EDMONTON - Being in the Western Conference doesnt make life easy for the Edmonton Oilers.Craig Smith had a pair of goals as the Nashville Predators bounced back from their first regulation loss of the season, defeating the Oilers 4-1 on Wednesday.Taylor Hall scored the lone goal for the Oilers (4-5-1), who have yet to defeat a fellow Western Conference team this season.We are in the west and we have to find a way to beat the western teams, said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. A lot of the western teams play a different style than they do in the east, but we are not getting out of this conference and we dont want to. I know we can play with them and we just have to find a way to beat them. There is no need to panic right now.Its unfortunate we cant beat teams in our division, added Hall. We get zero points and they get two and get a leg up on us. Its tough. Tonight wasnt really an effort that deserved two points, but at times during the game it was there to be taken. Unfortunately, we gave up a lead and couldnt get it back.Shea Weber and Taylor Beck also scored for the Predators (6-1-2), who started a six-game road trip off on solid footing.We came in here and did a pretty good job, Weber said. Thats a hot team, they had won four in a row. We knew we had to be ready. We didnt get a call early on and we stuck with it. The second period wasnt our best, but we got a couple of goals there and were able to get one early in the third and put them out of it.Smith said his line was influenced by the return of Matt Cullen to the Predators lineup.I think our line played well and I think our unit was able to create some turnovers and use our speed to make plays, he said. Cullen getting back in the lineup, I thought he was outstanding tonight, moving his feet well, I didnt think he missed a stride. I thought we played well tonight and were able to get a win.Edmonton caught a huge break just a minute-and-a-half in as Nashville had a goal waved off — the third time in the past five games an Oilers opponent has had a goal disallowed. Nashvilles Smith poked a puck into the net from under the glove of Oilers goalie Ben Scrivens, but the ref was quick to call the goal off, and the decision stood up after video review.The reasoning I got was that in the referees view the goaltender had made a save and when Craig came in with the second push, he was in the process of blowing the whistle, said Nashville coach Peter Laviolette. So I think it was because in their view the original save was made and he was blowing the whistle on that. Its not like it was loose puck.Nashville also came close five minutes into the opening period when Anton Volchenkov rang a shot off the post.The Predators controlled the bulk of the play in the first period, with 11 shots on Scrivens to Edmontons three on Pekka Rinne in the Nashville net.Video review was called upon again 19 seconds into the second period when Edmonton fans thought that Nugent-Hopkins had scored from the top of the circle on Rinne, but it was quickly determined he had hit the crossbar.Smith finally broke the scoring open for Nashville six minutes into the second period as a rebound landed on his stick and he tucked it in the net for his second of the season.The Predators made it 2-0 a minute-and-a-half later as Colin Wilson spotted Beck get away from defender Brad Hunt and hit him on the fly for a goal into a wide-open net.Webers rocket from the point added to Nashvilles lead just 24 seconds into the third period. The play was set up when a turnover in the Oilers zone went back to Weber.The Oilers tried to get back into the game a couple minutes later as Justin Schultz blazed into the zone and attempted a wrap-around, but Rinne was quick to get across and make the save.Hall ended Rinnes shutout bid with 11 minutes left to play. A big rebound on a Nugent-Hopkins shot came to Hall, who buried his sixth of the season.The Predators regained their three-goal cushion with just under eight minutes to play as Cullen made a perfect pass on a two-on-one to Smith for his second of the night.The Predators win was punctuated by a monster hit on Hall by former Windsor Spitfires teammate Ryan Ellis, who caught him trying to split the defence.I dont know what I was doing there, Hall said. He had probably seen me do that a bunch of times in junior. I should know better than to try that on him. I havent been hit like that in a long time.The Predators next game is on Friday in Calgary against the Flames. The Oilers conclude their season-high seven-game homestand on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks.Notes: It was the first of three games between the two teams this season, with the other two scheduled to take place in Nashville…. Edmonton swept the three-game series last year and has had a fair amount of success against the Predators in recent years. The Oilers came into the game having gone 9-4-1 in their last 14 games against Nashville… The game was the start of a six-game road trip for the Predators as they vacate town for the annual hosting of the Country Music Association Awards. Nashville went 2-4-1 during last seasons CMA trip… The game marked the seasonal debut of Predators forward Matt Cullen, who missed the first eight games of the season with an upper-body injury. He will play left wing on a line with centre Derek Roy and right wing Craig Smith. Cullen, 37, is in his second season with the Predators, scoring 10 goals and 29 assists after signing with Nashville as a free agent last season. To make room for Cullen on the roster, Rich Clune was assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League… Oilers defenceman Nikita Nikitin missed his second straight game with back spasms… Edmontons 2014 third overall draft pick Leon Draisaitl played his 10th game, activating the first year of his entry level deal. Seattle Mariners Shirts .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. Carlos Guillen Mariners Jersey . -- The Oakland Raiders expect to have starting right tackle Tony Pashos back for Sundays game against the Houston Texans. https://www.cheapmariners.com/165k-brand...y-mariners.html. The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. He will look to end Vettels run of six straight race wins on Sunday. Webber, who is fifth in the championship, earned his second pole from the past three races and 13th of his career. John Olerud Jersey . Team officials did not indicate the extent of the injury Saturday, simply listing Rose with "left knee soreness." Rose has played two preseason games without any sign of problems. The first NBA game in South America now will be missing its biggest star. Omar Vizquel Mariners Jersey . - The Kansas City Royals are hoping All-Star catcher Salvador Perez will be back in a few days.RALEIGH, N.C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. Demonstrating that newfound sense of camaraderie, Jets players wanted to win Tuesday nights game against Carolina in part because Maurice coached 920 games for the Hurricanes franchise. "We all understand his past and what he meant to this organization as far as the Hurricanes," Thorburn said. "We were playing for him as well as the two points." Winnipeg accomplished both goals when Thorburn scored the tiebreaker with 1:03 remaining to lift the Jets to a 2-1 win over the Hurricanes. It was Thorburns second goal of the season. Andrew Ladd also scored for the Jets, who are 9-2-0 since Maurice took over as coach on Jan. 12. Despite his players sentiments, Maurice said the game had no special significance for him. "This isnt my first tour through here, but we all care about each other in there, so Im taking it," he said. Winnipeg took the lead when Jacob Trouba circled around the net and sent the puck across the crease to Thorburn, who knocked it past goalie Anton Khudobin. "Great confidence in a young man to want to make the play that decides the game," Maurice said of Trouba, the young defenceman who asserted himself on the game-winner. "Not sit back and not want to make a mistake -- he wants the puck on his stick." Ondrej Pavelec made 28 saves for the Jets. Riley Nash scored for Carolina, aand Khudobin made 25 saves.dddddddddddd The Hurricanes went 10-4-0 in January and had won five of six, but their offence sputtered in this tight-checking game. "Two mistakes cost us two goals tonight," coach Kirk Muller said. "But overall, I thought our guys played hard and competed and skated and did a lot of good things -- just not the outcome we wanted." Winnipeg opened the scoring 12:57 into the second period when Michael Frolik skated past Carolina defenceman Justin Faulk on a rush down the left wing. Khudobin stopped Froliks shot, but Ladd batted the rebound into the net. Ladd, who has seven points in his last six games, was a member of the Hurricanes when they won the Stanley Cup in 2006. "Its always fun to score against your former team," Ladd said. "I get up for these games. You always have a little chip on your shoulder for a team thats traded you away." The Jets got a boost when they killed off a 51-second two-man advantage for the Hurricanes late in the second period. Carolinas John-Michael Liles hit the post with a slap shot during that stretch. Carolina tied it at 1 early in the third period. After the Hurricanes skated into the zone, Drayson Bowman tried to control the puck in the slot. Bowman couldnt get his stick on it, but the puck came to Nash, who snapped it past Pavelec. NOTES: Carolina began the night having played the fewest games in the NHL. ... Winnipeg entered having played 32 one-goal games this season, third-most in the league. ' ' '