Off Topic » Lucy Li, the 11-year-old

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - This weekend version of New York, New York could cost the Columbus Blue Jackets the playoff spot they are desperate to grab. The Blue Jackets gave everything they had at home in a loss to the playoff-hopeful New York Rangers on Friday night and followed it up with a disheartening 2-0 defeat on Sunday to the New York Islanders, who are just playing out the string. "Its the NHL. The other team is paid to play, too," defenceman Jack Johnson said. "There is no easy teams. Nobody took them lightly, nobody didnt understand the gravity of the situation, we just didnt score a goal." Evgeni Nabokov made 41 saves in his 58th NHL shutout, and Travis Hamonic scored a coast-to-coast, power-play goal in the second period to pace the Islanders, who are third to last in the Eastern Conference. Columbus had a total of 24 shots in the first two periods and then fired 17 in a desperate final frame when the Blue Jackets had four of their six power plays. "If you cant come and push yourself every night, go do putt-putt or something," Johnson said. "Everyone tried. We knew how important this one was. I cant question anyones effort. It was just a tough game." The Blue Jackets power play has gone 0 for 35 the past nine games. They will have to get better over the final 11 games, starting with a key home matchup on Tuesday against Detroit, which is neck and neck with Columbus in the playoff race. Columbus, which has dropped to fifth in the Metropolitan Division, has fallen out of an Eastern Conference playoff position. The Blue Jackets have lost three of four. "These points are huge right now," centre Ryan Johansen said. "Against a team like the Islanders, who are playing spoiler right now, its very frustrating. Weve got to learn from it but we cant dwell on this." Nabokov got the best of Russian counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky in their third meeting this season and posted his third shutout in this campaign. It was just the Islanders second regulation win ever over the Blue Jackets. Cal Clutterbuck also scored for the Islanders, who bounced back from a 6-0 loss to Minnesota on Tuesday and finished a 2-2 homestand. "We were playing hard for our fans. We worked hard and we found a way to win," Nabokov said. "We knew they were playing a third game in four (days) and we wanted to make it tough for them." Bobrovsky made 30 saves before he was pulled for an extra skater with 1:50 left as Columbus began its final power play. "There is no time to rant and rave," forward Brandon Dubinsky said. "Weve got to be ready to go for our next game. "We certainly need to be a lot better than we were today." Hamonic gave the Islanders struggling power play a lift with a stunning, end-to-end rush up the middle of the ice that produced his second goal of the season with just 51.7 seconds left in the middle period. The defenceman started from behind his net and skated alone on a straight line toward the centre ice logo. He eluded R.J. Umberger in the neutral zone, carried the puck across the blue line and then snapped a shot from the slot over Bobrovskys left shoulder for his first goal since Oct. 29 — a span of 45 games. "I was glad to get that scoring chance and finish it," Hamonic said. "Nice to chip in offensively, but I work to bring a defence presence first. "I was just fortunate to get my feet moving and score." New York had two failed power plays earlier in the second. The first generated little as the Islanders couldnt get organized. The second produced several potential scoring chances, including a seemingly open net for Frans Nielsen to shoot at, but his drive from the right circle hit the outside of the net. The Islanders took a 1-0 lead when Clutterbuck scored his 10th goal just eight seconds after serving a roughing penalty. Johan Sundstrom, in his fourth career NHL game, swung behind the Columbus net and attempted to score on a wraparound at the left post. The puck caromed in front to Nielsen, who nudged it into the slot to Clutterbuck for a shot that beat Bobrovsky with 6:34 left in the first. It was the first career point for Sundstrom, who made his debut on March 14. NOTES: The Islanders only other regulation win over the Blue Jackets since Columbus joined the NHL for the 2000-01 season was a 4-0 home victory on Dec. 23, 2006. ... The Blue Jackets fell to 11-2-4 against the Islanders and 4-2-2 at Nassau Coliseum. ... Hamonic has 12 goals in 241 career NHL games. ... New York announced after the game it agreed to terms on a one-year extension with LW Eric Boulton. Wholesale Air Jordan . The Marlies centre set up three goals, including the game-winner, as Toronto cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Oklahoma City Barons in American Hockey League action. Air Jordan China . Hamilton signed offensive linemen Mike Filer, Joel Reinders, Landon Rice and Carson Rockhill. https://www.jordanchina.us/. Milan was held to 1-1 at home by Torino. Cagliari scored six minutes from halftime when Mauricio Pinilla blasted home from the penalty spot after Facundo Roncaglia tripped Marco Sau. The home side could have doubled its tally in stoppage time as first Fiorentina defender Stefan Savic almost scored an own goal then Albin Ekdals shot clipped the top of the upright. Air Jordan Outlet . -- C.J. Wilson parked his car and laughed while signing autographs for faceless fans who handed bats, balls and cards to the pitcher from the other side of a brick wall. Cheap Air Jordan Free Shipping . The 24-year-old Raley was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA for Chicago in his first two career starts after being called up from Iowa on Aug. 7. He was optioned to Iowa on Monday after losing 3-0 to Cincinnati in Chicago on Sunday. PINEHURST, N.C. -- In the midst of throwing away a four-shot lead, Michelle Wie never lost sight of the big picture at Pinehurst No. 2. The U.S. Womens Open rarely goes according to plan, and Saturday was no exception. Wie knows that from experience long ago, and she settled down with four important pars to wind up with a 54-hole share of the lead for the third time in her career. Wie was a teenager the other two times. Now at 24, she was one round away from capturing her first major. "Im just grateful for another opportunity," Wie said after salvaging a 2-over 72 to tie Amy Yang. "Tomorrow Im going to play as hard as I can and hope for the best." Yang, who earned a spot in the final group for the second time in three years, didnt make a par until the eighth hole in a wild round so typical of this day. Only a sloppy bogey on the final hole cost her the outright lead, though she was more than happy with a 68. They were at 2-under 208, the only players still under par. A pivotal moment for Wie came on the 12th hole. She reached 6 under for the tournament with back-to-back birdies at the turn. She made her first double bogey of the tournament with a tee shot she hooked into the pine trees on the 11th. Her next drive sailed well to the right and settled on a sandy path. Instead of punching under the trees and over the bunker to the green -- anything long is a tough up-and-down -- she pitched out to the fairway and made bogey. "U.S. Opens are tough," she said. "I feel like maybe on a different golf course, I would have taken that chance. You just dont want to be too greedy out here. Even though you make bogey, sometimes you just dont want to make a double out here. I felt like I made the right decision there." The USGA set the course up relative to what the men faced last Saturday in the U.S. Open when wire-to-wire winner Martin Kaymer had his only over-par round with a 72. It was short (6,270 yards) but tough because of the pin positions. That didnt stop Juli Inkster. The 53-year-old Hall of Famer, who has said her 35th appearance in the Womens Open will be her last, had a tournament-best 66 to get into contention. She will be in the penultimate group, four shots out of the lead, still dreaming of a third Open title that would make her by 10 years the oldest Womens Open winner. "You can think and you can dream all you want," Inkster said. "But the bottom line is youve got to come out and make the shots. And if Im tied for the lead coming up 18, then maybe Ill think about it. Ive got a long way to go. Im just going to enjoy the moment and hit a few balls and see wwhat happens.dddddddddddd" Also remaining in the hunt was Lexi Thompson, who won the first LPGA major this year in a final-round duel with Wie, and pulled within one shot of Wie with a pair of birdies early in the round. It fell apart on two holes. Thompson missed the green to the left on No. 8 -- the worst spot at Pinehurst -- and her first chip fell down the slope, leading to double bogey. On the next hole, she went long over the green and chose to take relief she really didnt need from a white line marking the TV tower. Thompson went to the drop zone, and her ball rolled back into a divot. Worst yet, she still used her putter, and it hopped high out of the divot and had no chance to reach the green. She made another double bogey, then made three straight bogeys on the back nine. She birdied the final hole for a 74 that left over 3 over. Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., finished the third round in a tie for 18th place, while Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., tumbled to 56th. Na Yeon Choi had a 71 and was in the group with Inkster at 2-over 212 along with Stephanie Meadow (69) and 18-year-old amateur Minjee Lee of Australia (72). Another shot back were So Yeon Ryu, who played her final 10 holes in 3 under for a 70, and Karrie Webb, who went the final 12 holes without a bogey for a 70. "Michelle Wie has put a few of us back into the tournament," Webb said. "Two hours ago, I didnt think I had a shot. Im pretty happy about that." Wie hit 8-iron to 8 feet for birdie on the par-3 ninth, and then hit a beautiful lag from about 80 feet for at two-putt birdie on the par-5 10th to reach 6 under. One swing changed everything. The back tee on No. 11 was used for the first time all week, playing at 444 yards. Lucy Li, the 11-year-old who missed the cut as the Womens Opens youngest qualifier in history, walked the final 12 holes with the last group. "Man, that hole is like 10 times harder from there," she said. "Well, maybe not for them." Definitely for them based on their shots. Wie hit a snap-hook that rambled through the trees and left her no shot but to go sideways and slightly back. She hit her third in a greenside bunker, blasted out about 25 feet long and nearly off the green and made double bogey. "You cant be in the tree here," Wie said. "But I felt like I grinded out there." Thats what it usually takes in the U.S. Womens Open. Wie shot 82 in final round at Cherry Hills when she was 15. She missed a playoff at Newport by two shots a year later. She is back again, a 24-year-old former teen prodigy, 18 holes away and still a long way to go. ' ' '