also in the midst of the scrum at the end

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OTTAWA - Eugene Melnyk is already predicting a return to the playoffs for the Ottawa Senators this season. Cheap Oilers Jerseys . The NHL teams owner said he sees no reason why this years lineup wouldnt have the capability to be one of the more competitive teams in the Eastern Conference. "I think you can pretty well predict what were going to have on the ice," Melnyk said Tuesday. "If everybody just plays to their potential I think its a great team and is going to be very competitive and will be a playoff team, but they just need to play to the level that we know that they can play." The Senators missed the playoffs last season and finished 11th in the Eastern Conference, but Melnyk is confident the Senators will finish in the top eight this year. "I think we have the potential to be in the playoffs and be competitive throughout the whole year," he said. "Once the playoffs start anything can happen. Thats the first step, lets get into the playoffs and let it run from there." There will be some significant changes to the Senators this year after the trade of Jason Spezza and the addition of David Legwand, Alex Chiasson and prospects Nicholas Paul and Alexander Guptill. Curtis Lazar, 19, will also be pushing to make the roster. "I think were going to be very, very competitive," said Melnyk. "Last year was not the kind of year we want to have this coming season. Everyone knows their roles and Im just hoping we stay away from injuries and were all set to go." Melnyk feels the Senators have a better schedule this season, adding he senses a renewed energy from players who are eager to put last season behind them. Ottawa dealt Spezza to the Dallas Stars last month. He was drafted by the Senators with the second overall pick in 2001 and had spent his career in the nations capital. The team has yet to name a new captain. Melnyk said he understood and accepted Spezzas request to be traded. "I spoke to him as far back as five years ago and he was already starting to talk about potentially moving and this time around he was looking for a change and I totally understand what he wanted to do," he said. Melnyk was in town to announce that the Senators and the Senators Foundation have surpassed the $100-million mark in community contributions and initiatives. "Were at the top, weve won the Stanley Cup in that area," he said of the teams charitable efforts. "I know what everybody else does, we talk about it, and they come here to see what weve done to get a sense of it. Theyre just in awe of the organization and how well we are organized. Its a machine." Melnyk capped off the afternoon with another charitable contribution as he and Senators defenceman Erik Karlsson took part in the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness for ALS. Oilers Jerseys 2020 . Starters, when they struggle, have to live with it for five days. For Sergio Santos and Steve Delabar, two of the three men who authored one of the ugliest pitched innings in Blue Jays franchise history on Thursday night, the bounce-back chance came right away. Edmonton Oilers Store . PETERSBURG, Fla. https://www.cheapoilers.com/ . With the Nets winning streak in jeopardy, Williams scored 23 points, 11 in the final six minutes, to lead Brooklyn to a 104-99 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ben Smith had the closest look and he likened it to mayhem. Antti Raanta had the worst view on the ice and to him it was a thing of beauty. Smith tapped in a rebound with 3.7 seconds left on a wild scrum to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night. With time running out, Duncan Keith threw the puck on net and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky blocked it with his arm but it popped out of his reach. While he and two teammates scrambled to get to the loose puck, Smith got a stick on it and pushed it into the net. "(Keith) is so good at getting pucks through -- that first shot almost went in. I dont think he saw it," Smith said of Bobrovsky. "It was just kind of a mad scramble in front with people going to the net. Somehow, the puck found its way in." When the official pointed to the puck to signify the goal was good, it touched off a wild celebration from a large throng of Chicago fans in the capacity crowd. It also deflated the playoff hopes of the Blue Jackets, not to mention the thousands of their fans in a crowd of 18,695. "We came up 3 seconds short," said Columbus defenceman Dalton Prout, part of the pile of players trying to clear the puck as time sifted away. At the far end of the rink, Raanta, giving front-line netminder Corey Crawford a night off by making 24 saves, flashed a wide smile when Smiths inside work paid off. "You can imagine how that feels when there is only 3 seconds on the clock and we score the winning goal," he said. "The feeling was very, very nice." Jeremy Morin, Patrick Sharp and Marian Hossa also had goals for Chicago, while Keith had three assists. The reigning Stanley Cup champions have already locked up their sixth straight playoff appearance. But they had dropped three games in a row and were without superstar forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, both sidelined with injuries, heading into a home game with Minnesota on Thursday night. But a shootout win before the home crowd and then the late victory in Columbus -- against a team desperate for points in something akin to playoff conditionss -- has brightened the picture even more for the Blackhawks. Custom Edmonton Oilers Jerseys. "You play the right way and you give yourself a chance," coach Joel Quenneville said. "You get balance and you keep yourself mentally aware of what you need to do, play the team system and everybody complements each other. The last two wins are very exciting from where we were just a couple of days ago." Columbus started the night with a tenuous grasp on the second wild-card spot in the East. But with games running out -- and opportunities for points slipping away -- all of the Blue Jackets realized how costly the late goal could end up being. "Its a tough one to swallow, but we have to move on," said Matt Calvert, also in the midst of the scrum at the end. Derek MacKenzie, Ryan Johansen and Artem Anisimov scored for Columbus and Bobrovsky had 34 saves. The Blue Jackets fell to 0-10-3 in their last 13 meetings with the Blackhawks. Midway through the third with the game tied at 3, Raanta made the stop of the game after Calvert intercepted a pass and zoomed in all alone. Raanta deflected his shot and the game remained tied. Bobrovsky then stopped a blast by Bryan Bickell and smothered Morins shot from his knees in the slot with less than 5 minutes remaining. Then came the wild finish after both teams had seemed content to get to overtime with a point. But Smith, at the edge of the goal cage, was able to get to the puck after Prout and Calvert were unable to clear it and Bobrovsky couldnt fall on it. "I went in and told the players, Its a hard loss but weve got to move past it," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "You cant let your highs get too high. And right now we cant let the lows get too low. This group has been pretty resilient all year. Theres been times all year when people have counted us out and the guys have responded." NOTES: Blue Jackets D David Savard played in his 100th NHL game. ... Chicago returns home for games with St. Louis and Montreal before closing out the regular season at Washington and Nashville. ... Columbus opened a three-game homestand, then ends the regular season with three on the road. ' ' '