MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings needed most of the game to figure out how to stop Robert Griffin III and the Washington Redskins. Graham Gano Black Friday Jersey . They finally walked off their home field a winner, too. Adrian Peterson ran for 75 yards and two touchdowns, and the Vikings forced Griffin into three straight incompletions from the 4 in the final seconds to hold on for a 34-27 victory Thursday night. Christian Ponder went 17 for 21 for 174 yards with two touchdowns and an interception before leaving late in the third quarter with a dislocated shoulder on his non-throwing left arm. John Carlson had seven catches for 98 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings (2-7). "I dont think there was a change in mindset or anything. I think we just played the way we were supposed to," Ponder said. "We executed like an NFL team is supposed to, especially a 10-6 playoff team like we were last year. We really needed that, to help out with our confidence, and now thats our expectation for the rest of the year." Griffin was 24 for 37 for 281 yards, three touchdowns and no turnovers for the Redskins (3-6), who led 27-14 early in the third quarter. He also ran seven times for 44 yards, but the Vikings took him down for four sacks for 39 yards in the second half -- including 2 1/2 by Kevin Williams. The Redskins committed eight penalties for 63 yards. "You cant do that," Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said. "Youve got to keep your poise. You make mistakes like that and so often it will cost you the game." With the Redskins out of timeouts, Griffin ran for 12 yards on fourth-and-1 at his own 49 right after the 2-minute warning. Jordan Reed caught a 17-yard pass to the 8 and, after a short run by the Redskins, the Vikings stopped the clock with a timeout of their own. Wide receiver Greg Jennings was livid on the sideline, but coach Leslie Frazier defended his decision to give the drained defence a rest and allow at least a few more seconds for a comeback in case the Redskins scored. But Griffins next two passes were incomplete. On fourth-and-goal with 32 seconds left, his throw to the corner of the end zone was caught by Santana Moss with only one foot in bounds. Game over. After losing three games this year in the final minute, the Vikings finally pulled one out. "There were many times during the course of that game where they couldve gone, Oh, no, here we go again," Frazier said. Blair Walsh kicked two fourth-quarter field goals for the Vikings after Petersons second score gave them a 28-27 lead late in the third quarter. That drive started at the Washington 41, thanks to an unnecessary roughness call on Darrel Young during the punt return. Ponder scrambled and slung a third-and-12 laser to Jarius Wright for a first down at the sideline. Then, Ponder took off for a 14-yard run that left him with an injured left shoulder, and an official replay reversed the touchdown call after he dived at the pylon and rolled out of bounds. Matt Cassel came in, and Peterson scored to give the Vikings the lead on the next play. The NFC East, which fittingly for this season rhymes with least, has been right there for the Redskins to take hold of. Dallas (5-4) and Philadelphia (4-5) are barely ahead of them, and each has shown significant flaws. Theyre going to have to tighten up this defence, though, if theyre going to keep this a true division race with the Cowboys and Eagles. After Brandon Meriweather returned an interception 30 yards to near midfield to end Minnesotas first drive, the Vikings reached the end zone with ease on their next two possessions. Peterson scored on an 18-yard run on the first one, and Ponder found Cordarrelle Patterson for the rookies first career touchdown catch for the other. The Vikings were missing four starters to injury on defence, and they had no answer for Griffin or his big receivers in the first half. The Redskins scored on their first five possessions, further trampling a unit that has had all kinds of trouble this season with broken tackle after broken tackle. The Redskins converted seven of eight third downs in the first half and held the ball for more than two-thirds of the elapsed game time. But that all changed after the break. "You always want to be able to rush the passer with the game on the line," Williams said. "It was nice to finish it this time." The latest sign of increasing pushback toward the Redskins for their nickname came before the game outside the stadium, where hundreds of American Indians and their supporters held signs, chanted slogans and beat drums in protest of what they view as a disrespectful and racist moniker. Among the printed messages they carried: "We are not cartoons!" Redskins owner Dan Synder has called the nickname a "badge of honour" and said it wont be changed. Graham Gano Jersey . LUCIE, Fla. Brad Nortman Panthers Jersey . Toews was drilled by Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik with 6:30 remaining in the second period on Sunday night. The two were going for a loose puck. DALLAS -- Columbus had a little head start with a chance to clinch just the second playoff berth in franchise history. The Blue Jackets took advantage right away Wednesday night. Artem Anisimov and Mark Letestu added first-period goals to the one Columbus already had when the puck dropped in a makeup game with Dallas, and the Blue Jackets withstood a frantic third period for a 3-1 victory over the equally playoff-hungry Stars. "Its been a long time," said winger Jared Boll, one of the few players remaining from the Blue Jackets last playoff team in 2008-09. "Its just the first step. Weve still got a long way to go." The Blue Jackets had a 1-0 lead when the puck dropped because that was the score March 10, the night the original game was postponed after Dallas forward Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench because of an irregular heartbeat. Anisimov doubled the margin on an unassisted goal just 1:33 into the game. That was 71 seconds faster than the goal last month by Nathan Horton, who got credit for it even though he didnt officially play because he missed the makeup game with a lower-body injury. "The only thing that was weird about it was looking up at the scoreboard in warm-ups and we had a 1-0 lead," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "But once you got into the game, I had to remind myself when we scored the first goal that we were up 2-0, not just 1-0." The Blue Jackets set a franchise record with 42 wins, beating the previous mark from their only other playoff season. Columbus was swept by Detroit in the first round five years ago, and now those teams are in a battle for playoff position in their first season since being moved to the Eastern Conference. "Its fun right now to say we clinched, but we cant be satisfied with just getting in," said Boll, who missed four months with a torn ankle tendon. "We want to get there and make a splash." The Stars, who are in a franchise-record playoff drought thats a year longer than what Columbus endured, never really gave themselves a chance to build a cushion on Phoenix for the final playoff berth in the West. Dallas (89 points) has a two-point lead over the Coyotes, who have three games left to ttwo for the Stars. Jerricho Cotchery Panthers Jersey. "We fell behind before the game even started," Dallas forward Jamie Benn said. "That didnt help, but were not making any excuses." Dallas trailed 3-0 after the first and couldnt capitalize on power plays with fresh ice at the start of the second and third periods against Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped 17 of 18 shots in the third period and 33 of 34 overall. The Russian had to work harder at the start of the third, stopping Tyler Seguin on a backhand shot in the crease after Dallas leading scorer skated around the defence and turning away Benn from the wing a few seconds later. The Stars scored when they pulled goalie Tim Thomas for a 6-on-4 power play with nearly 14 minutes left in the game. Bobrovsky made a sprawling save before Trevor Daley punched in a rebound in a crowd in front of the net. "I broke my old record by a couple of minutes," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "I pulled a goalie one time in Atlanta with 9-something. I pulled it at even strength and we didnt score, but we scored the next shift and we pulled him late in the game and ended up tying it, and won it in overtime." Dallas outshot Columbus 18-2 in the third period, when the Stars went with an empty net for a total of about 5 minutes. The Stars ended up playing four times in five nights because of the makeup game, the same thing the Blue Jackets are doing to finish the season. Columbus was on the second night of a back-to-back and is the first team to play on four of the last five days of the season since Ottawa in 1993. Because of the busy schedule, Dallas coach Lindy Ruff went with Thomas over Kari Lehtonen. Thomas was fooled by Anisimov for the Columbus centres third goal in two games against the Stars, and Letestu made it 3-0 when his shot went off Daleys stick to the side of Thomas and somehow slid between the goalies legs. NOTES: STATS research going back to the 1989-90 season couldnt find an instance where a player scored a goal without officially playing in a game. Matt Calvert and James Wisniewski got credit for assists on Hortons goal. ... Daley tied his career high from three years ago with his eighth goal. ' ' '
