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COLUMBUS, Ohio - Just getting to the .500 mark might seem like a minor accomplishment to many teams. For the injury-ravaged Columbus Blue Jackets, however, it means the world.Kevin Connauton had a goal and an assist and Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves to lead the Blue Jackets past the Minnesota Wild 3-1 on Wednesday night.Its a credit to the guys, coach Todd Richards said after the Blue Jackets improved to 16-16-3 after a horrific 6-15-2 start, when they were without as many as nine top players. Where we were a month and a half ago, that was a big hole. To get back to .500 is a good spot considering where we were. But we cant be satisfied with it.Columbus scored a power-play goal at 5:57 of the third with the score tied at 1. Cycling the puck, Connauton slid a pass to David Savard at the top of the left circle. His hard one-timer beat goalie Darcy Kuemper stick side inside the near post.Ryan Johansen added an empty-netter for his first goal in 12 games.We made our mistakes and Bob made some big saves, said Johansen. It wasnt the prettiest win, but well take it.Brandon Dubinsky had two assists for Columbus, which went 10-1-1 in December. It was the third time in franchise history that the Blue Jackets won at least 10 games in a month.Hockeys a game where when things are going well, (they) sort of (come) in bunches, said Connauton, a waiver pickup from Dallas on Nov. 18 who has been an important part of the clubs turnaround. Were just on one of those hot streaks right now and we just have to keep working on it and the good things will keep happening.Zach Parise scored a power-play goal for the Wild, whove had 11 of their last 14 games decided by one goal.The Wild, near the bottom of the league on the power play, had two chances with a man advantage in the opening period and scored on the second.With James Wisniewski off for holding, Thomas Vanek carried the puck from behind the Columbus goal cage and fed Mikko Koivu in the right circle for a quick pass to the right doorstep for Parises one-timer that beat Bobrovsky inside the near post. It was Parises 14th goal of the season.Bobrovsky had earlier stymied Koivu on a weakside one-timer.Johansen had a prime chance late in the first but Kuemper deflected the point-blank shot with his shoulder.The Blue Jackets evened things on a relatively innocent play with 46 seconds left in the second period.After a scrum in front of the net, the puck ended up at the short boards on the left wing and Kuemper ended up without his stick. Connauton fired a low shot that sliced past two defenders and eluded Kuemper.I dropped my stick on the save before and the puck got shot into the corner, said Kuemper, who had 23 saves. It shot right out to a guy for a one-timer.It was deflating for the Wild.We should have gone into the third period up 1-0, said Parise. Its tough when you give up one in the last minute of a period. It gets them excited and gets the crowd excited.The Wild havent won a second straight game since Nov. 20.We cant get on a roll, said coach Mike Yeo. Its disappointing. That was a game that was there for us. But we didnt dig in deep enough to get it.NOTES: During pregame warmups, Columbus announced it had extended the contract of left wing Nick Foligno through the 2020-21 season for a reported $33 million. ... Foligno was playing in his 500th career NHL game. ... It was the Wilds first road game on New Years Eve in eight years. ... The Blue Jackets placed RW Cam Atkinson on the injured list on Tuesday (shoulder). Hes expected to miss a week or two. ... The Wild reassigned G John Curry to Iowa (AHL) earlier in the day and activated starting G Niklas Backstrom, who had missed the last three games with an illness. ... Minnesota came in having lost 86 man games to injury; Columbus had lost 223.___Follow Rusty Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RustyMillerAP Corey Davis Jersey .Inter Milan and Napoli also advanced to ensure there will be at least three Italian clubs in the last 32 of Europes secondary competition.Spurs victory, secured by Benjamin Stamboulis 49th-minute winner, was overshadowed by a succession of pitch invasions that forced the referee to halt the game after 41 minutes. Derrick Henry Jersey . Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone dismissed Tuesdays massive anti-government protest in Manama as "a lot of kids having a go at the police." "I dont think its anything serious at all," Ecclestone was quoted as saying in The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday. http://www.authentictitanspro.com/Corey-davis-titans-jersey/ . The team announced the moves before Sundays game against Houston. Shaw was 1-4 with a 4.26 ERA in 43 games for the Diamondbacks. Bergesen was claimed off waivers from Baltimore on Friday. Warren Moon Jersey . But qualifying for her first Scotties Tournament of Hearts after years of falling short in tough Manitoba provincial championships is as good as consolation prizes get for the 29-year-old from Winnipegs Fort Rouge Curling Club. Nate Davis Youth Jersey . Just as the meeting was beginning, Major League Baseball unveiled Rule 7.13, an experimental rule for the 2014 season aimed at eliminating what the league calls “egregious” runner/catcher collisions at home plate.BROOKLYN, NY -- On the Toronto Raptors bus ride to practise Saturday, talk wasnt about the upcoming game against the Brooklyn Nets. It centred around the Los Angeles Clippers and owner Donald Sterling. The NBA is investigating a report of an audio recording in which a man identified as Sterling tells his girlfriend not to bring black people to games. "Guys more than anything are saying, Something has to addressed, something has to be said," said Raptors forward Steve Novak, who spent two seasons (2008-10) with the Clippers. The league said it is in the process of authenticating the validity of the recording posted on TMZs website. In the recording, the man questions his girlfriends association with minorities. TMZ reported the woman, V. Stiviano, who is of black and Mexican descent, posted a picture of herself with Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson on Instagram -- which has since been removed. "Theres definitely not a place for it in the NBA, in this game," Novak said. "What makes it so strange is hes been an NBA owner for that many years (33), hes not someone who isnt associated with African Americans, someone whos benefited that much from African Americans. . . theyve been such a positive part of his life. "Sometimes theres very successful people who arent very good people," Novak added about the American business magnate. The man in the recording asked Stiviano not to broadcast her association with black people or bring black people to games. He specifically mentioned Magic Johnson on the recording, saying "dont bring him to my games, OK?" "I will never go to a Clippers game again as long as Donald Sterling is the owner," Johnson responded on Twitter. He also said the alleged comments are "a black eye for the NBA" and felt bad that friends such as Clippers coach Doc Rivers and point-guard Chris Paul had to work for Sterling. "I dont blame him. I wouldnt either," DeMar DeRozan said of Johnsons decision to boycott games. DeRozan, who grew up in Compton just south of downtown Los Angeles, said he felt for the Clippers players, who lead their Western Conference playoff series against Golden State 2-1. "Honestly, especially right now in the playoffs, theyre trying to win their series so its going to be interesting to see (how the players handle the situation),&quuot; DeRozan said.dddddddddddd Landry Fields added: "Right now theyre kind of in a tough position. Theres still playoffs to be played. But it is sad that now this has become an issue rather than Clipper basketball." DeRozan was asked if he could play for an owner like Sterling. "I dont know man, I dont know. I dont know," the all-star said with a shake of his head. "Me personally, I dont stand for nothing like that. It would be tough, itd be tough." Added Raptors coach Dwane Casey: "If its true, its a sad commentary on our society . . . on our society as a whole, being an African American myself." Novak said the allegations are no surprise, players have known about previous discrimination cases against Sterling. He said the NBA must take action. "I think its personal to each and every guy," Novak said. "More than anything I dont think the league can sit back and say it didnt happen, if it did. "Theres no way that should be tolerated. I dont think in any workplace in the world you can speak that way about anybody, and in our league especially." New NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a press conference before the Grizzlies playoff game in Memphis that the audio is "disturbing and offensive." "All members of the NBA family should be afforded due process and a fair opportunity to present their side of any controversy, which is why Im not yet prepared to discuss any potential sanctions against Donald Sterling," Silver said. "We will, however, move extraordinarily quickly in our investigation." Novak added its a huge black eye to the NBA ownership group. "The owners in the NBA are such an impressive group of people," he said. "Look at all the owners and what theyve done, and all the good things that they do, and so for something like that to come out, to be grouped as an NBA owner type-thing is unfortunate." Sterling has been involved in several lawsuits over the years. Novak played for the Clippers when the owner was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice in 2009. Sterling agreed to pay US$2.73 million to settle allegations by the government that he refused to rent apartments to Hispanics and blacks and to families with children. Sterling is the longest-tenured owner in the NBA since Lakers owner Jerry Buss died last year. ' ' '