Cam Atkinson is having a fine season, and he's jumping up the Columbus Blue Jackets' all-time scoring list as a result.

With an assist during Friday's game against the Montreal Canadiens, Atkinson joined rather exclusive company in the annals of franchise history.

Atkinson, then, ranks fourth in points by a Blue Jacket, behind only Rick Nash (547), David Vyborny (317), and R.J. Umberger (250).

Those modest numbers help to put the team's success so far this season in perspective, and point to how hungry the city is for a winner after 16 years of existence.

Over that time, the team has qualified for the playoffs only twice, and boasted three individual award winners:

• Nash: Maurice Richard Trophy, 2003-04
• Steve Mason: Calder Trophy, 2008-09
• Sergei Bobrovsky: Vezina Trophy, 2012-13

It's no wonder, then, that the team is drawing record television numbers in a season where Columbus sits at the top of the NHL standings.

Captain Nick Foligno will soon join Atkinson in the 200-point club, by the way. Two assists early in Friday's game put him at 194.

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That's how you place a puck.

Washington Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov laid a perfect alley-oop pass to Alex Ovechkin, which the captain was able to corral before deking out Andrei Vasilevskiy for a pretty strike.

The goal gives Ovechkin 15 on the year and gave the Capitals a 3-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning midway through the second period.

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The New York Islanders took a moment Friday to acknowledge a popular former player.

Kyle Okposo, who signed with the Buffalo Sabres as a free agent this past summer, was honored with a video tribute and a long ovation from the Barclays Center crowd during a break in action.

Okposo appeared in 556 regular-season games for the Islanders after being drafted seventh overall in 2006

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The New York Islanders aren't exactly the best team around these days, but they are giving one of their more notable celebrity fans the bobblehead treatment.

That would be Ralph Macchio of "Karate Kid" fame, seen below wearing a home jersey while adopting the crane kick pose made famous in the climactic scene of the 1984 film.

The Islanders enter Friday's action in the Eastern Conference basement, so perhaps head coach Jack Capuano will get his players to paint his fence and wax his car in an effort to turn the season around.

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It's been an interesting first third of the season for the Winnipeg Jets, to put it simply.

The club has looked to be a tire fire at times and a potential Cup contender at others. Nevertheless the club is just a point out of the final wild-card spot in the West thanks in large to some incredible individual performances.

Mark Scheifele for a time led the entire league in scoring and looked to be the hottest player going. Meanwhile, Patrik Laine has been flirting with several rookie scoring records en route to hammering 19 pucks past opposing netminders so far.

However, a player that has been nearly equally as impressive - but has not received the same praise - is Nikolaj Ehlers.

Now in his second season after a commendable rookie campaign that saw him post 15 goals and 38 points in 72 games, the 20-year-old is set to obliterate last year's totals.

Just 36 games into the season, Ehlers has nine goals and 29 points, putting him on pace to close out the season with 20 goals and 66 points.

What is surprising in all of this has been that while his linemates have populated the headlines, Ehlers has flown under the radar despite being just a point behind Laine and two back of Scheifele for the team lead.

His production in itself shouldn't be that unexpected. After all, the Jets selected him ninth overall in 2014 after Ehlers posted back-to-back 100-plus-point seasons with the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL.

Ehlers is an exceptional talent who is only just scratching the surface as to what he can really do. If he keeps riding his current pace, it will be only a matter of time before he finally starts getting the credit he deserves.

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It's safe to say former NHLer Steve Downie's career won't be resuming in the desert.

The 29-year-old spent 26 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season, and he didn't enjoy the experience.

Downie took to Twitter on Thursday night and again Friday to express his displeasure with the organization and the club's head coach, Dave Tippett.

Some of the language is a bit colorful:

You can check out more of the holiday cheer on Downie's Twitter account.

A first-round pick, 29th overall in 2005, Downie scored 76 goals and added 120 assists in 434 career regular-season NHL games.

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Winning is good for business.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are evidence of this lately, especially in terms of television rights holders.

Related: Blue Jackets surprise again - this time for the better

According to Fox Sports Ohio, Columbus' 7-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday was viewed in about 38,000 homes in the region. In the final 30 minutes of the broadcast, the number of viewing households jumped to 55,000.

The game's 4.1 household rating, or the percent of total households that tuned in to the game, was the highest regular-season rating the club has drawn in seven years, per Evan Weese of Columbus Business First.

The Blue Jackets have not generated those kind of viewing numbers since clinching their first playoff berth in a game against Chicago back in 2009.

Columbus vaulted into a tie with the Blackhawks for first in the overall standings with the win in front of a sellout crowd of 19,113, and will host the Montreal Canadiens on Friday.

For the time being, many eyes are on this suddenly successful team.

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It doesn't make sense to Dylan Strome.

Speaking with TSN on Friday, the Team Canada captain commented on the decision by USA Hockey to leave Alex DeBrincat off its final roster.

"It's their decision," Strome said. "I think it's good for us that he's not there. (He's got) a lot of goals. A little strange decision, but they obviously wanted to go a certain way with their team and he wasn't part of it.

"I feel bad for him, but at the same time I'm playing for Canada right now."

A native of Farmington Hills, Mich., DeBrincat has scored 30 goals and 30 assists through 28 games this season with the OHL's Erie Otters, where he is teammates with Strome.

The Chicago Blackhawks selected DeBrincat 39th overall in last year's NHL draft.

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Just one rink will be lit up in Arizona on Friday night - with the local hero finally taking center stage.

Home for the holidays, Auston Matthews will compete in an NHL game in his home state for the very first time as the Toronto Maple Leafs visit the Arizona Coyotes.

Practices postponed in rinks in the surrounding area, it's the hottest ticket in town inside an inspired hockey community that Matthews is validating with his performances thousands of miles away. In the biggest market of its kind.

For his part, Mike Babcock won't take from the dramatic effect.

The pews will be packed with hundreds of young hockey players and fans that look up to "Papi" - as Matthews is known as in his hometown - but there will be a few in attendance that he's particularly excited to perform in front of.

Matthews told TSN's Kristen Shilton that having his grandparents see him play in the NHL for the first time will be "pretty great."

We imagine for the Matthews family, this entire holiday season will be much the same.

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The Carolina Hurricanes and the Detroit Red Wings have circled March 27 as the makeup date for December's postponed game.

The Hurricanes and Red Wings were originally scheduled to play Dec. 19 at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, N.C., but an issue with the arena's ice cooling system ultimately postponed the game.

The two teams met earlier this season, with the Red Wings winning the Oct. 25 game by a 4-2 score. Thomas Vanek, Andreas Athanasiou, and a pair of goals by Dylan Larkin pushed the Red Wings to victory.

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