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A winning streak after a slow start can do wonders for a team’s confidence. Ending a long skid against a certain opponent should do more.On Saturday night at Rogers Place Darren Helm Jersey , the Edmonton Oilers go for their first win over the Nashville Predators in more than 4 1/2 years.Since recording a 5-1 victory on March 18, 2014, in Edmonton, the Oilers have gone 0-10-2 versus Nashville. That includes two shutouts among five straight regulation losses.Article continues below ...Edmonton (3-2-0), which is looking for its fourth consecutive win, has yet to hold a lead after one period in any game this season. The club can thank Cam Talbot for the recent surge as he enjoys a resurgence.After a career-best 42 wins and 2.39 goals-against average two seasons ago, Talbot slumped to 31 victories and his GAA rose to 3.02 last season. He credits staying confident early for his recent success as he’s stopped 79 of 86 shots while winning three straight starts.“I’m just going out there and trying to give us a chance,” Talbot said Friday. “I know that if I can get us through that first 10-15 minutes, we seem to take over the game after that point.”Having Connor McDavid on the ice also gives the Oilers a huge confidence boost. He collected two assists, one coming on Leon Draisaitl’s game-winner 37 seconds into overtime, as Edmonton opened its home schedule Thursday night with its third straight win, 3-2 over the Boston Bruins.McDavid http://www.officialredwings.com/authentic-adidas-dylan-larkin-jersey , the reigning two-time scoring champion, has four goals and seven assists through five games. He also scored goals in each of the Oilers’ last two matchups with the Preds.Still, coach Todd McLellan praised Talbot, who stopped all 12 shots in the opening 20 minutes and finished with 27 saves against the Bruins.“Talbs was essential in the first period,” McLellan told the team’s official website on Thursday. “We were flat, we were frozen. Once we got going and once we got skating and supporting puck movement, we were a lot better.“Without Cam’s performance in the first period, we don’t get a chance to come back.”But Talbot hasn’t beaten the Predators since joining Edmonton as a free agent in 2015 despite solid statistics. In seven starts, the 31-year-old is 0-6-1 with a 2.89 GAA.Nashville (6-1-0) opened its road trip through Alberta with a 5-3 win over the Calgary Flames on Friday night. The Preds’ lone loss of the season came in their home opener on Oct. 9 against the FlamesPekka Rinne stopped 15 of 18 shots Friday before being lifted early in the third period after colliding with winger Kevin Fiala. According to the team’s official website, Predators coach Peter Laviolette did not have an update on Rinne after the game.Juuse Saros made nine saves the rest of the way to get the win, and will likely start with games on back-to-back nights as well as to give the 35-year-old Vezina Trophy winner some extended rest.“Just because we have the backup in doesn’t mean we can’t win,” defenseman Yannick Weber told the team’s official website on Thursday. “Juuse gives us a chance to win every game he plays. We’ve seen it already this year Frans Nielsen Jersey Kids , too, and we have a lot of confidence in him.”Saros, a 23-year-old Finn who defeated the New York Islanders twice in his only two appearances of the season before Friday, has stopped 55 of 60 shots.He also made a career-high 46 saves in a 4-0 win over the Oilers on Dec. 14, 2017, in Edmonton.Rinne is 20-6-1 with a 2.31 GAA and four shutouts in 29 career starts against the Oilers.With a goal and assist Friday, Nashville’s Filip Forsberg has four goals and two assists in a four-game streak. Two of the three career goals the winger has scored at Rogers Place have come on the power play. The Chicago Blackhawks have dug themselves a deep hole when it comes to playoff positioning, but they hope there is still time to make a move.The way the Blackhawks have played of late sure hasn’t hurt.The Blackhawks will enter Tuesday’s Winter Classic against the Boston Bruins having won five of their last six games. Chicago — whose struggles cost coach Joel Quenneville his job earlier this year — will start the new year against the Bruins at Notre Dame Stadium looking to continue its recent surge.Patrick Kane’s overtime winner on Saturday lifted Chicago to its latest victory in a 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche.Article continues below ...Now, the Blackhawks hope to use Tuesday’s game as a springboard to what they hope is a productive second half of the season.“We’ve done a good job of staying in the moment the last few weeks,” Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton told reporters on Monday. “Obviously, we went through a really tough stretch results-wise, but one thing I’ve been really impressed with our group is that they didn’t quit. They just kept playing. The attitude was great throughout as good as you could expect but even within the games.“We’d fall behind 2-0 Gordie Howe Jersey , 3-0, 4-0, which no one wants to be in that situation, but most nights, we battled back and the commitment and work ethic and energy and positivity has been really great. That says a lot about the group and that’s part of why we’ve been able not only to play better lately but get some more results and that gives us some positive energy coming into this event and it’s a lot easier to enjoy something like this when we come in with some wins.”Cam Ward will start in goal for Chicago as the Blackhawks continue to play without injured starter Corey Crawford.The Bruins, meanwhile, enter Tuesday’s game having won six of their past 10 games and are coming off a 3-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.Boston’s Brad Marchand will likely be a game-day decision as to whether he plays against the Blackhawks after he missed Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury. But Marchand was a full participant in Monday’s practice in South Bend, Ind., and said he hopes he can play on Tuesday.Asked how important it was that he play in the annual outdoor game, Marchand turned to sarcasm.“It’s so important that I faked that I was hurt last game,” Marchand joked with reporters on Monday, according to the Boston Herald. “Pretty important.”Although it’s just another game on the schedule Authentic Gustav Nyquist Jersey , Marchand said players don’t treat the Winter Classic that way.“It’s an event,” Marchand said, according to the Herald. “At the end of the day, it’s just another game in the regular season, but I think it’s the event, the experience of the whole thing. . . . It’s the whole experience that you miss out on. At the end of the day, it is just two points, but it’s a lot more than that for family and friends.”