taking hits to protect pucks. It was much more consistent on that style of game. Everybody contributed. We played the style we need to play.”Josh Anderson added a goal for the Blue Jackets to boost his team-leading total to five. Artemi Panarin

NASHVILLE Custom Minnesota Wild Jerseys , Tenn. (AP) The Nashville Predators continued to bolster their forward depth as they acquired Ryan Hartman from the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday before the NHL’s trade deadline.The Predators acquired Hartman and a fifth-round pick from Chicago for forward Victor Ejdsell, a first-round pick and a fourth-round pick.All picks exchanged are for the 2018 draft.”This fits us,” Predators general manager David Poile said. ”In terms of where he’s probably going to go in the lineup, it fits exactly what we need. We did a good job improving our center ice the last couple of seasons – (Ryan) Johansen and (Kyle) Turris, specifically.”We wanted a little bit of sandpaper in our lineup that could play at a higher level than a fourth-line type player. We got a guy that scored 19 goals last year, is 23 years of age, is hard to play against.”Hartman, a left wing, has 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 57 games played with Chicago this season. Hartman will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.”Obviously something was going on, but I’m really excited,” he told Canada’s TSN. ”A great team obviously, a rivalry between both of us. It’s a tough building to play in when you’re the opposing team www.officialcanadiensprostore.com , but I’m excited to be in there wearing the yellow and playing in Nashville.”Poile had to think about making a deal with Central Division rival Chicago, the team the Predators swept in the first round of the playoffs last year.”I always have a little bit of a pause when I do that,” Poile said. ”But I think it really comes down to you’ve got to get your best deal.”Clearly what we offered for Hartman was higher than anyone else or what they liked the most, or they wouldn’t have taken the deal. So (the Blackhawks) have got to take care of themselves. They’re in a little different place than we are right now.”One year removed from finishing first in the Western Conference with 109 points, the Blackhawks are in last place in the Central Division.”It’s disappointing, for sure,” Chicago general manager Stan Bowman said. ”But you can’t feel sorry for yourself. You have to sit here and try to plan for the future. I think what we’ve been able to do here today is position ourselves to get some really high value assets.”In the case of Victor, he’s not that far away from contributing. We don’t want to be in this position, obviously, but you are where you are.”The defending Western Conference champion Predators are loading up at forward. In addition to Hartman, the Predators signed former captain Mike Fisher to a one-year deal earlier Monday.And the team may not yet be done adding players. Poile is hopeful that 2017 first-round pick Eeli Tolvanen will make his way to Nashville when his season with Jokerit of the KHL concludes. Tolvanen starred for Finland at the Olympics, scoring three goals and adding six assists in five games.Entering Monday, the Predators held a two-point lead over the Winnipeg Jets for first place in the Central and trailed the Western Conference-leading Vegas Golden Knights by one point.The Jets also made an acquisition from a Central rival Montreal Canadiens T-Shirts Authentic , getting forward Paul Stastny from the St. Louis Blues.Also Monday, the Blackhawks acquired a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2019 draft from the Boston Bruins for forward Tommy Wingels.Wingels has 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in 57 games. He was signed by Chicago on July 1, 2017.— COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Buffalo Sabres, playing with a sharper edge so far this season, will try to extend their three-game winning streak on Saturday night when they visit Nationwide Arena to face the Columbus Blue Jackets.The Sabres (6-4-0) feel a different vibe with this team. They like how they’re playing after rallying from three one-goal deficits in the final two periods on Thursday night to get past the visiting Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in Buffalo, N.Y.Kyle Okposo scored the winning goal on a power play with 1:01 remaining for Buffalo, which is off to its best start after 10 games since the 2011-12 season.Article continues below ...“We bent, we didn’t break,” Okposo said, according to the team’s website. “And I don’t even think we bent. We just played the same way. That’s all we did.”Jason Pominville contributed two goals — his 27th career multi-goal game and his first since last October — in the winning effort.“Last year, we probably would’ve got in our shell and wouldn’t have had a pushback Montreal Canadiens Hoodies Authentic , a fight back,” Pominville said. “But now it’s a different team.”Pominville’s 497 points rank 10th in franchise history, tying him with Thomas Vanek. But he knows a team is only as good as its last game.“We’ve got to make sure we keep going, come to practice and move on,” Pominville said. “But, yeah, it shows a lot about the character this group has.” The veteran Pominville has produced six points (three goals, three assists) in the last three games as a result of aggressively crashing the net on a line that includes Jeff Skinner and Jack Eichel. Skinner leads the Sabres in scoring with 10 points (five goals, five assists) and Eichel is right behind with nine (3-6).“Jason’s just done a good job of going there,” Sabres coach Phil Housley said. “He’s been rewarded. … That’s one of the things we’ve been focusing on, driving to the net hard and stopping there and paying a price.”The Blue Jackets (5-4-0) are feeling better about their game after ending a two-game losing streak with a 7-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night in St. Louis.After falling behind 2-0 in the opening period, the Blue Jackets reeled off four straight goals and kept the Blues at bay.Boone Jenner and Anthony Duclair each accounted for two goals, and All-Star Seth Jones scored his first in his second game since returning from a knee injury that sidelined him for the first three weeks of the season.Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella harped on aggressiveness and that’s what he got against the Blues.“We were harder on pucks Montreal Canadiens Hats Authentic ,” Tortorella said. “We were cognizant of protecting the puck, taking hits to protect pucks. It was much more consistent on that style of game. Everybody contributed. We played the style we need to play.”Josh Anderson added a goal for the Blue Jackets to boost his team-leading total to five. Artemi Panarin is the club’s points leader with 12 (three goals, nine assists).“We were definitely a meaner team and playing that physical part of the game,” Anderson said. “I think it’s going to help us going into the next game too.”The Blue Jackets return home, where their record is 2-3 this year, and hope to play like they have on the road, where they’re 3-1.Backup Joonas Korpisalo was in goal for the win in St. Louis, improving his record to 3-0.Blue Jackets No. 1 goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky has struggled to a 2-4 record with a lackluster 3.87 goals-against average and an .872 save percentage but is projected to start against Buffalo. He is 10-4-1 with a 2.50 GAA and a .921 save percentage lifetime against the Sabres.