CALGARY Aleksander Barkov Jersey , Alberta ¡ª upon his return to the lineup for the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.The 28-year-old defenseman from Landsbro, Sweden, would like nothing more than to carry his momentum into New Year¡¯s Eve when his Sharks (21-12-7) take on the Calgary Flames (23-12-4) in a battle of the top two teams in the Pacific Division at the Scotiabank Saddledome.¡°We have a tough stretch coming up here the next few games,¡± said Karlsson after tallying a goal and three assists to help lead the Sharks to a 7-4 road victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to play at the top of our level to be able to compete with the teams that we¡¯re playing.Article continues below ...¡°Now, we¡¯ve just got to go into Calgary and have the mentality that we¡¯re going to win that game, too, and play to the best of our ability and clean some things up from (Saturday) and take the good things with us.¡±Karlsson sat out San Jose¡¯s previous two games as a result of being suspended for an illegal check to the head of Los Angeles Kings forward Austin Wagner in the second period of a 3-2 overtime loss at home on Dec. 22.¡°It¡¯s nice to be back,¡± said Karlsson Evgenii Dadonov Jersey Kids , who has put up three goals and 27 assists in 30 games with the Sharks this season after playing his first nine NHL campaigns with the Ottawa Senators. ¡°It¡¯s never fun to be out of the lineup, especially for the reason that I was out for. Sometimes it¡¯s good to watch the games from afar, too. You figure a few things out. I was excited to get back (in the lineup) and I did everything I can to stay in it.¡±San Jose coach Peter DeBoer was also happy to have Karlsson back on the blue line for the Sharks.¡°You can see his impact on the game, on our team, on the players around him,¡± DeBoer said. ¡°You take him for granted a little bit. When he¡¯s out, you realize the hole there is there. Every week he¡¯s getting more comfortable here.¡±Meanwhile, the Flames will be looking to bounce back following a 3-2 overtime setback at home to the surging Vancouver Canucks on Saturday http://www.officialhockeypanthersshop.com/authentic-adidas-j ames-reimer-jersey , two days following a 4-1 road win over the Winnipeg Jets.¡°I thought we faded a little bit as the game went along, didn¡¯t have the same jump, but we skated much better here tonight than we did in Winnipeg and I expect us to skate a lot better Monday, too,¡± Calgary coach Bill Peters said following the OT loss to the Canucks.Despite the loss, the Flames still sit tied atop the Western Conference standings at 50 points with the Jets (24-12-2), who have a game in hand.¡°We¡¯ve played a lot of good hockey this year, but there¡¯s a long way to go and as a group we feel like we¡¯ve let it slip over the last few games Youth Jamie McGinn Jersey ,¡± Calgary captain Mark Giordano told the team website. ¡°We¡¯ve got to get back to details, be a lot sharper on the defensive side of things and we¡¯ll be fine.¡°We¡¯ve put ourselves in good position. Now, we either let the pack make up ground and catch us over the next 20 or we ramp up, take off and solidify what we¡¯ve worked for to get to this point. We¡¯re looking to solidify ¡ª to take off.¡± WASHINGTON ¡ª The Columbus Blue Jackets will visit the Capitals Friday for the teams¡¯ first meeting since their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series last Spring.The Capitals dropped the first two games at home before winning four straight. Games 3, 4 and 6 were played in Columbus and Washington closed out the series with a 6-3 win at Columbus.Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella hasn¡¯t gotten over his team¡¯s failures on their own ice.Article continues below ...¡°I¡¯m (ticked) off for our fans,¡± he said told the team¡¯s website. ¡°We had a few opportunities to win a home game in the playoffs and I¡¯m (ticked) off they can¡¯t enjoy that, even later in the series.¡°We go up 2-0, Game 3 we played really well Womens Jared McCann Jersey , we couldn¡¯t find a way to win it. Game 4 (a 4-1 loss) is the one that disturbs me. ¡­ To not to win a home game, that bugs me, because I want our players to feel that.¡±Washington (7-4-3) went on to win the Stanley Cup and has won two straight games for the first time this season while Columbus (8-6-1) is 4-2-1 on the road.The Capitals are coming off a stirring 2-1 win over the rival Pittsburgh Penguins Wednesday night. T.J. Oshie, who twice left the game due to injury, returned to score the game winner with 1:14 remaining in the third period.Oshie¡¯s eighth goal of the season came after an accidental high stick in the first period left him with two stitches and an illegal hit by Evgeni Malkin in the third period almost put him out for good.¡°He came back right on time,¡± Nicklas Backstrom said. ¡°That¡¯s what elite players do; they come back. They score the game-winner.¡±Alex Ovechkin scored his 12th goal of the season and goaltender Braden Holtby made 41 saves to end a personal three-game losing streak (0-2-1).Thanks to Holtby, the Capitals won on a night they were outplayed by the Penguins and outshot 42-22.¡°That¡¯s one thing that we¡¯ve been battling this year and we kind of knew it was one of the things that was going to be a challenge for us, making sure that drive and motivation is up in the start of the season when the playoffs are so far away because these points mean a ton right now Jonathan Huberdeau Jersey ,¡± Holtby said. ¡°We¡¯re getting closer. We¡¯re recognizing it more and more.¡±The Blue Jackets are coming off a 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. Anthony Duclair, Markus Nutivaara, Nick Foligno and Ryan Murray scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 27 saves.Artemi Panarin leads the Blue Jackets in assists (11) and points (16) while Josh Anderson leads the way with seven goals.¡°(Anderson) could be a very important part of this team if he just keeps on concentrating each and every game,¡± Tortorella told the Columbus Dispatch. ¡°It¡¯s something we look for. He sometimes forgets and gets a little inconsistent. We¡¯re going to keep on reminding him, because he¡¯s playing on the power play now, he¡¯s killing penalties and it¡¯s rightfully deserved.¡±Bobrovsky is 7-10-4 with a 3.02 goals-against average and .900 save percentage against the Capitals. Holtby is 14-4-2 with a 2.62 GAA and .914 save percentage versus the Blue Jackets.Ovechkin has 16 goals and six assists in 30 games against the Blue Jackets while Backstrom has 24 points in 29 games.