The Dallas Stars won the Central Division last season. Many people felt the Nashville Predators had what it takes to unseat them this season.With the season not even 25 percent finished, its become clear both teams have a lot of work ahead of them if theyre to scale the heights to which they aspire. Only one can get closer when they meet Wednesday night in Nashville.Both enter off Monday night home wins, Dallas stopping Minnesota 3-2 in overtime and Nashville dumping Tampa Bay 3-1. But the Stars are just 8-7-5 and the Predators are only 8-7-3, leaving them seven and nine points, respectively, behind first-place Chicago.However, both teams feel a little better about themselves after playing solid games. Dallas snapped a nine-game overtime losing streak on Jamie Benns goal 1:23 into the extra period, while Nashville led 3-0 just over halfway through the second period and controlled the action against one of the leagues elite teams.It felt good. Im not going to lie, Benn said. It was nice to finally win one in overtime. I thought we played pretty good. I think we can be happy with that one.The Predators certainly were happy with their performance, which included good games from their highly touted defense corps. P.K. Subban pumped two goals past Ben Bishop in a 2:40 span of the second period, Ryan Ellis notched three assists and Roman Josi was all over the ice, picking up an assist, moving the puck with skill and drawing a penalty that led to Subbans first marker.I think thats the makeup of our defense and the skill set that all our defensemen have, Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. I think good defense is a six-man unit -- the goaltender and all five players working inside of a system and trying to do their job.Thats certainly been the case at home for the Predators. They are 6-1-1 in Bridgestone Arena, having outscored their opposition 25-11. In winning their last four at home, they have permitted just three goals, and Pekka Rinne came within 50 seconds of back-to-back shutouts at home Monday night.The Stars are only 3-4-3 on the road, but one of their wins came Oct. 18 in Nashville, a 2-1 decision that serves as the Predators only regulation home loss. Jason Spezza notched the tiebreaking goal at 9:15 of the third period as Dallas outshot Nashville 37-28.Kari Lehtonen was in net that night for the Stars, but Antti Niemi was in goal on Monday night, stopping 27 of 29 shots behind a revamped defense. John Klingberg, generally considered the teams top defenseman, was scratched after missing a team meeting Monday before morning skate, and Stephen Johns was also a healthy scratch.Coach Lindy Ruff said the changes also were based on improving puck movement.Our play coming through the neutral zone was probably as good as its been all year, he said. It was simple and effective.It will have to stay that way if Dallas is to earn a second win in Nashville against an equally needy team.We are in a position where we need all the points we can get, all the wins, Rinne said. We need to keep building our confidence and keep rolling. Wholesale Shoes Nz . Gather a group of friends, or find a league to join online, draft your team, set your lineup and compete in a number of different formats. Buy Shoes Nz . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. http://www.cheapnzshoes.com/ .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. Discount Shoes Nz . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Cheap Shoes Nz . For the Wild it was their first win of the season and they now have a record of 1-1-2 while the Jets fall to 2-2. Jets start a six game home stand Friday with another divisional game, home to the Dallas Stars. CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- For the third time in five years, Virginia will open the season with a true road game, a rarity for top-10 teams over the recent years.The Cavaliers are fortified as one of the top programs in the country under head coach Tony Bennett and travel to UNC Greensboro Friday night at the Greensboro Coliseum.Virginia is coming off a 2015-16 campaign that ended one win shy of the Elite Eight and a 30-win season, which would have been their second in as many years. While the Cavaliers graduated four seniors from last years squad including ACC Player of the Year Malcolm Brogdon, they return plenty of talent, which earned them their No. 8 preseason ranking.Bennett, who is entering his eighth season at the helm in Charlottesville, will once again look to be one of the best defenses in the country while also improving on the offensive side of the ball. Virginia allowed just 63 points per game last season which ranked 16th in the country, but also put up an average of 76 points per game on offense.There are a lot of unknowns this season and that will be challenging, Bennett said. (London Perrantes) supporting cast isnt as proven as it has been and we are going to find out fairly soon how the other guys can step up.Perrantes, a senior point guard, is coming off of a junior campaign in which he averaged 11.0 points and 4.4 assists per game. The Cavaliers will be without two key pieces to open the season, as highly touted forward Austin Nichols, who transferred from Memphis, will miss Fridays game due to a violation of tteam rules.dddddddddddd Redshirt freshman Mamadi Diakite will also miss Friday nights game as he will have to sit out due to an ongoing investigation into his amateur status by the NCAA.Virginia will look for early contributions from freshmen guard Kyle Guy, who was Mr. Basketball in the state of Indiana last year, and forwards Jay Huff and DeAndre Hunter who may need to fill the void missed from Nichols and Diakite against the Spartans.I think we have the best freshman class in the country, its as simple as that, Guy said. We have so much skill here. Everyone is phenomenal.The Spartans won 15 games last season and made an appearance in the CBI tournament where they advanced to the second round before losing to Ohio in the quarterfinals. UNC Greensboro was picked to finish fifth in the Southern Conferences preseason poll but will face their stiffest test of their 2016-17 season when they host the Cavaliers.The Spartans lose three of their top four scorers from last years team. Center R.J. White averaged 12 points and seven rebounds per game last season.UNC Greensboro will likely bring a defensive mindset to the game as well as they are coming off of a season where they gave up just 68 points per game -- easily ranking them in the top 40 in the country. White will need to continue to be a force on the glass against the Cavaliers where he may have the advantage against a diminished Virginia frontcourt. ' ' '