f 46 shots in a 3-2 shootout loss at Carolina.

ATLANTA - One team was motivated by the goal of dodging the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs. The other teams goal was resting its starters. The result was predictable. Chris Douglas-Roberts dribbled into the lane and sank a short jumper as time expired, and the Charlotte Bobcats overcame a 15-point deficit in the final period to beat the Atlanta Hawks 95-93 on Monday night. Al Jefferson had 27 points and 15 rebounds for Charlotte, which remained one game behind Washington in the race for the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Gary Neal had 17. "Great shot," said Jefferson of Douglas-Roberts game-winner. "Great play. Great finish. Great win." Added Jefferson, referring to his role in the play: "Great pick!" Jeffersons turnaround jumper gave the Bobcats a 93-91 lead before Lou Williams answered with a tying jumper for Atlanta with 2.6 seconds remaining. Following a timeout, Douglas-Roberts penetrated and lobbed the soft jumper as the buzzer sounded. Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said Douglas-Roberts "made a great shot." Even so, the coach wasnt satisfied, especially with his teams defence. Charlotte has won seven of eight, but Clifford isnt satisfied his team is playing at the level he wants for the playoffs. "We didnt get the defence we needed out of the starters," Clifford said. "The big thing is to be playing well, which were not." The Hawks rested starters Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll the full game, and also held out starters Jeff Teague and Pero Antic the final quarter when the Bobcats made their charge. "Some of our young guys got great opportunities," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "I think theres a lot to take from tonight." Mike Scott led Atlanta with 20 points. Shelvin Mack and Williams each had 13, and Teague 11. The Hawks spot as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference already was set, so Budenholzer was playing to protect his top players. "I think when youre in our situation, health and all of those things are a priority," Budenholzer said. Added veteran Elton Brand: "We felt like we let it slip away, but guys got a lot of experience and that is important for us, too." By contrast, Charlotte still had much to play for. The reward for sixth is avoiding Miami in the first round. Washington beat Miami 114-93 on Monday night to protect its lead over Charlotte in the race for sixth and secure first in the conference for Indiana. The Hawks will face the Pacers in the first round. Douglas-Roberts had five points as part of the Bobcats productive bench. "We have a job to do," Douglas-Roberts said. "We did a great job of getting back into this game. Gary Neal and Luke Ridnour basically carried us up until that point. ... I feel like thats the least I can do to help these guys, the way they carried us the whole quarter." Atlanta led 50-44 at halftime and 80-65 entering the final period. The Bobcats opened the fourth period with a 19-4 run, capped by 14 consecutive points, to pull even at 84. Ridnour had all of his 10 points in the run, including the tying jumper with 6:07 remaining. Three free throws by Neal gave Charlotte its first lead of the half at 87-86. The Bobcats led 91-86 before Macks back-to-back baskets — a 3-pointer and short jumper — tied the game at 91. Kemba Walker had five points and seven assists in his returned for the Bobcats after missing two games with a sore right groin. NOTES: The Bobcats salvaged one win in the four-game season series. ... Former Turner Entertainment Networks president Steve Koonin was introduced in the day as the Hawks CEO and co-owner. Koonin will direct business operations and represent the owners in league meetings. ... Jefferson posted his eighth straight double-double. ... A young fan sitting on the front row and wearing a Hawks jersey was bowled over by Charlottes Anthony Tolliver. The boy appeared to be shaken up but quickly regrouped as he received high-fives and fist-bumps from Hawks players. During a timeout minutes later, he was presented player-sized athletic shoes which were too big to remain in his lap. Lanny McDonald Jersey . Louis Blues just continue to roll -- especially against the Nashville Predators. A.J. Greer Avalanche Jersey . On Tuesday, the star questioned whether that was still the case. Speaking to reporters at a charity event, Johnson said: "I just kind of wonder sometimes: Is this still the place for me?" Johnsons comments came after he was asked why he recently skipped a voluntary minicamp. http://www.hockeyavalanche.com/authentic-mikko-rantanen-avalanche-jersey/ . Woods said Friday that his charity event, which attracts a world-class field even without being part of any tour, will move in December 2014 to Isleworth, the course where he honed his professional game from 1996 until moving away to south Florida two years ago. Rob Ramage Jersey . And theyre pointing to the NHLs biggest market: Toronto. With Gretzky paid out for what is believed to be $7 to 8 million, Gretzky may be eager to get back into the NHL and TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports that the Maple Leafs are very much interested in The Great Ones services. J.T. Compher Jersey . - After a back-and-forth battle throughout the season, Alex Guenette has earned the 2013 rookie of the year award for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 by just one point over Ryley Seibert.The Jets are getting big value from a free agent addition, a Bruins rookie doubles up, Wilson’s great for Nashville, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Mathieu Perreault – Scored four goals in Winnipeg’s 8-2 rout of Florida. After starting the year with no goals and three assists in his first 19 games, Perreault has been on a tear, putting up 25 points (15 G, 10 A) in 24 games and his puck possession numbers (55.1% Corsi) rank second on the Jets, behind Blake Wheeler. Not a bad pickup for a $3-million cap hit. Here are the top scorers that changed NHL teams as a free agent in the summer of 2014: NICE ADDITIONS PLAYER TEAM POS. GP G A PTS CORSI% REL. CORSI% CAP HIT Mike Ribeiro Nashville C 42 9 29 38 56.2% +4.2% $1.05M Radim Vrbata Vancouver RW 38 16 13 29 51.0% +1.0% $5.0M Jarome Iginla Colorado RW 44 12 17 29 43.1% -2.3% $5.5M Mathieu Perreault Winnipeg C 43 15 13 28 55.1% +4.1% $3.0M Brad Richards Chicago C 40 9 17 26 54.8% +0.8% $2.0M David Pastrnak – The Bruins rookie had his second straight two-goal game, thriving on a line with David Krejci and Milan Lucic, as Pastrnak was on for all four of Boston’s goals in a 4-3 win over Tampa Bay. The 18-year-old was the 25th pick in the 2014 Draft, and he’s the only player taken outside the top three to play in the league this season. Colin Wilson – The Predators winger is having a breakout season and piled up two goals and two assists in Nashville’s 5-1 win over Vancouver. He has 17 points (8 G, 9 A) in the past 11 games. It turns out that having the puck in the other team’s end all the time can pay off quite nicely as Wilson has the best scoring-chance ratio in the league, currently at 62.1%. Among players with at least 300 5-on-5 minutes: SCORING CHANCE% LEADERS PLAYER TEAM POS. SC% CORSI% Colin Wilson Nashville LW 62.1% 57.2% Patrice Bergeron Boston C 61.2% 59.0% Riley Sheahan Detroit C 60.7% 59.7% Victor Hedman Tampa Bay D 60.6% 57.4% Tomas Tatar Detroit LW 59.7% 60.3% Sean Bergenheim Florida LW 59.7% 56.8% Tomas Jurco Detroit RW 59.6% 58.7% Ryan Callahan Tampa Bay RW 59.4% 57.0% Cedric Paquette Tampa Bay C 59.3% 55.2% Brad Marchand Boston LW 59.2% 57.5% ZEROES Petry and Yakupov – Oilers winger Nail Yakupov and defenceman Jeff Petry had identical possession stats (7 shot attempts for, 15 against, 31.8%) while being on the ice for three goals against (and none for) in a 4-2 loss to St. Louis. J.T. Brown – The Lightning winger had a rough night, on the ice for one shot attempt for and 12 against (7.7%) at even-strength before taking a double minor in the third for roughing Boston’s David Krejci. Goalies: Niklas Backstrom – Allowed six goals on 35 shots in a 7-2 loss at Pittsburgh, continuing the Wild’s goaltending woes. In his past five games, Backstrom has allowed at least three goals in each of his past 10 appearances. Robin Lehner – Ottawa’s goaltender gave up five goals on 29 shots in a 5-4 loss at Dallas. In his past five games, Lehner has an .857 save percentage (114 saves, 133 shots). Luongo & Montoya – Florida’s goalies took a beating, allowing eight goals on 35 shots against Winnipeg. It’s been a particularly rough stretch for Al Montoya, who has an .836 save percentage (97 saves, 116 shots) in his past five appearances. LINEUP NEED TO KNOW Pekka Rinne – Nashville’s star goaltender, and the frontrunner for the Vezina Trophy, left Tuesday’s win over Vancouver with a lower-body injury. Carter Hutton could see an increased workload if Rinne is going to be out. James Neal – Returned to the Nashville lineup, for his first game in 2015, contributing a couple of assists, in a 5-1 win over Vancouver. Derek Stepan – Played only 6:55 against the Islanders before leaving with an upper-body injury. When Stepan was hurt early in the year, Derick Brassard was forced to handle a lot of responsibility. At this ppoint, the Rangers could give young forward J.ddddddddddddT. Miller some more minutes. Steve Downie - The Penguins agitating winger was knocked from the game after taking an elbow from Minnesota D Ryan Suter. It has been more than a little challenging for the Penguins to keep their wingers healthy this season. Zac Dalpe – Was called up to play his first game for the Sabres. He had 17 points (9 G, 8 A) in 96 career NHL games and wasn’t exactly tearing up the AHL, with 13 points (7 G, 6 A) in 31 AHL games. SHORT SHIFTS Lightning LW Ondrej Palat had a pair of assists in a 4-3 loss at Boston; he has 15 points (1 G, 14 A) in the past 10 games…Lightning C Steven Stamkos scored a pair of goals, giving him five goals in the past five games. Stamkos has 25 goals, one behind league leaders Tyler Seguin and Rick Nash…Bruins C David Krejci had a couple of assists in Boston’s 4-3 win, giving him nine points (1 G, 8 A) in the past eight games…Bruins D Torey Krug picked up a pair of assists, and has eight points (2 G, 6 A) in the past eight games…Bruins LW Milan Lucic had a goal and an assist; he has six points (3 G, 3 A) in the past four games…Penguins C Sidney Crosby recorded three assists in a 7-2 win over Minnesota, giving him nine points (1 G, 8 A) in the past five games…Penguins C Evgeni Malkin had a pair of assists, and has eight points (3 G, 5 A) in the past five games…Penguins LW David Perron picked up a pair of goals and an assist, and has six points (3 G, 3 A) in his past five games, with 20 shots on goal in four games since joining the Penguins…Oilers LW Benoit Pouliot scored both Edmonton goals in a 4-2 loss to St. Louis; he has five goals in six games since returning from a broken foot…Blues C David Backes registered a goal and an assist against Edmonton, giving him 10 points (6 G, 4 A) in the past four games…Blues RW Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and an assist vs. Edmonton; he has nine points (4 G, 5 A) in the past nine games…Predators C Mike Fisher recorded a goal and an assist in a 5-1 win against Vancouver; the veteran centre has 14 points (8 G, 6 A) in his past 15 games…Predators C Mike Ribeiro added a couple of assists, giving him eight assists in the past six games…Senators RW Mark Stone had a pair of assists in a 5-4 loss at Dallas; he has five points (2 G, 3 A) in the past five games…Stars LW Erik Cole had a goal and an assist in the win over Ottawa, giving him nine points (4 G, 5 A) in the past eight games…Sharks C Logan Couture registered a pair of assists, and has nine points (2 G, 7 A) in the past seven games. Jets D Dustin Byfuglien scored two goals and added an assist in an 8-2 win over Florida. In his past 20 games, Big Buff has 20 points (8 G, 12 A)…Jets D Tobias Enstrom had a pair of assists, and has four points in three games since returning to the lineup…Jets RW Michael Frolik had a couple of assists against Florida, giving him 14 points (3 G, 11 A) in the past 16 games…Jets C Mark Scheifele picked up a pair of assists, and has five points (1 G, 4 A) in the past four games…Jets D Zach Bogosian was on for five even-strength goals for and none against in the win vs. Florida. Bruins RW Reilly Smith had a stellar possession game (17 shot attempts for, 2 against, 89.5%) in the win vs. Tampa Bay…Red Wings C Stephen Weiss and RW Teemu Pulkkinen had identical possession numbers (10 shot attempts for, 1 against, 90.9%) against Buffalo. Red Wings G Petr Mrazek stopped 25 of 26 shots in a 3-1 win at Buffalo…Islanders G Jaroslav Halak stopped all 27 shots he faced in a 3-0 win over the Rangers…Avalanche G Calvin Pickard stopped 44 of 46 shots in a 3-2 shootout loss at Carolina. FANTASY FOCUS Four games tonight, four players to consider for your lineup: Sergei Gonchar – The Habs veteran blueliner has three assists in the past four games and played a season-high 23:58 last game. Rob Zepp – Apparently the Flyers are poised to start the 33-year-old journeyman tonight (ahead of Ray Emery) against Washington. Kyle Palmieri – Ducks winger has nine points (4 G, 5 A) in his past 10 games; a quality secondary offensive contributor. Dustin Brown – It hasn’t been much a season, or season-and-a-half, for Brown when it comes to offensive production (43 points in 112 games since the start of 2013-14), but he does have four assists in the past five games and is seeing more ice time now that Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson are out of the lineup. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca ' ' '