DETROIT -- Dave Dombrowskis latest trade also felt like one of his most predictable. There was simply no way the Detroit general manager was going to sit idly by without addressing his teams bullpen. "Weve been working on trying to find someone in the bullpen for an extended period," Dombrowski said. "Its something weve been focused on for a while. For the month of July, at least." The Tigers added one of the games better relievers in a trade earlier this week, acquiring Joakim Soria from Texas, but that may only be the beginning of a significant overhaul in the way Detroit approaches the late innings. Manager Brad Ausmus stuck with his usual routine in Thursday nights win over the Los Angeles Angels, using Joba Chamberlain in the eighth and Joe Nathan in the ninth. But with Soria in the fold, Ausmus now has more options. Detroits bullpen woes are nothing new. The Tigers finally gave up on Jose Valverde as their closer last year, letting Joaquin Benoit handle that role instead. Benoit pitched well, but the grand slam he allowed to Bostons David Ortiz was perhaps the defining moment of baseballs entire post-season in 2013. Benoit left via free agency, and Detroit signed Nathan, who was coming off a sparkling season with the Rangers. The 39-year-old right-hander has slipped badly this year. Even after striking out the side to close out a 6-4 win Thursday, his ERA was an unsightly 5.73. Nathan has shown mild signs of improvement, posting a 3.68 ERA in his last 15 appearances, striking out 21 in 14 2-3 innings in that span. But statistically, Soria has been better this year than any of Detroits current relievers -- and the Tigers gave up a couple promising young arms to get him. Ausmus says hes keeping Nathan and Chamberlain in their usual roles for now -- but Sorias presence means the Detroit manager doesnt have to be overly patient with anyone. Soria struck out 42 with only four walks this season with Texas. As desperate as theyve seemed for bullpen help, the Tigers didnt have to do anything totally irrational to acquire it. Thursdays victory gave Detroit a seven-game lead in the AL Central. The Tigers have had an unusual season. Theyve had winning streaks of eight, seven, six and five, but they also went through a 9-20 stretch that briefly knocked them out of first place. "Even if you win 95 games -- which is real good -- youre losing 67. And there are streaks attached to that," Dombrowski said. "Were a little streakier than I thought we would be as far as losses are concerned. You dont really expect us with our starting pitching staff ... usually when you have strong starting pitching, and some good offence, which we have, that puts sort of a stop to those streaks." The starting rotation has been a strength of this team for the last couple years. Now, the goal is to assemble a bullpen that will enable the Tigers to succeed in tight games when runs are scarce. Chamberlain has been solid in his first season with the Tigers, and the addition of Soria should certainly help. But even if Nathan pitches better, Detroit could probably still use more depth. Left-handed relievers Ian Krol and Phil Coke have generally been erratic. If the Tigers reach the post-season, they could move lefty Drew Smyly from the rotation to the bullpen, where he excelled last year. But there could still be more moves on the way between now and then. "Were still open-minded to getting better," Dombrowski told reporters on a conference call after trading for Soria. "Our bullpen has been a situation that has been our major focus and I guess would continue to be our major focus if we are going to do something." Ryan Smyth Jersey . -- Kurt Buschs Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, in some ways, was like his career wrapped into one afternoon. Wayne Gretzky Jersey . 22 because of a bruised foot and have added forward Sean Collins to the roster on emergency recall from Springfield of the AHL. http://www.officialoilersfanstore.com/customized/. "You hate when they score," he said with some distaste at the thought. "You take pride in it. Bill Ranford Jersey .S. routed Sweden 7-0 Sunday to win its fourth straight title and seventh overall under-18 world championship. Olson earned his third shutout of the tournament and the Americans allowed only four goals in six games to set an International Ice Hockey Federation under-18 record. Mark Messier Jersey .4 seconds left and dribbled up court, weaving through Pitts defence. 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 leeft.dddddddddddd 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. 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