would have pulled out another victory if not for the

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Mikael Granlund scored with 44.5 seconds left, Devan Dubnyk stopped 25 shots for his league-leading fourth shutout, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Boston Bruins 1-0 Thursday night.Granlund took a pass from Jonas Brodin circled below the end line and came out to the right of Tuukka Rask. His centering pass went off the skate of Adam McQuoid and trickled into the Boston net.Dubnyk has had to carry the Wild lately as Minnesotas offense has mustered just 10 goals in its past seven games, winning three. He has allowed nine goals in his last nine games, stopping 274 of 283 shots in that span to account for a .965 save percentage.Minnesota has allowed an NHL-low 29 total goals in 16 games this season, including 10 in its last nine games, dating back to the 5-0 shutout Oct. 25 in Boston.LIGHTNING 4, SABRES 1BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Alex Killorn had a goal and assist and Tampa Bay won its first game without captain Steven Stamkos.Nikita Kucherov, Nikita Nesterov and Brayden Point also scored, and Valtteri Filppula set up two goals with no-look passes in helping the Lightning win their third straight and improve to 6-2-1 in their past nine. The spread-out offensive contributions came in Tampa Bays first game since Stamkos tore a ligament in his right knee during a 4-3 win at Detroit on Tuesday.During the game at Buffalo, the Lightning announced Stamkos had surgery and is expected to miss four months.Cody Franson scored for Buffalo, which dropped to 0-4-2 in its past six. Its a stretch in which the teams offense has dried up in managing just six goals.BLUES 3, SHARKS 2ST. LOUIS -- Jaden Schwartz scored twice and David Perron added the game-winner to lift St. Louis past San Jose.Jake Allen had 29 saves -- holding off the Sharks 6-on-4 advantage over the final 55 seconds -- as the Blues won their second straight.Kevin Labanc got his first NHL goal and Logan Couture also scored for the Sharks, who lost their second straight after winning the first three on a season-high six-game trip.Perron broke a 2-2 tie with a power-play tally late in the second period. San Jose had killed off its previous 26 penalties over an 11-game stretch.STARS 3, AVALANCHE 2DALLAS -- Patrick Eaves capped Dallas three-goal first period and the Stars held off Colorado.Johnny Oduya and Brett Ritchie also scored in the first for Dallas, and Kari Lehtonen finished with 34 saves.Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist and Mikhail Grigorenko also scored for the Avalanche, who nearly rallied after trailing 3-0 after the first. Semyon Varlamov stopped 19 shots and snapped an 11-game winning streak against the Stars.Lehtonen stopped MacKinnon on a breakaway midway through the second period and again on a rebound with 10 minutes left in the game.FLYERS 5, JETS 2PHILADELPHIA -- Michael Raffl and Sean Couturier scored 34 seconds apart in the first period on Philadelphias initial two shots, and the Flyers went on to beat Winnipeg.Mark Streit, Wayne Simmonds and Brandon Manning also scored for the Flyers, who had 12 players register points.Blake Wheeler and Dustin Byfuglien had the goals for the Jets, who opened a season-high five-game, nine-day road trip with just their second loss in the last six.Couturier got Philadelphia on the board 9:13 in when he capitalized on a Winnipeg turnover and beat Connor Hellebuyck high to the glove side from close range. Raffl doubled the lead just over a half-minute later with his third of the season.Steve Mason made 30 saves to improve to 6-0-1 in his career against Winnipeg.Hellebuyck stopped 17 shots.PREDATORS 5, SENATORS 1OTTAWA, Ontario -- Ryan Ellis scored the tiebreaking goal late in the first period and Pekka Rinne stopped 30 shots to lead Nashville.Mike Ribeiro had a goal and assist, and Colton Sissons, Pontus Aberg and James Neal also scored to help the Predators sweep the two-game series series against the Senators.Derrick Brassard scored for Ottawa, and Mike Condon finished with 35 saves in his third start. The Senators havent scored more than two goals in their last 11 games.Ellis beat Condon on the far side with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the opening period to put the Predators up 2-1.MAPLE LEAFS 6, PANTHERS 1TORONTO -- Connor Brown had two goals and two assists to lead help spoiling James Reimers first start in Toronto since leaving the Maple Leafs in the offseason.Mitch Marner had another impressive goal, and Leo Komarov, James van Riemsdyk and Jake Gardiner also scored as Toronto improved to 7-2-0 at home. Nazem Kadri had two assists and Frederik Andersen stopped 27 shots.Aaron Ekblad scored the lone goal for Florida and Reimer finished with 24 saves.The Maple Leafs got to their former goalie quickly, scoring three times in the first period -- including two by Brown. Custom Cubs Jersey China . Giroud, who wasnt in the starting lineup for two matches after allegations about his private life and a decline in form, scored twice in the first half. Tomas Rosickys chip made it 3-0 before half time at Emirates Stadium, while defender Laurent Koscielny scored an unmarked header in the second half. Custom Kosuke Fukudome Jersey . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. http://www.customcubsjersey.com/ . The native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., captured a World Cup downhill event Saturday, his second this year and fifth career victory on the circuit. Wholesale Custom Cubs Shirts . -- Bobby Ryan helped the U. Authentic Custom Cubs Jersey . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. ATHENS, Ga. -- Jacob Eason has shown flashes of his enormous potential.Then there are times when he looks very much like a freshman quarterback.Like this past Sunday, when he threw for only 29 yards in Georgias victory over South Carolina, the fewest passing yards by the Bulldogs since 1990.Coach Kirby Smart shrugged off Easons up-and-down play, saying thats to be expected when youre starting a guy right out of high school.Hes had his wow moments and hes had his bad moments, Smart said Tuesday. You know that youre going to inherently go through some of those. Youve got to encourage, youve got to teach, youve got to improve him as a player so theres progress there.The Bulldogs (4-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) are definitely counting on Eason to show improvement, beginning with Saturdays game against Vanderbilt. But they also realize its not always going to be a steady progression.There are going to be some bumps along the way, and Eason could be challenged again by a Commodores defense that it tied for fourth in the SEC in passing yards allowed (215.3 per game).Smart never considered benching his quarterback in the 28-14 victory over the Gamecocks, even though he completed just 5 of 17 passes, with one touchdown and one interception.The way the Bulldogs were running the ball -- they piled up 326 yards behind Sony Michel, Nick Chubb and Brian Herrien -- allowed them to largely control the tempo of the game, which never felt as close as the score might have indicated.I dont think that decision is based on statistics, Smart said. Its based on your ability to execute and perform within the offense. Sometimes outside circumstances affect statistics, whether its dropped balls, whether its poor breakdowns in protection, whether its tipped balls. Theres a lot of things that affect that.While Smart said every starting position is up for grabs on a weekly basis, he seems intent on going with Eason through thick and thin. That means fifth-year senior Greyson Lambert, who started all but one game a season ago as well as this years opening victory over North Carolina, is likely to remain on the bench for the rest of his college career.Easons poor performance was not entirely his fault. The game, whicch was delayed a day by Hurricane Matthew, was played in a strong breeze that appeared to affect some of his throws.dddddddddddd There were also several drops, which has been a problem at times for Georgias receiving corps.But Smart said there are plenty of areas where Eason can improve.Hes got to do better with his play-action fakes. Hes got to be more detailed with his drops. Hes got to be more exact in reading coverage. Hes got to be able to communicate a little better, the coach said. All of those things have been a work in progress since he got here. Its not like youre saying `Oh, this is what hes not good at. This is what hes got to improve on.Smart credited Lambert with doing his part to help Eason learn the nuances of the college game.He meets extra with Jacob each week to go through coverages he sees and helps him learn how to study film, which is really important for a freshman, Smart said. Youve got to understand, these kids didnt study high school film like they have to study in college.Easons teammates havent lost confidence in their young quarterback.After all, he did come through with a 20-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to beat Missouri in the closing minutes, not to mention that 47-yard touchdown pass with just 10 seconds remaining against Tennessee, which would have pulled out another victory if not for the Volunteers completing a Hail Mary scoring pass on the final play.Its a learning curve, Michel said. Youve got to know what it feels like to not succeed before you succeed.Game notes Defensive lineman Jonathan Ledbetter is expected to play for the first time this season against Vanderbilt. After two alcohol-related arrested during the offseason, Ledbetter served a six-game suspension. Hes handled everything weve asked him to do very well, Smart said. Well work him into the rotation. How much hell play will depend on how he practices this week.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry .---AP College Football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '