Only for Guild Members » New Orleans got off to a hot start in Game

CALGARY Cheap Calvin Ridley Jersey , Alberta — Although both the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames have been eliminated from playoff contention, bragging rights will still be on the line when the two teams face off against each other on Saturday at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

After the Oilers (34-38-6) won the first three games of the season series this season, the Flames (35-33-10) skated to a 1-0 victory over their provincial rivals in Calgary on March 13.

“It’s always fun,” said Oilers goalie Cam Talbot in regards to the Battle of Alberta. “The rivalry brings a different element every time. You know it’s going to be an intense game out there and not a whole lot of space (as) you can see from the previous matchups this year.

“Neither one of us are where we want to be in the standings. It brings a different element and just that intense matchup every night.”

While the Oilers have lost three straight games, the Flames have dropped seven straight decisions since blanking their northern counterparts 17 days earlier.

“There’s pride on the line, and especially this next game against the Oilers,” Flames forward Curtis Lazar told the Calgary Herald. “You never want to lose to our provincial rivals, so that’s an easy game to get up for.

“I think if we can just get back to playing a simple, solid and effective 60 minutes Austin Corbett Jersey , that will do wonders for our hockey club. The bottom line is we’re banged up and the mood is not where it should be, and rightfully so just because we’re out of it, but you have to find a way to salvage something.”

After Edmonton dropped a 2-1 decision in Vancouver to the Canucks on Thursday, forward Leon Draisaitl told reporters that the Oilers have to “just focus on the next game and come out with the same intensity.”

Prior to their three-game skid that started last Sunday with a 5-4 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks at home, the Oilers had won three straight games and four of five.

“For the most chunk of our games lately have been really good,” Draisaitl said. “We had a few where we weren’t as sharp. Even (against the Canucks), I thought we could have won that game. We competed and battled really hard.”

Although his team has lost seven in a row, Calgary coach Glen Gulutzan didn’t think his team played that badly up until Thursday’s 5-1 setback to the Columbus Blue Jackets on home ice.

“There’s six of those games where I thought we worked our tails off,” Gulutzan said. “Our effort’s been there. (Thursday) was the first dip that I saw in our group as far as I didn’t think we were quite ready in the first 10 minutes to go. We got going after that Isaiah Oliver Youth Jersey , but too little, too late. We’re decimated (due to injuries to forwards Sean Monahan and Matthew Tkachuk and defensemen TJ Brodie and Travis Hamonic) with some skill here and that’s hard on the guys.”

The Flames may get leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau back in the lineup against the Oilers

“We’re not expecting it, but there’s a chance,” said Gulutzan in regards to Gaudreau, who was heading back to Calgary on Friday from New Jersey where his father, Guy Gaudreau, is recovering after suffering a cardiac event last Sunday. “First things first with what’s going on there. Their family went through something real significant and it looks like they’re going to come out hopefully better on the other side. We just wanted to make sure he’s good there first.”

OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors seek to go up 2-0 over the New Orleans Pelicans in their Western Conference semifinal series on Tuesday night and just might get some help in doing so.

Star point guard Stephen Curry is listed as probable in his quest to return from a 5 1/2-week absence as the Warriors go for their 14th consecutive home win in postseason play.

Riding 27 points from Klay Thompson, 26 from Kevin Durant and a stifling defense that limited the Pelicans to 40 points in the middle two quarters Bradley Chubb Jersey , the Warriors won the best-of-seven opener 123-101 on Saturday.

Curry, who had hoped to be cleared for Game 1, worked out with the club Monday.

Afterward, while insisting that no formal decision would be made until after pregame warmups Tuesday, Warriors coach Steve Kerr announced the team’s leading scorer would have no minutes restriction in his first game since suffering a sprained left MCL on March 23.

“It’s exciting; I’m excited,” said backcourt mate Klay Thompson, whose game-high point total and defense on Pelicans backcourt star Jrue Holiday were equally important in the Game 1 win. “I feel like a fan. I can’t wait to see him out there.

“He’s looks ready as ever.”

That’s certainly not good news for the Pelicans, as the last three times Curry returned from an injury this season he scored 38, 24 and 29 points in an average of 28.3 minutes in his first game back.

New Orleans also is seeking a different look than the one that saw Anthony Davis post his lowest point total since March 30 and Holiday his lowest since April 9. They were held to 21 and 11 points Braden Smith Youth Jersey , respectively, in Game 1.

Davis and Holiday went to the free throw line six times and the Pelicans just 11, allowing the Warriors to enjoy a 24-9 advantage in points scored at the foul line. Golden State attempted 32 free throws.

The career-low four trips to the line was especially odd for Davis, who had averaged 9.3 in his first eight career playoff games.

“You can try to get to the foul line. It’s tough when you’re playing the world champs,” Holiday said. “Honestly, we can try all we want to. We felt like some of the calls could’ve gone our way last game; they didn’t.”

Davis has 10 rebounds to go with his 21 points, posting his fifth straight double-double this season. New Orleans eliminated Portland in the first round, becoming the first sixth seed to sweep a third seed in NBA playoff history.

New Orleans got off to a hot start in Game 1, taking as much as a 21-16 lead while shooting 60 percent in the first quarter.

But the Warriors tightened the defensive screws in the second and third periods Cheap Harold Landry Jersey , limiting the visitors to 16-of-51 shooting (31 percent) while running off to as many as a 31-point lead before the third period ended.

The win was the Warriors’ 25th in their last 27 meetings with the Pelicans, a run that includes a sweep in their first-round playoff matchup in 2015.

Golden State has gone 11-2 in Game 2s, all at home, since the beginning of the 2015 playoffs.

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