made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Ti

It would be convenient to point to the Steven Stamkos injury as a major reason the Tampa Bay Lightning are struggling, but it doesnt explain the entire story.Of course, losing their captain and offensive superstar hurts the Lightning, especially since he had been playing some of his best hockey in two years before the injury. But the Bolts have been a resilient bunch that was able to survive key injuries before. Tampa Bay reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals last season, and the Lightning were without Stamkos until the final game of that series.Weve been able to do it in the past, Lightning GM Steve Yzerman told ESPN.com on Tuesday. Even with Stammer or other players being injured, weve been able to generate offense, get enough production and ultimately play well defensively and keep the puck out of our net to win games.A popular preseason pick to challenge for the Stanley Cup, the Lightning have lost seven of their past eight games and sit 12 points behind the Atlantic Division-leading Montreal Canadiens. The Stamkos injury aside, Tampa Bays slide is puzzling. This is a deep, talented lineup with a great coaching staff, a team that reached the Cup finals two years ago and fell one win short of a return trip last season.We need to get a bit more offensive production out of our top-nine forwards, said Yzerman. We need more out of them. But mostly, its our play defensively as a team that has to improve. Thats what is hurting us the most.The ingredients are there. But as Yzerman said, it starts with a better defensive effort.Were not going to win many 6-5 games, said Yzerman. Were falling in some categories -- our penalty killing is dropping, our goals against, our shots against. Were in the bottom half of the league now in those three categories, and those categories have to be good in order to win.Goalie Ben Bishop is not playing nearly as well as he was last season, and I cant help but wonder if the pending unrestricted free agent isnt distracted by his cloudy future. He almost was traded to the?Calgary Flames?last June, a deal that fell through because he couldnt come to terms on a contract agreement with the Flames. The Bolts then signed younger goalie?Andrei Vasilevskiy to an extension during the offseason. The writings on the wall, in all likelihood, for Bishop -- whether its in the form of a trade before March 1 or simply that he will walk away as an unrestricted free agent next July 1.Bishop can only help his stock by playing better. Not only will that attract trade suitors, it will also improve his contractual leverage for his next deal if he gets back to the level he was at a year ago.Yzerman refused to single out players, but rather stressed the collective need for Tampa Bays entire roster to be better. And theres no doubt the team can be better in front of its goaltenders.In the meantime, Lightning fans would love to see their GM make a trade. Who can blame them? But as weve seen around the league during the opening few months of the season, the cap system has had a paralyzing effect on big moves. Teams are waiting until closer to the March 1 trade deadline, when some bottom-feeding clubs finally give up on the playoff chase and put players up for sale. The parity throughout the league means that almost no one has raised the white flag yet. And it takes two teams to make a trade.Were constantly looking at ways to improve our team, Yzerman said. Weve lost seven out of eight. But it really doesnt change what were trying to do or what wed like to do. We have areas wed like to address with our team, whether thats from within the organization with the players we have, or seeing if we can do that out there on the trade market. If theres something that makes sense, were prepared to do that. But its difficult to find a partner for it to make it work. Everybody has concerns about the salary cap; everyone has concerns about the expansion draft. It is difficult to make a trade.Yzerman, who keeps his cards close to the vest, wouldnt specify the teams trade needs. But Im confident that a top-four defenseman tops his wish list. Its been a missing piece for this team for quite some time. And since a bunch of other teams also covet elite D-men, theyre a prized commodity and thus difficult to get -- which means theres no guarantee that the Lightning will be able to score one before the trade deadline.But you can bet Yzerman will continue to work the phones.Again, wed like to think we know what our team needs, said Yzerman. Wed like to think we know our players well and how we can help our team improve. But as Ive said time and time again, Ive got to find someone whos willing to work with me. wholesale nfl jerseys . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. Cheap Jerseys USA . The 19-year-old Olsen played 34 games with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL this season. In that time, hes recorded 17 goals and 17 assists with 36 penalty minutes. http://www.overallcheapjerseys.com/ . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Authentic China NFL jerseys .B. - Sebastien Auger made 44 saves as the Saint John Sea Dogs edged the visiting Acadie-Bathurst Titan 2-1 on Saturday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. cheap nfl jerseys . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. STOCKHOLM -- Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria advanced to the semifinals of the Stockholm Open by beating Kevin Anderson of South Africa 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-2 on Friday.In the semifinals he will face Olympic silver medalist Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, who withstood 12 aces to beat Croatian veteran Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4.Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev beat Germman countryman Tobias Kamke 6-3, 7-6 (5) to set up a semifinal match against sixth-seeded American Jack Sock.ddddddddddddSock won 6-4, 6-4 against Portugals Gastao Elias, who had beaten top-seeded Gael Monfils in the second round. ' ' '