While projected top draft pick Connor McDavid remains off the ice with a broken right hand, the NHLs race to last place is going strong a quarter of the way through the season.And its not quite playing out as everyone expected.The Buffalo Sabres went off-script as one of the hottest teams in the league, while a stunningly poor start has put the Columbus Blue Jackets in the drivers seat to get the best odds of landing the first-overall draft pick.Columbus has been beset by injuries to goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, centre Brandon Dubinsky, forward Mark Letstu and defencemen Fedor Tyutin and Ryan Murray (among others) and has fallen to 6-15-2 with an NHL-worst 14 points. But as recently as the general managers meeting in mid-November, Jarmo Kekalainen said he didnt believe the season was lost.I hope the pace (of injuries) goes down a little bit, Kekalainen said. Hopefully we can ramp it up here and get back healthy and playing the way we want to play.Last in the league in goals-against per game, the Blue Jackets are far away from that. Behind Jack Johnson and James Wisniewski, their blue-line has become a mish-mash of defencemen like Tim Erixon, David Savard, Dalton Prout, Jordan Leopold and Kevin Connauton.Mediocre defence is a common theme among the bottom five teams in the NHL standings. Along with the Blue Jackets, the Edmonton Oilers, Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers have all struggled in that department.Edmonton has lost nine straight games (two of them in overtime) and look like a lock to pick in the top 10 for the seventh straight year.This is an extremely hard and tough situation for everybody in our organization, from the players to the coaches to the managers, embattled coach Dallas Eakins said after Fridays overtime loss in St. Louis. It is hard and it is painful, and somewhere you have to believe that this is going to make you extremely resilient and tough down the road.The Oilers already have three recent first-overall picks on their roster in Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov and at this point will have more than a few ping-pong balls to get a fourth in McDavid.Inconsistent goaltending from Ben Scrivens and Viktor Fasth hasnt been helped by underachieving play from young defencemen Justin Schultz and Nikita Nikitin, who were counted on to play difficult, top-four minutes.After starting the season 3-12-2, the Sabres have won five of their past six games including each side of a back-to-back against the Montreal Canadiens. Fans in Buffalo would welcome McDavid or Boston University centre Jack Eichel with rebuilding in full swing, but a little winning could go a long way for the Sabres core.We need to keep building on those breaks and stay positive here, goaltender Jhonas Enroth said.In Carolina, Jordan Staal replacement Riley Nash has been a pleasant surprise, but Alex Semin has been so much of a disappointment that the winger in the second season of a US$35-million, five-year contract has been a healthy scratch. Expectations were low in Raleigh just as they are in Buffalo, so first-year GM Ron Francis and rookie coach Bill Peters can spend this season trying to build a system and a culture.The Flyers dont have such a luxury and have dug themselves a deep hole by losing eight of their past nine, seven of them in regulation.This is a better team than were playing right now and that our record is showing, Flyers general manager Ron Hextall said after Fridays home loss to the New York Rangers. We have to get going, no doubt about it. Im not happy with our record and our overall performance.Absent top-liners Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek, who are having all-star seasons, Philadelphia has lacked offence and Michael Del Zotto has incredibly been the best piece of a defence missing Kimmo Timonen.And it could get worse before it gets better with the Flyers out West to face the San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings this week.The NHL made changes to its lottery format that go into effect this season. The team with the fewest points will have a 20 per cent chance of picking first, down from 25. The team with the second-fewest points has a 13.5 per cent chance instead of 18.8 and the one with the third-fewest 11.5 per cent instead of 14.2.Under the 2014-15 format, the highest-ranked team to miss the playoffs will have double the chance of getting the No. 1 pick, even though the odds are just 1 per cent.With files from The Associated Press---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter Chris Lindstrom Youth Jersey . The Leafs were back on the ice Wednesday following an 10-day break. It apparently wasnt long enough, as Team Canadas 2-1 win over Latvia didnt conclude before the Leafs began practice. "I was thinking we might get a little delay, but it was nice to get out there," said Tyler Bozak of watching Wednesdays game. Steve Bartkowski Womens Jersey . Top-seeded Djokovic, who is making only his second appearance this year after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over 54th-ranked Istomin of Uzbekistan. "It wasnt as easy as the scoreline indicates," said Djokovic, who has won in Dubai on four occasions. http://www.thefaclonsshoponline.com/Yout...Falcons-Jersey/. Prado stuck his glove down with Colorados Charlie Blackmon sliding into the bag, and quickly jumped back in pain after applying the tag. Prado held his left wrist as trainers came out of the Diamondbacks dugout to check him. Brett Favre Jersey . -- Lindsey Vonn squeezed in a little freeskiing on Thanksgiving morning, a step in the right direction for a return to racing after reinjuring her right knee in a recent training crash. Kendall Sheffield Jersey . The biggest shock of this seasons competition was on when Watford took a 2-0 lead after 30 minutes at Etihad Stadium, only for a remarkable Aguero-led comeback by City in the final half-hour. The Argentina striker produced clinical finishes in the 60th and 79th minutes to level the score before Aleksandar Kolarov put City in front in the 87th.SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Even with standout point guard Damian Lillard experiencing a rare off game, the Portland Trail Blazers still had enough offence to beat the Sacramento Kings. LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Wesley Matthews scored 21 points, and the Blazers beat the Kings 96-85 on Saturday night for their fourth win in five games. Lillard, last years rookie of the year, had four points on 1-of-15 shooting. He did contribute six rebounds and six assists. "It will happen occasionally, it was one of those nights when the shots didnt go in," said Lillard, who scored 22 points in Fridays win at home against the Kings. "We have a deeper team this year and guys can pick up the slack. Thats what makes us a better team." Portlands offence flowed well enough that it seemed at times that Lillards scoring wasnt even missed. The Blazers continued their early-season trend of shooting well from long distance, making 9 of 20 attempts from 3-point range and only had 12 turnovers. One of those players making shots was Matthews, who led the Blazers in the third quarter. Matthews made three 3s and had 19 of his 21 points in the second half. "Wes is playing at a high energy, particularly on offence," Portland coach Terry Stotts said. "Hes shooting the ball well and picking up where he left off last year before he got hurt." Robin Lopez had 12 points and 14 rebounds and Nicolas Batum also scored 12 points to help the Blazers sweep the home-and-home series with the Kings. Portland beat the Kings at home, 104-91 on Friday night. Its been a troubling start to the season for the Kings, who have lost five straight since beating Denver in the season-opener. The statistic that stood out in the latest loss was getting outrebounded by the Blazers 52-33. "Its not about back-to-backs. In this league you cant be too inconsistent; you need to be a pro for 48 minutes," King guard Greivis Vasquez said. "Youve got to hate losing, You cant accept losing." DeMarcus Cousins had 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter and also grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Kings. Cousins had 35 points in Friday nights game in Portland. Ben McLemore scored 13 points and Isaiah Thomas had 12 points for the Kings, who had only 54 points through three quarters before outscoring Portland 31-27 in the fourth. Kings rookie head coach Michael Malone has bemoaned the teams lack of defensive effort this seasoon and pointed to rebounding as a key element in yet another loss.dddddddddddd Malone said after the game that lineup changes could take place for Wednesdays game against Brooklyn. "Im embarrassed. Every night its the same thing," Malone said. "We finally get a night where we defend at a decent level, but we cant rebound. We got outworked on the glass. I think weve got a lot of guys who just care about themselves on this team. Changes will be made before we play on Wednesday. Portland had a 22-point lead early in the fourth quarter. However, Sacramento rallied as a three-point play by Cousins and a fast-break layup by Jimmer Fredette cut the deficit to 85-77 with 4:29 remaining. Batum ended a string of bad possessions by the Blazers, hitting a 3-pointer with 1:36 left to push the lead to 92-82. Following a quiet first half, it was Matthews doing the delivering in the third quarter. He made two 3s and scored 12 points in helping the Portland outscore Sacramento 24-16 and take a 69-54 lead into the fourth. "Everybody talks about LaMarcus and Lillard, but Wesley Matthews is the guy who has been playing very well for them," Malone said. "He shoots phenomenal from the field and the 3-point line." The Kings missed numerous shots in the third when they shot 8 for 23 and were outscored 17-8 in the final five-plus minutes of the period. Aldridge made an assortment of medium-range jumpers and had 16 points and 11 rebounds in the first half for the Blazers, who led 45-38. "With a back to back I knew I would be tired down the stretch, so I wanted to come out aggressive early and I got rolling a bit," Aldridge said. Cousins picked up two early fouls and went to the bench with 6:27 left in the first quarter. He played only 10 first-half minutes. NOTES: Kings reserve guard Fredette entered the game late in the first quarter and again in the fourth. He had four points in 19 minutes while playing in only his second game this season. His only other playing time was three minutes in reserve role against Golden State. ... Thomas Robinson, the Kings top draft pick in 2012, is now a second-year reserve forward for the Blazers and is playing for his third NBA team. He had five points in 12 minutes. . Kings starting forward John Salmons played 24 minutes, took two shots and was scoreless. . Both Mo Williams and Dorelll Wright played well off the Portland bench and scored eight points each. ' ' '