COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard felt the deciding goal shouldnt have counted in the Red Wings 4-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. Cheap Air Max Free Shipping . "I guess its something to remember here and keep in the back of our minds -- if you knock the net off, just throw (the puck) in there," he said. "It should count." Cam Atkinson scored a goal confirmed by video replay in the third period, and Ryan Johansen added an empty-netter for his second of the game to lead the Blue Jackets to a win that further tightens the already close Eastern Conference playoff race. On an odd-man rush, Matt Calverts shot from the left wing was stopped by Howard, although the puck popped loose behind the goalie. Atkinson, racing down the right wing, was hit by Detroit defenceman Brendan Smith. Atkinsons leg knocked the net off its moorings as he backhanded the loose puck into the cage as it was sliding away from the goal line. The goal, at 6:58 of the third, was ruled good because Smiths hit on Atkinson had knocked the net loose -- bringing a loud cheer from the crowd of 15,103. "I wasnt really sure," Atkinson said about the goal. "The net went off, but their explanation was the puck was going in as the net was coming off. Matty just made a good play. The puck kind of snuck out between his legs, and I was at the right place at the right time." Columbus, Detroit, Washington and Toronto are all tied with 80 points for places 7-10 in the East. The Blue Jackets win any tiebreaker, and Detroit and Columbus also have more games left (10) than the Capitals (9) and Maple Leafs (8). Columbus had lost three of four. "We got some fortunate bounces," Johansen said after goals 28 and 29. "Thats what we needed." Brandon Dubinsky and Johansen had power-play goals in the first period after the Blue Jackets had failed to score on their previous 36 opportunities with a man advantage over a 10-game span. James Wisniewski assisted on both and added another helper. "You know what Im pleased about? Hopefully after tonight I wont get any more questions about the power play," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. "When we scored the first one I said, Good. Now we can stop talking about it." Curtis McElhinney stopped 22 of 23 shots in relief of Sergei Bobrovsky, who left after the first period because of the flu. McElhinney made Atkinsons goal stand with big stops on Darren Helm with 8 minutes left, making a sprawling pad save, and again a minute later on Johan Franzens wraparound. With 1:44 left, he deflected Kyle Quinceys wicked blast from the high slot with his right shoulder. Red Wings coach Mike Babcock refused to blame the call on the Atkinson goal for the loss. "It doesnt matter what I think, obviously," he said. "They made a decision. I thought when the net was off, the goal didnt count but they evidently thought our guy pushed their guy in. So its a goal. Theres no sense disputing that. We had to get one more goal." Gustav Nyquist, last weeks No. 1 star in the NHL, maintained his hot hand with two goals for the Red Wings, who were 3-0-1 in their previous four. He has 20 goals in his last 24 games. "It doesnt really matter," he said of his two goals. "It was an important game. Well forget about this one and move on." NOTES: With a TV camera just a couple of feet away on the other side of the glass during a break, Johansen grinned and tore off a piece of athletic tape and playfully stuck it on the glass to shield the cameras view. ... Howard stopped 23 of 26 shots. ... Last week, Nyquist had six goals and seven points in four games; the Blue Jackets had six goals as a team in their previous five games. ... RW Mitch Callahan, recalled on Monday from AHL Grand Rapids, made his NHL debut for the Red Wings, skating on the fourth line. Clearance Air Max . Cruz set the tone with a two-run homer in the first inning, and Baltimore scored eight times in the eighth to pull away for a 12-3 victory in Game 1. The major league leader with 40 homers during the regular season, Cruz added an RBI single to his early blast off Max Scherzer. Air Max Sale . The Blue Jackets got goals from Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner and R.J. Umberger and Curtis McElhinney posted his first shutout since 2011 in a 4-0 victory on Friday night. https://www.airmaxchina.us/ . The 18-year-old centre was the Senators first-round pick (17th overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. The six-foot 196-pound native of Salmon Arm, B.PHILADELPHIA -- The Sacramento Kings were keenly aware of the streak. They just didnt feel the need to talk about it. Instead, they went out and played the attacking style their coaches want to see. Rudy Gay scored 27 points, Isaiah Thomas added 20 and the Kings were 40 for 50 from the free throw line on their way to defeating Philadelphia 115-98 Wednesday night to extend the 76ers losing streak to 18 games. "To be honest, we didnt mention it once," Kings coach Michael Malone said of the losing streak. DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Ben McLemore scored 15 points for the Kings, who snapped a three-game skid. Jason Thompson added 14. "Im from around here so I know about it," Thompson said. "You dont try to put extra pressure on yourself. Obviously, you dont want to lose to any team." The Kings are in the midst of a seven-game, 12-day road trip, their longest of the season. They are 2-3 on the trip. Henry Sims posted career-highs of 20 points and 10 rebounds, James Anderson added 17 points and Thaddeus Young had 16 for Philadelphia, which fell to 15-49 in dropping its 14th in a row at home, an ongoing franchise record. "My teammates were just trusting Id make the right decision," said Sims, who was acquired from Cleveland as part of a trade deadline deal for Spencer Hawes. "A couple shots fell for me. Im definitely proud, but Id be more proud of a win. I just try to go out every game and its a new day, a new season. I try not to think about it. I just focus on the next game." Michael Carter-Williams had 13 points, seven rebounds and two assists just two nights after earning his second career triple-double with 23 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists at New York. Tony Wroten chipped in with 10 for the Sixers, who havent won siince a 95-94 victory at Boston on Jan. Cheap Air Max For Sale. 29. "Its not doom and gloom," Sixers coach Brett Brown said. "We will have another good day tomorrow." The Sixers held a nine-point advantage in the first quarter before falling behind 58-54 at halftime. After a subpar first half, Cousins showed why he was the fifth overall pick in the 2010 draft. He had 12 points and seven rebounds in the third quarter to help the Kings extend their lead to 90-76. "We played good ball tonight," Cousins said. "We did a pretty decent job defensively. Still made some mistakes tonight, but well take the win. We had some spurts where we let up. I feel we did a lot better than we did in some of the previous games, but we did step forward tonight, so lets just continue to take steps forward and get a little streak going." The Kings didnt allow the Sixers to gain any momentum, making a quick 7-2 run for a 97-78 lead. By then, the crowd had largely dwindled as the Sixers moved closer to tying a franchise mark for most consecutive losses. The 1972-73 Sixers -- who finished 9-73 and still own the fewest wins in an 82-game season -- dropped 20 in a row. The NBA record for consecutive losses belongs to Cleveland, which dropped 26 straight from Dec. 20, 2010, to Feb. 9. 2011. The Sixers remain two games behind the Milwaukee Bucks (13-51) for the worst record in the league. The team with the worst mark will have a 25 per cent chance of garnering the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery. NOTES: Cousins earned his 40th double-double and his sixth in the last seven games. . Gay was 16 for 19 from the free throw line, both career-highs. ... The Kings failed to register one assist in the first quarter and had just six at halftime. . The Sixers announced they had signed reserve F Jarvis Varnado for the remainder of the season. ' ' '