DALLAS -- Columbus had a little head start with a chance to clinch just the second playoff berth in franchise history. The Blue Jackets took advantage right away Wednesday night. Artem Anisimov and Mark Letestu added first-period goals to the one Columbus already had when the puck dropped in a makeup game with Dallas, and the Blue Jackets withstood a frantic third period for a 3-1 victory over the equally playoff-hungry Stars. "Its been a long time," said winger Jared Boll, one of the few players remaining from the Blue Jackets last playoff team in 2008-09. "Its just the first step. Weve still got a long way to go." The Blue Jackets had a 1-0 lead when the puck dropped because that was the score March 10, the night the original game was postponed after Dallas forward Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench because of an irregular heartbeat. Anisimov doubled the margin on an unassisted goal just 1:33 into the game. That was 71 seconds faster than the goal last month by Nathan Horton, who got credit for it even though he didnt officially play because he missed the makeup game with a lower-body injury. "The only thing that was weird about it was looking up at the scoreboard in warm-ups and we had a 1-0 lead," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "But once you got into the game, I had to remind myself when we scored the first goal that we were up 2-0, not just 1-0." The Blue Jackets set a franchise record with 42 wins, beating the previous mark from their only other playoff season. Columbus was swept by Detroit in the first round five years ago, and now those teams are in a battle for playoff position in their first season since being moved to the Eastern Conference. "Its fun right now to say we clinched, but we cant be satisfied with just getting in," said Boll, who missed four months with a torn ankle tendon. "We want to get there and make a splash." The Stars, who are in a franchise-record playoff drought thats a year longer than what Columbus endured, never really gave themselves a chance to build a cushion on Phoenix for the final playoff berth in the West. Dallas (89 points) has a two-point lead over the Coyotes, who have three games left to two for the Stars. "We fell behind before the game even started," Dallas forward Jamie Benn said. "That didnt help, but were not making any excuses." Dallas trailed 3-0 after the first and couldnt capitalize on power plays with fresh ice at the start of the second and third periods against Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped 17 of 18 shots in the third period and 33 of 34 overall. The Russian had to work harder at the start of the third, stopping Tyler Seguin on a backhand shot in the crease after Dallas leading scorer skated around the defence and turning away Benn from the wing a few seconds later. The Stars scored when they pulled goalie Tim Thomas for a 6-on-4 power play with nearly 14 minutes left in the game. Bobrovsky made a sprawling save before Trevor Daley punched in a rebound in a crowd in front of the net. "I broke my old record by a couple of minutes," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "I pulled a goalie one time in Atlanta with 9-something. I pulled it at even strength and we didnt score, but we scored the next shift and we pulled him late in the game and ended up tying it, and won it in overtime." Dallas outshot Columbus 18-2 in the third period, when the Stars went with an empty net for a total of about 5 minutes. The Stars ended up playing four times in five nights because of the makeup game, the same thing the Blue Jackets are doing to finish the season. Columbus was on the second night of a back-to-back and is the first team to play on four of the last five days of the season since Ottawa in 1993. Because of the busy schedule, Dallas coach Lindy Ruff went with Thomas over Kari Lehtonen. Thomas was fooled by Anisimov for the Columbus centres third goal in two games against the Stars, and Letestu made it 3-0 when his shot went off Daleys stick to the side of Thomas and somehow slid between the goalies legs. NOTES: STATS research going back to the 1989-90 season couldnt find an instance where a player scored a goal without officially playing in a game. Matt Calvert and James Wisniewski got credit for assists on Hortons goal. ... Daley tied his career high from three years ago with his eighth goal. Virgil van Dijk Liverpool Jersey . Despite Barcelona showing the same vulnerability in defence, Messis best performance since returning from a lengthy injury layoff ensured that his side bounced back from a defeat by Valencia in the previous round. Dominic Solanke Jersey . Costa Rica followed up its wins over Uruguay and Italy by holding England to a dour 0-0 draw on Tuesday, enough to finish first in Group D. http://www.footballliverpoolstore.com/Wo...verpool-Jersey/. Grilli hasnt pitched since straining his left oblique in late April. Manager Clint Hurdle says the right-hander will make a couple of appearances in middle relief before the team determines whether to return Grilli to the back end of the bullpen. Dejan Lovren Jersey .“I always did my stuff ahead of the deadline. The best deal Ive ever done was the Darryl Sydor deal. We did that at the end of January in 04, and Syd was the missing piece. Dominic Solanke Liverpool Jersey . Jannero Pargo scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to help the Charlotte Bobcats erase a 21-point deficit and rally for an 83-76 preseason victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss Joe Thorntons locker room comments, the Raptor Mascots injury, Canadas Olympic jerseys and the booing of Andrea Bargnani. Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is up to big centre Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks. After 19-year-old teammate Tomas Hertl scored his fourth goal of the game on a brilliant between-the-legs play in a 9-2 win over the rangers, some suggested the youngster was too, uh, confident. During a question to this effect in Vancouver, Jumbo Joe interrupted a teammates scrum to tell reporters what he would do if he ever scored four goals in a game, and it would have made slap shots strip teasing hero Ned Braden blush. Yes, Thornton was foul-mouthed; maybe he didnt expect to be quoted, but there you are. At least he was honest, which we could use more of in hockey, and in sports. Now lets all pray, together, that Joe Thornton never scores four goals in a game. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is down to the poor forever downtrodden Toronto Raptors and the season ending injury from which they cannot recover. And no, Im not talking about any of their players, not that any one of them would be thumb-worthy. Its their mascot, the Raptor, who is out after attempting a flip in a pre-season game in Halifax and ending up having surgery for a severed Achilles tendon. Normally, I could care less about fuurry arena-laden mascots.ddddddddddddMost of them annoy me. But this Raptor, working for a perpetually losing team, is many nights the best part of the show. A season without him just wont be the same. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is down to Canadas Olympic third jersey, which, as you know, is black. Now you might have noticed that the national colors are red and white, pretty much from sea to sea to sea. Of course, Canada does feature some black. You have your Alberta oil sands and the black watch regiment. And theres Randy Carlyles heart after a bad turnover by a Maple Leafs defenceman. But in a two-week tournament, Canada hardly needs to deviate from the colors it has worn so proudly and successfully. Goalie Carey Price joked he likes the black sweater because he finds it slimming. I dont like it because I find it foreign. Dave Hodge, TSN: My thumb is down to the booing of Andrea Bargnani, but not just any Bargnani booing. Specifically, the booing of Bargnani, the New York Knick, at Fridays exhibition game. Now, I cant imagine going to an exhibition game for the purpose of booing anyone, but as you may know, I cant imagine going to an exhibition game period. Presumably, you boo an opposing player to somehow get him off his game, to somehow help the home team. If theres a way to make Bargnani pay for being such a letdown as a Raptor, for goodness sake, come up with it during the regular season. 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DALLAS -- Columbus had a little head start with a chance to clinch just the second playoff berth in franchise history. The Blue Jackets took advantage right away Wednesday night. Artem Anisimov and Mark Letestu added first-period goals to the one Columbus already had when the puck dropped in a makeup game with Dallas, and the Blue Jackets withstood a frantic third period for a 3-1 victory over the equally playoff-hungry Stars. "Its been a long time," said winger Jared Boll, one of the few players remaining from the Blue Jackets last playoff team in 2008-09. "Its just the first step. Weve still got a long way to go." The Blue Jackets had a 1-0 lead when the puck dropped because that was the score March 10, the night the original game was postponed after Dallas forward Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench because of an irregular heartbeat. Anisimov doubled the margin on an unassisted goal just 1:33 into the game. That was 71 seconds faster than the goal last month by Nathan Horton, who got credit for it even though he didnt officially play because he missed the makeup game with a lower-body injury. "The only thing that was weird about it was looking up at the scoreboard in warm-ups and we had a 1-0 lead," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "But once you got into the game, I had to remind myself when we scored the first goal that we were up 2-0, not just 1-0." The Blue Jackets set a franchise record with 42 wins, beating the previous mark from their only other playoff season. Columbus was swept by Detroit in the first round five years ago, and now those teams are in a battle for playoff position in their first season since being moved to the Eastern Conference. "Its fun right now to say we clinched, but we cant be satisfied with just getting in," said Boll, who missed four months with a torn ankle tendon. "We want to get there and make a splash." The Stars, who are in a franchise-record playoff drought thats a year longer than what Columbus endured, never really gave themselves a chance to build a cushion on Phoenix for the final playoff berth in the West. Dallas (89 points) has a two-point lead over the Coyotes, who have three games left to two for the Stars. "We fell behind before the game even started," Dallas forward Jamie Benn said. "That didnt help, but were not making any excuses." Dallas trailed 3-0 after the first and couldnt capitalize on power plays with fresh ice at the start of the second and third periods against Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped 17 of 18 shots in the third period and 33 of 34 overall. The Russian had to work harder at the start of the third, stopping Tyler Seguin on a backhand shot in the crease after Dallas leading scorer skated around the defence and turning away Benn from the wing a few seconds later. The Stars scored when they pulled goalie Tim Thomas for a 6-on-4 power play with nearly 14 minutes left in the game. Bobrovsky made a sprawling save before Trevor Daley punched in a rebound in a crowd in front of the net. "I broke my old record by a couple of minutes," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "I pulled a goalie one time in Atlanta with 9-something. I pulled it at even strength and we didnt score, but we scored the next shift and we pulled him late in the game and ended up tying it, and won it in overtime." Dallas outshot Columbus 18-2 in the third period, when the Stars went with an empty net for a total of about 5 minutes. The Stars ended up playing four times in five nights because of the makeup game, the same thing the Blue Jackets are doing to finish the season. Columbus was on the second night of a back-to-back and is the first team to play on four of the last five days of the season since Ottawa in 1993. Because of the busy schedule, Dallas coach Lindy Ruff went with Thomas over Kari Lehtonen. Thomas was fooled by Anisimov for the Columbus centres third goal in two games against the Stars, and Letestu made it 3-0 when his shot went off Daleys stick to the side of Thomas and somehow slid between the goalies legs. NOTES: STATS research going back to the 1989-90 season couldnt find an instance where a player scored a goal without officially playing in a game. Matt Calvert and James Wisniewski got credit for assists on Hortons goal. ... Daley tied his career high from three years ago with his eighth goal. Virgil van Dijk Liverpool Jersey . Despite Barcelona showing the same vulnerability in defence, Messis best performance since returning from a lengthy injury layoff ensured that his side bounced back from a defeat by Valencia in the previous round. Dominic Solanke Jersey . Costa Rica followed up its wins over Uruguay and Italy by holding England to a dour 0-0 draw on Tuesday, enough to finish first in Group D. http://www.footballliverpoolstore.com/Wo...verpool-Jersey/. Grilli hasnt pitched since straining his left oblique in late April. Manager Clint Hurdle says the right-hander will make a couple of appearances in middle relief before the team determines whether to return Grilli to the back end of the bullpen. Dejan Lovren Jersey .“I always did my stuff ahead of the deadline. The best deal Ive ever done was the Darryl Sydor deal. We did that at the end of January in 04, and Syd was the missing piece. Dominic Solanke Liverpool Jersey . Jannero Pargo scored 14 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to help the Charlotte Bobcats erase a 21-point deficit and rally for an 83-76 preseason victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss Joe Thorntons locker room comments, the Raptor Mascots injury, Canadas Olympic jerseys and the booing of Andrea Bargnani. Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is up to big centre Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks. After 19-year-old teammate Tomas Hertl scored his fourth goal of the game on a brilliant between-the-legs play in a 9-2 win over the rangers, some suggested the youngster was too, uh, confident. During a question to this effect in Vancouver, Jumbo Joe interrupted a teammates scrum to tell reporters what he would do if he ever scored four goals in a game, and it would have made slap shots strip teasing hero Ned Braden blush. Yes, Thornton was foul-mouthed; maybe he didnt expect to be quoted, but there you are. At least he was honest, which we could use more of in hockey, and in sports. Now lets all pray, together, that Joe Thornton never scores four goals in a game. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is down to the poor forever downtrodden Toronto Raptors and the season ending injury from which they cannot recover. And no, Im not talking about any of their players, not that any one of them would be thumb-worthy. Its their mascot, the Raptor, who is out after attempting a flip in a pre-season game in Halifax and ending up having surgery for a severed Achilles tendon. Normally, I could care less about fuurry arena-laden mascots.ddddddddddddMost of them annoy me. But this Raptor, working for a perpetually losing team, is many nights the best part of the show. A season without him just wont be the same. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: My thumb is down to Canadas Olympic third jersey, which, as you know, is black. Now you might have noticed that the national colors are red and white, pretty much from sea to sea to sea. Of course, Canada does feature some black. You have your Alberta oil sands and the black watch regiment. And theres Randy Carlyles heart after a bad turnover by a Maple Leafs defenceman. But in a two-week tournament, Canada hardly needs to deviate from the colors it has worn so proudly and successfully. Goalie Carey Price joked he likes the black sweater because he finds it slimming. I dont like it because I find it foreign. Dave Hodge, TSN: My thumb is down to the booing of Andrea Bargnani, but not just any Bargnani booing. Specifically, the booing of Bargnani, the New York Knick, at Fridays exhibition game. Now, I cant imagine going to an exhibition game for the purpose of booing anyone, but as you may know, I cant imagine going to an exhibition game period. Presumably, you boo an opposing player to somehow get him off his game, to somehow help the home team. If theres a way to make Bargnani pay for being such a letdown as a Raptor, for goodness sake, come up with it during the regular season. 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