BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have Jack Eichel back, but theyre still desperately looking for consistency -- something they would like to see when they host the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.The lowest-scoring team in the NHL exploded for nine goals in Eichels first two games back in the lineup last week, picking up victories over the Ottawa Senators (5-4) and New York Rangers (4-3).They had lost the two games before that, however, along with the two games since. On Saturday, Buffalo fell 2-1 to Boston. On Monday night, the Sabres had a 2-1 lead but gave up a late goal to Washington before losing 3-2 in overtime.We have to try and fight our way up the standings, Sabres winger Kyle Okposo said after the loss to Washington. You might have some lulls in the season, but we already had ours. We have to make sure were pushing forward and doing everything we can to get two points. Getting a point is OK, but we had the lead in the third.Eichel missed the first 21 games of the season due to a high ankle sprain and had a minor setback in the loss to the Capitals, but Sabres coach Dan Bylsma called the setback fairly normal.Injuries continue to be an issue for the Sabres, particularly on defense. Erik Bergdorger played in his first NHL game against the Capitals after being called up from the AHLs Rochester Americans and was Buffalos 11th different defenseman to play this season. Zach Bogosian (knee sprain), Dmitry Kulikov (lower back), Josh Gorges (foot) and Taylor Fedun (shoulder) have all been out.The Oilers, like the Sabres, have a young core of players and are looking to finally turn the corner after several years of struggling. With a record of 14-10-3, the Oilers have gotten off to a better start than the Sabres.Edmonton is coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to Minnesota on Sunday but had won its previous two games -- 6-3 at Winnipeg and 3-2 in overtime against Anaheim.In the overtime loss to the Wild, Edmonton avoided a scare in the second period when young superstar Connor McDavid hit his head on the ice and was pulled from the game by the leagues concussion spotters to undergo the leagues concussion protocol. Team doctors later determined that McDavid didnt suffer a concussion.I was pretty shocked, to be honest, McDavid said, according to the teams website. I hit my mouth on the ice. You reach up and grab your mouth when you get hit in your mouth. I think its a pretty normal thing. Obviously, the spotter thought he knew how I was feeling. He pulled me off.McDavid has been lights out through the first third of the season. Through 27 games, he had a team-best 34 points (11 goals, 23 assists), which is 13 points more than the next-highest Oiler (Leon Draisaitl, 21 points).Hes such an easy player to play with, Draisaitl told the teams website. He always wants the puck and hes so fast. I dont really need to talk about how good he is. Hopefully we can keep this going. Nick Young Jersey . Dallas hasnt ruled out the star quarterback for Sunday nights game against Philadelphia, but all signs point to Romos back injury pushing Kyle Orton into the starting role after two years of limited play as the backup. Surely Ortons name isnt the first that comes to mind for fans wanting a change after years of damaging interceptions, fumbles or, most infamously, the field goal flub when Romo dropped the snap on a kick that could have won his first playoff game in 2006. Chris Mullin Warriors Jersey . Kozun faked to the forehand and beat Monsters starter, Calvin Pickard, pad side in the second round for the winner. Spencer Abbott also scored in the shootout for the Marlies (25-13-4). https://www.warriorsrookiesshop.com/Kevin-Durant-City-Edition-Jersey/ . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. Patrick McCaw Warriors Jersey . The parade and rally were held to celebrate the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in the CFLs championship game. DAngelo Russell Warriors Jersey . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. This offseason has developed a bit slowly compared with recent years, but one subtle narrative that has taken shape in recent weeks is the state of pitching metrics. Sam Millers recent article looked at Robbie Ray and the huge disparity between his FanGraphs and Baseball Reference WAR, while the AL Cy Young voting rewarded Rick Porcello, a traditional stats guy, over more saber-friendly competition. What does that say about publicly available pitching metrics? What are they missing, and what can that missing piece of information tell us about pitchers who could have an impact on 2017s pennant races?All metrics get the value of the strikeout and the walk, and the role played by park effects. What they are missing is a precise measurement of pitchers ability to manage contact. But in the age of StatCast, there really isnt an excuse for that. The data is at our fingertips, so we might as well put it to use in the evaluation of pitchers. There are two major aspects to pitching: What happens when the hitter does not make contact -- strikeouts and walks -- and what happens when the hitter does. Pitchers should be evaluated based on both the frequency of each type of ball in play allowed, i.e., their BIP mix, and on thee authority with which those batted balls were hit.ddddddddddddFrequency is a key; for most pitchers, the frequency of most BIP types allowed correlates well from year to year. Starting pitchers popup, fly ball and grounder rates allowed tend to stay about the same; not so line-drive rates, which are relatively volatile. Only truly excellent hurlers -- and hitters -- tend to record better than league-average line-drive rates consistently. Average authority (or exit speed) allowed, both overall and by specific BIP type, correlates a bit from year to year, but not nearly to as significant an extent as frequency. ERA and even FIP (which doesnt go much further than docking a pitcher for allowing homers) both miss pitchers relative contact management skill.This is where a couple of my metrics come in.?Adjusted contact score expresses a pitchers contact management performance based on the exit speed and launch angle of each ball put in play, on a scale where 100 equals average. Then, you add back the Ks and walks to get each pitchers Tru ERA, which can then be compared with his ERA and FIP. ' ' '