having a sensational season and then being stuck having

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Relentless is the word Columbus forward Brandon Dubinsky chose to describe the surging Blue Jackets style of play. Dubinsky and Matt Calvert each had a goal and assist to lead Columbus to a team-record eighth-straight win -- the longest active streak in the league -- with a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night in the franchises 1,000th game. Jack Johnson, Derek MacKenzie and Nathan Horton also scored for Columbus. The Blue Jackets played their inaugural season in 2000 and has only made the playoffs once, but are finally showing real signs of promise. "Theres a confidence in the room now," coach Todd Richards said. "I think there is an understanding of how we need to play, what we need to do as a group to have success." The offence has come on of late, but the backbone has been Sergei Bobrovsky, last seasons winner of the Vezina Trophy, which goes to the leagues top goalie. Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves in his first game against his former club to earn his seventh win in a row since returning from a groin injury. "Its everybody from Bob all the way out that are contributing," Dubinsky said. The Blue Jackets closed out the Flyers with four straight goals to improve to a league-best 9-0-1 record in January. They are currently holding an Eastern Conference playoff spot. "If you look at the standings we are still right there," Dubinsky said. "By no means can we be satisfied. Obviously its a big accomplishment. We are happy, we are going to enjoy it tonight. We are going to come to work tomorrow and get ready for a tough game." Brayden Schenn and Vincent Lecavalier scored for the Flyers, playing the second of an unscheduled back-to-back set after a snowstorm in Philadelphia pushed their game, a 3-2 loss to Carolina, to Wednesday. Philadelphia is 2-4-2 since winning 10 of 13. Coach Craig Berube said the Flyers recent struggles are because of poor execution inside their blue line. "It starts in our own end breaking the puck out," he said. "We are not doing a very good job of it. We end up spending too much time in our own end." Backup Ray Emery got the nod in goal instead of Steve Mason and had 34 stops. Mason, acquired from the Blue Jackets in 2012, played against the Hurricanes and has yet to face his former team in two visits to Columbus. The home crowd chided the former rookie of the year with chants of "We want Mason!" during the second and third periods. The Flyers fell behind 1-0 at 8:20. Johnsons shot from the right boards bounced off the legs of Luke Schenn and eluded Emery for his third of the season. Brayden Schenn tied it 1:56 in on a nice individual effort. He stripped the puck from Ryan Murray at the Columbus blue line, then cut in on Bobrovsky, eventually scoring on his third rapid-fire shot for his 14th. Lecavalier made it 2-1 just under six minutes later with his 11th, blasting a shot from the slot on the power play after a nice passing combination. The Blue Jackets responded with goals 4:49 apart to regain the lead, then added two more in the third period. "Were slowly getting the feeling in the room that no matter what teams throw at us we seem to dig deep and come up with a win," MacKenzie said. Corey Tropps forecheck squirted the puck free to Artem Anisimov, who centred a short-range pass to MacKenzie that he chipped in for his third at 11:24. Calvert was credited with the go-ahead score, his sixth, on a quirky power-play sequence. Philadelphias attempted sure clear, hit a glass partition and stayed in their zone. James Wisniewski got the puck and sent a hard pass from the left circle that hit Calverts turning skate in the crease and deflected into the goal. The play went to review and was upheld. Dubinsky beat Emery with a wrist shot from the slot for his 11th at 3:29 of the third. Horton scored a highlight-reel goal three minutes later, stepping around Andrej Meszaros at the boards and powering a high shot past Emery for his fourth. "This is something weve talked about as a group ... really trying to create an identity for our team and I think weve done that." NOTES: The Blue Jackets look to continue their record run Saturday against visiting Buffalo. ... Philadelphia is 6-4-0 in the second of back-to-back games. ... Columbus is 12-7-1 in the Metropolitan Division, while Philadelphia is 9-8-3. ... Arguably the Flyers best player this season, Mason recently signed a three-year contract extension. However, hes 1-2-1 with a 4.21 goals against average in his last five starts, getting pulled twice. Clearance Jerseys .J. -- Jaromir Jagr has hit so many NHL milestones this season for the New Jersey Devils that he is starting to downplay them. Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys . For the Blue Jays the time was Wednesday and the ace was R.A. Dickey. He stepped up. "I feel some responsibility as a stopper from time to time," said Dickey. http://www.cheapjerseyssupplychina.com/ . It led to his downfall on Tuesday. The Major League Soccer club fired Rennie after a second straight up-and-down season that saw the Whitecaps start strong before limping across the finish line. Cheap NFL Jerseys China .Lets go back to the Avs, who have become one of the funnest teams to watch in this years playoffs. China Jerseys . -- Barry Bonds is all set to return to the San Francisco Giants.Its New Years Day and Jack Armstrong is here with his first thoughts of 2015 on the high-flying Portland Trail Blazers, the Toronto Raptors current road trip, the return of Kevin Durant, Jared Dudleys impressive first year in Milwaukee and the injury to Al Jefferson. Greetings from San Francisco! I can think of a lot worse places to be, thats for sure. Happy New Year! My Best Wishes to each of you and I hope you have a wonderful 2015. FIVE QUICK NBA THOUGHTS: 1. PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS: Im really impressed. They have a very nice team and a big factor that jumps out at me is that they have four above-average perimeter defenders in Damian Lillard, Steve Blake, Nicholas Batum and Wesley Matthews. All do a solid job in making you earn everything you get. Not many teams in the league that have a perimeter corps that prides itself on being two-way players. This team is sound on both sides of the ball. 2. GREAT CHALLENGES FOR THE RAPTORS: It was a sensational game in Portland on Tuesday night between the #2 and #3 teams in the NBA in overall record. There was a terrific atmosphere and, even though Raps ran out of gas late, it once again proved to me that theyre growing as a team and are capable of playing with anyone. Another awesome test awaits on Friday against the top team in Association and the Golden State Warriors. I cant wait. These are the games that Raptors fans having been waiting to experience for years. Enjoy it - win or lose. Its all part of the journey of this team figuring out how to become a contender. Its not there yet, but this is what shapes aand tests you for future improvement.ddddddddddddThere are many more ups and downs coming, but its nice to have true meaning each time game night arrives. 3. KEVIN DURANT (Thunder): A quiet night for Durant against the Suns on Wednesday with only 44 points, 10 boards and with seven assists. Eh, the guy is decent. The Thunder are only a game-and-a-half back from the final playoff spot in the West. If these guys stay healthy, watch out. Imagine being a top-three seed and having a sensational season and then being stuck having to play the Thunder as a bottom-three seed. Itll be fun to watch the elite Western teams in early April try to avoid a first-round match-up with these guys. Scary opponent. 4. JARED DUDLEY (Bucks): Ive always been a huge fan of his. Dudleys a no-frills, hard-working guy, who gets a lot out of his abilities. He does whatever you need to win. The Bucks second unit has been a huge plus this season and a big reason is his team-first approach. A winning player, Dudleys bounced back from a tough year and Im sure the Clippers miss him. 5. AL JEFFERSON (Hornets): What a nightmare season. Josh McRoberts bolts to Miami (and they miss him), Lance Stephenson has been a bust, chemistry has been shaky and now the big fella is going to miss some time with a groin injury. Jeffersons a force inside that you cant replace. Its a tough blow for Coach Steve Clifford, one of the talented young coaches in our game. Its been a brutal year for Charlotte after such a fun one last season. Winning, health and chemistry are a very fragile thing. ' ' '