ST. LOUIS -- Coach Ken Hitchcock hopes the combination of a lopsided loss, a day off and a good practice on Monday will result in a better performance when the St. Louis Blues host the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.Theres building times and this is it, Hitchcock told NHL.com. Weve got a real opportunity right now.The Blues have lost three games in a row and five of their last seven, including a 3-1 defeat at Nashville and an embarrassing 8-4 loss at Columbus on Saturday night, a game in which they trailed 7-1 at one point.Three of those recent losses came in games in which the Blues allowed five or more goals.Theres spots in games where were doing everything we want to do, then all of the sudden, things turn the other way and its going negative, said defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. Its got to come from within this room. Nobodys going to help us. Everythings getting magnified. Were not being as assertive as we usually are. You identify a check, you know thats youre guy and youre going to play him hard. If someone makes a mistake, youre there to help your teammate out right away.Were getting spread out in our end, were not communicating the way we need to communicate, and thats resulting in glaring opportunities, whereas in the past, if those were there, it didnt seem like they were obvious opportunities. I think when we get more assertive and play teams harder, be tougher to play against, its going to work in a positive direction.Jake Allen, who was pulled in the second period against the Blue Jackets after allowing four goals, will get the start in net against Buffalo.As a team, the Sabres can relate to what the Blues are going through. They are winless in their last four games, including both a shootout and an overtime loss. They have scored a combined four goals in those games.Just like the Blues, the Sabres have had a problem staying out of the penalty box. They have been called for five or more penalties in four of their last five games. The Blues have been called for the most minor penalties in the league (76) while Buffalo ranks 11th with 58 minor penalties.Weve got to stay out of the box, Sabres right winger Kyle Okposo told NHL.com. Thats something that needs to be addressed and needs to be executed. There are some penalties that you have to take and other ones that are just undisciplined penalties. Weve got to stay away from the undisciplined ones.Center Ryan OReilly, who has missed two of the last three games, could play against the Blues, according to coach Dan Bylsma. Buffalo still is expected to recall at least one forward and a defenseman from the minor leagues before Tuesday nights game.The Sabres have fallen to last in the NHL with an average of 1.93 goals per game.Maybe the biggest surprise is we havent got to the power play as much as we need to to get opportunities to score, Bylsma told the Buffalo News. We should be playing the way where teams have to take penalties against us. Given the lineup we have, we need to manufacture goals in a hard and difficult way. Denver Nuggets Jerseys . One game after a miserable showing in Oklahoma City, Gay tied a career high with 41 points and the Sacramento Kings cruised to a 114-97 victory at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Custom Denver Nuggets Jerseys . "Hes going to have hip surgery on Jan. 7, and hell be expected to rehabilitate for four to six months beyond that," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said Friday in an interview. http://www.nuggetsprostore.com/kids-will-barton-nuggets-jersey/ . Then the Pacers gave Oladipo and his Orlando teammates the cold shoulder. Paul Georges buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter spurred a 21-4 run, finally sending Indiana past the Magic 97-87 in a tougher-than-expected opening night matchup. Carmelo Anthony Nuggets Jersey . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Nikola Jokic Nuggets Jersey . James, who turned 29 on Monday, injured his groin Friday during the Heats overtime loss at Sacramento. He sat out the following game, a 108-107 win Saturday in Portland, before coming back to help send the Nuggets to their seventh consecutive loss. Match abandoned India A 4 for 140 (Pandey 47, Jadhav 41*) v South Africa AScorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRain caused the abandonment of the second match at Harrup Park in Mackay, after South Africa A bowled 35.2 overs against India A. The first match there, between Australia A and National Performance Squad, had been abandoned without a ball bowled on Wednesday, due to a wet and unsafe outfield.South Africa opted to bowl on Thursday and had the India batsmen on a leash for the most part. Openers Mandeep Singh and Karun Nair put on 31 in eight overs before Nair was dismissed by Dwaine Pretorius for 15. Thereafter, No. 3 Shreyas Iyer handed a thick edge to first slip off Andile Phehlukwayo for 4, and Mandeep was bowled for 29 off 51 by medium-pacer Malusi Siboto. India were in trouble at 69 for 3 in the 20thh over.dddddddddddd.They were rescued by a partnership of 70 between captain Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav. They batted together for 15.1 overs as Pandey scored 47 off 73 to continue his good form. The stand was broken when Pandey was bowled by Phehlukwayo in the 35th over. Jadhav was unbeaten on 41 off 53 and Sanju Samson on 0 off 4 when rain interrupted in the next over to put a premature end to proceedings, giving the teams two points each. Pretorius had bowled his 10 overs by then for 1 for 25 with two maidens.India A went on top of the points table with a total of 11 points from four matches, followed by NPS with 10, and South Africa A and Australia A with seven points each. ' ' '