Despite sitting last in the Western Conference, the Edmonton Oilers enter Thursdays tilt with the Buffalo Sabres on a two-game winning streak and are coming off Tuesdays 5-1 home victory over Nashville. Catch the game on TSN starting at 9:30pm et/6:30pm pt. Jordan Eberle had two goals and an assist to lead the Oilers in the rout of the Predators. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and two assists while Sam Gagner also scored for Edmonton. Eberle is also ailing, tending to a knee injury sustained in Tuesdays victory and will sit out tonights contest. Nail Yakupov has been sidelined by a sore ankle and will also miss tonights action. Gagner has 10 points in his last 11 games and recently told the Oilers official web site how hes playing with more confidence since the Olympic break. "Im feeling better, Im feeling more confident," Gagner said. "Im obviously not happy with how my year has gone. I think the Olympic break was good for me to just kind of refocus and Im feeling better and our team is playing a lot better" All told, the 24-year-old Gagner has eight goals and 25 assists in 56 games in 2013-14 after recording 38 points (14 goals, 24 assists) in 48 tilts last season. Taylor Hall added the other goal for the Oilers and Viktor Fasth stopped 28 shots in the win. Edmonton improved to 13-16-3 at Rexall Place this season and is playing the second test of a six-game homestand tonight. The Oilers halted a six-game losing streak in the series with the Sabres by recording a 3-2 win in Buffalo on Feb. 3. Ilya Bryzgalov made 42 saves to help Edmonton register that regulation victory, but the goaltender has since been traded to Minnesota. Ben Scrivens gets the call between the pipes for the Oilers this evening. Meanwhile for the Sabres, it has already been a trying season. The club will try to avoid its longest losing streak of this difficult campaign when the Sabres visit the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place. Buffalo is at the bottom of the NHL standings with just 46 points. The next- worst team is the Oilers, but Edmonton is still 13 points ahead of the lowly Sabres, who have lost seven straight in regulation. The teams current skid matches a season-opening 0-6-1 stretch from Oct. 2-14 for the longest winless drought of 2013-14. Buffalo has managed just six goals over the course of its present slide. Buffalo began a five-game road trip Tuesday night in Calgary and dropped a 3-1 decision to the Flames. Mike Cammalleri and Paul Byron scored in the third period to help Calgary pull away for the win at the Saddledome. Drew Stafford scored the lone goal for the Sabres, who have lost four straight on the road and are 7-22-3 as the guest this season. Nathan Lieuwen made his first NHL start and turned aside 23 shots in the loss. Lieuwen was recalled from Buffalos AHL affiliate in Rochester on Sunday and made his NHL debut later that day in a 2-0 loss to Montreal after Jhonas Enroth left 36 minutes in with a lower-body injury. The 22-year-old Lieuwen was playing for the fourth time in five days after starting games for Rochester on Friday and Saturday. "I thought he (Lieuwen) played well," Sabres interim head coach Ted Nolan said. "The second goal we kind of backed right into him and we lost our positioning. They got a good shot and tipped it in. Overall I thought he played well." With Enroth and fellow goaltender Michal Neuvirth expected to miss tonights game with injuries, Matt Hackett will get the call in net. Hackett, 24, has seen action in 13 NHL games, but last played at this level when he started for Minnesota at Dallas on March 29 of last season and he surrendered five goals on 33 shots to take the loss in that game. Hackett is 3-7-0 with a 2.64 goals against average over his 13 career outings. Buffalo still carries a three-game road winning streak in this series into Thursdays game. Tony Larussa Braves Jersey . The 22-year-old Kreider was injured Friday night in New Yorks win at Columbus, but played in the next two games -- including Monday nights win over Phoenix. But the left winger, who has 17 goals and 37 points this season, was limited to about 10 minutes of ice time in each of the previous games. Glenn Hubbard Jersey . Cain departed in the fourth inning of a 10-5 loss to the Pirates on Thursday. X-rays on Cains bruised forearm were negative. He was hit when Sanchez led off the fourth with a groundout. https://www.cheapbraves.com/1703o-dansby-swanson-jersey-braves.html . One out away from finishing off an impressive shutout, they let a must-win game slip away. Julio Teheran Jersey . -- Caris LeVert had 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double, and No. Chad Sobotka Braves Jersey . 5 Trade Deadline isnt that far away and teams will be making decisions on whether to buy, sell and decide which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value.SUN CITY, South Africa - Ernie Els is considering cutting his golf schedule even more to spend time with his family, saying life on the road after 25 seasons as a pro is getting "tougher and tougher." The four-time major winner has already slowed down over the past few years, playing 19 tournaments on the PGA Tour and only seven European Tour events last season. The 44-year-old Els expects to trim that again, he said at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, his first tournament in a month. The South African, who turned professional in 1989, said that with his daughter Samantha now 14 and son Ben now 11 "there are other things that come into play." "Its always been difficult leaving the house, but now you really see your kids growing up and it gets more difficult," Els said. He almost skipped the Nedbank to stay on vacation with his family, and had to send Samantha back home to Florida on her own for school while he set off in search of a fourth title at Sun City. "I feel a little bit guilty about that," he said. Els is recognizing the trend with a couple of other players on tour. "Family life is important and you dont want to miiss out on their best years before they leave the house," he said.dddddddddddd "A lot of us are in that boat now. Phil (Mickelson) has kids the same age as mine, so does (Steve) Stricker. Guys get to my age and your kids get to teenage years and it becomes a bit of a difficult scenario. Its getting tougher and tougher. The younger guys dont have too many hassles travelling ... but things change. "I havent really got a game plan for next year yet, but I definitely have to play a slightly different schedule. Ive got to look at my schedule and see where Im going to." One thing that will remain is his commitment to trying to win another major ? maybe two. His British Open title in 2012, a decade after his first Claret Jug, bolstered Els hopes of another big win before he eases off completely. "Im 44 and with the equipment I can really stay with the longer hitters," Els said. "I feel I have a chance. I just need to sharpen up some things, get the right venue and get the right mojo. Then I think we can pull something off again. Its not going to be easy, but I believe there are one or two left, so Ill keep searching." ' ' '