ABBOTSFORD, B.C. -- With their playoff hopes hanging by a thread, the Utica Comets needed someone to step up Saturday night. Ent

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. -- With their playoff hopes hanging by a thread, the Utica Comets needed someone to step up Saturday night. Enter team captain Colin Stuart. Stuart scored twice to lead the Utica Comets to a 3-1 win over the Abbotsford Heat on Saturday in American Hockey League action. Stuart now has 15 goals on the year and is tied for third on the team despite scoring just twice in the previous 15 games. "We challenged our leaders to bring a better game tonight, and (Stuart) was one of the guys who stepped up," said Comets head coach Travis Green. "Hes been good for us all year. You expect your captain to make plays and step up at the right time. You need all your best players this time of the year and it was good to see him do that." The Comets had their four-game winning streak snapped Friday by the Heat, but moved to within eight points of a Western Conference playoff berth with the bounce-back victory. "I didnt like the way we skated last night and the way we competed in certain areas of the ice," said Green. "The guys responded well tonight. These are desperate times for our team and we played like it tonight." Stuart, who signed with the Comets NHL-affiliate Vancouver Canucks during the summer, played in Abbotsford during the Heats inaugural season in 2009-10. Hes now registered six points in six games against the Heat this year. "Its still neat coming here," said Stuart. "And not just the arena, but the city itself. Its interesting to see how things have changed around town. And obviously I was here in the inaugural season so it was pretty special too." Brandon DeFazio also scored for the Comets for his third goal in four games. Alex Friesen had two assists for Utica (27-27-7), while Joacim Eriksson made 38 saves in the win. "(Eriksson) was good the whole game," said Green. "I like him last night and really liked him for the last three months. Hes been real solid for us. He had a tough start to the year but hes starting to develop." Eriksson gave the Abbotsford offence fits Saturday, making several key stops. "We keyed on getting the puck to the net but obviously we didnt take away the guys eyes as well as we should have," said Heat defenceman Chad Billins. "Theyre big bodies back there and they box out very well. Weve got to get some more bodies to the front of the net. And also hes a good goalie, so youve got to give him credit too." Ben Street scored the only goal for the Heat and Olivier Roy stopped 31 shots for Abbotsford (34-21-7), which has just one win in its last nine games. The Heat actually had the best opportunities to open the scoring, getting four power plays in the first period, but had nothing to show for it, including just one shot through 10 minutes. "We had four straight power plays, and we didnt generate anything off of that," said Heat head coach Troy Ward. "We didnt gain some momentum, we didnt put ourselves in a position physically or mentally to get some emotion or get some charge out of those power plays. I thought that was one of the biggest differences in the game." Stuart mirrored that idea. "We got into a little bit of penalty trouble in the first period," said Stuart. "We just kept battling back. Wed kill off a penalty and gain back a little bit more momentum and build on it. They kept coming at us and we weathered the storm when we needed to and controlled the game when we needed to as well." The Comets finally opened the scoring at 8:47 of the second period. Yann Sauves long shot was kicked out by Roy right to DeFazio down low and he made no mistake in beating Roy stick side for his 12th of the year. The Heat had some opportunities to get on the board. Corey Locke forced a turnover behind the net and centred for Max Reinhart, but Eriksson stopped him and made it look easy as well. While Locke has 14 assists with the Heat this season, he still has not scored in 18 games. "Its frustrating," said Locke. "Ive been getting looks but cant find a way to get the puck behind that goal-line. It cost a goal today. I stayed out to try and score, extending a shift, and they go back and score that second goal. Thats unacceptable." Stuart made it 2-0 at 15:25. Friesen made a perfect pass off the boards, around a Heat defender, to Stuart and he beat Roy blocker side. The Comets captain got his second of the game at 3:05 of the third. He skated to the left faceoff dot and wired a shot short side on the Heat netminder, putting the visitors up 3-0. The Heat had a two-man advantage with eight minutes to go in the third and finally beat Eriksson. Street one-timed Lockes pass from the slot, blowing it by the Swedish netminders glove for his 23rd of the year. Nick Nelson Raiders Jersey . 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Tahir Whitehead Raiders Jersey . LaQuinton Ross scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half, hitting his first four 3-pointers, to send No.LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have been rolling and theyll try to keep the momentum going Tuesday night when they host the Eastern Conference leading Toronto Raptors at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavs have won seven in a row and havent lost since a home contest on Nov. 22 versus these same Raptors. Since, Cleveland swept a four-game homestand, then polished off a perfect 3-0 road trip in front of a royal crowd at the Barclays Center. Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton were in Brooklyn to take in their first NBA game, and Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson and Clevelands supporting cast stole the show. Waiters and Thompson combined for 40 points and sparked a critical run late in the third quarter that fueled the Cavaliers 110-88 victory over the Nets on Monday. Waiters scored 26 points, Thompson finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds and fellow reserve James Jones chipped in 12 points. James was his usual productive self, totaling 18 points, seven assists and three steals, and made headlines during warmups by wearing a black I Cant Breathe T-shirt in reference to Eric Garner, the New York man who died earlier this year while being placed in a chokehold as he was being arrested. It was more of a notion to the family more than anything, James said of the gesture. As a society we have to be better for one anoother, no matter what race you are.dddddddddddd Kevin Love posted a quiet double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds for the victors. Irving, who wore the same shirt as James, had a quiet night with seven points on 2-for-10 shooting. The Raptors have won three of their last four, but the only blemish was a home setback on Friday to these same Cavaliers. Toronto got back into the win column on Monday with a 112-107 overtime victory over the Denver Nuggets at Air Canada Centre. Lou Williams scored five of his 26 points to lead the Raptors, who squandered a 16-point third quarter lead and only forced overtime after Patrick Patterson buried a 3-pointer in the final minute of regulation. Patterson had 19 points and Jonas Valanciunas scored 18 with 12 rebounds for the Eastern Conference leaders, who improved to 7-2 against Western Conference teams this season. Terrence Ross added 16 points in the win and Kyle Lowry scored 13 with 13 assists. I didnt shoot the ball well, but my teammates made some shots, Lowry said. We made shots and won the game as a team. The Raptors shot 50.6 percent for the game, but only connected on 9-for-33 from long range. The split thus far this season means the two squads have split the last four meetings. The Raptors are 6-2 in their last eight games at Quicken Loans Arena. 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