COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Derick Brassard and Derek Stepan scored third-period goals, and Henrik Lundqvist made 25 saves to lead the New York Rangers to a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night. It was the first game back in Columbus for Rangers star Rick Nash, the Blue Jackets franchise leader in goals, assists and games. He was given a standing ovation during a video tribute in the first period, but was booed loud and long after a second-period, two-handed shove up high on Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. Carl Hagelin added an empty-net goal, and defenceman Anton Stralman had two assists for the Rangers, who moved two points ahead of the Blue Jackets in the tight Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference playoff races. Nick Foligno scored for Columbus, 7-2-2 in its last 11 games. Bobrovsky made 29 saves. Both teams came in with 78 points, the third most in the Metropolitan. The Blue Jackets have played one fewer game. After two scoreless periods, Columbus took a 1-0 lead when Foligno intercepted Benoit Pouilots pass and scored his 18th goal of the season with a wrist shot from the high slot at 1:12. Just 44 seconds later, the Rangers countered when Ryan McDonagh carried the puck along the back wall and then fed Stepan for his 14th goal. With 8:29 left, Brassard -- who played his first five NHL seasons with the Blue Jackets -- took a pass along the back wall from Stralman and flipped the puck between his legs to the doorstep. Brassard then pivoted and jammed a shot in off Bobrovskys pad. Nash, then the Blue Jackets captain, requested a trade in early 2012 and was finally dealt on July 23, 2012. Nash was sent along with a minor-league defenceman and a 2013 third-round draft pick to the Rangers for centres Artem Anisimov and Brandon Dubinsky, defenceman Tim Erixon and a 2013 first-round pick (Kerby Rychel). Nash is Columbus franchise leader in games with 674 (next on the list is 131 games behind), goals with 289 (by 169), assists with 258 (by 54) and points with 547 (by 230). Most of the capacity crowd of 18,513 gave him a standing ovation during the video tribute, although there were still some boos. All of that good will evaporated in the second period after Nash rushed the net and had a goal disallowed for interfering with Bobrovsky. As Nash went to get his stick, Bobrovsky picked it up with his stick and then dropped it as Nash reached for it. Nash then hit Bobrovsky high with both hands. That touched off five two-man scuffles and sent Nash to the box for roughing. When the cameras showed him in the penalty box, the majority of the crowd booed loudly. The crowd roared early when Nash was hit and dumped to the ice by rising young star, Ryan Johansen. Another time, Bobrovsky appeared to slip his stick between Nashs skates to knock him down. There was also a fight, some chippiness on both sides, and one two-man penalty-kill by the Blue Jackets. The Rangers had 30 seconds of a 5 on 3 advantage and got off two shots, but Bobrovsky turned both aside. In the opening seconds of the third, Nash held onto the stick of Matt Calvert for several seconds. That led to a fight as the crowd roared. NOTES: The Blue Jackets have 12 regular-season games left. ... Former Columbus RW Derek Dorsett was a late addition to the Rangers lineup in place of Daniel Carcillo, who was a healthy scratch. ... The Rangers are 6-5-1 since the Olympic break, 18-10-2 in 2014. ... The Rangers had been in Columbus since Tuesday night while the Blue Jackets played at Montreal on Thursday night, winning 3-2. Cullen Loeffler Vikings Jersey . -- Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky should not get a new trial after being convicted of sexually abusing 10 boys, an appeals court ruled Wednesday. Corey Wootton Vikings Jersey . His play of late has reached All-Star calibre, Warriors coach Mark Jackson insisted after watching Lee lead Golden State to its 10th consecutive win Tuesday night, the Warriors longest streak since the 1975-76 season and one short of the franchise record of 11 wins in a row during the 1971-72 campaign. http://www.nflvikingsus.com/Womens-Andrew-Sendejo-Authentic-Jersey/. Calgary won three straight games at home before opening their current four-game trip with a 2-1 loss to Nashville on Tuesday. Curtis Glencross scored in the second period after the Flames were outshot 18-6 in the first, but the Preds Colin Wilson broke the tie with a power-play tally in the third stanza. John Sullivan Vikings Jersey . Marie Greyhounds centre Jared McCann is the big mover this month, jumping into the top ten of the International Scouting Services prospect rankings for December. Christian Ponder Vikings Jersey . -- Jeff Francis appeared to be in for a brief night after labouring through 66 pitches in the first three innings.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Al Jefferson said he feels like hes playing the best basketball of his 10-year NBA career. Its tough to argue that point. The 29-year-old Jefferson had a great run five years ago with Minnesota, but that came when the Timberwolves were irrelevant. This year Jefferson is spearheading the Bobcats charge to the playoffs and seemingly getting stronger and more confident with each passing game. "My confidence is up, especially on the defensive end, and Im just playing well," Jefferson said. "In Minnesota we were 20 games under .500 and we were getting ready for the draft. Right now were in a dogfight. I mean its a dogfight man, and it just means a lot more to me." Jefferson had 33 points and 10 rebounds on Friday night, helping the Bobcats beat the New Orleans Pelicans 90-87 for their third straight victory since the All-Star break. Jefferson has scored 29 points or more in eight of his last 11 games and at least 20 points in 17 of the last 19. Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said hes never coached a player who has been on a roll quite like the one Jefferson is on now. "Its unbelievable," Clifford said. "I cant imagine many guys in the league are playing better than him right now." And Jeffersons production might only increase in the coming months. The Bobcats traded for Gary Neal and Luke Ridnour on Thursday, looking to bolster their 3-point shooting. Jefferson said hes excited about the trade. He believes Neal will bring the Bobcats an outside presence, one that may force teams to think twice about how often they double team him in the low post. "Playing against (Neal) in Utah the last few years, I didnt like him -- I didnt like him at all," Jefferson said. "He didnt miss a lot of shots." The Bobcats, currently the seventh seed in the East after Atlanta lost to Detroit, overcame some shoddy free throw shooting Friday night in the final minute to win for the seventh time in the last 10 games. Charlotte had missed four of six free throws in the final minute before Kemba Walker knocked down four foul shots in the final 9 seconds to put the Bobcats up by three. The Pelicans had a chance to send the game to overtime, but Josh McRoberts stripped Brian Roberts of the ball att midcourt and time expired.dddddddddddd Rookie Cody Zeller continues to steadily improve, chipping in with a career-high 13 points for the Bobcats. "Defensively Im starting to see plays before they happen and on offence Im playing with more confidence," said Zeller, the fourth overall pick in the 2013 draft. Roberts had 20 points and Anthony Davis added 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Pelicans (23-31), who have lost four of their last five games. The Bobcats wasted no time exploiting the matchup of Jefferson on Alexis Ajinca, repeatedly dumping the ball in the low post. Jefferson had 14 points in the first quarter. The Pelicans also tried Greg Stiemsma and later Anthony Davis on Jefferson, but nobody had much success stopping him. The trio combined for 13 fouls. Charlotte was 25 of 36 from the foul line; the Pelicans attempted just 11 free throws. "I dont like wearing him down," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said of the decision not to put Davis on Jefferson to start the game. "So, to put him on Al from the jump, I think it wears him out. We did that with Carmelo (Anthony) the last game and he did a good job and he did a good job on Al tonight. "And Al missed some shots. They got 36 free throws and we got 11. So you figure that out." The Bobcats defence, which came in ranked fifth in the league in points allowed, limited the Pelicans to a season-low 32 points in the first half to take an 11-point lead at the break. "We couldnt put the ball in the bucket in the first half," Davis said. "We played great defensively, but its tough to get out of that hole." There was a comical moment in the fourth quarter after an errant pass. A fan retrieved the ball and fired it back to the official on the court just as Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was getting up from his seat on the bench. The ball hit Kidd-Gilchrist in the back of the head, causing him to flinch. NOTES: Clifford said newly acquired Neal and Ridnour will not play until next week as the NBA has yet to approve the deal. Both arrived in Charlotte on Friday and watched the game from behind the team bench. ... Gerald Henderson is one of only eight guards in the NBA that has started every game this season for his team. ' ' '