NHL Thursday: Red-hot Blue Jackets beat Flyers, Ducks top Kings indoors

The Columbus Blue Jackets had to wait a couple of months to see their big free agent addition, Nathan Horton, in action as he recovered from offseason shoulder surgery.

He was worth the wait.

That may not seem like a big deal, but it’s still a new piece of a equipment that he’s not used to and could have, at least in some small way, impacted his performance.

It’s also another reminder that until the late 1950s goalies used to play games without protection on their face, which is still crazy to think about. It’s one thing to need a new mask. You can’t really go to the bench and get a new face.

Justin Bieber’s mugshot has been making its way around the Internet on Thursday following his arrest in Miami, and the Dallas Stars decided to get in on the action midway through the second period against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

They just wanted everybody to make sure there was at least one Maple Leafs fan in the building.

Something that’s worth keeping in mind when watching that clip: He’s only 19 years old.

It’s pretty rare for defensemen that young to take on the type of role that Maatta has this season and play as many minutes as he has. It’s even rarer for them to handle them as well as Maatta has.

Skinner now has 19 goals in his past 25 games.

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The Blue Jackets enter their game against Philadelphia riding a franchise record seven-game winning streak. If they beat the Flyers in regulation they will tie them for third place in the Metropolitan Division standings (56 points) and still have two games in hand. Will the Blue Jackets make it eight in a row and catch the Flyers?

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