Mexico, Croatia battle for place in knockout round (Live on TSN Radio 1050, TSN Radio 690, TEAM Radio 1410 at 4pm et/1pm pt) Mexico has reached the knockout round in each of the past five World Cups, and El Tri can extend that streak to six with a win or draw against Croatia at the Arena Pernambuco today in the final day of Group A play. Both teams beat Cameroon, but Mexicos 0-0 draw against Brazil is the difference between the sides, as Croatia fell 3-1 to the hosts in the opening match of the tournament. Much of the credit for Mexico getting a point against Brazil goes to goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, who produced a number of fine stops to keep his team in the match. "Sometimes its our turn to catch the eye and other times its someone elses," Ochoa said following the game with Brazil. "Of course Id like to have less to do, but in my position youve got to be constantly alert, whether youre needed just once or loads of times. And thats what Ill keep training for." Ochoa made a pair of big saves to deny Neymar, while he reacted well in the final minutes to keep out a point-blank header from Thiago Silva. "He saved us today," Mexican winger Andres Guardado said of Ochoa. "Sometimes we had the feeling that, however many times they went for goal, he wasnt going to let anything get past him." Ochoa will hope to be a bit less active on Monday, although Croatia enters the match full of confidence having handed Cameroon a 4-0 defeat last time out. After missing top forward Mario Mandzukic against Brazil because of suspension, the Bayern Munich forward returned to the fold against the African side and netted a pair of goals in the second half. Croatia was unlucky to lose 3-1 to Brazil in the opener as a questionable penalty decision handed the home side a 2-1 lead in the second half before Oscar scored a goal in stoppage time to cap the win. Unlike Mexico, Croatia must win Mondays game in order to advance to the round of 16 for the first time since 1998, and head coach Niko Kovac is expecting a great atmosphere. "The match against Mexico will be like a final," Kovac told Croatian television station HTV. "We have to get some rest, because a serious opponent awaits. Mexico are strong, but so are we. The Mexico players are very patriotic, just like us, and they have a great team spirit. They play some aggressive football with a lot of pressing. They are strong going forward, but also have some weaknesses in defense, like Brazil showed us." Teemu Selanne Jersey . -- Damian Lillard couldnt believe when he got a clear look at the rim. Joe Sakic Jersey . - Free agent defensive end Will Smith has signed with the New England Patriots. http://www.hockeyavalanche.com/authentic...alanche-jersey/. -- League scoring leader Anthony Mantha had two goals and two assists to lead the Val-dOr Foreurs over the Blainville-Boisbriand Phoenix 6-3 on Wednesay in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League play on Wednesday. John Wensink Jersey . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. Patrick Roy Jersey . The 10-year deal the league and players agreed to that ended the 2011 lockout gave either side the right to opt out after six years. With the league projecting financial growth, there has been speculation that players will take that option in three years, especially since a new national TV contract will be in place by then.(SportsNetwork.com) - The free-falling Edmonton Oilers will try to halt their lengthy losing streak and pick up their first win this season against a Western Conference opponent when they visit the Nashville Predators for Thursdays clash at Bridgestone Arena. The Oilers have dropped a season-high seven straight games, and the last five setbacks during the 0-6-1 stretch have come in regulation. Edmonton also is 0-5 against Western Conference clubs during the slide and is 0-11-1 within the conference this season. Nashville already owns a 2-0 record against Edmonton in 2014-15, and the Predators can sweep the season series with another victory tonight. The clubs have split the past six encounters overall, but the Oilers have lost three of their last four tests in Music City. Edmontons current skid actually began with a loss in Nashville, as the Preds posted a 3-2 home victory on Nov. 11. Filip Forsberg and Mike Ribeiro each had a goal and an assist for the Predators, who jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period before holding on for the win. Pekka Rinne turned aside 21 shots for Nashville. The Predators star goaltender has won both games versus Edmonton this season and lifetime is 11-6-1 with a 2.83 goals against average in this series. The Oilers most recent setback came Tuesday in Dallas. Tyler Seguin notched a pair of goals for Dallas and John Klingberg added a goal and an assist to help the Stars beat Edmonton, 3-2. Klingberg opened the scoring in the first period by fooling Edmonton goaltender Viktor Fasth with a rising slap shot from just outside the Oilers zone. Boyd Gordon answered with a short-handed goal later in the first for Edmonton, but Seguin tallied twice in the second period to put Dallas ahead for good. This league is too close to give other teams chances and goals like that, Edmonton head coach Dallas Eakins said. The game was there for us. We couldve easily had both ppoints.dddddddddddd Taylor Hall notched the 100th goal of his career in the loss, cutting the deficit to 3-2 less than six minutes into the third period. Fasth stopped 30 shots in the loss, which came one day after the Oilers fired goaltending coach Fred Chabot and replaced him with Dustin Schwartz. Fasth is 2-5-1 with a 3.32 goals against average this season and Ben Scrivens hasnt been any better, going 4-9-1 with a 3.35 GAA. Scrivens could get the start tonight and is 1-3-1 with a 2.39 GAA in five career games against Nashville. Fasth is 4-1-0 with a 2.01 GAA in five lifetime tilts versus the Preds. Edmonton is in 30th place in the NHL by virtue of one more regulation loss than the Columbus and Buffalo. All three teams have 14 points. The Predators, meanwhile, are tied for first atop the Central Division and have a chance to pull ahead of idle St. Louis tonight. Nashville has won four of its last five games and is 2-0 so far on four-game homestand. The Preds are coming off Tuesdays close victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions, downing the visiting Los Angeles Kings after a lengthy shootout battle. James Neal netted the lone goal in the shootout, as Nashville outlasted the Kings, 4-3. None of the first 10 shooters were able to put the puck into the net, but Neal opened up the sixth round by beating Martin Jones between the pads. Rinne then closed off the lane along the ice to deny Dwight Kings chance and end the contest. It felt like a playoff atmosphere here tonight, Preds forward Colin Wilson said. Craig Smith, Ryan Ellis and Eric Nystrom tallied in regulation for the Predators, who have won seven of their last nine overall and four straight on home ice. Rinne ended up with 18 saves and improved to 14-3-1 with a 1.97 GAA this season. Nashville, which completes its homestand Saturday against Columbus, boasts a stellar 8-1-1 record on home ice this season. 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