0xbt

NEWARK Adam Henrique Jersey , N.J. (AP) For the first time since spending $340 million to buy the New Jersey Devils in the summer of 2013, Josh Harris and David Blitzer are getting a chance to see the team play some meaningful games in the final months of the NHL season.Following Saturday’s 2-1 comeback win over the New York Islanders, the Devils hold a five-point lead over Columbus in the race for the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, and a seven-point edge over the Islanders for the second wild-card spot with 20 games left in the regular season.While it is still too early to start celebrating, the Devils’ five-year playoff drought might be ending.”Yeah, I hope we’re going to the playoffs and long run, we’ve said consistently that we want to be an elite Stanley Cup contender year in, year out and there are no shortcuts to that,” Harris said Saturday night in a rare interview after taking part in the ceremony to retire the No. 26 jersey of Patrik Elias, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer.What makes this turnaround remarkable is that the Devils had their worst season in three decades in 2016-17, finishing last in the conference with 70 points.Their win over the Islanders on Saturday night gave them 72 points this season.”We have always said we were going to do things step by step to build long-run winners,” Harris said. ”Sometimes everyone gets impatient and we get impatient. Last year wasn’t great to be me. It’s very exciting to be in the hunt, but we are not done.”Much of the credit for the turnaround has to go to general manager Ray Shero, who came on board in the offseason in 2015. He has revamped the roster with the latest addition being the acquisition of 25-goal scorer Michael Grabner from the Rangers on Thursday in the first deal between the area rivals since the Devils came to New Jersey in 1982.It was just the latest deal by Shero who has acquired forwards Taylor Hall Womens Andrew Cogliano Jersey , Kyle Palmieri and Marcus Johansson, defensemen Sami Vatanen and Mirco Mueller and goaltender Eddie Lack in trades and signed free agents John Moore, Brian Boyle, Ben Lovejoy, Will Butcher, Jimmy Hayes and Drew Stafford.Hall is having a career season with 26 goals and 40 assists. His 66 points are 25 more than any player on the team.The bad season last year also helped earn the Devils the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. They got a winner with 19-year-old Nico Hischier, who is centering the top line.”Look when Ray came in in 2015 I still remember him saying things won’t necessarily change overnight, but we’re going to move this in the right direction and that’s all across the organization,” Blitzer said. ”What he has been able to do over the last 2 years, and I think as we look at the future, it has been incredible.”New Jersey still faces an immediate obstacle in its playoff push. Nine of its next 12 games are on the road, including eight with teams in playoff positions heading into Sunday’s games.Blitzer believes the Devils are going to finish what they started this season.”Certain things happen that you plan and certain things happen that you don’t necessarily plan,” he said. ”We got some really interesting pieces that you could not predict at the beginning of the summer. Will Butcher; for Nico to come and do what he is doing. Taylor Hall to turn over what he is doing this season and the leadership he is showing.”It’s just been incredible,” he added. ”I just think you see a team really gelling. It’s also a team not just built for today. This is a team that is built for the future and that’s what makes it so exciting.”— GLENDALE Brandon Montour Jersey Kids , Ariz. (AP) The Philadelphia Flyers got their first shootout win of the season after losing the first four, and neded their backup goalie in to finish it off.Nolan Patrick scored in the seventh round of the overtime shootout and Michal Neuvirth came off the bench to stop five shootout attempts, leading the Flyers to a 4-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night.Flyers goalie Brian Elliott left the game after the second attempt of the tiebreaker when Arizona’s Clayton Keller inadvertently hit Elliott near his face with his stick on the follow-through. Elliott was helped slowly off the ice, and the Flyers said he suffered a lower body injury despite where the contact was, with an update to come on Sunday.Neuvirth entered, the first time he’d ever had to come in under such circumstances, and did not allow a shot to get by him.”It’s one of those situations, crazy stuff,” Neuvirth said. ”I was just focusing on myself.”Flyers coach Dave Hakstol noted that shootout wins have been hard to come by for his team.”Nice to see (Patrick) go out there with that kind of confidence and make the play,” Hakstol said. ”`Neuvy’ came in tonight and he proved how important he is to our team.”The Flyers won their third straight and have points in four consecutive games. Shayne Gostisbehere had two assists and Elliott finished with 24 saves.”It’s pretty unfortunate what happened to (Elliott),” Gostisbehere said, ”but for Neuvy to step in there pretty cold and make big saves for us was huge.”Jason Demers, Alex Goligoski and Zac Rinaldo had the goals for Arizona, which has lost five of six. Antti Raanta stopped 40 shots Womens Cam Fowler Jersey , including key stops in the third period and overtime. Nick Cousins scored in the first round of the shootout.The Coyotes tied the score 3-3 on Rinaldo’s rocket of a shot from the right circle at 1:59 of the third.The Flyers had opportunities to re-take the lead and outshot the Coyotes 16-4 in the third period, but couldn’t beat Raanta.Goligoski’s sixth goal of the season tied it 2-2 just 24 seconds into the second period, right after a group of Flyers fans among the many in the crowd finished an Eagles chant in honor of the recently crowned Super Bowl champions.Simmonds put Philadelphia ahead on the deflection of Gostisbehere’s shot at 2:12 of the middle period. It was Simmonds’ 19th of the season and the second power-play goal of the night for the Flyers.”Special teams can win and lose you games,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. ”For whatever reason our special teams are good on the road and not at home.”Raanta kept it a one-goal game with a sprawling save of Ivan Provorov’s shot later in the period.The Flyers missed a goal chance less than two minutes into the game when Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny skated in with no defender between them and the goal, and Konecny couldn’t put the puck past Raanta, missing wide of the net from a close angle.The Coyotes took a 1-0 lead as Demers took a pass from Derek Stepan and got a friendly puck bounce underneath Elliott and into the net 3:53 in.Philadelphia then scored twice to take the lead. The first came when Giroux got his 17th on a one-timer that zipped past Raanta on a power play at 10:19. Voracek got an assist on the goal, his NHL-leading 53rd of the season and the eighth straight game in which he has scored a point.The Flyers went ahead as Jordan Weal took a hit from Rinaldo at center ice, maintained control of the puck and passed to Scott Laughton. Laughton delivered a quick pass to Raffl, who scored his 10th.NOTES: Goligoski has 20 assists on the season, the ninth straight season he has accomplished the feat. Only three other NHL defensemen have recorded 20 or more assists for nine consecutive seasons. … Arizona began a stretch in which it will play nine of 10 games at home. … Former Flyers D Luke Schenn was a healthy scratch for Arizona. … F Christian Fischer returned after missing the previous game due to injury. … Voracek played in his 500th career game.UP NEXTFlyers: At Vegas on Sunday.Coyotes: Host Chicago on Monday night.