OKLAHOMA CITY -- After having eight days off, Toronto Marlies coach Dallas Eakins wasnt sure if his players would play like a rested team or a rusty team. Kaka Brazil Jersey . Turns out he had nothing to worry about as Toronto dominated the Oklahoma City Barons en route to a 5-0 victory Thursday night in Game 1 of the AHL Western Conference finals. From the first shift, the Marlies got off to a blazing start and left-wingers Marcel Mueller and Nicolas Deschamps each had a goal and an assist in the first period to set the tone. "The start was huge for us," Eakins said. "It actually started right off the first shift. We were able to catch them sleeping, and we never let up. I thought our forwards did a great job of getting in on their defence and being physical." Ben Scrivens made 31 saves and improved to 8-1 in the playoffs with his second shutout. "Our execution was excellent," Eakins said. "We had practised very hard and had scaled them back to make sure they were ready. The young men came out flying tonight." Each line contributed for Toronto in giving Oklahoma City its worst loss since a 7-0 defeat to Texas on the opening night of the season. Five different players scored for Toronto and four players had multiple points. Philippe Dupuis and Nazem Kadri each had two assists. Oklahoma City had chances with six power-play opportunities. However, Toronto turned every one of them away and has now killed its last 39 power-play chances against its opponents. "Thats the standard weve set for these guys," Eakins said. "Its the standard that our penalty-kill unit stands by. Every single one of them firmly believes they should never be scored on. What has helped is we actually force other teams on their power play to defend because of how aggressive we are." Toronto also was able to get Joe Colborne back into the scoring column. The forward scored in the third period for his first goal in 30 games. "He told (assistant coach) Derek King at the bench that it felt like a 200-pound weight had been lifted off his shoulder," Eakins said. "Everybody was excited about that." Right-winger Matt Frattin and defenseman Jake Gardiner also scored for the Marlies. Oklahoma City goaltender Yann Danis had 27 saves in front of 2,596 fans at the Cox Convention Center. Toronto knows to expect a better effort from Oklahoma City on Friday night. "Any time you can put up five goals, its a good feeling," Scrivens said. "Hopefully were in their heads a little bit. They know we can score. We were firing on all cylinders tonight, but we need to make sure these wins count and come out with the same intensity." Game 2 is Friday night in Oklahoma City. Juan Mata Manchester United Jersey .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres signed forward Nicolas Deslauriers to a two-year contract on Monday. Lorenzo Insigne Italy Jersey . Jayson Werth and Denard Span had three hits each for Washington, which had lost 6 of 7. Previously slumping, Washingtons offence has 14 runs and 30 hits in its last two games. Strasburg (4-4) allowed two unearned runs, though his error led to them, and six hits.(Sports Network) - The Nashville Predators will try to put the finishing touches on just the second playoff series victory in team history, as they host the Detroit Red Wings tonight in Game 5 of the Western Conference quarterfinals at Bridgestone Arena. The fourth-seeded Predators, who entered the league for the 1998-99 season, have made the playoffs in seven of their 13 seasons in existence, but their only series win came over Anaheim in last springs conference quarterfinals. Nashville went on to lose in Round 2 last year to the Vancouver Canucks. Detroit was able to earn a split of the opening two games in Nashville, taking Game 2 in the Music City, but the fifth-seeded Red Wings surprisingly stumbled at home. Detroit was 31-7-3 as the host this season and at one point set an NHL record with 23 straight home victories, but the Wings lost both Games 3 and 4 at Joe Louis Arena to fall behind 3-1 in this series. The Red Wings will now have to fend off elimination on the road, where they were just 17-21-3 during the regular season. "You cant look at the big picture. You have to break it up and look at that next game. Take things one game at a time," said Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom. After winning Game 3 by a 3-2 score in regulation, the Predators pushed Detroit to the brink of elimination with Tuesdays 3-1 victory at the Joe. Kevin Klein scored the tie-breaaking goal 6:25 into the third period and David Legwand sealed the win with a power-play goal in the final minute. Lukas Podolski Germany Jersey. . Pekka Rinne continued to frustrate Detroits offense, as the potential Vezina Trophy finalist made 40 saves for the Game 4 victory. He turned aside 16-of-17 shots in the third period alone. All told, Rinne has stopped 130-of-138 shots for a .942 save percentage in this series. Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard, who made 14 saves in Game 4, has surrendered 11 goals on only 91 shots over the four games. "Its not time to get too frustrated," said Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula. "We just have to keep going and battle through it. Their goalie has been playing great. A lot of credit has to be given to him (Rinne). He makes it a lot more difficult." Detroits lone goal on Wednesday came on the power play and was scored by Jiri Hudler, but the Red Wings were just 1-for-7 on the man advantage in the game. The Predators are looking for their first playoff series victory against the Red Wings in the third meeting between the clubs. The Central Division rivals also met in the first round in 2004 and 08, with Detroit taking both series in six games. The last time Detroit lost in the opening round of the postseason was in 2006, when they were upset in the conference quarterfinals by eighth-seeded Edmonton. wholesale nfl jerseyswholesale jerseys ' ' '
