COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A bad start and a disputed goal added up to more hardship for the sinking Phoenix Coyotes. . Jack Johnson scored his first goal for Columbus, Steve Mason made 38 saves and the Blue Jackets beat the Coyotes 3-2 on Tuesday night for their first three-game winning streak in more than a year. The Coyotes have been outscored 14-7 during a costly four-game slide which has knocked them out of the lead in the Pacific Division. They started the night in seventh place in Western Conference standings, their margin for error reduced by their recent losses. Just as they had in a 5-2 loss to the Blue Jackets at home on Saturday night, the Coyotes fell behind 2-0 and never recovered. But on this night, Columbus needed less than 4 minutes to go up by two goals. "The last three or four games its been awful," captain Shane Doan said of his teams lethargic starts. "Thats gone on before but we managed ways to overcome it. The last three, four games, its been dreadful." Just 31 seconds in, R.J. Umberger settled a high pass by catching it and dropping it on his stick. He then skated past defenceman Michal Rozsival before floating in by himself and beating Mike Smith high on the stick side. Johnson then took a cross-ice set-up from Vinny Prospal that found him by himself on the left wing. He skated in and netted a hard shot on Smiths glove side. That was it for Smith, with coach Dave Tippett summoning Jason LaBarbera to replace him just 4:54 in and after facing only seven shots. Blue Jackets interim coach Todd Richards said his team has relaxed after almost every player on the roster -- up to and including captain Rick Nash -- was rumoured to be on the market leading up to the Feb. 27 trade deadline. "I had talked to you leading up to the trade deadline, and was asked, Is the room tense? My response was, Everythings good. But seeing the way were playing now, I think that had a big effect on us," he said. "Guys seem more relaxed, seem to be enjoying the game, enjoying being around each other. So the morale is good." One of those deals near the deadline brought Johnson, a 25-year-old defenceman, along with a first-round pick from Los Angeles for forward Jeff Carter, ineffective in his short time in Columbus. Maybe the presence of Johnson has settled the blue line. Or maybe it is just a lack of tension. But Mason, who struggled all season, has suddenly strung together three strong games in a row while allowing only four goals. He had 30 saves in the 5-2 win over the Coyotes just 72 hours earlier. "Im feeling really good," Mason said. "Im treating it as a fresh start. The guys are working really hard. The games right now are becoming fun to play in. The guys are playing competitively. You can see its just a lot more fun atmosphere." Antoine Vermette, dealt to Phoenix in another deadline trade for two draft picks and a backup goalie, scored for Phoenix to cut the lead to 2-1 midway through the first period. But the Blue Jackets got a back-breaker when Derek Dorsett rushed the net and ended up on top of LaBarbera in the crease early in the second period. The puck went to Derek MacKenzie on the right wing and his wrister from a hard angle found the top shelf. Tippett protested that Dorsett had interfered with LaBarbera, but the goal was allowed to stand. "Its just a poor call. Its unfortunate that goal ends up being the winning goal, but ultimately its our start that doomed us," Tippett said. "Its a blatant goalie interference, but that being said we cant go down 2-0 early in games and be expecting to come back." Doan said it was obvious that there should have been a penalty. "Everybody on the ice, all 15 guys on the ice -- except for one -- saw (it)," he said. "Nobodys trying to make mistakes out there. You just wish that once its pointed out that its corrected." Keith Yandle scored to narrow the gap to a goal again, but Mason and his defence were stout in the scoreless third period. The Coyotes had 20 seconds of 5 on 3 and a lengthy 4 on 3 as the Blue Jackets killed all five penalties. "Your goalie has to be your best penalty killer and he sure was tonight," Johnson said of Mason. "We were just trying to keep the shots to the outside and he did the rest. He made some spectacular saves to win us the game. He came up big." Oliver Ekman-Larsson was stymied on a hard shot gloved by Mason while the Coyotes were short-handed with 7:35 left. Phoenixs Radim Vrbatas chest-high shot stunned Mason in the final seconds, but Columbus defenceman James Wisniewski cleared the puck from the crease. Mason also made big saves on Doan and Ray Whitney early in the final period. Nothing is going right for the Coyotes, though. "We talked about a few things not going our way right now," Tippett said. "We have to keep our head above water. Weve got to get back at it and find a way to get a win." NOTES: Johnsons goal made him the 30th player to score for the Blue Jackets this season, adding to a franchise record and the most in the NHL this season. ... Phoenix returns home for a pivotal homestand against Minnesota, San Jose and Nashville, all of them also hungry for points. ... D Nikita Nikitin blocked a shot with his foot, played another shift or two, but then did not return for the third period. He had goals in the previous two games for Columbus. [url=http://www.officialbrewersteamshop.com/Robin-Yount-Brewers-Jersey/]Robin Yount Brewers Jersey . The cornerback returned a fumble 58 yards for a touchdown with 3:47 left on Sunday, rallying the Cincinnati Bengals to a 34-30 victory over Green Bay in a game of wild momentum swings set up by nonstop turnovers. Kyle Beckerman USA Jersey .C. -- NASCAR honoured a pair of its most famous and successful families with inductions into the Hall of Fame on Wednesday. ht... . Gasol confirmed his availability for the defending champion on Wednesday after missing last years World Championship in Turkey, where Spain finished sixth. [url=http://www.officialmlbclub.com/Pittsburgh-Pirates-Willie-Stargell-Jersey.ht... Stargell Jersey . Louis Cardinals will leave the friendly confines of Busch Stadium for a bit as they begin a three-city, nine-game road trip tonight with the first of three straight games against the NL Central-rival Houston Astros from Minute Maid Park. . The multi-platinum group from Hanna, Alta., was announced as the main act for the Nov.EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- The Minnesota Vikings have plenty of space under the salary cap to use for signing free agents this year. That doesnt mean theyll use it all. The Vikings are in full rebuilding mode, and the 10 picks they have in next months draft -- including the third overall selection -- are the top priority for improving a team that finished a franchise-worst 3-13 last season. So when the market opens Tuesday afternoon, signalling the start of the 2012 league year, the Vikings arent going to be aggressively pursuing high-priced veteran players as they have in the recent past. But they will be participants, because they have a lot of holes to fill on the roster. With roughly $23 million of room under the NFLs cap figure of slightly more than $120 million, they have flexibility, too. "Whether we make a big splash or not, if theres someone out there we think can help us were willing to spend a lot of money on well definitely look at those options," general manager Rick Spielman said recently. Spielman, though, has already counted contract extensions given to running back Adrian Peterson, linebacker Chad Greenway, centre John Sullivan and long snapper Cullen Loeffler as money spent on unrestricted free agency. All four of them wouldve been eligible this year. "We feel very strongly about keeping our core players or our key players here," Spielman said. The Vikings crossed another one of their own free agents off the list Monday by agreeing in principle to a two-year contract with quarterback Sage Rosenfels, who will enter his 12th season in the league as a backup to Christian Ponder and Joe Webb. Rick Smith, the agent for Rosenfels, confirmed the deal was in place. It was first reported by FoxSports.com. Rosenfels was acquired by the Vikings in 2009 from the Texans for a fourth-round drafft pick, but he never saw the field behind Brett Favre and Tarvaris Jackson and was traded to the Giants the following year. [url=http://www.bullsofficailonline.com/]Red Authentic Bulls Jersey. Rosenfels joined the Dolphins last season and was waived in November before the Vikings claimed him. "There was mutual interest," Smith said in a brief phone interview. "Hes seen a number of different places in his career, so he wanted to stay put. Hes comfortable there." Rosenfels, who grew up in Iowa and played in college at Iowa State, has been with five NFL teams. The Vikings have 15 other unrestricted free agents, but tight end Jim Kleinsasser has retired and only four of them were starters last year -- linebacker E.J. Henderson, linebacker Erin Henderson, safety Husain Abdullah and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe. Abdullah could be back, but he finished last season with a concussion. Erin Henderson showed some potential during his first year as a regular, making him the strongest candidate to return. But there will be plenty of turnover on the roster, given the need to get younger. The players the Vikings do pursue in free agency are likely to be fresh off their first NFL contract rather than pushing -- or over -- the age of 30. Wide receivers and cornerbacks are the most glaring needs, and itll take both free agency and the draft to start the shoring-up process there. Cornerback Brandon Carr of the Kansas City Chiefs and wide receiver Robert Meachem of the New Orleans Saints are two possible fits. And Spielman will be running the show for the first time, having ascended to GM two months ago after sharing authority over the roster with the head coach. "I know that a lot of things are going to happen thats going to be on my watch, so Im very excited to see some of the moves were going to make and how they pan out," he said. ' ' '