COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jet Greaves made 26 saves, Mathieu Olivier scored twice and the Columbus Blue Jackets dealt another blow to Florida's playoff hopes with a 4-2 victory over the Panthers on Thursday night.
Two-time defending champion Florida is in danger of becoming the first Cup-winning team to miss the playoffs the following season since Los Angeles in 2014-15. Ten points behind Boston for the final wild-card spot in the East, the Panthers have lost the first four games of a trip that ends Friday night in Detroit.
Defenseman Ivan Provorov had a goal and two assists and Boone Jenner also scored to help Columbus win its third straight and move within a point of Boston. The Blue Jackets were coming off a back-to-back sweep, beating the Rangers 5-4 in overtime in New York on Monday night and Nashville on Tuesday night to open a four-game homestand.
Hours after the game, the Blue Jackets started NHL trade deadline day by acquiring winger Conor Garland from Vancouver. Just after midnight Friday, they sent a third-round pick in the draft this year and a 2028 second-rounder to the Canucks for the soon-to-be 30-year-old.
Defenseman Niko Mikkola and Sam Bennett scored for Florida in a 5:36 span of the third period.
Gustav Forsling appeared to tie it with 2:55 to go, but Columbus successfully challenged for goaltender interference. Olivier then put it away with an empty-netter with 1:42 left.
Provorov scored on a power play at 5:08 of the first, firing in a wrist shot from the blue line. Olivier struck on a tip with 9:10 left in the second, and Jenner beat goalie Daniil Tarasov from close range at 1:41 of the third. Jenner returned after missing a game because of a lower-body injury.
Mikkola scored on a tip at 9:08 of the third, and Bennett pulled the Panthers within one on a power play with 5:16 left.
Tarasov stopped 23 shots.
Before the game, the Panthers sent 38-year-old defenseman Jeff Petry to Minnesota for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2026.
Panthers: At Detroit on Friday night.
Blue Jackets: Host Utah on Saturday night.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhla
Columbus Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli (19) celebrates after scoring in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
TORREY, Utah (AP) — Two men whose wives did not return from a hike in Utah's south-central desert arrived at the trailhead Wednesday to find both women dead and a car missing, spurring a multi-state search that led investigators to a third body before they arrested a suspect Thursday in Colorado.
An Iowa man has been charged with aggravated murder in the deaths of the two hikers and a third woman authorities say he killed inside her home after he spent a night in a shed on her property. There was no indication that the man had any connection to the victims, said Lt. Cameron Roden of the Utah Department of Public Safety.
Ivan Miller, 22, told investigators after his arrest that he killed the three women to steal their cars and credit cards because he needed money to get back to Iowa, charging documents show. He had hit an elk a few days earlier in a tiny Utah farming town near Capitol Reef National Park and was without a vehicle after selling his truck to the tow company.
After staying in hotels for a few days, Miller slept in the woman's shed. He stole her Buick after shooting her from behind while she was watching TV, Wayne County prosecutors allege.
Miller, of Blakesburg, Iowa, told authorities that he quickly realized he did not like the Buick and wanted a different vehicle, according to court documents. He parked it at a trailhead about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the first victim's home, saw two women get out of a Subaru and killed them before taking the car, the documents state. He attempted to conceal their bodies in a dry creek bed, prosecutors allege.
The husbands called 911 and waved down a ranger after finding their wives shot and stabbed at the trail, which is used mostly by locals and partially shielded from the road by piñon and juniper trees, according to officials and court documents.
Officials identified the hikers as aunt and niece Linda Dewey, 65, and Natalie Graves, 34, and the woman killed in her home as Margaret Oldroyd, 86. The hikers had no known connection to Oldroyd.
Authorities found Oldroyd's body in a cellar under a shed on her property after identifying the owner of the stolen Buick left at the trailhead, according to court documents.
Police used yellow tape to cordon off the brick home in Lyman and an outbuilding while investigators gathered evidence Thursday.
Oldroyd's next-door neighbor of 20 years, Randy Jones, described her as “the sweetest woman you’d ever meet” and said he was shocked by her death.
Oldroyd had a love of yard work, always keeping her flowers and lawn watered and neatly manicured. She used to work at a local grocery store stocking shelves, Jones said. And when Jones helped rid her yard of skunks, she’d bring him a cake as a thank you.
“Out here in rural counties, we all take care of each other," Jones said.
In recent years, he didn't see his neighbor leave home much except to attend religious services and pick up groceries. But every now and then, she would come over to Jones’ house, sit with him and visit his horses.
Investigators have not found a motive for the killings and do not believe the suspect targeted the women for any reason other than “convenience,” Roden said. Investigators were still looking into when Miller arrived in Utah and what he was doing prior to the killings.
Authorities used license plate readers and vehicle tracking services to follow Miller's path, from Utah through northern Arizona and into the mountain town of Pagosa Springs in southwestern Colorado, where he abandoned the stolen vehicle, Roden said. He was found after a short search.
According to online jail records, Miller was being held on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor. He was arrested in Colorado with a large knife and a .45 caliber pistol, according to court documents, and was scheduled to make his first court appearance in the state Friday afternoon.
Miller is being represented at the hearing by the Colorado Public Defender’s office, said Justin Bogan, who heads the office in the judicial district that covers Pagosa Springs. Bogan declined to comment further. Voicemail messages left at listings for possible relatives of Miller were not immediately returned on Thursday.
Authorities were working to bring Miller to Utah to face the murder charges.
The Associated Press left a message for the public defender's office in Utah late Thursday afternoon.
Before a suspect was in custody, Wayne County residents were asked to remain vigilant and schools were closed Thursday. Officials asked for help finding a white Subaru Outback but warned people not to approach it.
Slevin reported from Denver, Schoenbaum from Salt Lake City and Brumfield from Cockeysville, Maryland.
A pink ribbon hangs on a tree outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Lyman, Utah, in honor of a woman that was killed a day earlier. (AP Photo/George Frey)
This undated image released by the Pagosa Springs, Colo., Police Department on Thursday, March 5, 2026, shows Ivan Miller. (Pagosa Springs Police Department via AP)
Authorities conduct an investigation at a home where a woman was found dead in Lyman, Utah, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/George Frey)
Authorities conduct an investigation, Thursday, March 5, 2026, into the deaths of two women a day earlier on a trail just west of Capitol Reef National Park near Teasdale, Utah. (AP Photo/George Frey)
Authorities conduct an investigation Thursday, March 5, 2026, into the deaths of two women a day earlier on a trail just west of Capitol Reef National Park near Teasdale, Utah. (AP Photo/George Frey)
Police and investigators conduct an investigation at a home where a woman was found dead in Lyman, Utah, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/George Frey)
A view of Loa and Lyman Utah on Thursday, March 5, 2026, where three woman were found dead on Wednesday. (AP Photo/George Frey)
Authorities conduct an investigation at a home where a woman was found dead in Lyman, Utah, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/George Frey)
Crime tape surrounds a home where a woman was found dead in Lyman, Utah, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/George Frey)
Authorities conduct an investigation at a home where a woman was found dead in Lyman, Utah, Thursday, March 5, 2026. (AP Photo/George Frey)
