r their actions during bid contests

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Once the game goes to a shootout, the New Jersey Devils are already a beaten team. They have been pushed past overtime 10 times this season, and have lost every one of the tiebreakers. The latest, a 2-1 defeat to the also-ran New York Islanders on Saturday night, pushed the Devils closer to missing the playoffs. "Even if we were just .500 on those, wed have an extra four or five points and we wouldnt be in this situation," said forward Patrik Elias, whose miss in the second round ended the game. Not only arent the Devils coming out on top, they are having trouble scoring. Only once in 30 shootout tries this season have they managed a goal. In seven of the 10 shootouts, they were behind 1-0 before their first attempt. That was the case again Saturday when Frans Nielsen started with a goal, and Brock Nelson added one in the second round. New Jersey has lost 14 consecutive shootouts, including two in the past two games. "Were at the point we can pretty much try everything because what were doing is not working," forward Damien Brunner said. "Maybe we have to start throwing some jokes around on the bench. It cant get any worse." Nielsen scored in the second period, when a puck struck Elias in the pants and caromed in to give the Islanders a brief 1-0 lead. Cory Schneider played well otherwise and made 19 saves, but the Devils are five points below the wild-card cutoff with eight games left and will have to jump over several teams. "We had a chance to actually get ourselves back in the race," he said of the Devils, 2-4-2 in their past eight. "We got a point, but if we had gotten two extra points the past two wed really be making noise. "I dont know if its in our heads or what. There is no real point in elaborating. Its just not good enough." The Islanders are 5-2-1 in the last eight games, relishing the role of late-season spoilers. "It was a fun game to play," Nielsen said. "Were a young team and were working hard." In this shootout, New Yorks Anders Nilsson turned aside Adam Henrique, who scored in regulation, and then Elias to win it. Nilsson made 23 traditional saves. New Jersey closed the gap in shots during the second and erased its deficit on Henriques career-high 25th goal with 9:40 left. Henrique has a goal in back-to-back games following a seven-game drought. The Islanders had gone ahead 2:12 into the second. Nielsen drove to the net, and defenceman Peter Harrold tried to sweep away the puck but knocked it in off teammate Elias for Nielsens 23rd goal. "It hit me somewhere in the pants," Elias said. "A little unlucky there. I knew I was in trouble." The Devils nearly got even sooner when Mark Fayne fired a hard shot from the blue line that Nilsson smothered in his midsection at 4:23. It was New Jerseys third shot of the second, one more than in the first. Nielsen almost struck again when he came in on a short-handed breakaway with 6:47 left in the second. He drew a slashing penalty, but New York couldnt capitalize. The Islanders were outshot 11-7 in the frame, yet killed three Devils power plays. New Jersey had a 7-3 shots advantage in the uneventful and scoreless third period and 4-1 in overtime. The Islanders had only 11 shots after the first period. They came out aggressively early and finished checks in all three zones in the first, including big hits by Colin McDonald, Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck that riled up the crowd. Mike Halmo also threw his body around, and then ripped a shot that Schneider snagged with his glove to keep the game scoreless with 4:36 left. That gave New York a 7-2 edge in shots. "The first period was a disaster," Brunner said, "but then we got better." When Ryan Carter got a hit in, he was called for boarding for drilling Islanders forward Johan Sundstrom from behind in front of the penalty box with 4:15 to go. The Islanders outshot the Devils 9-2 in the first and outhit them 19-4 -- with Anders Lee having four. "Were battling and working extremely hard," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "I dont think we gave them much." NOTES: The Devils matched their season low with the two-shot first period. ... Steve Bernier was in the New Jersey lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous two games. ... Reid Boucher, now playing with AHL Albany, scored the Devils lone shootout goal this season. ... With Kyle Okposo missing his second straight game because of a lower-body injury, the Islanders had 10 rookies in the lineup. Nick Foles Youth Jersey . Nick Holden scored two goals and had an assist and the Avalanche held off the Nashville Predators 5-4 Saturday night for their fourth straight victory. Randall Cunningham Jersey . - Mark Sanchez found out the New York Jets had acquired Tim Tebow on a conference call with team management. https://www.eaglessportsgoods.com/Womens...nverted-Jersey/. Off-Season Game Plan looks at a Wild team that has a nice mix of proven veterans along with young, inexpensive talent on the rise. When the Wild signed Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, making a big splash in the summer of 2012, it set the franchise on a path to being more competitive, but a big reason that they have been so competitive is the contributions of young players who still have more to give. Dallas Goedert Youth Jersey . He left in the 4th inning of Saturdays game against the Tigers after experiencing tightness. Reyes and the team still hope that he will be ready for Opening Day in Tampa Bay in one week. Shareef Miller Jersey . The 28-year-old lefty made his MLB debut in 2013, making 10 starts and going 2-5 with 4.05 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. Albers was named the Twins organizations minor league pitcher of the year for 2013.GENEVA - The status of Russia and Qatar as World Cup hosts seemed even more secure Tuesday after FIFA dismissed ethics prosecutor Michael Garcias appeal against the handling of his investigation into the bidding process.FIFA said its appeals panel ruled the case not admissible.The former U.S. Attorney had objected to ethics judge Joachim Eckerts summary of the World Cup bid investigation, claiming numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of his work.Eckert sought to close the case against all nine bidding candidates last month. He concluded that any corruption or rule-breaking was of very limited scope and did not influence the votes. The FIFA executive committee chose Russia to host the World Cup in 2018 and Qatar won the vote for the 2022 tournament.It was unclear if Garcia can take his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.Garcia filed his appeal last month only three hours after FIFA published Eckerts report and welcomed a degree of closure.However, Eckerts report does not constitute a decision ... and as such is neither legally binding nor appealable, FIFA said in a statement Tuesday.FIFA also provided further legal opinion in a background paper on its website.In doing so, the chairman (Eckert) had merely commented on the report of (Garcias) investigatory chamber on a voluntary basis, the FIFA paper said.The ruling was published less than one hour after FIFA announced a disciplinary committee judgment dismissing complaints by two whistleblowers who were interviewed during the probe.The timing of the decisions — as FIFA President Sepp Blatter and his board gather in Marrakech, Morocco — will further fuel skepticism. FIFA insists that its judicial bodies are independent and not subject to any influence within its Zurich headquarters.Still, the two rulings will help set the agenda ahead of the two-day board meeting starting Thursday, which appears weighted against reformers seeking greater transparency.The board is set to receive a review on Friday of Garcia and Eckerts work by Domenico Scala, the chairman of FIFAs audit annd compliance committee.dddddddddddd Scala should decide how much of Garcias confidential 430-page investigation dossier should be seen by the board to decide the next steps in the case, more than four years after Russia and Qatar won their votes.Blatters ruling board will then decide whether to relax secrecy rules and publish some or all of Garcias work.Garcias legal defeat Tuesday does not affect his prosecutions of five men, including former FIFA board member Franz Beckenbauer, for wrongdoing in the bid campaign.Three current FIFA board members — FIFA vice-president Angel Maria Villar of Spain, Michel DHooghe of Belgium and Worawi Makudi of Thailand — also face sanctions for their actions during bid contests marred by claims of bribery, collusion and favour-seeking, and the subsequent investigation.The Russian and Qatari World Cup bid teams and organizing committees have always denied wrongdoing.In the earlier disciplinary ruling Tuesday, FIFA said the whistleblowers breach of confidentiality claim had no substance.The FIFA statement did not identify Phaedra Almajid, a former Qatar bid staffer, and Bonita Mersiades, who worked for the Australia campaign. Both worked in communications for their countries 2022 bids and left before the December 2010 vote.The FIFA panel ruled that both women had gone public with their own media activities long before Eckerts summary was published. Eckerts report also did not name them.FIFA said Garcia advised disciplinary chairman Claudio Sulser that the complaints against Eckert were without merit.The president German soccer federation, one of FIFAs most influential members, spoke out Tuesday against the legal turmoil.Wolfgang Niersbach, speaking on the fringes of a news conference, said weve lost track of the judicial mess over the Garcia report.Niersbach, who European members could elect to the FIFA board in March, said the sports governing body was failing to be an institution of absolute credibility and integrity.___AP Sports Writer Nesha Starcevic in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed to this report. ' ' '