ubleheader split with a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. [

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. -- With their playoff hopes hanging by a thread, the Utica Comets needed someone to step up Saturday night. Enter team captain Colin Stuart. Stuart scored twice to lead the Utica Comets to a 3-1 win over the Abbotsford Heat on Saturday in American Hockey League action. Stuart now has 15 goals on the year and is tied for third on the team despite scoring just twice in the previous 15 games. "We challenged our leaders to bring a better game tonight, and (Stuart) was one of the guys who stepped up," said Comets head coach Travis Green. "Hes been good for us all year. You expect your captain to make plays and step up at the right time. You need all your best players this time of the year and it was good to see him do that." The Comets had their four-game winning streak snapped Friday by the Heat, but moved to within eight points of a Western Conference playoff berth with the bounce-back victory. "I didnt like the way we skated last night and the way we competed in certain areas of the ice," said Green. "The guys responded well tonight. These are desperate times for our team and we played like it tonight." Stuart, who signed with the Comets NHL-affiliate Vancouver Canucks during the summer, played in Abbotsford during the Heats inaugural season in 2009-10. Hes now registered six points in six games against the Heat this year. "Its still neat coming here," said Stuart. "And not just the arena, but the city itself. Its interesting to see how things have changed around town. And obviously I was here in the inaugural season so it was pretty special too." Brandon DeFazio also scored for the Comets for his third goal in four games. Alex Friesen had two assists for Utica (27-27-7), while Joacim Eriksson made 38 saves in the win. "(Eriksson) was good the whole game," said Green. "I like him last night and really liked him for the last three months. Hes been real solid for us. He had a tough start to the year but hes starting to develop." Eriksson gave the Abbotsford offence fits Saturday, making several key stops. "We keyed on getting the puck to the net but obviously we didnt take away the guys eyes as well as we should have," said Heat defenceman Chad Billins. "Theyre big bodies back there and they box out very well. Weve got to get some more bodies to the front of the net. And also hes a good goalie, so youve got to give him credit too." Ben Street scored the only goal for the Heat and Olivier Roy stopped 31 shots for Abbotsford (34-21-7), which has just one win in its last nine games. The Heat actually had the best opportunities to open the scoring, getting four power plays in the first period, but had nothing to show for it, including just one shot through 10 minutes. "We had four straight power plays, and we didnt generate anything off of that," said Heat head coach Troy Ward. "We didnt gain some momentum, we didnt put ourselves in a position physically or mentally to get some emotion or get some charge out of those power plays. I thought that was one of the biggest differences in the game." Stuart mirrored that idea. "We got into a little bit of penalty trouble in the first period," said Stuart. "We just kept battling back. Wed kill off a penalty and gain back a little bit more momentum and build on it. They kept coming at us and we weathered the storm when we needed to and controlled the game when we needed to as well." The Comets finally opened the scoring at 8:47 of the second period. Yann Sauves long shot was kicked out by Roy right to DeFazio down low and he made no mistake in beating Roy stick side for his 12th of the year. The Heat had some opportunities to get on the board. Corey Locke forced a turnover behind the net and centred for Max Reinhart, but Eriksson stopped him and made it look easy as well. While Locke has 14 assists with the Heat this season, he still has not scored in 18 games. "Its frustrating," said Locke. "Ive been getting looks but cant find a way to get the puck behind that goal-line. It cost a goal today. I stayed out to try and score, extending a shift, and they go back and score that second goal. Thats unacceptable." Stuart made it 2-0 at 15:25. Friesen made a perfect pass off the boards, around a Heat defender, to Stuart and he beat Roy blocker side. The Comets captain got his second of the game at 3:05 of the third. He skated to the left faceoff dot and wired a shot short side on the Heat netminder, putting the visitors up 3-0. The Heat had a two-man advantage with eight minutes to go in the third and finally beat Eriksson. Street one-timed Lockes pass from the slot, blowing it by the Swedish netminders glove for his 23rd of the year. Custom Denver Nuggets Jerseys .com) - The fading Ottawa Senators have a chance to make up some ground in the playoff race on Tuesday night as they play host to the New York Rangers. Jarred Vanderbilt Jersey . The Jays responded to the three-spot Detroit placed on Casey Janssen the evening before with an attack on the Tigers Achilles Heel, its bullpen, tying the game in the ninth and winning the game in the 10th. The result absolved Marcus Stroman, brilliant once again, of a tough luck loss while at the same time robbing Max Scherzer, brilliant once again, of a deserved win. http://www.authenticnuggetsproshop.com/J...rray-Jersey/.ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season. Allen Iverson Nuggets Jersey . He never mentioned anything about his hitting. The 33-year-old right-hander had success with both Sunday, pitching six solid innings and helping the offence-starved Mets with an RBI single as New York salvaged a doubleheader split with a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Will Barton Nuggets Jersey . JOHNS, N.DENVER -- Moments after deflecting in the winning goal, Colorados Tyson Barrie did a little dance. Not bad for a defenceman. The goal, that is. Although the shuffling dance steps werent bad, either. Barrie scored 55 seconds into overtime, Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots, and the Avalanche moved a step closer to their first playoff berth in four years with a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. "That was a heck of a goal," Avalanche forward Matt Duchene said. The pass was pretty good, too. Duchene dribbled the puck into the corner and sent a sharp pass at Barrie, who was standing in front of the net and tipped it past goalie Eddie Lack. "I was fortunate," Barrie said. With that, the Avs are on the verge of sewing up their first post-season appearance since the 2009-10 season. There was a scenario in which Colorado could have wrapped up a spot on Thursday, but Phoenix prevented that by beating the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in a road shootout. Colorado also remains on the heels of the Chicago Blackhawks for second in the Central Division. The Avs trail the Blackhawks by one point. "We want to finish as high as possible," said Duchene, who also scored a goal. "We arent giving anybody a break coming in." The game had a playoff feel with all the fights, thrown shoulders and scuffles in the corner. With good reason: The Canucks are trying to scratch and claw to remain in the post-season picture. Struggling just a few weeks ago, the Canucks earned a valuable point and are now five points behind Phoenix, which holds the second wild card spot in the Western Conference. But time is quickly running out for the Canucks, who have seven games remaining. "Were right there. Were still in it," said Canucks coach John Tortorella, whose team had its three-game winning streak snapped. "Were fine. Were fine in our room. Were going to keep on playing. "No bad news from me here." Daniel Sedin recorded his 800th NHL point with an assist in the first period. His twin brother, Henrik, reached that milestone on Oct. 15 at Philadelphia. Henrik didnt make the trip bbecause of a leg injury.dddddddddddd The Canucks showed no signs of fatigue despite playing on back-to-back nights. Vancouver kept up with the high-flying Avalanche most of the game, especially in the third period. "We were in their end zone quite a bit," Tortorella said. "We grinded. Thats a skilled team. Its a very quick team. I thought we did a really good job through the neutral zone to slow them down." Gabriel Landeskog missed a wide open net early in the second period, only to atone minutes later when he lifted a shot over the shoulder of Lack to give Colorado a 2-1 lead. The Avalanche captain has scored three times in two games. The Canucks tied it at 18:38 when Zack Kassian stopped a puck headed for the corner with his right skate, quickly corralled it and poked the puck past a sprawled-out Varlamov. Things got a little testy in the second period. It started early when Patrick Bordeleau and Tom Sestito fought. Duchene and Ryan Kesler later began shoving each other behind the Vancouver net. On the next shift, Jamie McGinn got into it with Kesler, as well. When the giant video board showed Kesler sitting on the bench, the Canucks centre made a kissing motion at the screen, drawing loud boos from the crowd. "They were playing hard," Duchene said. "They played a great game, and Varly played outstanding as usual." Yannick Weber staked Vancouver to a 1-0 lead in the first when he lined a shot past Varlamov for a power-play goal. It was his fifth goal of the season. Late in the opening period, Duchene tied it by knocking a rebound past Lack, who played for a second straight night. NOTES: Canucks F David Booth had an assist on Kassians goal, giving him four points in three games. ... Avs D Erik Johnson played in his 400th NHL game despite having the flu. ... It was Barries third OT goal of the season, tying the franchise record set by David Jones in 2010-11. ... Varlamov earned his 36th win of the season, the fourth most in franchise history. Hall of Famer turned Avs coach Patrick Roy has the record, winning 40 in the 2000-01 season. ' ' '