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ABBOTSFORD, B.C. -- With their playoff hopes hanging by a thread, the Utica Comets needed someone to step up Saturday night. Enter team captain Colin Stuart. Stuart scored twice to lead the Utica Comets to a 3-1 win over the Abbotsford Heat on Saturday in American Hockey League action. Stuart now has 15 goals on the year and is tied for third on the team despite scoring just twice in the previous 15 games. "We challenged our leaders to bring a better game tonight, and (Stuart) was one of the guys who stepped up," said Comets head coach Travis Green. "Hes been good for us all year. You expect your captain to make plays and step up at the right time. You need all your best players this time of the year and it was good to see him do that." The Comets had their four-game winning streak snapped Friday by the Heat, but moved to within eight points of a Western Conference playoff berth with the bounce-back victory. "I didnt like the way we skated last night and the way we competed in certain areas of the ice," said Green. "The guys responded well tonight. These are desperate times for our team and we played like it tonight." Stuart, who signed with the Comets NHL-affiliate Vancouver Canucks during the summer, played in Abbotsford during the Heats inaugural season in 2009-10. Hes now registered six points in six games against the Heat this year. "Its still neat coming here," said Stuart. "And not just the arena, but the city itself. Its interesting to see how things have changed around town. And obviously I was here in the inaugural season so it was pretty special too." Brandon DeFazio also scored for the Comets for his third goal in four games. Alex Friesen had two assists for Utica (27-27-7), while Joacim Eriksson made 38 saves in the win. "(Eriksson) was good the whole game," said Green. "I like him last night and really liked him for the last three months. Hes been real solid for us. He had a tough start to the year but hes starting to develop." Eriksson gave the Abbotsford offence fits Saturday, making several key stops. "We keyed on getting the puck to the net but obviously we didnt take away the guys eyes as well as we should have," said Heat defenceman Chad Billins. "Theyre big bodies back there and they box out very well. Weve got to get some more bodies to the front of the net. And also hes a good goalie, so youve got to give him credit too." Ben Street scored the only goal for the Heat and Olivier Roy stopped 31 shots for Abbotsford (34-21-7), which has just one win in its last nine games. The Heat actually had the best opportunities to open the scoring, getting four power plays in the first period, but had nothing to show for it, including just one shot through 10 minutes. "We had four straight power plays, and we didnt generate anything off of that," said Heat head coach Troy Ward. "We didnt gain some momentum, we didnt put ourselves in a position physically or mentally to get some emotion or get some charge out of those power plays. I thought that was one of the biggest differences in the game." Stuart mirrored that idea. "We got into a little bit of penalty trouble in the first period," said Stuart. "We just kept battling back. Wed kill off a penalty and gain back a little bit more momentum and build on it. They kept coming at us and we weathered the storm when we needed to and controlled the game when we needed to as well." The Comets finally opened the scoring at 8:47 of the second period. Yann Sauves long shot was kicked out by Roy right to DeFazio down low and he made no mistake in beating Roy stick side for his 12th of the year. The Heat had some opportunities to get on the board. Corey Locke forced a turnover behind the net and centred for Max Reinhart, but Eriksson stopped him and made it look easy as well. While Locke has 14 assists with the Heat this season, he still has not scored in 18 games. "Its frustrating," said Locke. "Ive been getting looks but cant find a way to get the puck behind that goal-line. It cost a goal today. I stayed out to try and score, extending a shift, and they go back and score that second goal. Thats unacceptable." Stuart made it 2-0 at 15:25. Friesen made a perfect pass off the boards, around a Heat defender, to Stuart and he beat Roy blocker side. The Comets captain got his second of the game at 3:05 of the third. He skated to the left faceoff dot and wired a shot short side on the Heat netminder, putting the visitors up 3-0. The Heat had a two-man advantage with eight minutes to go in the third and finally beat Eriksson. Street one-timed Lockes pass from the slot, blowing it by the Swedish netminders glove for his 23rd of the year. Abraham Almonte Diamondbacks Jersey .S. womens soccer team to a 2-0 win over China in Colorado in the afternoon. Robbie Ray Jersey .ca! Hi Kerry, Im sure youve received many emails wondering what your take is on the Spezza goal that looked like Neil blatantly kicked it in while standing directly in the middle of the crease where, you know, usually a goalie is to make a save but couldnt be due to Neil being there! Thanks! Jon - Westfield, MA Jon: Lets first ask Henrik Lundqvist what he thought of the scoring of the Sens second goal with . http://www.diamondbackssale.com/diamondb...-flores-jersey/. The Philadelphia Eagles acquired running back Darren Sproles from the New Orleans Saints for a fifth-round draft pick on Tuesday. Rob Refsnyder Jersey . -- Thirty years ago, the Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets 186-184 in triple overtime, a game that remains the highest scoring in NBA history. Taijuan Walker Jersey . Jones took a beating, the worst one of his record reign, in a bout against Alexander Gustafsson that knocked the light heavyweight champion on the canvas for the first time in his career and put his belt in jeopardy. NASHVILLE -- The Ottawa Senators got another big win with a solid team effort. Mika Zibanejad and Jason Spezza scored in the shootout to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 2-1 victory over Nashville on Saturday night. Kyle Turris scored in regulation for Ottawa, which has won five of its last six. Craig Anderson had 31 saves through overtime, and then stopped Craig Smith and David Legwand in the shootout. "I thought Craig was again, a very consistent goaltender," Ottawa coach Paul MacLean. "Were slowly starting to build some momentum. Tonight I thought was a good effort by the total team and the whole team found a way to win the game." Mike Fisher had the lone goal for Nashville, which has lost three of four. Marek Mazanec finished with 20 saves. "Weve had some difficult stretches where we absolutely deserved to get two points and havent been able to do it, but we come out and play hard every night," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "Thats something everyone in that room can hang their hat on." Nashville is now 0-5 in shootouts this season, with their shooters scoring just once in 18 tries. Turris scored the games first goal at 6:23 of the second period. Nashville defenceman Mattias Ekholm carried the puck behind his own net and reversed it off the end boards, but he did not have a teammate there, and the puck came to Turris on the right side. Turrris then beat a surprised Mazanec with a wrist shot for his 12th goal of the season, giving him a point in four of his last five games.dddddddddddd "I just tried to reverse it and it bounced right in front," Ekholm said. "I dont know if it hit him or the boards or something, but obviously bad play by me and I have to get better there." Fisher tied it with 3:01 left in the second period. With the teams skating 4-on-4, Ryan Ellis shot from above the left circle was blocked, but the puck came to Fisher just to the left of the Ottawa net where he snapped a shot past Anderson for his 12th of the season. Fisher played the first 675 games of his NHL career with the Senators before being traded to Nashville in February 2011. Anderson stopped Viktor Stalberg on a penalty shot with 8:17 left in the first period. Stalberg was awarded the attempt after having his feet taken out by Ottawas Joe Corvo on a breakaway just seconds after Stalberg finished serving a tripping penalty of his own. "You take the mind out of it, just read and react," Anderson said. "I wanted to make sure I didnt give him an easy shot." NOTES: Stalberg has not converted in three-career penalty-shot attempts. ... Nashville D Kevin Klein played in his 400th career NHL game. ... Fisher has 11 points in his last eight games. ... Turris has goals in consecutive games for the fourth time this season. ' ' '