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NEWARK, N.J. -- With the New Jersey Devils fighting for a playoff spot, Jon Merrill picked the perfect time to score his first NHL goal. The rookie defenceman connected 2:34 into overtime, and the Devils snapped a two-game skid with a 2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night. "You always dream of this kind of stuff when youre a little kid," the 22-year-old Merrill said. "After 20 games went by and I hadnt scored, I think those dreams went away a little bit. I knew it would come when it came. Tonight was a good opportunity." The goal came in Merrills 31st NHL game and was set up by Adam Henrique winning a battle in the corner and Michael Ryder getting the puck and finding Merrill all alone above the left circle for an uncontested shot against Ilya Bryzgalov. "I saw that four guys kind of collapsed on Ryds," Merrill said. "I was calling for it and he made a great play. I was walking in all alone and fortunately it went in." The win was the second in six games for New Jersey (2-2-2), and it ended a slide that saw the Devils lose the last two games in overtime after giving up the lead late in the third period. "It was awesome for him to get his first goal in overtime," said Henrique, who might have gotten away with a holding-the-stick penalty just before the goal. "Its such an important win for the team. Thats one hes going to remember for the rest of his career." Cory Schneider made 19 saves and Andrei Loktionov scored in regulation for the Devils, who play Saturday night at Washington in their final game before the Olympic break. Taylor Hall had the goal for the Oilers, who lost for only the second time in seven games (5-1-1). Ilya Bryzgalov made 22 saves for Edmonton, which wont play again until Feb. 27. "We found different ways to get points in this stretch," defenceman Justin Schultz said. "We got some solid goaltending. Weve improved our game against these teams that are battling for playoff spots." The Devils hit three posts in the game, with Ryder clanging a shot off the crossbar with 9:20 to play. Both teams went for the win in the final minutes of regulation. Henrique had two chances in close with just more than 4 minutes to go, and defenceman Andrew Ference and Matt Hendricks had chances for Edmonton a minute later. Schneider stopped a chance in close by Jordan Eberle early in overtime. With the Devils struggling to score, coach Pete DeBoer shook up his lines for the game and that led to the teams first goal. Loktionov, who was put at centre on Jaromir Jagrs line, opened the scoring at 11:01 with his first goal since Dec. 4. Jagr and defenceman Bryce Salvador set up the goal. Jagr carried the puck into the Oilers zone and found Salvador on the other side of the ice. He skated toward Bryzgalov and sent a cross-ice pass to a wide-open Loktionov for a shot into an open net. Jagrs assist was the 1,039th of his career, putting him one behind Marcel Dionne for ninth in NHL history. The public address announcer had not finished giving out the assists when Edmonton tied the game 29 seconds later. Hall skated the puck into the Devils end and worked a perfect give-and-go with Nail Yakupov for his 20th goal of the season. Schneider never had a chance to stop the shot into an open net. New Jersey had plenty of opportunities to take the lead in the second period. Devils defenceman Marek Zidlicky hit the post on a power-play shot and Ryane Clowe hit a post on a breakaway after an Oilers turnover. Mark Faynes shot from the point was past Bryzgalov and heading into the net when Ference swept it away from the crease. NOTES: Schultz played in his 100th NHL game. ... Martin Brodeur has been the Devils backup goalie the past five games. He has not played since giving up six goals in two periods during the outdoor game against the New York Rangers at Yankee Stadium. ... 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Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. http://www.airmax90blancas.es/air-max-lunar-90-wr-...spana.h tml . -- Ryan Blaney provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. Angus Reid is at peace with the most difficult football decision hes ever had to make. The B.C. Lions veteran centre announced his retirement Friday, ending a 13-year CFL career. "As an athlete you know this day will always come but you never want to think about it and never want to know its real so youre forced with facing that reality," Reid said. "But Im good with it because it was my decision and most athletes dont get that opportunity, their careers end because of various factors out of their control. "Sure, in the youthful part of my mind Id love to play football forever but I know I cant give the game what Id want to give it in terms of what I have left physically and I wouldnt be happy with that. I have nothing but happy memories and theres nothing more I couldve achieved. I think I over-achieved and Im proud of what I was able to get done in this sport." The six-foot-one, 305-pound Reid appeared in over 200 regular-season games, 11 playoff contests and three Grey Cups with the Lions (winning two). Heady stuff indeed, considering the inauspicious start to his pro career. The 37-year-old native of Richmond, B.C., was selected fourth overall in the 01 CFL draft by the Toronto Argonauts. However, the former Simon Fraser star was released during training camp and spent time on the Montreal Alouettes practice roster before being dealt to B.C. later that year. "I vividly remember that first year after getting home to the Lions saying, Wow, I guess this is probably it. Im a journeyman after one season. This is not what I planned," Reid said. "But true to my character and who I am I just sort of kept focusing on what I could do, kept working and didnt let what was happening dictate what I was going to do. "I think Im a pretty good example that continuous hard work does pay off. Life is going to be up and down and its going to be a bumpy road but you just have to stay on that roller-coaster longer because most of us want to get off when it gets rough. I just stayed on and it worked out well." Reid was a West Division all-star on three occasions and he earned league honours in 2011. He was also actively involved in community events. "Few players have made the kind of impression both on and off the field as a member of the B.C. Lions that Angus has during his career," Lions general manager Wally Buono said in a statement. "He was an incredibly durable player, a tremendous leader in our dressing room and he will be missed by everyone in our organization." Former CFL players Doug Brown and Bryan Chiu took to Twitter to offer their congratulations to Reid. "Throughout college & the pros, there arent many Ive lined up against that I respected more," tweeted Brown, a native of New Westminster, B.C., who was a standout defensive tackle with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. "Congrats on ur retirement." Added Chiu, a Vancouver native who played centre for the Montreal Alouetttes: "Congrats on a great career.dddddddddddd. Proud of you bro. Who wouldve thought we would both be centers in the CFL back at @vcrfootball." But Reid definitely saw the signs it was time to retire, most notably missing last season after undergoing major back surgery. "That was a wakeup call to me saying Im 37 now, not 27," Reid said. "Theres going to be life after football whether you like it or not and you want to be as healthy as you can so you can do other things in life and still have a lot of enjoyment and fun. "I have a wife and were trying to start a family and you have to look forward to more things." And then there was the realization that many of Reids former Lions teammates had long since moved on. "Half the guys I played with are my coaches now and you look around and say, Did I not get the memo," Reid said with a chuckle. "The good thing is I have no regrets looking back. "Im not leaving anything on the table. In that regard I dont want to say it was an easier decision but it gives me comfort that I can leave looking back with really proud, happy memories of my time in this sport." Especially with the majority of those memories having come at home. "There was some luck involved, obviously, that I got to play my career in B.C.," he said. "I grew up going to Lions games, my brother, Mark, was a long-snapper with the Lions in 1990 so I looked at it as a kid thinking, This would be amazing to do. "Well, I actually got to do it in the stadium I grew up going to watch games in. You really couldnt write a better career in terms of happiness, to be able to do it with your parents and family being able to come to almost every single game. You dream of a career like that and no matter how good it is it often doesnt come as close to what you would envision as a youth but mine really did and Im thankful and proud of that." As for what lies ahead, all Reid knows for sure is he wont be suiting up for the Lions in 2014. "Thats a good question, thats what Im trying to figure out right now," he said. "I did a pretty good job during my career of building bridges and good networks of people and so I do have a lot of opportunities. "However, Im trying to be careful to not to rush into the first opportunity, Im trying to look at them all." Reid has thought about a few different options when it comes to his future. "Id love to stay involved in the sport in some way but the probability of being a coach is slim right now," he said. "I think Id like to stay involved maybe in the sports media, be it TV, radio, newspapers. "But I have a feeling Ill also be doing other things in the business community. Im a Vancouver guy, this is where Ill be. Ill be busy, probably busier than I was when I played and went to work every day, put on sweats and ran around for a few hours. Now Ill probably be all over the place." Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
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