A pair of Western Canadian NHL teams travel east tonight as the Vancouver Canucks face the Buffalo Sabres and the Edmonton Oilers battle the New York Islanders. Patrick Robinson Saints Jersey . The Vancouver Canucks will face former teammate Cody Hodgson and the Buffalo Sabres when the clubs meet in tonights clash at First Niagara Center. The Sabres were 0-6-1 through the first seven games of 2013-14, but finally picked up a victory in Tuesdays road tilt against the New York Islanders. Tyler Ennis scored the deciding goal during the second round of the shootout to lift the Sabres to a come-from-behind win at Nassau Coliseum. The 4-3 shootout decision ended a club record-tying streak for futility at the start of the season. The last time Buffalo went seven games into a campaign without a victory was in 1999-2000, when the Sabres recorded five losses and two ties. The Sabres trailed 3-2 before Marcus Foligno found the back of the net with 2:01 remaining in the third period, and Thomas Vanek and Ennis both converted their shootout opportunities before Ryan Miller officially stopped Buffalos losing streak with a save on John Tavares. Ennis and Vanek also scored in regulation, while Miller racked up 41 saves prior to stoning two of New Yorks three skaters in the shootout. "It was a great job by our guys," said Miller. "Glad to get that (first win)." Buffalo now has a chance to earn its first home win of the season, having posted an 0-3-1 mark in Western New York so far. Thursdays contest marks the start of a three-game homestand for the Sabres, who also will welcome Colorado and Boston during the residency. Sabres forward Hodgson will play his second career game against the Canucks, who drafted him with the 10th overall pick in the 2008 draft before eventually trading him to Buffalo for fellow forward Zack Kassian during the 2011-12 season. Hodgson played at Vancouver on March 3, 2012, less than one week after the trade, but did not record a point in that meeting. Kassian had one goal and one assist in that game, which Buffalo won by a 5-3 score. Hodgson has one goal and five assists in eight games this season. Kassian, meanwhile, has failed to record a point for the Canucks in two games since returning from a suspension for a high-sticking incident against Edmonton in the preseason. All told, Hodgson has 19 goals and 48 points in 76 games since the trade, while Kassian has posted eight goals and six assists over 58 contests with the Canucks. Vancouver had lost two straight regulation games by identical 4-1 scores before ending the brief slide with Tuesdays win in Philadelphia. Ryan Kesler scored a pair of goals, including the deciding tally with 2:25 left in regulation, to help the Canucks open a seven-game road trip on a positive note. The Canucks trailed the Flyers by a 2-1 count heading into the third period, but Vancouver scored the only two goals of the final 20 minutes to take a 3-2 decision. Chris Higgins added a goal and one assist and tied the game at 2-2 with 12:29 remaining in the third period, setting up Keslers game-winner. Henrik Sedin posted two helpers for the Canucks, while Roberto Luongo stopped 20 shots for the win. "It was a nice one, especially since the couple of guys that scored goals had been working hard all year so far, but hadnt gotten rewarded much," Luongo said. "So its nice that they both contributed in a huge way there." Vancouver is 2-1-0 as the visiting team this season and will continue its swing this Saturday in Pittsburgh. The Sabres have won four of the last five meetings against the Canucks. Buffalo also has claimed three in a row and five of the past six encounters in Western New York. EDMONTON OILERS vs. NEW YORK ISLANDERS A couple of teams desperate for a victory will meet Thursday on Long Island when the New York Islanders host the Edmonton Oilers at Nassau Coliseum. The Islanders are 2-2-2 on the season and enter Thursday riding an 0-2-1 losing streak. New York dropped the first two games of this slide on the road, but couldnt break the trend in Tuesdays home game against the Buffalo Sabres, who recorded a 4-3 shootout win to earn their first victory of the season. New York led the Sabres 3-2 after Matt Moulsons power-play goal with 11:16 remaining in the third period. However, Marcus Foligno netted the equalizer for Buffalo with 2:01 left in regulation and Tyler Ennis notched the decisive goal for the Sabres in the shootout. Thomas Vanek and Ennis both converted their shootout opportunities for Buffalo before Ryan Miller officially sealed the win for the Sabres with a save on John Tavares. In addition to Moulsons score, the Islanders also received goals from Frans Nielsen and Matt Martin, while Evgeni Nabokov turned aside 31 shots in the loss. "We put a lot of pucks on net today," said Tavares. "We didnt get the result we wanted. When we have a lead, we have to bear down and find a way to get the job done." New York is 1-0-2 on home ice this season and is playing the second test of a four-game stand on Thursday. Edmonton has just one win in seven games (1-5-1) this season and the club will be aiming for its first victory at Nassau Coliseum since 1999 when it takes the ice on Thursday. The Oilers have dropped six in a row on Long Island since last earning a road win against the Isles on Dec. 14, 1999. New York has taken two of three and eight of the last 11 meetings in this series overall. The Oilers last played on Tuesday when they dropped a 3-2 regulation decision in Pittsburgh. Evgeni Malkin potted the game-winner on the power play 7:20 into the third period to hand Edmontons its fourth straight loss. Jordan Eberle and Ales Hemsky each scored once for the Oilers, while Jason LaBarbera stopped 25-of-28 shots. "Its about wins and losses and weve got to find ways to win games," LaBarbera said. "Thats the bottom line. Everyone of us can step it up a bit more and just find a way to get a win and get a good feeling in here." Its unclear if LaBarbera or the struggling Devan Dubnyk will get the start tonight for the Oilers. Dubnyk entered this season as the clubs clear No. 1 goaltender, but he is 0-3-1 with an astronomical 5.43 goals against average and .829 save percentage in four games. The Oilers are 0-2-1 so far on a six-game road trip and will play the next portion of the swing Saturday in Ottawa. Natrell Jamerson Jersey .Mila Kunis was a guest on Kimmel last night and revealed a surprising side of herself that comes out when she watches sports. It turns out screaming something vulgar at professional athletes is therapeutic for Kunis. Rick Leonard Saints Jersey . "Its amazing to do this coming from such a small island, where tennis isnt necessarily recognized as one of the main sports," Puig said. "Im just happy Im able to be here playing tennis not only for myself, but for my country too. http://www.authenticsaintssportsonline.com/saints-rick-leonard-gold-jersey/ . The CFL unveiled its 2014 schedule Wednesday and the Redblacks will play their first-ever regular-season game in Winnipeg against the Blue Bombers on July 3.Coach Ephraim Mashaba packed plenty of bags for the African Cup of Nations because hes certain his South Africa team will go all the way to the final — and he needs to make sure he has enough clothes.Were confident about it (making the final), Mashaba said on Wednesday before his squad departed South Africa. Alone, Ive got six bags.Bafana Bafanas players have prepared for a long stay in Equatorial Guinea, Mashaba said. To giggles, he told reporters and officials at Johannesburgs OR Tambo airport not to expect the team back home until Feb. 10, two days after the final.And stashed in one of those bags was an outfit for a party after the tournament, he said.Even if Mashaba truly believes South Africa will pack a punch at the African Cup, recent history doesnt back up his prediction.South Africa didnt get out of its group at the Cup of Nations in 2004, 2006 and 2008, and didnt qualify at all in 2010 and 2012. It lost in the quarterfinals in 2013 as host.But the team has shown signs of a turnaround since Mashaba — who is known at home by his nickname Shakes — took over last year. South Africa was impressive in qualifying this time and unbeaten in the decisive group stage, eliminating defending champion Nigeria.Thats given South Africans perhaps their most positive outlook for a Cup of Nations sincee the country won the title in 1996 and made the final two years later. TreQuan Smith Saints Jersey. ut South Africas challenge in 2015 is significant. It plays top-ranked African team Algeria first up in Equatorial Guinea, then Senegal and Ghana in by far the toughest group.All the teams are equal, the bullish Mashaba said. When they say the group of death, it gives us motivation. It will be good to beat the No. 1 team on the continent.I have told the players not to fear anybody because we have no reason to feel inferior.Mashabas squad is mainly home-based, with a smattering of overseas players like England-based midfielder Dean Furman and forward Tokelo Rantie. The big surprise was Mashabas decision to leave Ajax midfielder Thulani Serero out of his final 23.Mostly, Mashaba has restored confidence afte