Gäste Forum » Saturday.Zig-zagging makes a tough trip through Wes

GENEVA -- European champion Portugal failed to overcome the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo this time, and lost 2-0 to Switzerland in a World Cup qualifying match on Tuesday.For Portugals first competitive match since beating France in the Euro 2016 final, Ronaldo was left out of the squad while he recovers from the knee injury sustained in the opening minutes in Paris.A Swiss team which mostly lacked spark in France fired into life with two goals midway through the first half at Basel. It also had midfielder Granit Xhaka sent off in stoppage time for a second yellow card.Breel Embolo headed the opening goal in the 23rd minute, reacting fastest to goalkeeper Rui Patricios parry of a Ricardo Rodriguez free kick.A fine fast break in the 30th was finished by Admir Mehmedi with a curling shot into the top-right corner of the Portugal goal. Mehmedi had taken a return pass after finding forward Haris Seferovic running deep beyond the defense.Portugal struck a post in the 82nd when Nani directed a header to bounce slowly back across goal and safely away.Earlier, Portugals defenders went close with shots that deflected just wide of goal, by left-back Raphael Guerreiro in the 37th and with Jose Fontes volley in the 75th.Portugals loss was its first in 15 competitive matches under coach Fernando Santos, almost two years after he took the job.Defeat leaves Portugal in a familiar position, after also losing its opening Euro 2016 qualifying match. Two years ago, again without Ronaldo, Portugal lost 1-0 at home to Albania and coach Paulo Bento was fired.Portugal also failed to win its past two World Cup qualifying groups and advanced to the final tournament each time through the playoffs.In other Group B games, Faeroe Islands caused an upset by holding Hungary to a goalless draw and Latvia settled for a narrow win over Andorra.---FAEROE ISLANDS 0, HUNGARY 0Hungary was highly watchable in reaching the round of 16 at Euro 2016, including in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Portugal in the group stage when it led three times.But on a breezy evening in the north Atlantic, Hungary was grateful to come away with a point against the 135th-ranked Faeroe Islands.Hallur Hanssons shot struck a post of Hungarys goal in the 86th minute. The draw means the home side already matched its points total from 2014 World Cup qualifying.---ANDORRA 0, LATVIA 1Latvia benefited from a goalkeeping error early in the second half to take all three points from world No. 203 Andorra.A header by Latvias Valerijs Sabala in the 48th minute looped over Andorra goalkeeper Ferran Pol, who was stranded far off his line when unwisely trying to claim the cross.Ben Coates Jersey . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. 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Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front.EDMONTON, Alberta -- The Oilers will feature something old and something new when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.The old: Coach Todd McLellan has reunited NHL leading scorer Connor McDavid (39 points) with Milan Lucic (22 points) and Jordan Eberle (23 points) as the Oilers No. 1 line. That trio was together at the start of the season and has been brought back together. McDavid has just one point in his last three games; Eberle is pointless in his last two. So, this move is about recharging players the Oilers need to score.Hes (McDavid) a fun player to play with, said Eberle. I think were just trying to find some chemistry again. I think we started off the season pretty well and weve played a lot together. We know each others tendencies and it should be good.The new: The Oilers called up Taylor Beck from their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield, Calif; Beck leads the AHL in scoring, with 30 points so far this season.Hell probably play in the bottom six, but hes a big body that protects pucks well and, right now, hes got it going offensively at that level, said McLellan. It doesnt always parlay into the National Hockey League level, but he feels good about his game offensively, and the other side of the puck as well.The Oilers have lost five out of their last seven, but three of those defeats have come in either overtime or the shootout. Getting a couple of extra goals into the lineup could mean a lot to a team that plays a lot of close games.The Oilers also had the luxury of three off days since Tuesdays 3-1 loss to the red-hot Columbbus Blue Jackets.dddddddddddd.Were fresh, were energized and we got to polish some things up, said McLellan.While the Oilers have had some time to rest, the NHL schedule maker hasnt been kind to the Lightning. The team won in Calgary on Wednesday night. But, instead of making the easy trip north to Edmonton, the Lightning got on the 90-minute flight to Vancouver, lost 4-2 to the Canucks Friday night, then have to jet back to Alberta to face the Oilers Saturday.Zig-zagging makes a tough trip through Western Canada even tougher. As well, Nikita Kucherov is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. He missed Wednesdays win over Calgary and Fridays loss to Vancouver. Kucherov leads the Lightning with 30 points. With sniper Steven Stamkos out long-term, the Lightning are piecing together their offensive pieces.Left winger Ondrej Palat also missed the Vancouver game after suffering an undisclosed injury against Calgary.Were on an unfortunate run of late, coming down with our injuries, said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. If theres ever a time for guys to step up, its right now.Weve got to get our strength here, because were playing an Edmonton team that hasnt played since Tuesday.Defenseman Anton Stralman said it will be up to the blueliners to be the ones who do that stepping up.It doesnt matter how good an offense you have unless you have the defense to carry out things in the back. We build a lot of offense from our defending, too. ' ' '