News » NEW YORK (AP) James Reimer has been coming up big

NEW YORK (AP) James Reimer has been coming up big for the surging Panthers the last six weeks. His latest effort was his second shutout this month and it helped Florida move closer to a playoff spot.Reimer stopped 32 shots for his fifth straight win as the Panthers beat the reeling New York Islanders 3-0 Monday night.”I just tried to be big in there and try to read the puck as best as I could and be on it Womens Mark Scheifele Jersey ,” Reimer said. ”And then rely on your D-men to clear any garbage, and they did a great job.”It was the backup goalie’s fourth shutout this season and 21st of his career, improving his record to 7-1-0 since returning from an injury Feb. 12.”Reims has answered the bell every time,” Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. ”This is the part of the season you need guys stepping up and he’s been one of our guys that’s stepped up for us. … His preparation is real good and you can see he was focused right from the drop of the puck tonight, made some big saves.”Evgenii Dadonov and Keith Yandle each had a goal and an assist, and Nick Bjugstad also scored to help Florida win for the 13th time in 17 games (13-3-1).The Panthers moved within one point of idle New Jersey for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. They have eight games remaining, one more than the Devils, over the final 13 days of the season.”I really haven’t been paying much attention to what’s going on with the Devils and those other teams, but obviously we know it’s tight and you can’t afford to lose at this point,” Bjugstad said. ”There’s not much breathing room here at the end of the year. … We’ve got a tough schedule coming up here, a lot of games, but it’s going to be a fun challenge.”Christopher Gibson finished with 38 saves for the Islanders, who were eliminated from postseason contention for the second straight year with their 14th loss in 16 games (2-10-4).”It’s tough,” coach Doug Weight said. ”It’s tough for us, and it’s not good enough. It’s tough for the fans Mathieu Perreault Jersey , it’s tough for everybody involved. All we can say is we’re going to be better. … I think we have the ingredients and we have the drive and we’re going to work at it.”Leading 1-0 after one period, Florida pulled away with two goals in the second while outshooting New York 19-11.After Islanders rookie Mathew Barzal was given a double-minor for high-sticking Vincent Trochek 1:24 into the middle period, Florida took advantage just 23 seconds later. Bjugstad got a pass from Jamie McGinn, skated into the right circle and fired the puck past Gibson for his 18th goal.Dadonov made it 3-0 at 6:09 as he sent a pass from the left side boards toward the net for a streaking Bjugstad, but the puck deflected off the skate of Islanders defenseman Brandon Davidson and past Gibson. It was Dadonov’s 24th goal of the season, and ninth goal and 21st point in his last 17 games.The Panthers outshot the Islanders 16-10 in the first period, with both teams getting solid chances.Gibson denied Derek MacKenzie in front 3 1/2 minutes in, and then stopped MacKenzie Weeger’s shot from the left circle and Maxim Mamim’s follow attempt on the rebound in front a little more than two minutes later.The Islanders’ Cal Clutterbuck hit a post 2 1/2 minutes in. Reimer also turned away Andrew Ladd’s tip attempt in front 4 1/2 minutes in, Anders Lee’s backhand two minutes later, and two tries in close by John Tavares shortly after that.Reimer acknowledged that being in the thick of the playoff race has helped elevate his game.”When it’s going like this you just come to the rink ready to go,” he said. ”You’re excited to play, every game means something, and those are the fun games to play.”Yandle got the Panthers on the scoreboard with 8:22 left in the opening period as he sent a long wrist shot from between the circles in front of the blue line past Gibson’s glove side for his eighth.NOTES: Aleksander Barkov had an assist on Yandle’s goal, giving him 15 assists and 21 points in his last 17 games. He is one away from becoming the first Panthers player with 50 assists since Olli Jokinen had 52 in 2006-07. … The Panthers improved to 10-3-1 this month, tying the franchise record for wins and points (21) in March set in 2006. Florida has three more games remaining this month. … Florida is 20-6-1 in its last 27 games. …. The Panthers improved to 26-1-0 when leading after two periods. … Tavares snapped a five-game point streak in which he had two goals and seven assists.UP NEXTPanthers: At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night in the second of a four-game trip.Islanders: At the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.—Follow Vin Cherwoo at www.twitter.com/VinCherwooAP— WINNIPEG Nikolaj Ehlers Jersey , Manitoba (AP) Dustin Byfuglien’s 800th NHL game was as memorable as it was productive, as the Jets defenseman scored and added an assist in Winnipeg’s 4-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night.”It’s great. I’ve done some good things around here to stick around to play 800,” said Byfuglien, now in his 13th NHL season. ”It’s an honor, it’s a pleasure, it’s fun.”The Jets quickly became the second NHL team to reach 20 home wins this season, just hours after the Pittsburgh Penguins became the first.”For the most part, we’ve come out ready to go,” Byfuglien explained. ”Right off the hop. Just sticking to our game plan. We’ve been working on things, just to stay consistent and be ready for the long stretch down the road. We’ve been doing a good job at sticking to our program.”Dmitry Kulikov scored the eventual winner in the second period for the Jets (32-13-9), who are 9-0-1 in their last 10 home games to improve to 20-3-2 there this season.”We’ve got a good balance here of guys that can grind and certainly enough offense,” coach Paul Maurice said. ”It should be an advantage to home hockey, but in order to do that you have to have a certain structure in your lineup. We’re closer to that, where we want to be with that structure, than any of my time here.”Jack Roslovic and Nic Petan also scored for Winnipeg http://www.jetsshoppro.com/authentic-patrik-laine-jersey , and Connor Hellebuyck (28-6-8) made 18 saves to tie Washington goalie Braden Holtby for the second-most wins in the NHL this season.Kevin Connauton, Christian Dvorak and Derek Stepan scored for the Coyotes, who have lost four straight in falling to a league-worst 12-32-9. Antti Raanta stopped 19 shots.”I liked our battle last half of the game,” coach Rick Tocchet said. ”I thought we played really well. We worked hard, had some chances to score, a couple guys had chances to score and missed the net. I think they had 23 shots and four goals and those were top-shelf goals. That was the difference.”Both teams scored on their first shot of the game, with Roslovic scoring his third of the season for the Jets, and Connauton netting his third for Arizona to make it 1-all 4:25 into the game.Byfuglien put Winnipeg ahead 2-1 midway through the first period, batting a rebound out of midair and past Raanta.”I swing at a lot of pucks and miss most of them, but that one I got,” Byfuglien said.Petan’s first goal of the season gave the Jets a 3-1 lead late in the first. Petan redirected Ben Chiarot’s point shot along the ice.The Coyotes got back within a goal, taking advantage of a power play late in the first period. Dvorak grabbed the rebound off his own blocked shot and slid it under Hellebuyck just six seconds after Jets captain Blake Wheeler went off for holding.Kulikov gave the Jets a 4-2 lead early in the second. His third of the season capped a 3-on-2 rush as he scored on a one-timer from the right faceoff dot.Stepan’s 10th of the season brought Arizona back within a goal. Stepan deflected Alex Goligoski’s point shot less than a minute into the third to make it 4-3.NOTES: The Jets are four games into their 10-game homestand, their longest of the season. … Petan and linemate Brendan Lemieux were called up from the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League on Monday as the Jets placed center Adam Lowry on injured reserve.UP NEXTCoyotes: Wrap up their three-game road trip in Minnesota on Saturday.Jets: Host the St. Louis Blues on Friday in a critical Central Division matchup.—