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. College Football Jerseys . Globo TV and other news outlets said early Monday that Scolari will not remain as coach after the national teams failure to win the World Cup at home. NCAA Basketball Jerseys . The Nuggets leading scorer, Lawson is characterized as day to day by the team. Hes averaging 17.9 points and 8.9 assists. Lawson suffered the injury late in Denvers win Sunday at Sacramento. https://www.cheapncaajerseysjustwholesale.com/. Los Angeles announced its new deal for Kupchak late in the fourth quarter of a 145-130 loss to the Houston Rockets. Kupchak had one year left on his current contract. Wholesale College Jerseys . -- The Seattle Seahawks and wide receiver Sidney Rice have agreed to terms on a deal. NCAA Jerseys For Sale . Kelli Stack and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Americans, who avoided a repeat of Finlands upset at the Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., in November. Finnish goalie Noora Raty made 58 saves in that one, but the three-time Olympian could stop just 40 of 43 U.LOS ANGELES - The semi-annual trip to L.A., his hometown, is one DeMar DeRozan has circled on his calendar each season. With the Raptors visiting Kobe Bryant, one of his mentors, and the Lakers Sunday night, he didnt expect to be watching from his couch. DeRozan, out indefinitely with a torn tendon in his left groin, accompanied his teammates to California where hes been able to lean on family and friends during this difficult time, but he was not at Staples Center as his club learned that life without their leading scorer will take some getting used to. It’s going to take us a little time to get our rhythm together at both ends of the floor, said Dwane Casey following the Raptors 129-122 overtime loss, their first game without the injured DeRozan. We made a lot of mistakes and missed a lot of easy shots we normally make. Everybody has to step up in a role they aren’t normally used to, but that’s no excuse. The Raptors looked out of sync from the moment they stepped on the floor. Their most glaring adjustment came down the stretch and into OT, as Casey cycled through his tweaked rotation in the absence of DeRozan, a fixture of Torontos late-game schemes. Greivis Vasquez filled in admirably as a starter, while Terrence Ross, Lou Williams and James Johnson each handled increased responsibilities. They all bring something of value to the table. Johnson is an elite perimeter defender, Williams brings instant offence, Ross provides shooting and Vasquez gives them a second ball-handler to take pressure off Kyle Lowry. Justifiably, none of them attract the kind of defensive attention DeRozan does. None of them have his diverse skill set. Casey mixed and matched the four aforementioned wing players in the games final minutes, two at a time, searching for the right combination to compliment Lowry, Jonas Valanciunas and Patrick Patterson, who was in for Amir Johnson - hampered by a toe ailment in the second half. DeRozans 28 per cent usage rate on offence is highest on the team, as is his 34-minute per game average. For the bulk of his five-year career, now into his sixth season, hes been on the floor in the games biggest moments. DeMar is a big part of us, said James Johnson, after fouling out trying to slow down the 36-year-old Bryant, who tormented the Raptors, recording a triple-double. He always brings something to the table, regardless of whether its rebounding, assists and, of course, scoring. So we have to try to move that around a little bit between guys and move minutes around between guys. Its still an adjustment period. A little bit of an adjustment, but weve got to make it, said Lowry, who scored a team-high 29 points but needed 28 shots to do so. This is what weve got. We fought hard and weve got to learn from it. With Vasquez starting and occasionally shifting to the point, Lowry was able to spend more time playing off the ball, utilized as the primary scorer in sets that once featured DeRozan. The two point guards have had success playing together in the past. The Raptors outscored teams by 186 in 490 minutes with Lowry and Vasquez sharing the backcourt last season. They were also Torontos most productive pairing in the playoffs - a plus-61 in 1255 minutes together during their seven-game series against the Nets.ddddddddddddThanks in large part to the addition of Williams, those two have been paired together less frequently to begin this season, but their prior success and the flexibility it gives Lowry on offence was a big reason Casey opted to start Vasquez on Sunday and it may be a decision he sticks with, at least for the time being. We’ll see how it goes, Casey said before the game. When we decide on [a lineup] we want it to be consistent. We don’t want to be changing lineups every game or every other game. Once we hit it, we’ll know. We’ll know when that time and that group and that combination and that rhythm hits. They have the talent, the depth to overcome DeRozans absence but juggling the roster and placing a handful of players into unfamiliar roles, which they then have to get accustomed to, wont happen overnight. A halfhearted loss to the lowly Lakers, their first against a losing team this season, served as a harsh reminder of this. Everybody was kind of feeling their way through instead of going ahead and executing offensively, said Casey. This is who we are, this is who we are going to be. We got to get it together. Everybody is happy during good times, but we’ve lost a couple of games and now we will see what we are made of. We have to make a muscle, stay together and stay positive. Two games don’t make a season. We’ve had it pretty good here for a while but now we have to bounce back, regroup and reload. For DeRozan, a fierce and often stubborn competitor, the adjustment is in bringing himself to watch, either from home or on the bench, knowing theres little he can do to affect the outcome. Hes played in 97 per cent of Torontos games since coming into the league in 2009, missing just 11 contests, 10 of them due to injury. In the three games he sat out last season, he avoided watching from the bench. It was too hard for him to be a spectator, he had said. Casey wants to keep him involved as much as possible. He wants DeRozan to sit in on coaches meetings for as long as hes sidelined. I care about him like a son, the Raptors coach said of his All-Star guard. Im concerned about him as a person. I care about him, his teammates care about him. With the Raptors continuing their three-game road trip in Sacramento and later in Utah, DeRozan will return to Toronto for more tests and doctors appointments. Although he was unable to play in L.A., a game he always looks forward to, the brief return home may have been exactly what he needed. It was good to see him, especially after the injury, said Ed Davis, the former Raptor and current Lakers forward, who had dinner with DeRozan and his family Saturday night. Davis, the godfather of DeRozans young daughter, remains close with the Raptors guard. The two talk or exchange texts almost daily. Its his first time being hurt so [I was] just talking to him and trying to help him get through this, Davis continued. He was definitely down, especially with how well theyre playing right now and he cant help the team, but hes just looking at it on the bright side. Hes just going to take his time with it and hell be fine when he gets back. ' ' '