NEW YORK -- Cal Clutterbuck and Andrew Ladd scored 1:39 apart midway through the third period to lift the New York Islanders over Vancouver 4-2 on Monday night, giving the Canucks their ninth straight loss.Jason Chimera and Nikolay Kulemin also scored and Jaroslav Halak stopped 30 shots for the Islanders, who won for just the second time in seven games (2-3-2).Daniel Sedin scored and Ryan Miller had 28 saves for Vancouver, which fell to 0-8-1 with eight straight regulation losses since opening the season with four wins.Clutterbuck backhanded the rebound of a shot by Johnny Boychuk past Millers blocker side at 9:11 of the final period to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead. It was Clutterbucks second of the season and first since the season-opener.Ladd, the Islanders big free agent signing last summer, got his first goal of the season with 9:10 remaining, firing a one-timer off a pass Nick Leddy.BRUINS 4, SABRES 0BOSTON -- Tuukka Rask rebounded from his first loss with 32 saves for his second shutout, Brad Marchand and David Krejci scored power-play goals in the second period and Boston beat Buffalo.David Pastrnak had a power-play goal and Riley Nash scored for the Bruins, who won for the fourth time in five games. Rask recorded his 32nd career shutout after losing 5-2 against the New York Rangers on Saturday. He improved to 7-1 this season.Pastrnak tied Artem Anisimov, Patrik Laine and Sidney Crosby for the league lead with eight goals.Robin Lehner made 38 saves for Buffalo, but he fell to 3-7-3 lifetime against Boston. It was just the Sabres second loss in six games.PANTHERS 3, LIGHTNING 1SUNRISE, Fla. -- Reilly Smith scored a tiebreaking goal with 4:28 left, Roberto Luongo made 34 saves and the Florida Panthers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1.Jonathan Marchessault got his seventh goal and Derek MacKenzie also scored for the Panthers.Smith made it 2-1 after grabbing the puck inside the blue line away from Tampa Bays Victor Hedman. His shot from the left circle beat goalie Ben Bishop on the stick side.Ondrej Palat scored for the Lightning, and Bishop stopped 29 shots.MacKenzie scored an empty-netter with 36 seconds left.Nike Shoes Sale . Luis Suarezs double powered Liverpool to a 4-0 victory over Fulham, and Southampton easily overcame Hull 4-1 to continue the south coast clubs impressive start to the season. Liverpool and Southampton sent Chelsea down to fourth place as the west London club was held to 2-2 at home. Cheap Nike Shoes For Sale . The defending champion beat Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (6), 6-3, while second-seeded Andy Murray of Britain dispatched Edouard Roger-Vasselin, also of France, 6-3, 6-3. Making his first appearance since injuring his wrist a month ago, Del Potro had difficulty with his service games in the first set. https://www.wholesalenikeshoesauthentic.com/ . -- Charlie Graham stopped 67 shots as the Belleville Bulls edged the visiting Guelph Storm 6-5 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Cheap Nike Shoes Authentic . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Cheap Nike Shoes From China . Pence singled in the winning run with no outs in the ninth inning to give the Giants a 7-6 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday.Going into the tour to Bangladesh in July 2015, Hashim Amla had averaged 66.43 in his last 41 Tests, scoring 16 centuries in just 69 innings - that is a hundred every 4.3 innings. In 15 series during this period (excluding one-off Tests), he averaged 50 or more 11 times, while the average dipped below 30 only twice. In this period of 65 months (February 2010 to Jun 2015), among all batsmen who had batted more than five times in Tests - there were 266 batsmen who made this cut-off - Amlas average of 66.43 was the highest, while only Kumar Sangakkara and Alastair Cook scored more hundreds (17 each).That period of prolific run-scoring was entirely consistent with Amlas steady improvement as a batsman through this career. After an iffy start in Test cricket - he averaged 33.92 in his first 22 Tests - his numbers steadily improved through each phase: he averaged nearly 50 in his next 19 Tests, before that sustained period of excellence between 2010 and the first half of 2015. Since then, though, things have gone pear-shaped for Amla: in his last 15 Tests his average has dropped to 34.81, which is similar to the early years of his Test career. In 22 innings during this period, he has scored only two hundreds. More worryingly, he has struggled to get starts, being dismissed for single-digit scores 10 times in these 22 innings; when he was in his pomp, in the period between February 2010 and June 2015, he had only 12 such scores in 69 innings. From a 17% frequency of such scores (one every 5.75 innings), the percentage has gone up to more than 45 (one every 2.2 innings). Even allowing for the unusually difficult pitches in India in 2015-16, he still has six single-digit scores in 15 innings. In the last year and a half, Amlas contribution to the teams runs has dropped to 14%, down from more than 18% during his best years. Amlas biggest contribution in the South African top order has been his ability to soak up the pressure of an early wicket and make huge scores at No. 3, even when he has come in to bat against the new ball. He averaged 69.48 at No. 3 between February 2010 and June 2015, but in innings when the first wicket fell early, before the score reached 20, Amla averaged 88.07. Some of his highest scores during that period came after South Africa had lost an early wicket; he routinely converted the threat of an early wicket into an opportunity to bat for the longest periods possible. His highest Test score of 311 not out came aftter South Africa lost Alviro Petersen for a duck in the third over at The Oval in 2012; his second-highest Test score of 253 not out, against India in Nagpur in 2010, came after Ashwell Prince had been dismissed for a duck.dddddddddddd.He showed earlier this year that he still hasnt lost that ability, making 201 against England at Newlands after South Africa lost Stiaan van Zyl in the third over, but the failure rate has gone up recently. In the Durban Test against England, Amla made just seven after the fall of an early wicket, and he failed again after an early wicket in Perth and in Adelaide, in the ongoing series in Australia. The other big difference recently has been his inability to impose himself early in a series: he has averaged 16.12 in the first Test of a series in these last 18 months, scoring just 129 runs from eight innings; six times in these eight innings he has been dismissed before 15, including two ducks. Some of his runs later in the series havent been as meaningful: his 109 and 96 in Centurion came after England had already sealed the series.Between 2010 and June 2015, he was at his best in the first match of a series, averaging 85.72 in the first Test (excluding one-off matches), with eight hundreds in 26 innings. Most South African batsmen have suffered a batting slump recently - thanks in large parts to the India series - with only two of their top seven averaging more than 40, but Amlas blip seems more prominent simply because he has been so prolific and consistent for so long. It is inevitable that even the best batsmen have periods when the runs dry up, but Amlas slump has meant his average is in danger of slipping below 50.Coincidentally, the last time Amlas career average was less than 50 at the end of a Test was after the Adelaide Test of 2012, when he scored 11 and 17, which pulled his career average down from 50.37 before the game, to 49.66 after. That was Amlas 64th Test. Now, after his failure in the first innings of the ongoing Adelaide Test, Amlas career average is currently 50.15. If he is dismissed for fewer than 27 in the second innings, his end-of-Test career average will slip below 50 for the first time in four years. Even if only a temporary blip, it will feel unusual, at the very least, to see a number less than 50 in the averages column next to Amlas name. ' ' '
