(SportsNetwork. Steve Spurrier Jersey .com) - The red-hot Tampa Bay Lightning will try to extend their lead atop the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference when they host the sliding Buffalo Sabres in Fridays clash at Amalie Arena. The Lightning are two points ahead of the Montreal Canadiens for first place in the Atlantic. Tampa also owns a two-point edge over both the Canadiens and Pittsburgh Penguins for the top spot in the East and the Habs and Pens are idle on Friday. Tampa has surged to the top of the East standings thanks to a 6-1-0 record over its past seven trips to the ice. That included a recent 3-1-0 road trip that ended with consecutive 4-2 victories over Ottawa and the Canadiens. Although Montreal has played two fewer games than the Lightning at this stage of the season, the Bolts and Habs entered Tuesdays showdown tied for the division lead. It marked the second of five regular-season meetings between the Atlantic foes, and Tampa extended its winning streak over the Habs to three games. That leaves out the postseason since Montreal swept the Lightning out of the first round last spring. Tyler Johnson scored twice to lead Tampa over the Habs on Tuesday. Brett Connolly and J.T. Brown also scored, while Ben Bishop, who missed last seasons playoff encounter due to injury, made 20 saves for the Lightning. I think the biggest thing is that were playing as a team, said Johnson. Thats the great thing about the guys in this locker room. It doesnt matter who gets the goals or the assists, were all trying to win games. Toronto also halted Montreals winning streak at six games, dealing the Canadiens their first loss since Dec. 18 against Anaheim. Bishop boasts a 5-0-1 record and 1.94 goals against average in six career games against the Sabres and expects to start again tonight. Buffalo and the Lightning have split a pair of meetings so far this season, but the Bolts claimed a 5-0 victory when the clubs met last on Dec. 4 in Central Florida. The rout was Tampas third win in its last four home tilts against the Sabres. The Sabres enter tonight having lost six straight and 10 of their last 11 games. They have been outscored by a combined score of 27-7 during their current 0-6-0 slide and by a 15-4 margin so far on a four-game road trip. Buffalo fell to 0-3 on its current swing with Thursdays 5-2 setback at Carolina. The Canes scored three times in a span of less than 1 1/2 minutes in the first period on Thursday. Jiri Tlusty put Carolina up 2-1 on a 5-on-3 marker at the 13:50 mark of the second period. Less than a minute later, Eric Staal was credited with a wrap- around goal, and Victor Rask followed that up with a goal on a deflection 26 seconds later. Both Sabres goals were scored by Philip Varone, who entered the contest with one goal in 10 NHL games. Chris Stewart assisted on both tallies. Jhonas Enroth allowed all five Hurricanes goals on 31 shots. You gotta be alert, said Sabres coach Ted Nolan. You gotta make sure when you get a chance, you gotta play with some urgency. That didnt happen, and when it doesnt happen, you take bad penalties and the game is over. Buffalo was outshot 31-20 in the game, marking the 35th time in 42 games this season that the Sabres have had less shots than their opponent. Drew Stafford missed his second straight game on Thursday, but the forward is expected to be back in the lineup tonight. Stafford was out due to the birth of his first child. Michal Neuvirth could get the start tonight for Buffalo, although the Sabres backup goaltender has not won since Nov. 15 and has lost each of his past five decisions. However, he does own a 3-1-0 record and a 3.01 GAA in six career games against the Lightning. If Nolan chooses to go with Enroth it would be his third start in four days. Enroth is 4-2-1 with a 2.53 GAA in seven lifetime starts against Tampa. Tom Rathman Jersey . And all things considered, the first 40 games have offered a little bit of everything from a hockey club that faced many questions in its first year under new management, with a new head coach and with a number of new faces in the lineup. However, with a recent dip in scoring, it seems some of the same old questions persist and several new ones have been raised after a somewhat troubling homestand. Leo Nomellini Jersey .com) - Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was named the National League Player of the Month for April. http://www.custompatriotsjersey.com/custom-gordy-soltau-jersey-large-801f.html . -- D. J. Williams finally has his packing strategy down. WINNIPEG -- New head coach Paul Maurice has liked what hes seen so far from Winnipeg Jets rookies Jacob Trouba and Mark Scheifele. The pair of freshmen scored all three goals for the Jets in a 3-2 overtime win over the visiting Edmonton Oilers, boosting Maurices record to 3-0 since taking over for the fired Claude Noel on Jan. 12. "Theyre good players," said Maurice, adding that he doesnt really look at the franchises first two No. 1 draft picks since moving from Atlanta as rookies. "Theres not like a kiddie section in our locker room." Trouba, a 19-year-old defenceman, tied the game in the third period and scored in overtime for Winnipeg (22-23-5), while Scheifele, a 20-year-old centre, gave the Jets a 2-1 lead midway through the third. Jordan Eberle and David Perron scored for the Oilers (15-30-6), who finished 0-4 on a Central Division road trip that saw them outscored 17-8. After nearly scoring himself, Jets winger Blake Wheeler found Trouba alone in front of the net for the winning goal 1:10 into overtime. "Nobody really got down when we got down a goal," said Trouba, who couldnt recall ever scoring an overtime winner or scoring twice in a game. "I dont do that very often." The Oilers forced extra time when Perron redirected a Jeff Petry point shot with two minutes remaining to make it 2-2 on just the fifth Edmonton shot of the third period. Perron said the game would have played out much differently had the Oilers been able to add to their 1-0 lead. "I had a breakaway in the first," he said. "I would like to have that one back, probably." Trouba had tied the game at 5:48 of the third with a short-handed goal when Bryan Little carried the puck down the left wing, went around a sprawling Petry, and found the rookie defenceman in the low slot. It was the league-worst ninth short-handed goal allowed by the Oilers this season. "They were both spectacular plays," Trouba said of the setups from Little and Wheeler. "Youve just got to get the puck to those kind of players and theyll find you." Little and Maurice spoke of the Jets willingness to stay patient despite trailing by a goal. "We didnt want to take too many chances and too many risks yet," Little said. "It was just a one-goal game. We were waiting for our opportunities, and it happened to come when wwe were shorthanded. Terry Kirby Jersey. " Then Scheifele fought through a check along the boards, cut to the front of the net and banged home his own rebound to make it 2-1, his ninth goal of the season, at 10:37 of the third period. Oilers coach Dallas Eakins was encouraged by the fight his team showed after finding itself down a goal. "We were fine early," Eakins said, "and then as the game wears on and as the game gets harder and harder we dont have that strength to quite sustain it for the full 60 minutes." Ondrej Pavelec stopped 20-of-22 shots for Winnipeg, while Ilya Bryzgalov made 36 saves for Edmonton. Eberle opened the scoring for the Oilers on the power play at 6:59 of the second period with his 16th goal of the season. Eberle took a pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins below the left faceoff dot and beat Pavelec high to the glove side. The Jets came close in the first 40 minutes, outshooting the Oilers 24-16 through two periods, but couldnt beat Bryzgalov. The Jets had an 11-8 edge in shots after a scoreless first period that saw each team fail to score on a pair of power plays. Newly acquired Oilers forward Matt Hendricks took a puck to the ear midway through the period and went to the locker-room, but returned to the game shortly after. Wheeler was shaken up after taking an elbow to the head from Taylor Hall, but didnt miss a shift. Some were expecting the bad blood to carry over from the teams previous meeting, a 6-2 Edmonton win on Dec. 23 in which the Jets racked up 78 penalty minutes. But there was little action after the whistle until a short third-period scrap between Hendricks and Jets defenceman Mark Stuart. The Oilers return home for three games, beginning Tuesday against Vancouver. The Jets, meanwhile, face a difficult two-game Californian road trip with games Tuesday in Anaheim and Thursday in San Jose. Notes: Oilers forward Nail Yakupov, who left Thursdays game with a head injury, was a scratch. Teammate Ales Hemsky missed a second straight game with a foot injury. a Jets winger Evander Kane missed his fourth consecutive game with a hand injury suffered during a fight in the final seconds of a game against Tampa Bay on Jan. 7. a Winnipegs experiment with Dustin Byfuglien at forward continued for a fourth game. Regularly a defenceman, the 28-year-old Byfuglien was playing in his 500th career NHL game. ' ' '