With time running out in the regular season, the Vancouver Canucks will try to make up ground in the Western Conference playoff race on Sunday when they host the lowly Buffalo Sabres. Sitting five points out of a playoff spot with only 10 games left on their schedule, the Canucks are in danger of missing the postseason in their first campaign under head coach John Tortorella. Although Vancouver didnt make it out of the first round in each of the last two springs, the club hasnt missed the playoffs since 2008. With 74 points, Vancouver is five behind Phoenix for the second wild card spot in the West. The Coyotes hold a game in hand over the Canucks, but with Phoenix idle on Sunday, Tortorellas club has a chance to cut the deficit to three points, Ryan Kesler and Daniel Sedin will return to action on Sunday and could help with Vancouvers postseason push. Sedin has missed the last nine games with an injured left hamstring, while Kesler has sat out the last four with a sprained right knee. Fellow forward Alexandre Burrows, however, expects to miss Sundays tilt after injuring his left hand in Vancouvers recent win over the Nashville Predators. Vancouver has won two of its last three games and is coming off Wednesdays 2-0 victory over visiting Nashville. Another win Sunday against the basement- dwelling Sabres would give the Canucks consecutive victories for the first time since beating Calgary and Edmonton from Jan. 18-21. The Canucks used a strong performance from rookie goaltender Eddie Lack to down the Predators. Lack made 30 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, while Alexander Edler and Nicklas Jensen scored in the third period for Vancouver. Jensen snapped a scoreless tie 6:06 into the third stanza. He scored from the top of the right circle after Henrik Sedin lost the puck in the slot. "Its being confident and not panicking and just trying to put it on net," Jensen said of his shot, which went just under the crossbar. "The fact the coach gives me that opportunity is really good, but at the same time you have to show you want to be in those situations too." Vancouver is 17-11-6 as the host this season and is wrapping a brief two-game homestand on Sunday. Buffalo is last in the NHL with just 48 points this season, but the Sabres were able to snap a seven-game losing streak in their last trip to the ice, picking up a 3-1 win in Edmonton. Cory Conacher had two goals on deflections and picked up an assist to back Buffalo neophyte Matt Hackett in Thursdays win over the Oilers. Hackett, the fifth goaltender to start for Buffalo this season, made 35 saves and helped the Sabres kill off 5-of-6 Edmonton power plays. "I think we deserved that one," said Conacher. "We kept it pretty simple for the most part. We ran into a bit of penalty trouble, but our PK came up huge." Hackett, who was recently called up from Rochester of the American Hockey League, made his debut with the club that acquired from Minnesota last April. With Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth still out with lower-body injuries, 22- year-old rookie Nathan Lieuwen will make his second career start on Sunday. Hackett will serve as the backup. Buffalo is 8-22-3 on the road this season and is playing the third test of a five-game swing on Sunday. The Sabres will continue the trek Tuesday in Montreal before completing the trip Thursday against Nashville. The Sabres have won four of the last six meetings with Vancouver, but the Canucks recorded a 3-0 win in Buffalo on Oct. 17. Sundays game marks Buffalos first road game against the Canucks since posting a 5-3 win on March 3, 2012. Before that victory two years ago, the Sabres had been winless in their previous six trips to B.C., going 0-5-0 with a tie. Basketball Shoes From China . 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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The day after the Detroit Tigers traded for Texas Rangers closer Joakim Soria, Joe Nathan made a point of showing why he is still manager Brad Ausmus No. 1 option in the ninth inning. Nathan struck out the side on 12 pitches to secure Max Scherzers 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series between two of the top three teams in the majors. The six-time All-Star posted his 21st save in 26 chances after Joba Chamberlain gave up a run on Josh Hamiltons sacrifice fly in the eighth. "Honestly, I just thought of tonight as just another game," Nathan said. "I didnt look at it as anything more important than going out and trying to get a W for us. "Its not about individuals. Its about this team winning. So there was really no concern on my part about going out there and making sure I got it done so that I could stay where Im at. Its up to Brad to make decisions like that, so Im just going to go out and compete when they allow me to." Nick Castellanos drove in the tying and go-ahead runs with a double in the sixth inning against Garrett Richards and Scherzer won his fourth straight decision. Scherzer (12-3) tied teammate Rick Porcello and New Yorks Masahiro Tanaka for the league lead in wins. He allowed three runs and six hits over seven innings and struck out 11. It was the fourth time this season and 22nd in his career that the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner had double digits in strikeouts. "Richards is a great pitcher and hes been having an awesome year, so you know you have to bring your A game," Scherzer said. "I felt good with everything tonight and had all four pitches going. I hadnt been getting the swings and misses I had been searching for with that pitch, so I made a little adjustment with my grip. Tonight I felt like I had a lot more consistency with it and a lot more downward action." Scherzer, the winning pitcher in the All-Star game, is 4-0 with a 2.21 ERA in six starts since giving up 10 runs over four innings in an 11-4 home loss to Kansas City on June 17. That came just five days after the seven-year veteran posted his first complete game and shutout in the major leagues with a three-hitter against the Chicago White Sox. Richards (11-3) allowed four runs and seven hits over six innings with five strikeouts and two walks. The right-hander was 7-0 with a 1.25 ERA over his previous nine starts following a 9-5 loss at Oakland on May 300.dddddddddddd "His command was a little bit off early, although his velocity was good and his movement was terrific," manager Mike Scioscia said. "His slider was there, but he just got some pitches in some zones where those guys caught up to it." Scherzer made 30 of his 103 pitches during a three-run fifth that put the Angels ahead 3-1. C.J. Cron beat out a broken-bat single in the hole to shortstop Eugenio Suarez to drive in Howie Kendrick, and Kole Calhoun hit a broken-bat single to right field to score David Freese and Cron. "It was a real challenge facing them in the fifth," Scherzer said. "They put together some really good at-bats against me. They grinded it out, kept fouling pitches off and they were able to capitalize on a couple of mistakes. They kept finding ways to put the ball in play and keep that inning going." The Tigers responded with three runs in the sixth. Richards gave up hits to the first four batters, including Torii Hunters RBI double to left-centre and Castellanos two-run double to the same spot. "I cannot say he was hittable. It was not fun," Hunter said. "I mean, he made some mistakes with his curveball, and we live off mistakes. We dont live off pitchers pitches. Garrett is filthy, and its not fun facing him at all. So hopefully, I hope I dont face him every again." Ian Kinsler increased Detroits margin to 5-3 in the sixth with an RBI double against Jason Grilli, and Austin Jackson added an RBI single in the eighth off Fernando Salas. The Tigers scratched out a run in the third on a groundout by Kinsler after Suarez drew a leadoff walk, Rajai Davis singled and both runners advanced on a wild pitch that bounced off Congers chest protector. NOTES: Among the crowd of 40,146 was reality TVs Vicki Gunvalson, one of the original "Real Housewives of Orange County." ... Soria met his new teammates before the game. Hunter remembered the two-time All-Star as a tough adversary. "It was a battle, man," Hunter said. "Before the surgery he had a 93 mile-an-hour fastball that looked like it was 97 or a hundred and was pretty sneaky. He was good at hitting the outside corner, his curveball was pretty good, and he wasnt afraid to throw it at any count. He throw strikes and he works fast. So to have him over here, Im going to love it." ... Scherzer is 10 strikeouts from becoming the 16th pitcher to get at least 1,000 in a Tigers uniform. ' ' '