11/17/2008 - Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ty Conklin stopped all 21 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season, and the Detroit Red Wings blanked the Edmonton Oilers, 4-0, at Joe Louis Arena.
"It's nice to get that first (shutout) one here to get rid of the butterflies early," Conklin said. "I had to make a couple of tough saves on (a 5-on-3 Oilers power play), but for the most part we were solid in our end. That's as good as we've been all year."
Conklin moved to 5-1-0 on the year with his fifth career shutout, while Niklas Kronwall's first-period power-play goal proved to be the game-winner for Detroit, which has gotten at least a point in six straight games. Mikael Samuelsson, Jiri Hudler and Johan Franzen also scored, while Henrik Zetterberg notched two assists in the win.
"I thought we played well tonight," said Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock. "We didn't give up much. We looked good on special teams. We talked about (tightening up defensively) but that's just talk. You have to do it. We were disappointed with our third period last week. Tonight was much better. We didn't have many turnovers. You want to make plays, but if they're not there, you can't force things."
Sheldon Souray had a team-high four shots for the Oilers, who have lost three straight and five of seven. Dwayne Roloson allowed four goals on 41 shots in defeat.
"The difference was the second period," said Oilers head coach Craig MacTavish. "We have five or six red zone chances where it's just us and the goalie and we don't hit the net. And then Samuelsson scores for them to make it 2-0, and then they get another goal and the game was over."
Detroit took advantage of an early 5-on-3 power play. Hudler passed it out in front to Zetterberg, who kicked the puck over to Kronwall. Kronwall was able to cradle the puck in the open ice and wrist it past Roloson from in close for the lead at 6:11.
The Red Wings were able to kill off a 5-on-3 advantage late in the opening period, and the hosts took a 1-0 lead to the second frame.
Detroit grab a 2-0 lead three minutes into the middle period. Brett Lebda circled around the defense and passed it into the middle. Samuelsson tipped the pass between the legs of a defender and over Roloson's shoulder for the goal.
The Red Wings took a commanding 3-0 advantage, as Hudler's slap shot tipped off Souray and past Roloson's stick at 14:18. Franzen's backhand tally in the third capped the scoring for Detroit.
Game Notes
Detroit will next play the Oilers in Edmonton on Thursday, but the Oilers will take on Columbus Tuesday night before the rematch with the Red Wings...Edmonton failed on each of its five power-play chances, while Detroit converted one of its five opportunities...Edmonton's Fernando Pisani left the game in the third period with a broken left ankle. He was battling Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom for a loose puck early in the third and slammed his ankle awkwardly into the boards. He was helped off the ice by teammates...Franzen has scored 37 goals in his last 44 games.
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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