Crazyrebel(l)s ist umgezogen! » Stalock had seven saves for the Wild

COLUMBUS New York Islanders T-Shirts Authentic , Ohio (AP) The Columbus Blue Jackets are starting to look in front of them to see who they can catch.Only a week ago, Columbus was simply aiming at hanging onto the final Eastern Conference wild-card playoff spot and hoping some teams behind in the standings would help out.A 3-2 win over Detroit on Friday night, their fourth straight, put the Blue Jackets in the first wild-card spot with a one-point lead over New Jersey and just two points behind Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division.Seth Jones scored twice in the second period and Sergei Bobrovsky returned from an illness to make 22 saves as the Blue Jackets beat the Red Wings to sweep a back-to-back. They have won six of the last eight.”We always talked about how we just want to make sure we’re hitting our stride at the right time,” Columbus captain Nick Foligno said. ”We’ve got a little ways to go, but we feel more and more confident about our game as we get closer to the stuff that really matters. That’s kind of always been our focus.”Jones got his tallies after winning Thursday night’s game against Colorado with a goal 59 seconds into overtime.”The puck’s just going in,” shrugged the 23-year-old defenseman, who has 13 goals and 33 assists. ”You get stretches like that. Sometimes it goes in and sometimes you go 15 to 20 games without a point. That’s just the way hockey is. It’s a good time for me to be producing right now in the situation we’re in.”Columbus coach John Tortorella gives him way more credit than that.”He’s had a hell of a year offensively, but the most important part about Jonsesy’s game is becoming a leader,” Tortorella said. ”He doesn’t say too much during the game, but just the way he carries himself right now, he knows he’s part of that leadership group. All facets of the game, he just keeps improving.”Darren Helm and Andreas Athanasiou scored New York Islanders Hoodies Authentic , and Jared Coreau, in just his second start of the season, had 33 stops for the reeling Red Wings, losers of six straight.The Blue Jackets started with a short-handed goal near the end of the first period when Alexander Wennberg carried the puck around the back of the net and chipped it out to Calvert, who poked it by Coreau.The lead didn’t last long. Just 21 seconds later, Helm caught Bobrovsky leaning the wrong way and got an easy goal to make it 1-1.Columbus went back up early in the second period when Jones rifled in a shot from the left circle off a sweet cross-ice pass from Artemi Panarin. Jones struck again at 8:15 when he put back Boone Jenner’s rebound.”As the game went along, they started to grind us a little bit and we had trouble getting out of our end too many times,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said.Athanasiou beat Bobrovsky between the pads late in the third period to make it a one-goal game. Helm had a potential tying shot in the final seconds, but Bobrovsky made a nifty save to preserve the win.NOTES: Jones has five goals and five assists in the last eight games. … Panarin has seven points in his last four games. … Bobrovsky missed two games with illness during which backup Joonas Korpisalo picked up a pair of wins. … Healthy scratches for Columbus included D Scott Harrington, D Taylor Chorney, F Markus Hannikainen and F Lukas Sedlak. … Detroit F Frans Nielsen missed his second game with an injury. Other scratches for the Red Wings included F David Booth and D Xavier Ouellet.UP NEXTDetroit: Plays at San Jose on Monday.Columbus: Hosts Montreal on Monday.—Follow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacy— DENVER (AP) It seems nothing can stop Nathan MacKinnon during what’s been a career year. Not a shoulder injury that cost him eight games, and certainly not the Minnesota Wild.MacKinnon had two goals and three assists, Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists and the Avalanche beat Minnesota 7-1 on Friday night.The five points tied a career high for MacKinnon New York Islanders Hats Authentic , who also set personal bests in goals (31) and assists (45) for the season. He reached the 30-goal mark for the first time in his five-year career.MacKinnon has seven goals and eight assists in seven games since returning from a shoulder injury Feb. 18. He was second in the NHL in scoring when he went down Jan. 30, and Friday’s five-point night moved him into fourth overall.”I don’t know what he did when he was gone but he clearly was doing something right because he’s come back in real good shape and he picked up where he left off,” linemate Gabriel Landeskog said.MacKinnon’s other five-point game was Nov. 16 against Washington.”I wish I didn’t miss those eight games, but I definitely do feel good,” MacKinnon said. ”Hopefully if we can make the playoffs, it’ll be a blessing. If we don’t, it won’t be. If we squeak in, I’ll be a little fresher than some of the other guys.”Tyson Barrie had a goal and an assist, and Landeskog, Carl Soderberg and Matt Nieto also scored to help Colorado gain ground in the Western Conference playoff race with its 13th win in 14 home games.The Avalanche jumped over idle St. Louis and stayed a point behind Anaheim for the second wild card with 75 points. The Ducks beat Columbus 4-2 on Friday.”We’re not just trying to chase the last wild card, we’re trying to be a team in the division and solidify a guaranteed spot – in the top three,” MacKinnon said.MacKinnon is trying to lead his team to the playoffs for the first time since 2014, when the Wild upset the No. 2-seeded Avalanche in seven games. He is giving the Wild some payback with eight points in the last two games.Colorado has scored seven goals in both home games against Minnesota.Mikko Koivu scored for the Wild Custom New York Islanders Jerseys , who have lost two straight after winning five in a row to move into third in the Central Division. Minnesota has a four-point lead on Colorado and has played one more game than the Avalanche.”Now when you lose one or two in a row teams are gaining on you all over the place,” Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau said.Devan Dubnyk allowed five goals on 17 shots before being replaced by Alex Stalock after Soderberg’s goal. Stalock had seven saves for the Wild, who have allowed seven goals in both games in Colorado this season.Landeskog and MacKinnon scored 2:26 apart midway through the first period to give Colorado a 2-0 lead, and then the Avalanche put it away in the second.After Barrie made it 3-0, MacKinnon, Soderberg and Rantanen each scored in a span of 4:32 to make it 6-0. Soderberg’s tally, which went off Eric Staal’s skate, chased Dubnyk.”I’d like to get the fourth one,” Dubnyk said. ”I don’t know what happened on the fifth one.”Koivu spoiled Semyon Varlamov’s shutout bid with his 12th goal at 17:07 of the second period. Varlamov finished with 31 saves.NOTES: Colorado C Colin Wilson suffered an upper-body injury in the second period and did not return. … Avalanche D Anton Lindholm returned after missing five games with an elbow injury. … Minnesota is 4-6-1 in the second night of back-to-back games. … Colorado announced it had signed D Connor Timmins to an entry-level contract that begins next season. Timmins was the Avalanche’s second-round draft pick last June. … Wild C Charlie Coyle turned 26 on Friday.UP NEXTWild: Host Detroit on Sunday.Avalanche: Host Nashville on Sunday.—