won four races and finished eighth in the final point standings

NASHVILLE -- The Philadelphia Flyers have started their six-game, 13-day road trip off in winning style even if they needed more than overtime to pull out the victory. Vincent Lecavalier scored the only goal in the shootout, and the Flyers edged the Nashville Predators 3-2 Saturday night for their second straight win. Claude Giroux scored in the first period, and Sean Couturiers goal at 13:06 of the third tied it up at 2-2 to help the Flyers reach the shootout. "Its huge to start off the road trip the right way," Couturier said. "I think we deserved the win by battling hard, not quitting and coming back." Steve Mason made 34 saves and stopped Craig Smith, Matt Hendricks and Matt Cullen in the shootout for the second win in as many days. "Its nice to come out on top in one of these games," Mason said. "Weve struggled in tight situations like this before. Being able to come out and get the extra two points is huge." Mike Fisher and Colin Wilson each scored for Nashville, which has lost two straight. "We should have won the hockey game, but we didnt," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "We couldnt hold onto the lead. Their one play, they capitalized on it, got it tied up and I thought Mason came up with some pretty big saves for them." The Predators were playing their fourth game in six nights and without captain Shea Weber who is day to day with an eye injury after taking a puck to the face in Thursday nights 3-0 loss to the Oilers. Their most experienced defenceman on the ice was Roman Josi with 116 career NHL games. Mason gave the Flyers a chance to win in the shootout. He had a big save inside the final 30 seconds of regulation when Seth Jones passed to David Legwand for a shot in front. In overtime, Wilson hit a post at 2:30, and Mason stopped him on a breakaway with about 30 seconds left. Matt Read was wide on a shot on Nashville goalie Marek Mazanec during the extra period. In the shootout, Lecavalier was the first shooter for the Flyers and beat Mazanec with a forehand. Giroux was stopped at the post, but the Flyers didnt need a third shooter when Cullen missed. Not only did Nashville not have its leading goal-scorer in Weber, but defenceman Kevin Klein also was out for the Predators with a lower body injury, their team leader with 58 blocked shots. Goalie Pekka Rinne also hasnt played since Oct. 24 because of an infected hip. "When you lose your two All Stars, everybody has to pick up the slack, they say it, but I think everybody becomes a little bit more aware," Wilson said. "Everybody is taking care of the D zone and being more detailed. I think we saw that tonight the way everybody was playing and playing as a unit." The Flyers missed a prime chance at scoring on their lone power play of the first period when a shot slipped under Mazanec and was lying just near the line only to be poked away by Philadelphia forward Jakub Voracek. The Flyers went 0-for-3 with the man advantage but killed off five power plays. "I didnt think we were very sharp, but they hung in there, they battled and they won a game," Flyers coach Craig Berube said. "A win is a win. The team showed character tonight, and thats what is important. But we have got some things that need to be ironed out." A couple of minutes after the power play ended, the Flyers took advantage of a Nashville turnover as Giroux scored on a slap shot that went up into the net over Mazanec at 16:49. The Predators answered right back a minute later when Fishers snap shot from the left circle beat Mason five-hole. Giroux hit the post during the Flyers second power play early in the third period, and Nashville killed it off. Then Wilson put a backhand under Masons left leg at 5:05 to put Nashville ahead 2-1. Couturier tied it up when Andrej Meszaros found him in front at 13:06. Notes: The Flyers are 1-1 in the shootout this season and 11-3-1 when scoring first. ... Fisher has three goals in four games, and Nashville is 4-2-0 when he scores this season. ... Wilsons goal was the 50th of his career. ... Cullen played his 1,100th career game. Amed Rosario Jersey . Pearce had a career-high four hits and drove in two runs, and Wei-Yin Chen shut down Texas again as the Orioles completed a four-game sweep of the Rangers with a 5-2 victory on Thursday night. Jeurys Familia Jersey . The CFL will help tackle womens cancers by playing four special "CFL PINK" games this weekend. http://www.metssale.com/mets-gary-carter-jersey/ . And I wanted to take this opportunity to share some of my experiences gained through International competition and the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Seven NHL referees and six linesmen will be assigned upcoming games in Sochi by the IIHF as part of their 28-man officiating roster comprised of 14 refs and 14 linesmen. David Wright Jersey David Wright Mets Jersey .com) - The Boston Bruins announced Monday that the team has signed goaltender Niklas Svedberg to a one-year contract.LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. extended his run as NASCARs most popular driver with his 12th consecutive win.Earnhardt was presented with the NASCAR Sprint NMPA Most Popular Driver Award at Friday nights season-ending awards ceremony. Earnhardt last year broke a tie with 16-time winner Bill Elliott for most consecutive years as winner.He thanked his fan base, known as JR Nation, and said joining Twitter this year made him more aware of how determined his fans are to help him win the award. He said hed wake up each day and check his Twitter timeline to see it is just full of these fans, I voted, I voted, Earnhardt said. That was probably the most humbling experience. I got to know my fans in a whole new way this year.Completing the top 10 in total votes for this years award were (listed alphabetically): Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Danica Patrick, Tony Stewart and Josh Wise.Keselowski feigned shock over Earnhardts win while Earnhardt accepted the trophy.Darn, Really thought I had it this year! he posted on Twitter.Only 17 drivers have won the most popular driver award since its inception in 1956. Elliott removed his name from consideratiion following his 16th victory in 2002.ddddddddddddEarnhardts streak began the next season.His fan base this year was able to celebrate a banner season in which he opened the year with a victory in the Daytona 500. Earnhardt won four races and finished eighth in the final point standings.He was also honoured Thursday with the prestigious Myers Brothers award, which recognizes the winner for their contributions to the sport.After accepting the award Friday, Earnhardt revealed he gave his speech for the first time without prepared remarks. He said he didnt like how he sounded last year in accepting most popular driver — it didnt seem genuine to me, he said — so he went off the cuff on the stage this time.I hope my remarks came across well because I genuinely do appreciate all the effort from the fans, Earnhardt said. It really is overwhelming to be able to continue to win this award. This was a good year because of all the victories we were able to deliver on the race track. The other years, it was difficult to accept the award because of our performance.I feel like I have a good idea in other forms of sport or celebrity, and our fans are truly the most loyal, most devoted, most vocal. ' ' '