternoon at Bridgestone Arena. The Jets are 1-2-1 against Nashville this year despite outscoring the Predators 11-10. Blake Wheeler and Olli Jokinen lead Winnipeg with four points, while Craig Smith has four for the Predators. Ondrej Pavelec and Carter Hutton have tended goal in parts of all four games. Due to the 2pm ct face off, neither team had a pregame skate this morning resulting in both line ups unknown until they take to the ice for warm-up. The (29-26-6) Jets are two points behind the Dallas Stars for a Western Conference Wild Card playoff spot. Dallas has two games in hand on Winnipeg. The (26-24-10) Predators trail Winnipeg by two points. Nashville has a 5-2-3 record in their last 10 games. Five teams continue a close race for a Wild Card playoff spot. Dallas and Vancouver each have 66 points, Phoenix has 65, Winnipeg 64 and Nashville 62. Dustin Byfuglien and Blake Wheeler each have one goal and two assists in their last three games. Tuesdays 3-2 shootout win at the MTS Centre over Phoenix improved the Jets shootout record to 6-5. They had lost their last three in a row. The Predators are 1-7 in shootouts this season. Winnipeg has the top-ranked penalty kill on the road in the NHL at 87.5%. That will be tested today as the Predators scored three power play goals in their 3-2 Tuesday vs Tampa Bay. The Preds power play is ranked third in the NHL on home ice at 24.7%. Nashville has a 15-0-3 record when leading after 40 minutes. Matt Halischuk and Grant Clitsome remain on injured reserve for Winnipeg while Nick Spaling is the lone Nashville player on IR. Buy Cheap Adidas Superstars . Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone dismissed Tuesdays massive anti-government protest in Manama as "a lot of kids having a go at the police." "I dont think its anything serious at all," Ecclestone was quoted as saying in The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday. Adidas Superstars Sale Cheap . Its the second time this season that Milan has been sanctioned by the league judge, after fans also subjected Napoli supporters to discriminatory chants. The ban will come into effect for Milans next match, against Udinese on Oct. http://www.cheapsuperstar.net/. Once again, the third baseman delivered in a big spot. Ramirez kept up his torrid hitting with a two-run homer to help back Wily Peraltas solid start, and the Brewers extended their winning streak to seven with a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night. Adidas Superstars Clearance . "First, I would like to offer my deepest and sincerest apologies for any harm I have inflicted on University of Missouri defensive lineman, Michael Sam," the statement read. Cheap Adidas Superstar Shoes . Griffin scored 13 of his 31 points in the final 7:05 and Dudley got 11 of his 20 points in the third quarter, leading the defending Pacific Division champions to a 112-85 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. "Dud is a shooter. CINCINNATI, Ohio -- A hard-to-describe feeling comes over Cole Hamels every time he faces the Cincinnati Reds, especially in their hitter-friendly ballpark. The left-hander just feels good from the first pitch to the on-field high-fives at the end. Hamels pitched into the eighth inning as he stayed unbeaten in his career against Cincinnati, and Jimmy Rollins moved closer to the Phillies hit record with a solo homer, leading Philadelphia to an 8-0 victory Friday night. The Phillies ended their longest losing streak of the season at six games. Cincinnati dropped its third straight. Hamels (2-3) improved to 10-0 in 13 career appearances against the Reds, holding them to three runs or less each time. The Phillies have won all of his 13 starts against Cincinnati, including his five-hit shutout during the 2010 playoffs. Hamels made his big league debut at Great American Ball Park in 2006 with five shutout innings, and he remembers that feeling every time he returns. "Its a great memory and its everlasting," said Hamels, who allowed five hits and struck out seven in 7 2-3 innings, throwing 125 pitches. "Thats what I take from it: This is it, this is what I worked for since I was a little kid. I take it out there year after year." The Phillies piled up 11 hits with eight players getting at least one. "A lot of guys contributed," manager Ryne Sandberg said. "That will go a long way going into tomorrow with momentum with a lot of guys." Rollins hit his seventh homer off Johnny Cueto (5-5), who lasted only five innings for his shortest start of the season. The solo homer left Rollins six hits shy of the club record. Rollins has 2,228 hits with the Phillies, trailing only Hall of Famer Mike Schmidts mark of 2,234. Domonic Brown had a two-run double and a sacrifice fly, and John Mayberry Jr. singled home a run off Cueto, who matched his season high by giving up six hits. Cuetos ERA jumped from a league-leading 1.68 to 1.97. "Thats what good ballclubs do," Brown said. "They do things like that. They pick each other up. I think were growing every day." Cincinnatis offence remained in a deep slump. The Reds llost to the Giants 6-1 on Thursday, with the last 19 batters going down in order.dddddddddddd. The streak reached 25 in a row before Zack Cozart singled in the third inning. Their scoreless streak is at 17 innings and counting. Ryan Ludwick had a chance to break the streak, but was thrown out at home in the seventh inning as he tried to score from third base on a ball that bounced away from Carlos Ruiz. The catcher recovered quickly and threw to Hamels, who tagged the sliding Ludwick. "An unbelievable play," Sandberg said. "Textbook. Its a fundamental play, but you dont practice it every day." Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth to get in some work. His next save will make him the 26th pitcher to reach 300, leaving him tied on the career list with Bruce Sutter and Jason Isringhausen. The closer for the Red Sox and Phillies was the fastest to his 200th save, getting it in his 359th game. If he gets No. 300 in his next appearance, he will tie Trevor Hoffman (552 games) for second-fastest. Mariano Rivera got No. 300 in his 537th game. Chase Utley had three hits and a sacrifice fly for the Phillies. He was hit by a pitch and was picked off first base by Cueto, who needed 92 pitches to make it through five innings. Cueto uncharacteristically hit two batters in the same inning and gave up his first homer in five starts. NOTES: Roberto Hernandez (2-3) starts for the Phillies on Saturday against Alfredo Simon (7-3). Hernandez is trying for his first win since May 4. ... The Phillies promoted INF Ronny Cedeno, who batted .286 with a homer and 20 RBIs for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. LHP Cesar Jimenez was designated for assignment to the minors. ... Cincinnatis Brayan Pena was hitless in four at-bats, extending his slump to a career-worst 0 for 17. ... RHP Mat Latos will make one more rehab start before the Reds consider activating him. His last start for Triple-A Louisville was stopped after 67 pitches because he had a calf cramp. Latos wanted to be activated rather than make one more appearance in the minors, but the Reds want him to get to 100 pitches before he goes back into the rotation. ' ' '