Offtopic/fun » His loss Friday to the Indians left him with a 4.45 ER

NEWARK, N.J. -- Taylor Hall and the New Jersey Devils have been a different team at home so far this season.Travis Zajac scored twice in the final 2:01 and Hall had two goals, leading the Devils over the Arizona Coyotes 5-3 on Tuesday night.Adam Henrique also had a goal for New Jersey, which is 3-0-0 at home and 0-2-1 on the road.You have to win at home if you want to be considered a good team, Zajac said.Hall, acquired by the Devils in a trade with Edmonton in June, has scored all five of his goals this season at Prudential Center.Its a building we want to play well in, he said. Im comfortable. Its fun to play here.Cory Schneider made 28 saves to help New Jersey win its third straight against Arizona dating to last season, and its fifth in seven games against the Coyotes overall.Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored twice in the third period for Arizona to tie it before Zajacs two goals. Jordan Martinook also scored for the Coyotes, and Justin Peters stopped 30 shots.Arizona has lost five straight on the road to fall to 1-5-0 and finishes a six-game road trip at Philadelphia on Thursday.We havent put 60 minutes together yet, Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said.Zajac ripped an off-wing slap shot for a 4-3 lead with 2:01 left, then added an empty-netter with 14 second remaining.Ekman-Larssons first goal came 7:51 into the third and his power-play goal at 13:53 evened the game. The second score was Arizonas third power-play goal of the season in 21 chances.Halls second goal made it 2-1 about midway through the second period. With New Jersey on a power play, Hall gathered a pass from rookie Pavel Zacha in the neutral zone and carried it into the offensive zone before putting the puck between defenseman Luke Schenns legs. Hall recovered the puck as he moved to the inside, then snapped a shot that beat Peters cleanly.New Jersey went 2 for 3 on the power play and killed two of Arizonas three opportunities. The Devils have killed 17 of 19 power plays this season.Special teams is big in this league, Zajac said. If you can score some timely goals on the (power play) and kill some timely penalties, you can win a lot of games. Its good for our group that we won the special teams battle.Henrique scored when Reid Bouchers shot ricocheted off his skate and past Peters with 5:57 left in the second. The goal was the first of the season for Henrique, and it also accounted for Bouchers first point of the season.Game notes D Jamie McBain was assigned to the Coyotes AHL affiliate in Tucson, Arizona. McBain did not record a point in three games with the Coyotes this season. ... Jamie McGinn made his season debut for the Coyotes. ... Arizona scratched D Kevin Connauton and C Dylan Strome. ... New Jersey scratched D Steven Santini and C Jacob Josefson. ... Henrique missed two shifts in the first period after being inadvertently clipped by Bouchers stick blade during that lines first shift of the game. ... The teams will meet once more in the regular season, March 11 in Arizona.UP NEXTCoyotes: Play at Philadelphia on Thursday night.Devils: Play Chicago on Friday night. Custom Calgary Flames Jerseys . Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. Calgary Flames Pro Shop . -- Anaheim Ducks captain and leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf has been scratched from Sunday nights game against the Vancouver Canucks because of an upper-body injury. https://www.cheapflames.com/ .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. Calgary Flames Shirts . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. Flames Jerseys China .C. -- Rodney Hood connected from all over the court while freshman Jabari Parker was busy swatting shots and scoring in transition. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona is more concerned about how his rotation will line up for the American League Division Series than the Saturday matchup with the Kansas City Royals.Right-hander Trevor Bauer, who starts Saturday, will in all likelihood by the Indians starter for the first postseason game Thursday.Right-hander Carlos Carrasco was placed on the 60-day disabled list Friday, removing him from any postseason appearances.Cy Young candidate Corey Kluber is nursing a quadriceps strain, while All-Star right-hander Danny Salazar has a forearm strain.While Kluber, who is 18-9 with a 3.14 ERA, threw long toss Friday before the game at Kauffman Stadium, he has yet to test his sore leg with a mound session. Salazar could have a simulated game Monday if he feels good the next couple of days.We need to talk through with the staff, and we need to talk to Kluber more, too, cause we want to get a better feel for where he is, too, Francona said. Were not going to know that for a little bit, so thats kind of why were waiting to see whats going on here.Does that mean who would start Game 1 of the ALDS?If and when and why, yeah, Francona said.Bauer has indicated he would be willing to pitch on short rest or be available every day out of the bullpen.I dont doubt that, Francona said. Thats something that, we need to talk through. Weve already talked with him.Bauer is 12-8 with a 4.26 ERA in 34 games (27 starts) this season. He struck out 159, walked 68 and allowed 173 hits in 184 innings.The Indians are one-half game behind Boston for home-field advantage in their upcoming ALDS.ddddddddddddThe Royals, who wont be in the postseason after playing in the past two World Series, will start Edinson Volquez on Saturday. He is 0-1 with a 7.77 ERA and opponents are hitting .324 off him in five September starts. He gave up 12 doubles and four home runs among 33 hits in 24 1/3 innings.This will be his sixth start against the Indians this year (1-2, 3.73), becoming only the second Kansas City pitcher to make six starts against the same team in a season.Meanwhile, the Royals try to figure out how Yordano Ace Ventura might improve during the offseason. His loss Friday to the Indians left him with a 4.45 ERA, the highest of his career.I just think that hes starting to understand, Royals manager Ned Yost said. Again, obviously, tonight, its still not quite there to be able to take it through six or seven innings, but you see the difference in five innings when hes staying within himself and just dotting that fastball, good curveball, nice changeup and then he starts to fly open a little bit, getting a little bit strong and then leaves pitches up in the zone and they do damage on it.Ventura gave up four runs, all in the third inning, while striking out eight, walking three and hitting a batter.Thank goodness I was able to finish the season healthy and Im going to go back home and start working to prepare myself for spring training next year, Ventura said with catching coach Pedro Grifol acting as his interpreter. ' ' '