. Pittsburgh may not have goaltender Matt Murray for a month becau

MARSEILLE, France -- The pressure is sharply increasing on Paris Saint-Germain and its coach, Unai Emery, heading into Sundays showdown with French league leader Nice.With Nice already four points ahead, a defeat would further weaken Emerys position.Key players are out of form, the defense is leaking goals, and Emery is struggling to impose his workmanlike methods after joining from Spanish side Sevilla.A 3-0 loss away to Montpellier last weekend was followed by a dismal 2-2 home draw against Ludogorets in the Champions League on Tuesday night, with PSG coming from behind twice to salvage a draw against one of Europes least heralded sides.Hardly the form expected of a side hoping to conquer Europe, having dominated French football for the past two seasons under former coach Laurent Blanc, who was fired in late June.Nice also changed coaches in the summer, but for different reasons and with a hugely positive effect.Swiss coach Lucien Favre replaced Claude Puel, who moved to Premier League club Southampton after finishing in a credible fourth place.Nices defense is well balanced, while its slick midfield of Younes Belhanda, Jean Michael Seri and Wylan Cyprien oozes classy passing.Favre has also relaunched the career of striker Mario Balotelli, following his two dismal seasons with Liverpool and AC Milan, and given talented young striker Alassane Plea the chance to shine.The quick, skillful Plea has nine league goals so far, while Balotelli has six in six games.The powerful Italian forward earned a reputation for his controversial behavior on and off the field, notably when he let off fireworks in his home when he played for Manchester City. But Balotelli has kept his head lately and a good performance against PSG would strengthen his comeback.Favre has gained glowing reviews for adapting quickly to the French league after six seasons with German club Borussia Moenchengladbach.By contrast, the media is coming down hard on Emery.Following the Ludogorets match, in which PSG needed an injury-time equalizer to draw, sports daily LEquipes headline of Appalling summed up the general view.The manner in which PSG conceded goals against Ludogorets and Montpellier was alarming.The Brazilian central defensive pairing of Olympic champion Marquinhos and former Brazil captain Thiago Silva is not working well, with Silva taking on too much responsibility compensating for very basic errors from Marquinhos in terms of marking and concentration.Lynchpin midfielder Thiago Motta -- one of PSGs best players over the past three seasons -- is making unusually sloppy mistakes. The 34-year-old Italy international looks increasingly leg weary.PSG has already lost three league games this season, one more than last term.Despite guiding the club to a second straight domestic treble and winning Ligue 1 by a staggering 31 points, Blanc was fired for failing to get beyond the quarterfinals of the Champions League once again.Emery was chosen by the clubs cash-rich and ambitious Qatari owners because of his three straight Europa League titles with Sevilla.The Spanish coachs Sevilla side was based on intense fitness levels and speedy counterattacking, whereas Blanc favored a more technical, possession-based approach.The transition is proving complex and the only PSG player standing out is Edinson Cavani, with 14 league goals and six in Europe.But that is because Cavani is finally playing in his favored position following Zlatan Ibrahimovics departure, rather than Emerys methods. Shoes NZ Nike . 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LOUIS -- Valtteri Filppula assisted on three of Tampa Bays four goals, and the Lightning beat the St. Wholesale Shoes NZ . -- Charlie Graham stopped 67 shots as the Belleville Bulls edged the visiting Guelph Storm 6-5 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. TORONTO -- Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron have been skating, scoring and setting each other up as if theyre in midseason form with the Boston Bruins.Sidney Crosby, picking right up where he left off a few months ago in winning the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins, looks as dominant as ever before the start of the regular season.The trio played together on the same line during Canadas undefeated run through the World Cup of Hockey, giving them a chance to get and stay in a groove that should serve their teams and perhaps the entire NHL well.The two-week, best-on-best tournament that ended Thursday night with the Canadians beating Team Europe forced the games top players to start training earlier than usual. It also put the leagues standouts and stars in highly competitive games that tested them in a way preseason games simply cant.I think theyre going to come out flying, Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill said. Theyve been playing at a high level. Everybody else is just getting into that level. Theyve been there for a month already. Theyre playing against the best. The pace and the tempo theyve been playing at, I think those players I think are going to be leading the league early on.In addition to individual players getting a boost, some teams may have an edge early in the season because they had multiple players taking advantage of the opportunity to sharpen their skills before the preseason.More than half of the league had at least six players picked to play, including Tampa Bay (12) and Chicago (10) with double digits in participants.Its a great way to jumpstart your season, said Brent Burns, one of seven San Jose Sharks in the World Cup. I think guys will feel like theyre in rhythm and ready to go.St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said it was difficult to start training camp without seven key players because they werre in Toronto.ddddddddddddIt was a reality check, Hitchcock said. The real challenge is pulling your system together once they all join us and we have our team together. The players that played in the World Cup will be mentally more alert and theyll be ready for the tempo, which will make our team better and the league potentially better. But were not going to have a lot of time to implement everything we want to do this season.The World Cup is also going to hurt some teams who will start the season without a key player because of an injury sustained in September.The Los Angeles Kings are expected to be without Marian Gaborik for several weeks because of a foot injury. Pittsburgh may not have goaltender Matt Murray for a month because of a broken hand. Calgarys Mikael Backlund and Floridas Aaron Ekblad had concussions at the World Cup and the head injuries always have the potential to linger.The high-flying players from the North American 23-and-under team will likely be ready to roll when the puck drops for the regular season with a new level of confidence after seeing for first-hand that their speed could help them have success against established stars in the league.But even for players who survived the grind without an injury, theres a chance they added wear and tear on their bodies that may not show up until later in the long regular season and possibly the playoffs.This is our ninth game before October, said San Joses Logan Couture, counting the pre-tournament games in his total. Thats a lot of hockey early in the year. Well see how that affects us going forward. Im sure with our coaching staff well come up with a plan with rest. Hopefully, we can jump in and feel good at least at the start of the season. ' ' '