TAMPA Womens Devante Smith-Pelly Jersey , Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning found their offense, and in a big way.Victor Hedman, Cedric Paquette and Yanni Gourde had first-period goals, and the Lightning beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 8-2 Saturday night.Brayden Point scored in both the second and third periods, and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 30 saves for Tampa Bay. Alex Killorn, Nikita Kucherov and J.T. Miller had the other Lightning goals.Tampa Bay, which led the NHL in goals last season, had scored just twice over 125 minutes in its first two games. The Lightning were held scoreless during the final 159:27 of the 2018 Eastern Conference Final by eventual Stanley Cup champion Washington.“Whether you get one or you get eight, your goal is to win the game,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “But I’m glad we only gave up two.”Columbus got goals from Josh Anderson and Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots.Columbus coach John Tortorella has been rotating his goaltending between Bobrovsky and Joonas Korpisalo.As the deficit mounded, Tortorella “had no thought about taking” Bobrovsky out.Hedman and Paquette scored before Gourde put the Lightning up 3-0 late in the first and stopped an 0 for 10 season-opening Tampa Bay power-play slide.“We had a strong presence in front of the net,” Hedman said. “A lot of the goals were scored around the crease.”Anderson, who beat Tampa Bay’s Dan Girardi to wipeout a potential icing and soon after scored, and Bjorkstrand cut the Blue Jackets deficit to one in the second.Point’s goal with 44.6 seconds left in the second made it 4-2.“Just a kick in the teeth, that fourth goal as far as the bad bounce (off the end boards),” Tortorella said. “We found our game, had them on their heels a bit.”Point and Alex Killorn both had a power-play goal during a four-goal third-period that also saw Kucherov get his first goal.Miller got Tampa Bay’s fourth power-play goal with two-tenths of second left.“We really had them on the ropes in the second,” Columbus left wing Nick Foligno said. “We don’t handle momentum swings well when they’re going against us.”NOTES: Julian Green was among a group of U.S. Men’s National Soccer team players in attendance. They were watching both teams play soccer during a pregame workout when the Blue Jackets had their ball get stuck on an overhanging vent. After players attempted to dislodge it with a pole, a stadium worker retrieved the ball using a portable lift. … Columbus D Seth Jones, who sprained his knee during the preseason, could be back in two to four weeks. … Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos got his first assist this season but has no goals over 15 games, dating to last season.UP NEXTBlue Jackets: Host Philadelphia Thursday night.Lightning: Play the fourth of a five-game homestand Tuesday night against Carolina. LAS VEGAS (AP) The possibility of 50,000 Las Vegas casino workers going on strike drew closer Thursday http://www.washingtoncapitalsteamshop.com/authentic-evgeny-kuznetsov-jersey , with their contracts expiring at midnight and the prospects of new ones still uncertain.The bartenders, housekeepers, bellmen and other unionized workers at 34 casino-hotels on the Strip and downtown Las Vegas have been negotiating new five-year contracts since February.But wages, workplace training and other issues have kept their union and employers from reaching agreements, pushing employees to authorize the first strike in more than 30 years at any time starting Friday.Here’s a look at the negotiations and a possible strike:TO STRIKE OR NOT TO STRIKENinety-nine percent of about 25,000 workers voted last week to authorize a strike after contracts expire. No date has been set, but they have begun signing up for strike pay, financial assistance and picketing shifts.The Culinary Union and companies that would be affected if workers walk off the job had bargaining sessions this week for five-year contracts.Analysts with Deutsche Bank put the likelihood of a citywide strike ”as low” and said they believe negotiations could continue past Thursday.”Recall, in 2013, the Culinary Union remained in negotiations with some Strip operators for several months post the June 2013 contract expiration,” they wrote in a research note Wednesday. ”Business during this time was uninterrupted.”The last citywide strike was in 1984, costing the city and workers millions of dollars.ROOMS, KITCHENS AND LUGGAGEThe strike would mean no bartenders, housekeepers, cocktail and food servers, porters, bellmen, cooks and other kitchen workers at properties including Bellagio, Aria, Caesars Palace, Flamingo Las Vegas, Tropicana, Stratosphere, Golden Nugget and The D.MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment operate more than half the properties that would be affected by a strike. Both companies have declined to provide details of their contingency plans.The union and hospitality experts have said the companies would use replacement workers and try to bring some in from their properties outside Las Vegas.Casino-resorts that would not be affected include Wynn Las Vegas Jakub Vrana Jersey , Encore, The Venetian and Palazzo.The strike could come as fans head to the tourist destination for the Stanley Cup Final. The union for professional hockey players in the National Hockey League sent a letter to the Culinary Union on Wednesday expressing its support for the casino workers’ ”attempts to reach a fair and equitable agreement.””It is hoped that an accommodation can promptly be reached that will enable you to continue to provide the high level of service and professionalism that you have long exhibited,” National Hockey League Players’ Association executive director Donald Fehr wrote.WAGESThe average hourly wage of Las Vegas Strip workers is $23, including benefits such as premium-free health care, a pension and a 401(k) retirement savings plan, and $20,000 down-payment assistance for first-time homebuyers.The union says it has asked MGM for average annual wage increases of 4 percent for each of the next five years. It says the company has countered with an approximate 2.7 percent raise.Caesars workers have asked for an increase of 4.2 percent effective Friday, and annual increases of about 4 percent thereafter. The union says the company has offered an approximate 2.8 percent increase for each of the five years.”The companies are making millions and millions of dollars, they are growing and that’s excellent,” said Geoconda Arguello-Kline, union secretary-treasurer and a former housekeeper. ”We want them to share with the workers their success.”Both companies have declined to provide details of their proposals but have said they are confident they will reach agreements with the union.OTHER DISPUTESThe union said it is asking for training on new skills and job opportunities as the companies adopt technology that can displace employees. It also wants contract language that would protect workers if properties are sold.The labor organization, the largest in Nevada, also has proposed to MGM and Caesars an independent study paid jointly with the union to analyze the workload of housekeepers.The union has argued that hotel rooms have changed significantly, with new furniture and other amenities, since 2002, when the last workload study was conducted.”I wouldn’t be here today had not everybody gone out on strike in 1984 for those health benefits because I came down with a terminal illness,” said Deborah Jeffries, a cocktail server. ”It was very important to me that I had that, and it was well worth the walk for two and half months.”We are ready and willing to do this again, not that we want it, but if need be, we will do it,” she said.—
