ST. Lance Briggs Jersey . PAUL, Minn. -- A mid-game adjustment was key to the Minnesota Wild earning two points Tuesday night. Moved to the top line, Justin Fontaine scored late in the second period, Josh Harding stopped 16 shots for his first shutout of the season and the Wild beat the Nashville Predators 2-0. Jason Pominville added an empty-netter for the Wild, who have scored just seven goals in the past five games while posting a 2-2-1 record. "Its all about wins right now, and we havent been winning, so tonight was a step in the right direction," said Harding, who lowered his goals-against average to a league-best 0.96. Pekka Rinne made 27 saves for Nashville, which failed to get a point for the first time in six games. The Predators have allowed just five goals in regulation in last four games, going 2-1-1 in that stretch. Fontaine broke the scoreless tie at 18:53 of the second period when he charged down the slot and was able to put a rebound into the Predators net for his second goal of the season. "Thats one of those situations you have to manage," Rinne said. "You have to find a way to go to intermission 0-0." Fontaine didnt start the game paired with Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu, but with the Minnesota offence again failing to capitalize on its many chances, coach Mike Yeo replaced Nino Niederreiter as the top lines right wing. "It started in practice yesterday. Im kind of a big fan of left shot-right shot, and wed been talking about this and talked to Mikko about it yesterday, so it was something in the back of our minds," Yeo said. "For them to be able to attack through the neutral zone with some speed, it certainly helps if youve got a guy on the strong side." Beginning a stretch where it plays six of seven games at home, Minnesota dominated for much of the game, but continued to struggle in the offensive end. The Wild, who entered the game averaging 30.7 shots per game, sent 13 at Rinne in the first 13 minutes, but couldnt get anything past him. Rinne made two key stops on a penalty kill to thwart Marco Scandella and Dany Heatley and later stopped Koivu in front. "Weve been struggling to score goals, but if we keep throwing pucks to the net, theyre going to go in," Fontaine said. Rinne had to come up big because Nashville struggled to get shots at Harding. The Predators had just three first-period shots, six in the second and seven in the third. "Our best player was our goaltender. We had too many guys that didnt bring their A game," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "I thought wed be a little more even. I didnt think we were much of a participant much of the game until the third period." Hardings best save came late in the second when he stopped Eric Nystrom, who had slipped behind two Wild defencemen during a rare Nashville rush. "I cant take credit for this one," Harding said. "If you watch the replays or watch the whole game over again, you cant say enough about what the D-men did and what the forwards did. That was as sound a game as far as breaking the puck out in front of the net, blocking shots, good sticks. This isnt me. This is for sure a team shutout." Minnesota played with just five defencemen much of the game after losing Jonas Brodin less than 5 minutes into the game when a dump-in by Gabriel Bourque hit Brodin in the face. Leaving blood on the ice, Brodin went straight to the Wild locker room. Yeo said Brodin was taken to the hospital for X-rays. The Wild nearly lost another blue-liner when Scandella was hit in the leg by a slap shot from Shea Weber late in the period. Scandella struggled to the Wild bench before being helped to the locker room. However, he returned for the second period. NOTES: Entering the game, Nashville had the leagues best faceoff win percentage at 55.8 per cent; Minnesota was second at 55.7. The Predators had a 55-45 advantage in the game. ... Wild D Ryan Suter played his 600th game, the first 542 with Nashville before signing a 13-year, $98 million deal with Minnesota on July 4, 2012. ... Predators C Mike Fisher missed his third straight game with a lower body injury. ... Wild D Keith Ballard missed his fourth straight game after being hit in the face by a puck Oct. 14. Matt Forte Jersey . Louis Blues remain at the top spot of the TSN. Dick Butkus Jersey . -- Having played six seasons with the Kings, Kevin Martin is very comfortable at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento.HOUSTON -- Tim Visser scored a try in the 14th minute, and Scotland added a penalty try later in the first half in a 24-6 victory over the United States on Saturday night at BBVA Stadium. Scotlands Greg Laidlaw made one of two penalty kicks and all three conversions, and Stuart Hogg added a try in the second half. "The most important thing to come out of the game is that we did not get scored against," Laidlaw said. "That was very important. We are happy to get the win. We left a couple tries out there. We did our talking on the field, and we are pleased to get off to a good start on the tour." Chris Wyles connected on two of three penalty kicks for the Americans. "I think the game tonight never really picked up momentum, certainly not from our side, but I mean in general, there were many stop-starts there," U.S. coach Mike Tolkin said. "We needed to add more urgency to it. The first half we were too aggressive where we shouldnt have been and got stupid penalties. Early on we werent aggressive where we needed to be. Overall, we didnt do a good job of holding on to the ball." Scotland controlled the possession and kept the U.S. away from the try-zone for most of the match The match was the first for Vern Cotter as Scotlands coach. Cotter was pleased to see his team score several tries without giving up any. "We are happy to get a win in difficult conditions," Cotter said in reference to the temperatures in the 80s. "I thought we showed good struccture in the first part of the first half and gave ourselves a few opportunities to score a couple of tries. Mike Singletary Jersey. Our scrum got the better of their scrum, which gave us an area to get a good grip of the game and gave us points as well. I was pleased to see the opportunities we created." Visser put Scotland ahead 10-3 in the 14th minute, breaking free and scoring a try before Laidlaws conversion. After Visser dropped the ball twice close to the try-zone, Scotland was finally able to get in, scoring on a penalty try in the 32nd minute, and Laidlaw added the conversion to up Scotlands advantage to 17-3. After Laidlaw missed a penalty kick off the upright in the fourth minute, he connected on a penalty kick from inside the 22 metre line to give Scotland a 3-0 lead in the sixth minute. Wyles tied it at 3 with a penalty kick in the 11th minute, and he cut Scotlands lead to 17-6 with a penalty kick from outside the 22-meter line in the 51st minute, but that would be as close as the Eagles would get. "It was tough," U.S. captain Todd Clever said. "When we tried to put some things together in their territory, it just wasnt there." Scotland upped the lead to 24-6 in the 66th minute with Hogg breaking free along the left sideline and scoring a try and Laidlaw added the conversion. Clever had the Eagles best chance at scoring a try in the 34th minute, touching the line, but after being reviewed, Clever was ruled to have done a double move, and the try was negated. ' ' '
