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EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers got bigger, faster and more experienced Tuesday by signing three free agents who general manager Craig MacTavish, say will significantly address a serious shortcoming in the teams on-ice performance. The Oilers jumped into the free agent market early by signing defencemen Keith Aulie (six-foot-six, 228 pounds) and Mark Fayne (6-3, 210 pounds) and left-winger Benoit Pouliot (6-3, 197-pounds). Two days earlier MacTavish traded lightweight forward Sam Gagner to Tampa Bay for 6-3, 203-pound right winger Ted Purcell. On Tuesday they also re-signed 6-3, 240-pound left winger Luke Gazdic, who had 15 fighting majors last season, to a two-year contract. "They all have size," stressed MacTavish. "We added a lot of size in the last two days. We havent touched the core group of guys we ended the season with and weve added what we think is a much more well rounded complement to those players with size and speed and puck pursuit. "All these moves are going to go a long ways to addressing a serious shortcoming in our on-ice performance and I think we can expect to be much better next year." MacTavish said he went into the day with two targets: Fayne and Pouliot. After a strong sales pitch he signed Pouliot to a five-year contract worth $20 million, got Faynes name on a four-year, $14.5-million deal and inked Aulie for $800,000 for one year. "We made a case for our situation here in Edmonton," he said. "It was a compelling story for them, as it was for me to tell. The situation is improving here, in spite of the fact that the results have lagged, but it was a compelling enough situation that at the end of the day we were able to quickly react to these players." Pouliot, 27, has played for five different NHL teams, including the New York Rangers last season when he collected 15 goals and 36 points in 80 games and 10 points in their run to the Stanley Cup final. "Pouliot was our most important addition because we needed someone with speed," MacTavish said, explaining why he agreed to the $20-million deal for the player who made $1.5 million last year in New York. "We talked about size, we talked about increasing our competitiveness and hes a guy who tracks the puck very well and pressures the puck very well. Hes a great skater and we really felt we needed to add that element." Both he and Fayne said they were eager to get to Edmonton because of the direction the team appears headed in and the young talent on the roster. "I think with everything that Edmonton has gone through and everything that is now going for them, I think its a good opportunity with the young guys and everything," Pouliot told the Oilers website. "Its going to be a good fit for me." MacTavish said Fayne brings them a guy who makes simple plays with the puck, but makes them highly effectively and is a very good defender. He thinks Aulie is one of the players with the opportunity to enhance his value on a one-year contract. "He has the opportunity because of his age and his skill set to have a significant impact on our team. When you look at the make-up of our defence now it looks like an NHL defence, which it didnt always last year," he said. The one area the Oilers didnt address is centre ice where they lack size and aggressiveness. Their No. 1 centre is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at 6-1 but only 180 pounds. "We didnt address all of our needs today," MacTavish agreed. "Ideally we would like to be able to add a centreman. We do have some depth there but they are young, developing players. "Were still hopeful we can add a centrepiece to what weve done alreadyawe will be trying to do something in that regard." Mark Fayne Jersey . He was signed to help with depth to the receiving corps because of the loss of Shamawd Chambers to the 6-game injured list. Ryan Smyth Jersey . -- At the beginning of training camp, Andrew Bogut set a goal to play all 82 regular-season games and regain his place among the NBAs best centres. http://www.hockeyoilersshop.com/mark-messier-jersey/ . The R&A announced Monday that golfs oldest championship will return to Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland for the first time since Max Faulkner won in 1951. Paul Coffey Jersey .B. -- Canadian pairs skaters Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford went from elated to frustrated in the span of a few minutes. Leon Draisaitl Jersey . The Mets made the announcement Sunday night. Parnell blew a save on opening day against Washington and the next day it was revealed he had partially torn right elbow ligament. ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Coming in cold is never easy in sports, especially for an NHL goalie. Justin Peters had a rough start for Carolina. Niklas Backstrom finished strong for Minnesota. Nino Niederreiter and Zach Parise scored with the first two shots of the season against Peters, and the Wild beat the Hurricanes 3-1 on Thursday night after both starting goalies got hurt. "You cant really pick and choose what happens there. You have to be ready no matter what happens," said Backstrom, who stopped all seven shots he faced in the third period after Josh Harding was pulled at the second intermission because of a lower-body injury. "Dont hide behind any excuses. Just go out there and try to help the guys." The Wild had no update on Hardings condition, but the Hurricanes announced before the second period was over that Cam Ward would miss three to four weeks with his lower-body injury. Ward was hurt just 4:07 into the game, and the Wild didnt take it easy on Peters, who stopped 19 shots after settling in. "I knew before long I was hopefully going to get an opportunity. It just came a little earlier than I thought," said Peters, who was called up from the AHL 10 days earlier and played in 47 games for the Hurricanes over the past four years. "Once I got into the game, I definitely felt a little more comfortable," he said. "Im just trying to prove to myself that Im an NHL goalie and instil that trust in the team." Ward started eight of Carolinas 10 games, and Anton Khudobin took the other two. Khudobin, a former Wild prospect, is out with a lower-body injury for at least another week. Mike Murphy will be summoned from the AHL for Fridays game at Colorado. Peters went 4-11-1 last season with a 3.46 goals-against average. "This is his opportunity, and hes got to find a way to get the job done," coach Kirk Muller said. Alexander Semins power-play goal in the second period pulled the Hurricanes within one, but they couldnt muster any more in the final frame. Less than 8 minutes into the first action of the season for Peters, after Semin was whistled for interferrence, the Wild scored on a power play when Mikael Granlund plucked the puck off the end boards and fed Niederreiter in the slot for a wrist shot he set up with a slick backhanded move.dddddddddddd "You want to get the pucks to the net as quick as you can," Niederrieter said. About 3 1/2 minutes later, Jared Spurgeon sent a slap shot pinging off the pipe. Parise beat defenceman Ryan Murphy to the deflection, and the rebound goal made it 2-0. Dany Heatley got his first goal of the season in the closing seconds, an empty-netter on a power play, to clinch the Wilds second straight win. They are 4-0-2 at home. The Wild played a sloppy second period, letting the Hurricanes climb back in the game. Backstrom came out for the third, his first appearance since an unspecified lower-body injury led to his early exit from the Wilds third game of the season. Harding took all but one start since, and he has been shining. The NHLs Masterton Award winner for perseverance and dedication for overcoming multiple sclerosis last season and playing an entire playoff series for the Wild, Harding entered the night with the second-best goals-against average in the NHL at 0.96. He stopped 20 of 21 shots before leaving. Backstrom said he is not quite at full strength yet, but that will have to do. "I thought he played great in this game, coming in in a tough situation," coach Mike Yeo said. Peters wasnt quite as strong, but he couldnt be blamed. "I dont know if the score is always the ... exact way how it went, but we didnt do enough to win," Hurricanes defenceman Justin Faulk said. NOTES: Ward stopped all five shots he faced. ... Yeo said he anticipated D Jonas Brodin being cleared to skate Friday, with a full mask to protect his broken right cheekbone. Brodin took a puck to the face in the previous game. ... The Wild gave up 28 shots, their third-highest total of the season, and were outshot at home for the first time in six games. ... The Wild are the only team in the league allowing an average of less than 1 goal per game in 5-on-5 play. They have given up five in 11 games this season. ' ' '