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M�rz
2019

The Columbus Blue Jackets opened

LAS VEGAS (AP) �a three-game Western Conference trip with victories in Colorado and Arizona www.canucksshoponline.com , yet didn�t feel as though they put forth their best effort.Columbus closed out the trip with one of their most complete games of the season as Cam Atkinson scored two goals less than three minutes apart and Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves in a 4-3 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.�We talked about it before the game � playing one of the best teams in the league, we knew we had to bring it, every single line � especially my line � and I think we did that,� Atkinson said. �I think we played one of our best games of the season, so it�s huge for us.�Moments after using his speed to get past Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb, collect a rebound off Marc-Andre Fleury and score an equalizer that tied the game at 3-all, Atkinson scored the game-winner on a power play against the league�s top home penalty kill when he fired a shot over Fleury�s arm.�We had a couple of opportunities on the first power play, obviously they scored a short-handed goal, which is unacceptable on our part,� said Atkinson, who has a team-leading 31 goals this season, and the second 30-goal campaign of his career. �But when we needed a power play the most, we stepped up big.�Columbus has scored a power-play goal in six of its last seven games (6 of 16). The team has scored on 10 of 31 power-play chances over the last 11 games.Josh Anderson and Artemi Panarin also scored for the Blue Jackets, who are in third place in the Metropolitan Division at 31-20-3 (65 points), two points behind Washington with a game in hand.�I�m not crazy about the city and all the noise out there. But the building, they do it right, and they have a good team, that�s a good team,� Columbus coach John Tortorella said. �Our guys should feel good Vancouver Canucks T-Shirts Womens , they just beat a really good hockey club.�Nate Schmidt, Jon Merrill and Cody Eakin scored for Vegas, while Fleury made 29 saves. The Golden Knights dropped to 16-7-3 at home.Vegas coach Gerard Gallant thought his team might start sluggish in its first home game in 17 days � spanning the All-Star Break, a bye week and a four-game trip � but both teams opened the contest with a lot of speed and plenty of scoring chances.All-Star Seth Jones scored his eighth goal of the season for Columbus and Vegas defenseman Nate Schmidt matched his career high with his fifth goal of the season 32 seconds later.Later, during a penalty kill, Golden Knights first-line wing Reilly Smith streaked into the offensive zone with William Karlsson to his right. But when Karlsson couldn�t convert and his shot caromed off the post, Merrill was there and punched home his second goal of the season to put Vegas in front 2-1.Unfortunately for the Golden Knights, it was the second frame they looked lethargic, getting just three shots on goal while the Blue Jackets put plenty of pressure on Fleury with nine shots. Columbus outshot Vegas 22-12 through two periods, and 33-23 for the game.�I didn�t expect that second period at all,� Gallant said. �We just didn�t have no jump, it looked like we were skating in quicksand and it caught up to us a little bit.�The Golden Knights escaped the second period tied 2-2, after Panarin caught Fleury behind the goal and fired the puck into an empty net.Gallant tweaked his line-rotation a bit and utilized 10 forwards across three lines in the third period, when Eakin gave Vegas a brief 3-2 lead after racing into the offensive zone, collecting a pretty cross-ice pass from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and scoring past Bobrovsky with 10:39 left.The Blue Jackets wouldn�t go away, though, and benefited from Atkinson�s late-game heroics.�It was a great game, especially in the second period, step up and play really hard Vancouver Canucks Hoodies Womens ,� Bobrovsky said. �The second period I thought we took over. We trust in each other. You don�t want to be too cocky, too high, because you never know what�s going to happen. You have to stay focused, you have to stay sharp. We obviously have a trust and belief in each other.�NOTES: Blue Jackets center Brandon Dubinsky missed his second consecutive game due to a hip injury and remains one game shy of playing in his 800th career game. � Right wing Cam Atkinson played in his 499th career game, all with Columbus. � The Golden Knights tied a season low for shots on goal in one period, with just three in the second. Vegas also had three in third period on Nov. 21 at Arizona. � Vegas is tied for third in the league with seven short-handed goals.UP NEXTColumbus: Hosts Washington on Tuesday.Vegas: Hosts Arizona on Tuesday. GLENDALE, Ariz. � When the calendar turned from October to November a year ago, the Arizona Coyotes didn�t have to look at a statistics sheet or analyze their upcoming schedule to know they were already out of playoff contention.Their 1-10-1 record told them that.The numbers � and their record � tell an entirely different story this season. While their 6-5-0 record remains modest, the Arizona Coyotes are beginning to take on the look of a team that could reach the Western Conference playoffs for the first time since 2012.Article continues below ...That�s one reason why the Carolina Hurricanes, just like the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Ottawa Senators before them, hope they�re not catching them at the wrong time.The Coyotes will try to win their fifth in a row when they play the Hurricanes at Gila River Arena on Friday night. It might seem like only a moderately long streak, but the Coyotes haven�t won that many in a row in five years, or since Oct. 26-Nov. 5, 2013. They haven�t win five straight in regulation since the final five games of that 2011-12 playoff season.�Hopefully it can keep going � we�ve got a good feeling in the room and want to build from that,� team captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson said. �It�s not fun to be out of the playoffs like we were last year in October. It means a lot to us to get a good start and feel like we have a chance to beat every team in the league. We�re playing good and building our game.�That game of theirs looks nothing like it did a season ago, when their goaltending was in disarray, they weren�t getting scoring out of anyone except forward Clayton Keller and their defensive system was a mess.Now, they�re beginning to create a stir around the league not just because they�re winning, but how they�re winning. Their 27 goals over their last six games (5-1-0) are the most in the league Vancouver Canucks Hats Womens , and they have a 20-4 edge during their four-game winning streak. Their 1.91 goals-against average is the NHL�s best, and they lead the league with six short-handed goals � five in their last three games.In their last two games, they opened up 3-0 first-period leads against both the Lightning (7-1 win) and the Senators (5-1 win). It�s a major turnaround from the start of the season, when the Coyotes were shut out three times while losing four of five. Keller leads them with five goals and three assists.�I didn�t feel panic in the guys (then),� coach Rick Tocchet said. �The one thing we were hanging our hats on was we weren�t giving teams much and the goalies (Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper) were playing great for us. I thought the defensemen were playing good, we just weren�t scoring. But guys were sticking with it, playing hard and (we thought) the goals will come.�The Hurricanes (6-5-1) wish they�d start coming for them. They�ve been held to two goals or fewer five times while losing five of seven, including home-ice losses of 3-2 to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday and 2-1 to the New York Islanders on Sunday.The Hurricanes are beginning a four-game road trip that opens up with back-to-back games against the Coyotes on Thursday and the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.�We need to come up with some wins on this road trip, we know that,� coach Rod Brind�Amour said. �We�re playing pretty good hockey, and if we get a few bounces here or there we have a different outlook. � We want to be in better shape (after the road trip) that we are now.�Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho has a team-high 17 points on four goals and 13 assists, and he joined Wayne Gretzky and Ken Linseman as the only players in NHL history to get at least one assist in each of the first 12 games of a season. No player has a 13-game assist streak to start a season.�He (Aho) is our special player, there�s no secret now, but he needs to be that every night,� Brind�Amour said.