12-12-2019, 07:54 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Its been so much fun winning their past seven games, the Columbus Blue Jackets dont want to quit now. R.J. Umberger scored twice to lead the Blue Jackets to a franchise-record for consecutive wins with a 5-3 victory Tuesday night over the Los Angeles Kings. "Its special," said Umberger, who has seen a lot of losses since coming to the Blue Jackets in a draft-day trade in 2008. "You dont want to get caught up in it, but it shows the direction the clubs going. There have been some bad moments here. But weve got a lot more in us. Were not satisfied." The win kept the Blue Jackets -- who have made the post-season just once in their 12 seasons -- in playoff contention. Nathan Horton scored in his 600th NHL game, Artem Anisimov had a goal and an assist and Ryan Johansen also scored for Columbus, with James Wisniewski picking up two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky moved to 8-0 in his past eight starts with 26 saves. Theyre 8-1-0 with Horton, a big free-agent signing last summer from Boston, in the lineup. "Were on a roll, but were not where we want to be," Horton said. "We want to get back in the playoffs and stay there. We needed a winning streak; now we need to keep the thing going." The Blue Jackets have been surging since getting Horton, who missed the first 40 games after shoulder surgery, and Bobrovsky, who sat out most of December with a strained groin, back on the ice. Columbus, thought to be hurting for offence heading into the season, has outscored its opponents 30-15 in the streak. "Theres something with our group," coach Todd Richards said. "Our young guys are a year older and feeling more comfortable. Our power play is better, so thatll help. But theres something different about our offensive output." Jeff Carter, Dwight King and Robyn Regehr had goals for the Kings, who have lost three in a row. Mike Richards had two assists. "Were clearly giving up too many goals," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. Down 2-1 after the first, the Kings tied it before the Blue Jackets scored twice in 89 seconds late in the second to take command. Carter, a former Blue Jacket who was booed loudly every time he touched the puck, received a nice pass on a 3 on 1 break from Richards and recorded his 20th goal at 8:39. Umberger shadowed defenceman Drew Doughty and stole the puck from him along the short boards, then put up what appeared to be an innocent shot from a hard angle. But Martin Jones, making his first start since Jan. 2, struggled picking it up and the puck caromed off his glove and into the net with 1:45 left in the period. "We fought hard to get back in it and make it 2-2," Jones said. "A bad goal changed the momentum. And thats the difference in the game." Anisimov then won a puck battle in the neutral zone and carried the puck down the left wing. On a rush, he sent a tape-to-tape lead pass to Horton who lifted the puck high for his third of the season with just 15.6 seconds left for a 4-2 lead. The Blue Jackets had killed off three first-period penalties and escaped the first 20 minutes with a 2-1 lead after falling behind early. The Kings scored at the 2:42 mark when Trevor Lewis shot from the right dot went off Bobrovskys right leg pad to King, who was charging the net through the high slot. He had an almost empty net for his 11th of the season. Columbus pulled even on the power play, where it has been particularly effective of late -- scoring on 6 of its past 13 attempts with a man advantage. Wisniewskis hard slap shot from the top of the left circle was redirected in the crease by Umberger at 12:47. It was his 12th of the season and his 114th as a Blue Jacket, moving him past David Vyborny into sole possession of second place in franchise history behind Rick Nash (289). Then, in the final minute of the period, Johansen took a seeing-eye stretch pass from rookie Ryan Murray and glided past a defenceman to go high with a forehand. It was Johansens 19th goal of the season. "This says a lot," Umberger said. "The fans can enjoy it, they deserve it. But we keep talking about how we can be better every night." Notes: D Fedor Tyutin, who became the sixth player to appear in 400 games with the Blue Jackets, returned after missing two games with an undisclosed illness. ... Los Angeles was playing its fourth of a five-game road trip. Yeezy 350 Clearance . Appearing on TSN 690 Monday afternoon, Mike Babcock said he had conversations with both P.K. Subban and Carey Price about those on-ice traits during Hockey Canadas summer orientation camp. Mike Babcock: McGill experience, P. Yeezy 350 Fake .com) - Ryan Miller made 28 saves to record his fifth shutout of the season and second in as many nights as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 on Friday. https://www.cheapyeezy350outlet.com/ .com) - Jahlil Okafor erupted for 25 points and 20 rebounds as No. Yeezy 350 Cheap . -- John Senden never imagined it would take more than seven years to win again. Yeezy 350 Store . "It was a little weird looking over and seeing all the green uniforms," he said of his first game against the Boston Celtics.MIAMI - Erik Spoelstra wanted to get Miamis starters some extra in-game conditioning.Winning was a bonus.Dwyane Wade scored 26 points, including a jumper that made it a two-possession game with 35.8 seconds remaining, and the Heat rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat the Houston Rockets 90-85 in a preseason game Tuesday night.Wade either scored or set up Miamis final five field goals, helping the Heat to their third consecutive exhibition win.We have a lot of work to do with this team and our guys understand that, Spoelstra said.Chris Bosh added 22 points in 35 minutes for the Heat, who went largely with starters against Houston backups in the final minutes. Mario Chalmers finished with 13 for Miami.Dwight Howard had 19 points and nine rebounds in his most extended action of the preseason for the Rockets, while James Harden added 19 points.Howard was 7 for 10 from the floor in 28 minutes. The Rockets led by 13 late in the first half and 11 at halftime, before sputtering offensively in the final two quarters.We had a good first half, Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. The second half we were lethargic. The first group knew they were only going to play five or six minutes in the third quarter and I think they kind of played accordingly.With the game knotted at 79, Wade hit a 3-pointer — the third such attempt by Miami on that particular possession — and the Heat kept the lead the rest of the way.Wade finished 11 for 17 from the floor, plus added six assists.Donatas Motiejunas grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for Houston, which finished with a 44-35 edge on the backboards.The Heat were again without forward Josh McRobertss, who is working his way back from a toe injury and hasnt appeared in the preseason.dddddddddddd Other players with likely rotation spots who were held out included Udonis Haslem, Justin Hamilton and James Ennis.TIP-INSRockets: Howard hadnt logged more than 17 minutes in a preseason game — he had played in only two of Houstons first five — and his exhibition high-point game was 11. He topped those numbers in the first half alone, going into the break with 15 points in 18 minutes.Heat: When Wade was 6 for 6 in the first half, the rest of the Heat were a combined 5 for 19 from the floor. And one of those other five makes was a circus shot from Bosh, who drew a foul from Terrence Jones, shot and watched the ball bounce twice off the top of the backboard before falling.NEW COURTMiami unveiled a new court, with a virtually identical look to its old floor. The unpainted wood is a slightly lighter shade than the previous model, and the basket supports are a bit smaller and placed further from the baselines than before.BIRTHDAY GUESTHeat fan Iluminada Magtotos wish on her 90th birthday was to play basketball with Wade. So after Miamis shootaround on Tuesday, Wade made it happen. The woman who goes by Grandma Nelly took some underhand shots, one of which Wade rebounded and laid back in before telling the beaming woman You throw better lobs than Mario Chalmers. And when one of her shots dropped, the three-time champion rewarded her with a hug.UP NEXTRockets: Houston goes to Orlando on Wednesday, before finishing the preseason at home Friday against San Antonio.Heat: Miamis preseason finale is Friday at Memphis. ' ' '