Thomas Vanek broke out of his scoring slump with the Montreal Canadiens in a big way. The Habs hope their recently-acquired winger can stay hot on Thursday night in a home matchup with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Catch the action on TSN Habs starting at 7:30pm et/ 4:30pm pt. The Canadiens acquired Vanek from the New York Islanders prior to the trade deadline in an effort to upgrade their offense for a playoff push. However, Vanek failed to score a goal in his first five games with Montreal, held to just a single assist. The two-time 40-goal scorer finally broke out in Tuesdays big 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche, netting a hat trick to spoil Patrick Roys return to Montreal. Roy made his first appearance in Montreal as head coach of the Colorado Avalanche and received a warm reception early in the game before Vanek stole the show. "It was unbelievable," Vanek said of his three-goal night. "This place is electric." Brandon Prust had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens, who have won three in a row. Travis Moen and Dale Weise also lit the lamp, while Carey Price made 25 saves. Prust will sit out tonights contest with an upper-body injury after skating for only 10 minutes at Thursdays morning skate. Ryan White draws into the lineup in his place. Montreals current win streak has it tied for second place with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division with 83 points. That is three ahead of the fourth-place Toronto Maple Leafs. Columbus is also pushing for a playoff bid as it sits two points behind the New York Rangers for third place in the Metropolitan Division. The Blue Jackets are also even with the Washington Capitals with 76 points, but have two games in hand to hold the current tiebreaker for the second wild card position in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets were riding a seven-game point streak going into Tuesdays home matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes and fell in defeat 3-1. Columbus was nearly shut out before Boone Jenner lit the lamp with 50 seconds to go, deflecting Ryan Johansens shot past Carolina goaltender Anton Khudobin. Still, the Blue Jackets fell to 6-1-1 in their last eight games. Sergei Bobrovsky gave up three goals on 20 shots through two periods, while Curtis McElhinney did not face a shot in the third period during his relief appearance. Columbus outshot Carolina 19-0 in the third period. "We attempted 79 (shots) -- 47 were on net," said Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards. "It seemed like we had some quality chances. We hit a couple posts. We had our opportunities." The Blue Jackets activated forward Jared Boll from injured reserve on Wednesday. He had missed the past 45 games due to a torn ankle tendon suffered in late November. The 27-year-old scored one goal and racked up 38 penalty minutes in 21 games before suffering the injury. The Blue Jackets have lost both of their previous meetings with the Canadiens this season, including a 5-3 loss in Montreal on Oct. 17. Austin Pruitt Rays Jersey . Johns, N.L., to Thunder Bay, Ont., after a deal was announced to build a new $106-million "event centre" in the Lake Superior community. Travis dArnaud Rays Jersey . - The Oakland Athletics say they are stopping negotiations to extend their lease at the Coliseum. https://www.cheapraysonline.com/1066i-yandy-diaz-jersey-rays.html . Kansas City became the first team in baseball history to win four extra-inning games in a single postseason on Friday, as Alex Gordon crushed a leadoff homer in the 10th and Mike Moustakas added the deciding two-run blast in the Royals 8-6 win. Avisail Garcia Rays Jersey . It all would have been for naught, however, had it not been for some clutch shooting in the fourth quarter by Kobe Bryant and a couple of equally critical hustle plays by Derek Fisher and Pau Gasol in the final minutes. Kevin Kiermaier Rays Jersey .C., won gold in the womens 200-metre backstroke, and Dominique Bouchard of North Bay, Ont.The Dallas Mavericks are bringing back Devin Harris in what could be a more prominent role for the point guard. Two people familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Saturday that Harris and the Mavericks have agreed on a new contract. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the team hadnt announced the deal. The 31-year-old Harris played for Dallas on a one-year, $3 million deal last season, missing the first half of the year after off-season toe surgery. He originally had a three-year contract worth $9 million, but the deal was scuttled by the toe injury. The new deal is reportedly similar in value to last years three-year contract. The deal with Harris came two days after Dirk Nowitzki agreed to terms on a three-year, $30 million contract with a player option in the final season of the deal. The Mavericks struck both deals while still waiting for word from free agent Carmelo Anthony, who visited Dallas last week. If Anthony signs elsewhere, Dallas will be in the market forr a small forward to play alongside Nowitzki.dddddddddddd. Harris was the backup to Jose Calderon last season, but the Mavericks traded Calderon to the New York Knicks when they acquired Tyson Chandler the day before the draft. Dallas got Knicks point guard Raymond Felton in the deal, but hes coming off an unproductive year that included trouble off the court. In his first season back with Dallas after starting his career there, Harris averaged 7.9 points and 4.5 assists in 40 games. But he shot a career-low 38 per cent from the field, including just 31 per cent from 3-point range. Acquired by the Mavericks as the No. 5 overall pick in a draft-night trade in 2004, Harris is the highest draft choice for Dallas since owner Mark Cuban bought the team in 2000. Harris was on the first Dallas team to reach the NBA Finals in 2006 -- a six-game loss to Miami -- before going to New Jersey in a trade that brought Jason Kidd to the Mavericks in 2008. He also played in Utah and Atlanta. ' ' '