so his solid starting position comes at a good time for him

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- After starting off slowly following some offseason roster moves, the Nashville Predators appear to be finding a groove.James Neal scored twice and Pekka Rinne stopped 27 shots for his 41st career shutout in the Predators 5-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.Ryan Ellis, Colton Sissons and Filip Forsberg also scored for the Predators, who won their third straight and improved to 4-0-2 in their last six. Rinnes shutout was his third this season.I think every year the seats get rearranged a little bit on the boat and youve got to figure out where your seat is and whats expected of you, Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. Theres definitely a little transition that we went through. I wish we handled it a little better and didnt get into that spot, but I think guys are scoring goals, too, now and theyre getting a little bit of confidence on the ice.Ducks goalie John Gibson gave up four goals on 18 shots before he was replaced late in the third period by Jonathan Bernier, who stopped eight of the nine shots he faced.The first two games in the teams season series have both been decided by five-goal margins, including Anaheims 6-1 win on Oct. 26 at home.I got pulled in that game and it wasnt a great effort by us so it was nice to get this one, Rinne said. This home stretch has been really good for me and my teammates. Hopefully. we can keep it going.Ellis gave Nashville a 1-0 lead with a snap shot from the low slot, beating Gibson high to the glove side with 2.4 seconds left in the first period. Filip Forsberg got his team-leading 10th assist on the play with a pass from behind the net.Nashville killed a four-minute double minor when P.K. Subban got called for high sticking early in the second period.Rinne made a diving save with his arm to stop Ryan Kesler in the crease.The Predators increased the lead to 2-0 when Neal fired a wrist shot through traffic with 7:47 left in the second after Arvidsson won a faceoff and dropped a pass back to him. That gave Neal a goal in four straight.We have a lot of new guys in a lot of different roles, but we felt like if we just did the right things it would come and it has, Neal said.Arvidsson also set up the next goal when he slid a pass from behind the net to Sissons, who fired a laser into the top right corner with 4:07 left in the period.Nashville scored again 67 seconds later when Forsbergs first goal of the season, a wrist shot from the bottom of the left faceoff circle, made it 4-0 lead.That chased Gibson and brought in Bernier.Neals power-play goal increased Nashvilles lead to 5-0 at 6:06 of the third period. It was his sixth goal and tied him with Forsberg for the team lead with 10 points.Game notes Ryan Getzlaf, the Ducks career assists leader (532), played in his 800th game with Anaheim. ... Nashville hosted Anaheim for the first time since edging the Ducks in a seven-game Western Conference quarterfinal last season. ... Neals goal-scoring streak is his longest since a five-game run Feb. 3-March 1 in 2014.UP NEXTDucks: Host Edmonton on Tuesday night in the opener of a five-game homestand.Predators: At Toronto on Tuesday night to start a three-game road swing. China Jerseys 2020 . -- When the Florida Panthers fell behind by two goals in the first period to the top team in the NHL, it appeared they were on their way to yet another loss. NFL China Jerseys . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. https://www.chinajerseysreview.com/ . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). Esa Lindell and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for Finland (1-1-0) Lindell opened the scoring for Finland just 41 seconds into the game, but the hosts quickly regained their composure and tied the score less than four minutes later on Wennbergs first of the game. Stitched China Jerseys . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. China Jerseys Outlet . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off.BROOKLYN, Mich. -- On another record-setting day at Michigan International Speedway, Joey Logano raced to one of the fastest qualifying speeds in NASCAR history. Logano won the pole at 203.949 mph Friday in his No. 22 Ford, breaking the track record set by Marcos Ambrose last year. Ambroses mark of 203.241 came on the first Sprint Cup weekend on a newly paved surface at MIS. His record lasted 14 months. Loganos speed was the ninth-highest by a NASCAR pole winner -- and the fastest since Bill Elliott set the record of 212.809 at Talladega on April 30, 1987. "I dont know how fast it is, but it feels freaking fast," Logano said. Kurt Busch qualified second, and points leader Jimmie Johnson was third. Logano is 16th in the Cup standings, and this is his first pole of the year. He could use a good showing this weekend as he tries to make a final push to reach the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Logano is 27 points behind 10th-place Martin Truex Jr., and he hasnt won a race this season. But a victory at Michigan could change everything, vaulting him closer to Chase position on points and boosting his chances at a wild card. There are four races left before the Chase. "Were 27 points out. That doesnt sound like a lot, but the amount of cars that are in between us is a lot," Logano said. "Were one bad race from saying, Were out. So weve got to make the most out of these four." Its the sixth career pole for the 23-year-old Logano. Hes coming off three consecutive top-10 finishes, although he hasnt won in over a year. Logano finished ninth at Michigan in June. Bussch is in 11th place in the standings, so his solid starting position comes at a good time for him.ddddddddddddBusch started second in this years earlier race at MIS, but he finished 35th. "Its really neat to overlay exactly what we did here in June, when we were outside pole, and try to improve on that," Busch said. "The pace today was just quick. It was just an extreme pace that the qualifying simulations were showing us. I shot for a 35.35 (seconds) in my mind for a lap time and ran a 35.347. I thought it would be good enough for the pole, but Logano just hit it perfectly." Despite the high speeds, Busch said his ride was pretty smooth. "When your car is good, its very stable," Busch said. "When you run 203 mph, and youre kicking yourself a little bit like I am for just going in a little too light, thats just because the car was stable. So 203 mph is not a problem. "Thats what Dave Ferroni, my PR guy, asked. He said, Is that the fastest youve ever gone around a track in a stock car, average speed-wise? And I said, Unbelievable. At 203 mph it didnt feel like it." Mark Martin qualified fourth, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was seventh. Defending Cup champion Brad Keselowski was ninth. Johnson has never won in 23 Cup races at Michigan. "Of course we wanted to be a little bit better, but we had a very smooth and clean practice session made some good changes to the car and found speed as the session went on," Johnson said. "Came close to getting another pole during qualifying, so all in all just really good." ' ' '