Flames Within 2

The biggest story of the night on this 7-game Wednesday was the race for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The 8th-place faltering Avalanche were at home against Anaheim, while the 9th-place Flames were at home versus Phoenix. The Flames needed a win to stay at least 4 points within Colorado, and that is our Game of the Night:

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After being shutout by Boston, 5-0, on Saturday and sitting a tough 6 points out of a playoff spot, Calgary is all of a sudden on the verge of tying Colorado for 8th.

On Sunday, the Flames beat the Capitals in Washington and Colorado lost to the Sharks in San Jose. That put Calgary within 4 points. Tonight, the Ducks held off Colorado, and Calgary is now within 2 points of the Avalanche for 8th with their win over Phoenix.

Nobody found the back of the net until the 2nd period, when Rene Bourque put Calgary ahead 1-0 on the power-play 14:23 into the period.

In the 3rd, Ales Kotalik put it past Jason LaBarbera 3:46 into the period to make it 2-0 Calgary. But Phoenix would make it interesting with a goal from Lee Stempniak with just under 7 minutes to go to make it 2-1.

Miikka Kiprusoff held his ground and gave Calgary a huge win on home ice. He finished the game with 29 saves. Jason LaBarbera got the start for Phoenix in place of the usual Ilya Bryzgalov and played well, also ending the game with 29 saves.

Phoenix' loss keeps them at 100 points, and 4th-place in the West, 4 points behind San Jose for the lead.

The Flames now have 87 points on the year and have 5 games remaining. They are 2 points behind the 8th-place Avalanche, who have 6 games remaining.

The fight should be interesting the rest of the way, and it will be made even more interesting very quickly, as the Flames face off with the Avalanche in Denver on Friday with a chance to tie them in points.

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Panthers 2 Sabres 6

Buffalo wins their 3rd-straight and extends their Northeast Division lead to 7 points over Ottawa. They also jump over Pittsburgh for 2nd-place in the East with 96 points. Florida is 14th in the East with 72 points.

Hurricanes 2 Canadiens 1

Carolina keeps their very slim playoff hopes alive, as they will have to run the table in their remaining 5 games and hope for some help from other teams. But they'll take every win they can get, as they keep going in a very positive direction after a dismal 1st half of the season. They have 75 points, sit 11th in the East, and are 7 points back of 8th. Montreal loses their 2nd-straight, and although they remain tied in points with Philadelphia and Boston, with 82, the Canadiens sit in the 8-spot because they have played 1 more game than each of the other two teams. They are only 2 points up on the 9th-place Thrashers and 4 up on the 10th-place Rangers.

Lightning 2 Penguins 0

Steven Stamkos and Steve Downie would score for Tampa Bay, as they stun the Penguins in Pittsburgh. Mike Smith made 27 saves to record his 2nd shutout of the year for the Lightning. Pittsburgh's lead over New Jersey in the Atlantic Division remains at 1, and they drop down to 3rd in the Conference with 95 points. Tampa Bay is 12th in the East with 74 points.

Blackhawks 4 Wild 0

Chicago finally gets back on track, as Antti Niemi made 21 saves for his 7th shutout of the season. Chicago moves up to 101 points, 2nd-place in the West, 3 back of the Sharks for 1st with a game-in-hand. Minnesota is 13th in the West with 80 points.

Sharks 1 Stars 5

The last time San Jose was in Dallas, the Stars put up an 8-spot and won 8-2. It wasn't much of a better showing on Wednesday. Steve Ott recorded a hat trick for Dallas, and Evgeni Nabokov allowed all 5 goals for San Jose on only 21 Stars' shots through the first 2 periods. The Sharks remain 1st in the West with 104 points. Dallas has 82 points and sits 12th in the West, 7 points back of 8th.

Ducks 5 Avalanche 2

A huge loss on home ice for Colorado could come back to haunt them. Maybe they're panicking because they're such a young team trying to handle the pressures of making the playoffs, but whatever it is, they better get back to playing the hockey they were playing the whole year that got them in the top 8 in the first place. Jason Blake had a point on every Ducks' goal, finishing with a goal and 4 assists. Anaheim is 11th in the West with 82 points. Colorado has gone 1-5-1 in their 7 games, and have seen their playoff positioning melt before their eyes. They still remain 8th in the West with 89 points, but are only 2 up on Calgary with a game-in-hand on the Flames. Friday night is showdown night in Denver, and the Avalanche better have a quick turnaround because in comes Calgary with a chance to tie Colorado in points in a head-to-head matchup.

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Thursday's Schedule:

Panthers @ Bruins, 7:00

Sabres @ Maple Leafs, 7:00

Flyers @ Islanders, 7:00

Thrashers @ Capitals, 7:00, CSN, Versus

Hurricanes @ Senators, 7:30

Blue Jackets @ Red Wings, 7:30

Blues @ Predators, 8:00

Canucks @ Kings, 10:30, FS West, NHL Network

Kings End Slump; BOS, ATL Both Win

The battle for 8th in the East rages on and the fight at the top of the West continues as well. But the Kings came into Tuesday on a 4-game losing streak and headed to Nashville to play the Predators, a team they are chasing in the West standings. That is our Game of the Night:

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The Kings had lost all 3 games against Nashville so far this year, and were 0-6-1 against them going back to last year.

Jonathan Bernier, former 1st-round pick, made his 2nd start of the season. In his 1st start on March 12th in Dallas he let up 1 goal. He let up fewer tonight.

The game was scoreless after 2 periods. The Kings outshot the Predators 18-8 in the 1st period, and the Predators outshot the Kings 15-4 in the 2nd. The only scoring came in the 3rd.

Scott Parse scored 7:50 into the 3rd period to record his 3rd goal in the last 2 games to give the Kings a 1-0 lead. Sean O'Donnell would tally his 3rd goal of the season to seal it for the Kings with 2:01 left in regulation.

Jonathan Bernier gets his 1st career shutout and is now 2-0-0 this season. He ended the game with 34 saves. Pekka Rinne also played great for Nashville, as he ended with 29 saves.

The Kings now have 92 points, sit in 7th in the West, and are 7 points up on 9th-place Calgary with only 6 games remaining. L.A. is 3 up on 8th-place Colorado, 1 point behind the Red Wings for 6th, and now only 2 points behind Nashville for 5th with 2 games-in-hand on the Predators.

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5 4 (OT)

Another awful 1st period for Washington, but another offensive and explosive comeback, only to see it fall short in overtime.

The Capitals looked like they were sleeping in the 1st period for the 2nd-straight game. In fact, they have allowed 13 or more shots in each of the last 5 first periods. They hadn't done that all year.

Ottawa outshot the Capitals 13-4 in the 1st period, and had a 3-1 lead going into the 2nd. Peter Regin started the scoring for the Senators 1:24 into the game. Alex Semin would tied it for Washington 3 minutes in.

A minute-and-a-half later, Jason Spezza made it 2-1 Ottawa, and Chris Campoli made it 3-1 with 4 minutes left in the period.

Semin would get his 2nd of the night to start the comeback 12:04 into the 2nd period. Mike Green on a one-time slapshot tied it at 3 only 54 seconds later.

Only 24 seconds into the 3rd period, Mathieu Perreault showed again why he provides so much energy for the Capitals. He made a great move on Brian Elliott to give Washington a 4-3 lead. But about 5 minutes later, Jason Spezza tied it on the power-play for the Senators.

In overtime, Nicklas Backstrom would be called for a tripping penalty with 32 seconds left. While the place was getting to their feet to cheer on the penalty-kill, Alex Kovalev deflected a shot past Jose Theodore and ended the game with 19 seconds left before the shootout.

Ottawa finished 3-for-4 on the power-play.

Theodore made 26 saves for the Capitals, once again looking a bit shaky, especially in the 1st period. Brian Elliott made 17 saves for Ottawa, only facing 21 shots.

The Senators are up to 89 points in the East and they sit in 5th-place. The Capitals remain tops in the league with 110 points, a 15-point lead in the East, and a 6-point lead over the Sharks for the best record in the league.

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Thrashers 3 Maple Leafs 2

Atlanta needs every win they can get in their final 6 games of the year, and this was a good start as they hang on against Toronto. The win gives them 80 points, but they remain 2 back of 8th-place Boston because of the Bruins' win over New Jersey. Boston has a game-in-hand on Atlanta. The Thrashers last 5 games of the season include 2 against Washington, 2 against Pittsburgh, and 1 against New Jersey--not exactly a walk in the park. Boston will play Washington twice, Florida, Toronto, Buffalo, and Carolina. Toronto has 69 points, last in the East, and are now officially eliminated.

Bruins 1 Devils 0 (OT)

Big win for Boston in New Jersey, staying 2 points up on Atlanta for the 8th and final playoff spot. Patrice Bergeron put in the only goal of the game in overtime. Boston now has 82 points, and are tied with Philadelphia and Montreal for 6th, but sit in 8th because of fewer wins. The Flyers in 6th and the Rangers in 10th are all separated by only 4 points.

Rangers 4 Islanders 3

The Rangers hang on to beat their New York rivals on Long Island. They have 78 points and remain 10th in the East and 4 back of Boston for 8th, 2 back of Atlanta for 9th. They have 6 games remaining. The Islanders are 13th in the East with 72 points.

Lightning 2 Blue Jackets 3

Columbus' win gives the 77 points and they are 14th in the West, while the falling Lightning are down to 14th in the East with only 72 points.

Oilers 4 Red Wings 5

Detroit had a 4-0 lead over Edmonton with less than 3 minutes left in the 2nd period. By the time the halfway mark rolled around in the 3rd, it was 4-4. The Red Wings wouldn't panic though, and Brad Stuart would tip one in past Jeff Deslauriers with only 1:07 left in regulation. The win gives Detroit their 6th-straight, and they are 9-0-1 in their last 10. They move up to 93 points and sit 6th in the West, 1 point behind Nashville for 5th and 1 point up on L.A. in 7th. After thinking they might struggle to make the playoffs, the Red Wings are now 8 points into a spot with only 6 games left. Edmonton has 55 points, worst in the league.

Blackhawks 2 Blues 4

Chicago loses their 3rd-straight, falling to a Blues team who moves to within 6 points of Colorado for the 8th-spot in the West. St Louis has 83 points, 10th in the West, and even a run of the table in their last 6 games might not be enough to snag the 8th-spot, but you never know. The Blackhawks remain at 99 points, 2nd-place in the West.

Coyotes 1 Canucks 4

Phoenix fails to move closer to the top-spot in the West, as they remain at 100 points, the 3rd-best record in the NHL. But they sit 4th in the West, 4 points behind San Jose for 1st-place in the Pacific Division. Vancouver is 3rd-place in the West with 96 points, trying to move in on Chicago for 2nd.

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Wednesday's Schedule:

Panthers @ Sabres, 7:00

Hurricanes @ Canadiens, 7:00

Lightning @ Penguins, 7:30, Versus

Blackhawks @ Wild, 8:00, Versus

Sharks @ Stars, 8:30

Ducks @ Avalanche, 9:00, FS West

Coyotes @ Flames, 9:30

Kings Lose 4th Straight; BOS, ATL Both Fall

On a night where the battle for the 8th-spot in the East was in full swing, neither of the teams included in that fight could get a point. In the West, L.A. was trying to rest a bit more easy in the top 8. Their 4th-straight loss won't help. It wasn't pretty, but it is Monday's Game of the Night:

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A few weeks ago, the Kings were comfortably sitting in a playoff spot in the West, knowing full well that this could and should be their first season of playoffs since 2001-2002. In fact, L.A. was even 1st place in the Western Conference a couple of months back.

I'm not saying they're in any danger, but they might just want to watch their backs and pick it up a bit--or, a lot. Not making the playoffs would be an unimaginable disaster after years of this team falling short of expectations.

But anyway, back to the game. The Kings came into Monday losers of 3-straight, and hoping to break that against the Wild, a team they have beaten 2 of 3 times this year.

After a scoreless 1st period, Owen Nolan tallied on the power-play for Minnesota just over 1 minute into the 2nd. Brent Burns would make it 2-0 7:26 into the period.

The Kings would cut the lead in half on a goal by Scott Parse later in the 2nd. Parse would score his 2nd of the night, providing the only offense for the Kings, 1:25 into the 3rd period to tie the game at 2.

But after a failed opportunity on a 2-minute 2-man-advantage, the Kings would allow a power-play goal to the Wild off the stick of Martin Havlat 7:38 into the 3rd. And that was all she wrote.

The Kings would finish 0-for-5 on the power-play, including a couple of 2-man-advantages, while the Wild went 2-for-3.

Jonathan Quick faced only 20 Minnesota shots, and ended the game with 17 saves. Niklas Backstrom stopped 29 shots for the Wild.

Minnesota has 80 points on the year and they sit 12th in the West.

The Kings are now 0-3-1 in their last 4, and are only 5-7-2 since the Olympic Break. They sit in the 7 spot in the West with 90 points. They are 1 point up on the the 8th-place Avalanche and only 5 points ahead of the 9th-place Flames, with a game-in-hand on Calgary and 7 games to play. But they are still only 1 point behind Detroit for 6th, and 4 points behind Nashville for 5th.

They play in Nashville on Tuesday night, a team on which they hold 2 games-in-hand, and it looks like Jonathan Bernier will get the start and try to erase the Kings' losing streak. He won his only start of the year so far in Dallas, 2-1 in a shootout.

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Sabres 3 Bruins 2

Boston loses out on a chance to move further into a playoff spot in the East with their loss over the Northeast Division-leading Sabres. The Bruins remain in the 8th and final playoff spot 2 points ahead of the 9th-place Thrashers and 4 up on the 10th-place Rangers. But they are still just 2 points back of Montreal for 7th and Philadelphia for 6th. Buffalo has already clinched a spot, as they lead the Northeast Division by 7 points and sit 3rd in the East, a point behind Pittsburgh for 2nd.

Hurricanes 4 Thrashers 1

Atlanta can't capitalize on the Boston loss, as they fall to Carolina and split the home-and-home with the Hurricanes. The Thrashers remain in 9th in the East, 2 points behind Boston, and they have 6 games left and have played 1 more game than the Bruins. Carolina is up to 73 points, 11th in the East, and actually only 7 points back of 8th. But with 2 other teams ahead of them, even a run of the table might not be enough for Carolina, who is doomed by there horrendous 1st half.

Predators 3 Panthers 2 (OT)

Patric Hornqvist scored the game-tying goal for Nashville with just over 3 minutes remaining in regulation, and Francis Bouillon netted the game-winner a minute into overtime to give the Predators a 3-2 rally win in Sunrise. Nashville sits 5th in the West with 94 points, 3 ahead of 6th-place Detroit and 4 up on 7th-place L.A. They have played at least 1 more game than every other team in the West and have only 5 games left, but sit a comfortable 9 points up on the 9th-place Flames and are next in line to clinch a spot. Florida is 13th in the East with 72 points.

Stars 1 Ducks 3

Anaheim gets a win over Pacific Division-rival Dallas on a night where they paid tribute to one of their best players of all time, Teemu Selanne, and his entrance into the 600-goal club. Selanne did get an assist on Nick Bonino's first career NHL goal in the 2nd period. The Ducks are 11th in the West with 80 points, while the Stars also have 80 points but sit in the 13 spot.

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Tuesday's Schedule:

Thrashers @ Maple Leafs, 7:00

Bruins @ Devils, 7:00

Rangers @ Islanders, 7:00

Senators @ Capitals, 7:00, CSN

Lightning @ Blue Jackets, 7:00

Oilers @ Red Wings, 7:30

Blackhawks @ Blues, 8:00, Versus

Kings @ Predators, 8:00, FS West

Coyotes @ Canucks, 10:00

Caps Clinch #1 in East, Fall to Flames

None of the 6 games on Sunday really deserves the Game of the Night, but since I have to pick, I'm going to go with a Western Conference battle between the Avalanche and the Sharks in San Jose:

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Colorado's road to the playoffs got a little bit more slippery tonight with a loss against the Western Conference-leading San Jose Sharks.

Devin Setoguchi, Jed Ortmeyer, Dan Boyle, and then Setoguchi again tallied for San Jose, while Kevin Porter scored for the Avalanche and Peter Mueller scored twice.

The Sharks had a 1-0 lead after the 1st period, only to see Colorado score 2 straight in the 2nd. Ortmeyer's goal late in the 2nd period brought the game to a 2-2 tie heading to the 3rd.

It was 3-3 in the 3rd when Setoguchi's 2nd of the night with less than 6 minutes remaining in regulation put the Sharks up 4-3.

Craig Anderson made 28 saves for Colorado, as Thomas Greiss got the start for San Jose and helped the Sharks survive with 42 saves, his 7th win of the season.

Colorado remains at 89 points and sits in the 8th and final playoff spot in the West. They are only 4 points up on the the 9th-place Flames with 7 games left, and have a game-in-hand on Calgary. They are 1 point back of 7th, 2 back of 6th, and 3 back of 5th.

San Jose has already clinched a spot as they sit 1st in the West with 104 points, 5 points behind the Capitals for the best record in the league.

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5 3

A terrible start tonight for the Capitals doomed them as they could never come back from a 4-0 1st period deficit at the Verizon Center.

Calgary came into the game knowing full well that they needed this one, and that it wasn't going to be easy against the best home team in the NHL. The Flames were shutout by Boston on Saturday and lost on Long Island Thursday, greatly hurting their playoff chances. They weren't about to lose again Sunday.

Calgary jumped all over the Capitals in the 1st period, putting up 4 on goals by Ales Kotalik, Ian White, Jay Bouwmeester, and Niklas Hagman.

Jose Theodore let up the 1st 3 for the Capitals on 10 shots, before he was pulled for Semyon Varlamov. Varlamov ended up getting the loss, as he stopped 10 of the Flames' final 12 shots.

Alex Ovechkin made it 4-1 early in the 2nd, but Rene Bourque answered late that period to put the Flames up 5-1. David Steckel closed out the period with a goal to cut the lead to 5-2.

Everyone knew the Capitals would make a game out of it, and that's what they did as Mathieu Perrault scored on the power-play less than 5 minutes into the 3rd. The rest of the 3rd was all Washington, but Miikka Kiprusoff held his ground for the Flames.

Kiprusoff ended up making 31 saves, including 19 of the 20 Capitals' 3rd period shots. The Capitals outshot Calgary in the 3rd by a total of 20-2.

The Flames now have 85 points and sit 9th in the West, 4 points back of Colorado for 8th and 5 back of L.A. for 7th. But they only have 6 games left and have played 1 more game than the Avalanche and 2 more than the Kings.

Washington loses for only the 5th time in regulation at home all season, as they remain tops in the Eastern Conference and in the NHL with 109 points.

With the Devils' loss to Philadelphia later in the night, Washington clinched the #1 seed in the East.

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Maple Leafs 4 Penguins 5 (SO)

Pittsburgh's win moves them back atop the Atlantic Division, 2 points ahead of the Devils, but they have played 1 more game than New Jersey, and they sit 2nd in the East with 95 points. Toronto has 69 points on the year, last in the East.

Oilers 1 Blues 2

The Blues have won 2-straight and move up to 81 points and sit 10th in the West. Too little too late, though, for St Louis, as their lousy home record is what will help keep them out of the playoffs. They are 8 points back of 8th with only 7 games remaining. Edmonton has 55 points, last in the NHL, and 20 points behind the next-best team in the West, Columbus.

Devils 1 Flyers 5

Philadelphia gets a huge win over their Atlantic Division rivals and they jump back up to 6th in the East with 82 points. They are tied in points with Montreal, but the Canadiens are 7th because of 1 fewer win. The Flyers are 2 points up on the the 8th-place Bruins, and 4 points ahead of the 9th-place Thrashers. New Jersey drops to 4th in the East because of their drop to 2nd in the Atlantic, but they have already clinched a spot and have 93 points.

Blue Jackets 4 Blackhawks 2

When it gets later in the season, teams that are out of it and have nothing to lose are usually the toughest teams to play against for teams that have already clinched, as was the case tonight in Chicago. Columbus' win gives them 75 points on the year, and they sit 14th in the West. Chicago has 99 points, and they are 2nd in the West with a playoff spot in their back pockets.

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Monday's Schedule:

Sabres @ Bruins, 7:00, Versus

Hurricanes @ Thrashers, 7:00

Predators @ Panthers, 7:30

Kings @ Wild, 9:00, FS West

Stars @ Ducks, 10:00, Prime Ticket

DET Climbing; NJ, BUF, PIT, PHX Clinch

4 teams clinched playoff berths on Saturday--3 in the East and 1 in the West--to bring the total up to 7, joining Washington, Chicago, and San Jose. Detroit was recently on the bubble in the West, but as they keep winning, they keep climbing. Saturday's Game of the Night goes to their Central Division matchup in Nashville:

1 0 (SO)

5 rounds of the shootout passed before any rubber was put behind a goaltender the entire night in Nashville, and it took 11 rounds before the game was settled.

Nobody could beat Jimmy Howard or Pekka Rinne through 65 minutes, as both goaltenders get credit for a shutout. Howard made 33 saves for the Red Wings to get his 2nd shutout of the year, while Rinne made 38 saves for the Predators to get his 7th shutout of the year and his 4th this month.

Todd Bertuzzi scored the 1st goal of any kind in the 5th round of the shootout for Detroit, but Nashville's Steve Sullivan kept it alive.

It wasn't until Niklas Kronwall scored in the 11th round for Detroit on his 1st career shootout attempt to give the Red Wings the 2-1 shootout win, and the 1-0 game win. It was their 5th win overall, and helps solidify their playoff positioning.

Detroit now has 91 points and they jump to 6th in the West, a point ahead of both Los Angeles and Colorado, but they have played 1 more game than each of those teams. They are now only 1 point behind the Predators for 5th with a game-in-hand.

These two Central Division rivals meet for the 6th and final time of the season next Saturday in Detroit.

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4 1

The Kings lose their 3rd-straight game in front of the 20th sellout of the season at Staples Center. Their black alternate jersey, the one they will be wearing throughout the playoffs when they go "Back in Black," couldn't help them this time.

Michal Handzus did give L.A. a 1-0 lead, scoring on the power-play 15:52 into the 1st period. Dallas would come up with 3 goals in the 2nd period, all on the power-play. Brendan Morrow made it 1-1 only 17 seconds into the period, and 2 from Brad Richards put the Stars up 3-1 going into the 3rd.

Dallas would get their 4th power-play goal of the game from Steve Ott 48 seconds into the 3rd period to put them up 4-1 and all but end it. The Stars went 4-for-7 on the power-play.

The Kings had won all 5 of the previous meetings with Dallas this season, and were trying to sweep a 6-game season series versus any opponent for the first time in their history.

Kari Lehtonen made 26 saves for Dallas, and Jonathan Quick stopped 21 for L.A.

The Stars are 10th in the West with 80 points, but are 9 behind the Avalanche for the 8th and final playoff spot.

The Kings are still comfortably in the Western Conference playoffs, but mostly due to Calgary's recent losses. They remain 7th in the West with 90 points, 7 points ahead of the 9th-place Flames. They are only a point in front of 8th-place Colorado, but are still only 1 point back of Detroit for 6th and 2 points behind Nashville for 5th. They have a game-in-hand on the Red Wings and 2 on the Predators and they have a total of 8 games remaining.

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Flames 0 Bruins 5

Tim Thomas recorded his 5th shutout of the season for Boston as the Bruins took down the desperate Calgary Flames. Boston is now 7th in the East with 80 points, tied in points with the Flyers, but they have a game-in-hand on now-8th-place Philadelphia. They are 2 points behind Montreal for 6th, but are still only 4 points ahead of the 9th-place Thrashers. Calgary is now in deep trouble. They are 6 points behind the Avalanche for the 8th and final playoff spot in the West, and they only have 7 games remaining.

Flyers 1 Penguins 4

Pittsburgh clinches a playoff spot with their win over their Atlantic Division rivals who are suddenly one of the most desperate teams in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers have dropped to 8th-place in the East, only 2 points up on 9th-place Atlanta and 4 up on the 10th-place Rangers. They are tied with Boston in points for 7th, and 2 behind Montreal for 6th. The Penguins remain tied in points with the Devils for 1st in the Atlantic Division, but they have played 1 more game than New Jersey. They are 4th in the East with 93 points.

Lightning 1 Sabres 7

Buffalo's win, led by Derek Roy's 4th career hat trick, clinches them a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, as they sit atop the Northeast Division with 92 points. They have a 5-point lead over Ottawa in the division with 2 games-in-hand, and are only 1 point behind New Jersey for 2nd in the East. Patrick Lalime got the win for Buffalo, his 200th of his career. Tampa Bay has 72 points and they are 12th in the East.

Rangers 2 Maple Leafs 3 (OT)

A huge loss for the Rangers greatly impacts their playoff hopes. They are by no means out of the race, but no one will be happy with a loss to the last-place Leafs when your team is desperate for points. New York had a 2-0 lead after the 1st period, but Toronto tied it up, and Nikolai Kulemin ended it 39 seconds into the overtime. The Rangers' point gives them 76 and keeps them 10th in the East, 4 points behind Philadelphia for the 8th and final spot, and 2 points behind Atlanta for 9th, with 7 games left. Toronto has 68 points, last in the East.

Devils 4 Canadiens 2

New Jersey clinches a playoff berth for the 13th-straight year with their win over Montreal, who are by no means guaranteed a spot in the East yet. The Devils have 93 points and remain 1st in the Atlantic Division and 2nd in the East. Montreal all of a sudden finds themselves only 4 points in a playoff spot. They have 82 points and sit 6th in the East. They are 2 points ahead of 7th and 8th-place Boston and Philadelphia, and are 4 points up on the 9th-place Thrashers.

Panthers 2 Senators 3

Ottawa moves themselves further into a playoff position, as they now have 87 points, 5th in the East. They're only 5 points behind Buffalo for 1st in the Northeast Division, but have played 2 more games than the Sabres and have only 6 games left. Florida is 13th in the East with 71 points.

Thrashers 4 Hurricanes 0

Atlanta gets a big win over their Southeast Division rivals in the front end of a home-and-home with Carolina, helped in big part by Johan Hedberg's 2nd shutout of the season for the Thrashers. Atlanta remains 9th in the East with 78 points, 2 back of both Boston and Philadelphia for the 8th and final playoff spot. Carolina is 14th in the East with 71 points.

Islanders 4 Blue Jackets 3 (OT)

Josh Bailey put in the winner for New York in overtime, as they beat Columbus for only their 11th road win of the season. The Islanders are 11th in the East with 72 points and the Blue Jackets are 14th in the West with 73 points.

Avalanche 2 Coyotes 6

Phoenix was handed their playoff spot earlier in the day when Calgary lost in Boston, and clinching their 1st berth since 2002 was made to feel even better with their rout over Colorado in front of a packed house in Glendale to give them 100 points on the year. The 100 points have them 2nd in the Pacific Division, 2 points behind the Sharks for 1st, and 4th in the West. For Colorado, the bad news is that they fall to 8th in the Western Conference with 89 points, but the good news is that they are 6 points ahead of the Flames. Colorado has a game-in-hand on Calgary as well, and are a point behind 7th-place L.A. and 2 behind 6th-place Detroit.

Canucks 2 Sharks 4

A 3-goal 2nd period is all San Jose would need to down Northwest Division-leading Vancouver. The Sharks remain 1st in the Pacific Division and 1st in the Western Conference with 102 points, 2 points ahead of Phoenix in the division and 3 points up on Chicago in the conference. They are 7 points behind the Capitals in the President's Trophy race for best record in the league. Vancouver stays 3rd in the West, as they hold on to their 5-point lead over Colorado for tops in the Northwest Division.

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Sunday's Schedule:

Flames @ Capitals, 3:00, CSN

Maple Leafs @ Penguins, 5:00

Oilers @ Blues, 6:00

Devils @ Flyers, 7:00

Blue Jackets @ Blackhawks, 7:00

Avalanche @ Sharks, 8:00

Wings Win Again, Sens too

Detroit extends their winning streak and their playoff cushion at the same time, while Buffalo has a chance to clinch a berth with a win over Ottawa. The Northeast Division battle is Friday's Game of the Night:

4 2

The domination continues. Buffalo had a chance to become the 4th team in the NHL to clinch a playoff spot tonight at home at HSBC Arena. That will have to wait another night. Buffalo trying to find a different way to beat the Senators will have to wait as well.

The Senators are 5-0-0 against the Sabres this year, and have won the last 9 versus Buffalo going back to last season. The 6th and final meeting of the year will be April 10th in Ottawa, which is the Senators' final game of the season and the Sabres' 2nd-to-last.

Chris Kelly started the scoring 6:42 into the 1st period to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead. Peter Regin made it 2-0 Senators 5:36 into the 2nd period.

Tim Kennedy bounced one in past Brian Elliott to cut the lead in half for Buffalo, but Jason Spezza was quick to answer on the power-play to put the Senators up by 2 once again, 3-1. They would take that lead into the 3rd.

Jason Pominville scored 1:34 into the 3rd period for Buffalo just after an astounding save from Ryan Miller to cut the lead to 1. But they couldn't solve Elliott again, and Daniel Alfredsson sealed it with an empty-net goal with 1 second remaining to give the Senators the 4-2 win.

Brian Elliot made 41 saves for the Senators to record his 3rd-straight win after 2 consecutive shutouts. Ryan Miller made 27 saves for Buffalo.

Not only did Ottawa spoil the chance for the Sabres to clinch a playoff spot, but their win keeps their chance to overcome Buffalo for the Northeast Division title alive. The Senators now have 85 points, sitting 5th in the East, and are 5 points back from Buffalo for 1st in the Northeast. The Sabres, though, do have 2 games-in-hand, as they sit 3rd in the East with 90 points.

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Wild 2 Red Wings 6

Detroit wins their 4th-straight game and they are 8-1-1 in their last 10. They remain 8th in the West, tied with Colorado in points for 7th with 89, but they extend their lead over the 9th-place Flames to 6 points. Both the Flames and Red Wings have 8 games left, while the 7th-place Avalanche have 9 left, as well as the 6th-place Kings who have 90 points. 5th-place Nashville is within Detroit's grasp as well, as the Predators have 91 points, only 2 ahead of the Red Wings, and Detroit has a game-in-hand on. Minnesota has 78 points and they are 13th in the West.

Ducks 3 Oilers 2

Edmonton's winning streak is halted at 3 as they're downed by the Ducks at home. After beating Detroit, San Jose, and Vancouver, they will finish their 4-game homestand 3-1-0. Anaheim breaks a 2-game losing streak of their own, as they move to 78 points and sit 11th in the West. Edmonton remains at 55 points, last in the West and last in the NHL.

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Saturday's Schedule (ET):

Flames @ Bruins, 1:00

Flyers @ Penguins, 1:00

Lightning @ Sabres, 7:00

Rangers @ Maple Leafs, 7:00

Devils @ Canadiens, 7:00, NHL Network

Panthers @ Senators, 7:00

Thrashers @ Hurricanes, 7:00

Islanders @ Blue Jackets, 7:00

Red Wings @ Predators, 8:00

Avalanche @ Coyotes, 9:00

Canucks @ Sharks, 10:00

Stars @ Kings, 10:30, FS West

Two New Teams Clinch Playoff Berths

Playoff-clinching scenarios are starting to pop up around the NHL, and Chicago and San Jose become the latest teams to clinch a berth so far. But the races for 8th are still on as well, and the Rangers had a huge game against their Atlantic Division rivals in New Jersey. That is Thursday's Game of the Night:

4 3 (SO)

New York needed a last-second comeback to send it to overtime, and they beat the Devils in a shootout to pick up 2 huge points that keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Devils could never pull away from the Rangers in this gritty game between the Atlantic Division rivals, and Henrik Lunqvist was a big reason why. In the end, it came back to haunt them.

Ilya Kovalchuk scored the 1st goal of the game 5:21 into the 1st period to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead. That was the only goal of the period, and then Brandon Dubinsky would score the only goal of the 2nd period to tie the game at 1 for the Rangers.

Patrik Elias made it 2-1 for the Devils, with Artem Anisimov answering for the Rangers to make it 2-2 halfway through the 3rd. Jamie Langenbrunner put the Devils up for the 3rd time with 7:23 left in regulation.

But after a no-look backhand pass from Erik Christensen, Chris Drury found the back of the net past Marty Brodeur with only 17 seconds left in regulation.

The game would go to a shootout, where Christensen would score the only goal, giving the Rangers a 4-3 win.

Both goalies made some huge saves throughout the night, but Lundqvist would get the win, making 35 saves. Brodeur ended the game with 28 saves.

The win moves the 10th-place Rangers to 75 points and within 3 points of the Bruins, who lost tonight, for the 8th and final playoff spot in the East. They are 1 point behind the 9th-place Thrashers. The Rangers have 8 games left, and have played 1 more game than Boston.

New Jersey's point moves them back into a tie with Pittsburgh in points, with 91, for 1st in the Atlantic Division and 2nd in the East. The Devils hold those spots themselves, though, because they have played 1 more game than the Penguins. New Jersey has 9 games remaining.

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2 3 (SO)

This was the final meeting of the year between these two Southeast Division rivals, and all 5 have been tough battles from start to finish. This one was no different. It was the 4th time the Capitals and Hurricanes went past regulation in their 6-game season series.

Carolina scored their 2 goals in regulation in the first 10 minutes of the game. Jamie McBain started it off 2:11 into the 1st period, and Bryan Rodney made it 2-0 about 9 minutes in. Semyon Varlamov didn't look very sharp at first, but it didn't help that the Capitals' defense were nowhere to be found.

But for the final 50 minutes, Varlamov was on his game, keeping Washington in the game and giving them a chance to come back. The problem for the Capitals, though, was that Carolina's Manny Legace was on top of his game as well.

Alexander Semin cut the lead in half to 2-1 almost 2 minutes into the 2nd period. It would stay this way until 2:12 into the 3rd period, when young defenseman John Carlson scored his first NHL goal to tie the game at 2 for Washington.

Manny Legace would end up making 41 saves for Carolina, not including 4 of the 5 Capitals to shoot in the shootout.

Nicklas Backstrom scored in the shootout on the Capitals' first shot, but Legace would then stop Ovechkin, Semin, Fleischmann, and Green, while Ray Whitney and Chad Larose beat Varlamov to give Carolina the 2-1 win in the shootout, and the 3-2 win in the game.

Varlamov made 29 saves for the Capitals, and each team ended the season series with 1 win in regulation, and 2 wins in either overtime or a shootout.

Carolina has 71 points and are 13th in the East.

For a team that has known the playoffs were in their future for a long time, the Capitals haven't backed off one bit. They are 8-1-3 since the Olympic break, and 25-3-5 since January 5th. Their point gives them 109 on the year, a franchise record, and they are a point away from clinching the top spot in the Eastern Conference with 8 games remaining.

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1 3

St Louis keeps their very slim playoff hopes alive with a 3-1 win over the Kings.

B.J. Crombeen started the scoring for the Blues 3:57 into the 1st period to give them an early 1-0 lead. T.J. Oshie would make it 2-0 Blues just over a minute into the 2nd period, and St Louis would take that lead into the 3rd.

Dustin Brown scored on the power-play for the Kings 4:38 into the 3rd period to cut the lead to 2-1, and L.A. totally dominated the first half of the 3rd period.

Chris Mason saved the game for the Blues in the 3rd, making 15 saves in that period alone, ending the game with 30 saves.

The Kings went 1-for-7 on the power-play against the #2 penalty-killing team in the NHL.

Paul Kariya bounced one just passed Jonathan Quick with 6 minutes left in regulation to give St Louis a 3-1 lead and seal it for the Blues, who take 3 of 4 from the Kings in the season series.

L.A. slips to 6th in the West, with 90 points, 1 point behind the Predators for 5th, but they have 2 games-in-hand on Nashville. They're only 3 points ahead of the 8th-place Red Wings, but 7 points up on the 9th-place Flames.

The Blues have 79 points and sit 10th in the West, 8 points out of 8th with only 8 games remaining.

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Lightning 5 Bruins 3

Tampa Bay keeps their very slim playoff hopes alive with a win over the 8th-place Bruins. Steven Stamkos scored 2 goals for the Lightning and he now has 45, tying him for the most in the NHL with Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. With the loss, Boston loses ground to both the 9th-place Thrashers, who got 1 point tonight, and 10th-place Rangers, who got 2. Boston has 78 points and are 2 points ahead of Atlanta and 3 ahead of New York for the 8th and final playoff spot, but they do have a game-in-hand on each team. Tampa Bay has 72 points, 8 behind the Bruins with only 8 games remaining.

Flames 2 Islanders 3

A huge loss for Calgary on Long Island considerably diminishes their playoff hopes in the West. They are sitting 9th in the West, and the loss keeps them at 83 points, 4 behind Detroit for 8th. The Flames have 8 games left, and Detroit has 9. That would usually seem very doable, but the way the Red Wings have been playing lately, it might be difficult. What made it worse tonight was that the Flames came into the 3rd period with a 2-1 lead over New York. The Islanders have 70 points and are 14th in the East. The Flames had a 20-minute closed-door meeting after the game with some harsh words given, I'm sure. It won't get any easier for Calgary, as they play in Boston on Saturday and in Washington on Sunday.

Wild 4 Flyers 3 (OT)

Minnesota rallied with two 3rd period goals to send it to overtime and eventually got the win in Philadelphia. The point moves the Flyers to 80, as they sit 7th in the East. They're 2 points behind the 6th-place Canadiens, but are only 2 points ahead of 8th-place Boston and only 4 points up on the 9th-place Thrashers. The Wild have 78 points and sit 12th in the West.

Maple Leafs 2 Thrashers 1 (OT)

The Thrashers did move closer to 8th win a point against Toronto, but they believe it should have been more. Both regulation goals were scored only 1:05 apart in the 1st period, and the game would stay tied all the way into overtime, when the Leafs ended it just 39 seconds in. Atlanta, though, does move up to 76 points, 2 points behind Boston for the 8th and final playoff spot in the East. Toronto is up to 66 points but they remain last in the East.

Blackhawks 3 Blue Jackets 8

After shutting out Phoenix in the battle for tops in the West and showing the non-believers why Chicago's questionable goaltending could take them far into the playoffs, they have a meltdown that shows why the goaltending question has been there all year. Cristobal Huet stopped only 20 of 27 shots, and Antti Niemi stopped 4 of 5 when he came into the game for the final minutes of the 2nd period. The good news for Chicago, however, is that they became the 2nd team to have clinched a playoff spot so far because of Calgary's regulation loss on Long Island (San Jose became the 3rd team to clinch later in the night). They have 99 points and sit 2nd in the West, 1 point behind San Jose for 1st. Columbus has 72 points and are 14th in the West.

Panthers 1 Canadiens 4

Florida scored their only goal of the game with 3:36 left in regulation to cut the Canadiens' lead to 2-1, but Montreal made sure they didn't lose a late 2-goal lead for a 2nd night in a row. Montreal's win moves them up to 82 points and they sit 6th in the East, a point behind Ottawa for 5th and 2 points ahead of 7th-place Philadelphia. Florida has 71 points and they are 12th in the East.

Coyotes 3 Predators 4 (SO)

With a win, Phoenix could have clinched a playoff spot for the first time since the 2001-02 season. That will have to wait another day, but it will come very soon as their magic number stays at 1. Phoenix scored 2 goals in the final 7 minutes of regulation to send the game to overtime and eventually a shootout. Nashville's win gives them 91 points and jumps them over the Kings and Avalanche for 5th in the West. They are 1 point ahead of L.A. and 2 points ahead of Colorado, but they have played 2 more games than both of those teams. Phoenix is up to 98 points, 4th in the West, but only 2 points behind the Sharks for 1st in the Pacific Division.

Stars 0 Sharks 3

Evgeni Nabokov recorded his 3rd shutout of the year to give San Jose 100 points on the season and make the Sharks the 3rd team to clinch a playoff spot at this time, and the 2nd team in the West along with Chicago. They are 1st place in the Western Conference, a point ahead of 2nd-place Chicago, and 2 points up on 2nd-place Phoenix in the Pacific Division. Dallas remains 11th in the West with 78 points, 9 points out with only 8 games left.

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Friday's Schedule:

Senators @ Sabres, 7:30

Wild @ Red Wings, 7:30

Ducks @ Oilers, 9:00, FS West

Living up to the Hype

The Penguins and the Capitals are two of the most heated rivals in the NHL, and with games like this one, that won't end any time soon. I don't think there's much question about Wednesday's Game of the Night:

3 4 (SO)

They did it again. An epic battle from start to finish, with a back-and-forth regulation, a frantic overtime, and a shootout that was an unbelievable game all in itself; and it wasn't all about Crosby and Ovechkin this time.

Jose Theodore stood his ground in a scoreless first period, stopping 17 Pittsburgh shots. The 1st goal of the game came from Mike Knuble 1:09 into the 2nd period to give Washington a 1-0 lead. After the goal, Marc-Andre Fleury shined for the rest of the 2nd period.

Maxime Talbot and Bill Guerin scored for the Penguins in the 2nd, and Pittsburgh took a 2-1 lead into the 3rd period.

In the 3rd, it was the other Alex that stole the show. With the Capitals short-handed, Alexander Semin intercepted a Sidney Crosby pass in the defensive zone, and raced down the ice. He cut to the slot and unleashed a wicked wrist shot to wake up the 50th consecutive sellout crowd at Verizon Center.

Almost 2 minutes later, Eric Fehr deflected a Mike Green shot and put Washington up 3-2. Jose Theodore continued to play awfully well throughout the 3rd period including a huge save that preserved the Capitals lead for the time being with about 3:30 left in regulation.

But with 3:06 remaining, Jordan Staal snapped a wrist shot that eluded the glove of the screened Theodore, tying the game at 3 for Pittsburgh.

A back-and-forth overtime couldn't solve it, and then came the shootout.

The home team has the opportunity to choose whether they want to shoot first or not in the shootout, and most of the time, they choose to go first. But the Capitals let the Penguins shoot first in this one, and it didn't get off to a good start.

Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby scored on the Penguins' first 2 shots of the shootout, but then everything that had to go right for the Capitals did go right, as they scored 3-straight goals and won the shootout 3-2. Ovechkin kept it alive in the 2nd round, Semin in the 3rd, and Mike Knuble, who was 0-for-3 in shootout attempts in his career, scored in the 4th round to win it for Washington.

Jose Theodore is 17-0-2 in his last 19 games, and the Capitals are 27-4-4 at home.

The Penguins were without Evgeni Malkin for the 11th game this season. They have won only 3 of those games, and Sidney Crosby hasn't scored a goal in any of them.

The win gives the Capitals 108 points on the season, 17 points ahead of the 2nd-place Penguins in the East. The point for the Penguins, however, moves them into 1st-place in the Atlantic Division, a point up on the Devils, but they have played 2 more games than New Jersey.

These two teams meet for the final time in the regular season in Pittsburgh on April 6th.

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3 4 (SO)

On Monday in L.A., the Avalanche tied the game against the Kings late in the 3rd period to get a point, but lost it in overtime. On Wednesday in Denver, the opposite happened.

Colorado's Matt Hendricks started the scoring 7:38 into the 1st period, and Anze Kopitar tied it for the Kings just over 2 minutes later.

But Milan Hejduk and Paul Stastny would score power-play goals for the Avalanche in the 1st period to give them a 3-1 lead and have the Kings pull Jonathan Quick. Erik Ersberg came in for the 1st time in 11 games and stopped all of the final 14 shots, keeping L.A. in the game.

After a scoreless 2nd period, Drew Doughty scored on the power-play only 40 seconds into the 3rd to cut the lead to 3-2. And with only 1:21 left in regulation, Alexander Frolov would tuck in the game-tying goal, again on the power-play.

The game would go to a shootout, where the Avalanche prevailed. Craig Anderson stopped 27 shots for Colorado.

Colorado's win gives them 89 points on the year and moves them to 6th in the West. They are tied in points with Nashville but have a game-in-hand on the Predators. The big point for the Kings moves them up to 90 and gives them sole possession of 5th in the West. They have a game-in-hand on Colorado and 2 on Nashville. They also have 2 on the Coyotes, the team they trail by 7 points for 4th.

The Kings play in Denver again for their last game of the regular season, April 11th.

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Islanders 0 Rangers 5

In the 1st-ever live sports event telecast in 3D, the Rangers dominated their New York rivals. Henrik Lunqvist recorded 27 saves for his 3rd shutout of the season. The huge win for the Rangers gives them 73 points, 2 points behind the 9th-place Thrashers, and 5 points behind Boston for the 8th and final playoff spot in the East. The Islanders have 68 points and are 14th in the East.

Canadiens 2 Sabres 3 (SO)

Montreal was 2 minutes away from a shutout. That disappeared when Tim Connolly scored for Buffalo with 1:59 left in regulation to cut the lead to 2-1. The lead disappeared with 48 seconds left in regulation, when Paul Gaustad scored for the Sabres while Ryan Miller was on the bench for an extra attacker. And the win disappeared when Buffalo capped the stunning comeback in a shootout. Buffalo now has 90 points, leading the Northeast Division by 7, and sitting 1 point behind the Penguins for 2nd in the East. Montreal's point moves them up to 80, and they take possession of 6th in the East, 1 point up on 7th-place Philadelphia and 2 points up on 8th-place Boston.

Blues 2 Red Wings 4

Everybody has continued to say that the Red Wings will end up making the playoffs and be one of the toughest 8th-seeds a team could ever play. But if they keep playing like this in the final 9 games of the year, they won't be an 8th-seed. Their 3rd win in-a-row gives them 87 points, moving them to within 2 points of the Avalanche and Predators, who are tied for 6th. They are now 4 points up on the 9th-place Flames. St Louis sits 11th in the West with 77 points.

Ducks 1 Canucks 4

Vancouver bounces back from their loss in Edmonton and all but eliminates Anaheim from the playoffs. The Canucks win gives them 94 points, as they hold a 5-point lead over Colorado for 1st in the Northwest Division. They are 3rd in the West, 4 points behind 2nd-place San Jose. Anaheim is in 13th-place with 76 points, and their 2nd-straight loss now has them 11 points back of a playoff spot.

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Thursday's Schedule (ET):

Lightning @ Bruins, 7:00

Rangers @ Devils, 7:00

Flames @ Islanders, 7:00

Wild @ Flyers, 7:00

Capitals @ Hurricanes, 7:00, CSN

Maple Leafs @ Thrashers, 7:00

Blackhawks @ Blue Jackets, 7:00

Panthers @ Canadiens, 7:30

Kings @ Blues, 8:00, FS West

Coyotes @ Predators, 8:00

Stars @ Sharks, 10:30, NHL Network

Pens-Caps Rd. 3; NYI-NYR in 3D

Round 3 of 4 between the Penguins and the Capitals is set to begin tonight at 7:00 ET at Verizon Center. The game can be seen locally, as usual, on Fox Sports Pittsburgh and Comcast SportsNet Washington. It will also be broadcast on the NHL Network, which happens to be offering a free preview of the channel for everyone in the U.S. through Saturday.

The Capitals have gone 5-0-1 against the Penguins over the past 2 seasons, including a 6-3 win in Pittsburgh in January and an epic 5-4 win in D.C. during the February blizzard.

Washington holds the best record in the NHL with 106 points and remains the only team to have clinched a playoff spot so far. Pittsburgh has 90 points, tied with New Jersey for 1st in the Atlantic Division and 2nd in the East.

Evgeni Malkin will be out for Pittsburgh with a sore foot, and Brooks Laich will miss his first game because of injury in his NHL career. He had played 257 consecutive games for the Capitals. He was hit in the face with a puck at the end of practice Tuesday and is day-to-day.

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The New York Islanders-New York Rangers rivalry will make television history tonight, as it will be the first hockey game produced in 3D. MSG will provide the feed, which is the first live 3D sports event telecast in the U.S. Not too many people have their 3D TVs yet, but this game will just be the beginning of 3D sports games in America. The game is also available on the regular MSG channels for both the Rangers and Islanders feeds.

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The Kings look to sweep a home-and-home from the Avalanche tonight, a team they are fighting with for playoff positioning, and move even higher in the standings. That game will take place in Denver and begins at 6:00 Pacific Time on Fox Sports West in Southern California.

Also tonight, Montreal is in Buffalo, St Louis visits Detroit, and Anaheim will be in Vancouver.

No Miracle This Time for Phoenix

On a 10-game Tuesday night, the Phoenix Coyotes were looking to win their 10th-straight and move into 1st-place in the Western Conference. The only problem is they would have to skate through the team they were tied with for 1st, the Chicago Blackhawks. The Coyotes give us our Game of the Night for their 4th-straight game:

0 2

Great defense, just enough offense, and a fantastic outing by goaltender Antti Niemi showed why the Chicago Blackhawks could be a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs--not that their 2nd-best record in the league needs any more proving to do.

The win puts the Blackhawks back atop the Western Conference with 99 points, 1 point ahead of the now-2nd-place San Jose Sharks.

Patrick Kane scored his 28th goal of the year 1:45 into the 2nd period to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. 5-and-a-half minutes later, Marian Hossa made it 2-0 for the Blackhawks. That was all they would need.

Antti Niemi made 28 saves en route to his 6th shutout of the season. Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 30 shots for Phoenix.

The Coyotes did have their chances, including numerous scrums in front of the net and even hitting a couple of posts, but the bounces wouldn't fall for Phoenix tonight, ending their 9-game winning streak--tied for the 3rd-longest winning streak this season.

The Phoenix loss, coupled with the San Jose win over Minnesota, moves the Coyotes back to 2nd in the Pacific Division and 4th in the Western Conference with 97 points. San Jose is up to 98 and they have a game-in-hand on the Coyotes.

But it's only time until the Coyotes clinch their 1st playoff spot since the 2001-02 season, bringing the white-out back to Phoenix.

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Panthers 4 Maple Leafs 1

Florida's win moves them up to 11th in the East with 71 points and ties them with the Rangers in points for 10th. They are 7 points out of a playoff spot with only 10 games remaining. Scott Clemmensen made 42 saves for the Panthers and came within 3 minutes of his first shutout of the season. Toronto remains last in the East with 64 points.

Blue Jackets 3 Devils 6

New Jersey explodes for 6 goals, including 1 from Ilya Kovalchuk and 2 each from Zach Parise and Travis Zajac, after scoring a total of 1 in their previous 2 games. Martin Brodeur records his league-leading 40th win for the Devils. The win puts them atop the Atlantic Division, tied with the Penguins in points, with 90, but they have 1 game-in-hand on Pittsburgh. Columbus remains 14th in the Western Conference with 70 points.

Bruins 4 Thrashers 0

Coming into the night, Boston held the 8th and final playoff spot in the East, with 76 points, and Atlanta was 1 point behind them. The Bruins now have a 3-point lead over the Thrashers after a 27-save shutout from Tuukka Rask. Atlanta could never get anything going as they saw their 4-game winning streak come to an end. Boston has won 2-straight, and both were over the 2 teams chasing them for 8th--the Rangers on Sunday and Atlanta tonight. Their lead over the 10th-place Rangers is now 7 points.

Flyers 0 Senators 2

Ottawa wins their 2nd-straight and Philadelphia loses their 3rd-straight after a 26-save shutout from Brian Elliott, his 2nd shutout in as many nights. Before their game on Monday, the Senators had lost 5 in-a-row and were tied in points with both Montreal and Philadelphia for 5th in the East. No problems here, though, as they down both teams in consecutive nights and don't allow a goal. Ottawa now has 83 points and sits 5th in the East, while the Flyers remain with 79 points and are still tied with the Canadiens for 6th. They are only 1 point ahead of the 8th-place Bruins, but 4 points up on the 9th-place Thrashers.

Hurricanes 2 Lightning 3 (OT)

Martin St Louis scored twice for Tampa Bay, including the overtime winner only 29 seconds into the extra session to break their 5-game losing streak. They are 12th in the East with 70 points and are 8 points out of a playoff spot, while Carolina's point moves them up to 69, 9 points out.

Stars 3 Predators 1

Dallas scored 2 goals 30 seconds apart in the first 2 minutes of the 3rd period, and they keep their very slim playoff hopes alive despite being outshot 35-14. The Stars have 78 points, sit 10th in the West, and are 7 points behind 8th-place Detroit with only 9 games remaining. Nashville remains in 6th in the West with 89 points, tied with the Kings in points for 5th, but they have played 3 more games than L.A.

Sharks 4 Wild 1

San Jose moves back into 1st-place in the Pacific Division with their 1st win in 6 games, 1 point ahead of the Coyotes. They have 98 points and move back into 2nd in the West, 1 point behind Chicago for the lead. Minnesota has all but been eliminated, as they are 13th in the West with 76 points and are 9 points out with only 9 games left.

Ducks 1 Flames 3

Anaheim loses their 1st game in 5, badly hurting what were their slim playoff chances. The Ducks are 9 points back with 10 games remaining. Calgary, on the other hand, gets a huge win, moving back to within 2 points of the Red Wings for the 8th and final playoff spot in the West. They have 83 points with 9 games left, while Detroit has 10 games left.

Canucks 2 Oilers 3

The Edmonton Oilers have the worst record in the league, are 9 points behind the 29th-place team, and remain the only team to have officially been eliminated from the playoffs. But the Oilers--or, SpOilers. . . . .are not playing by the numbers. Their current home-stand saw the Red Wings, Sharks, Canucks, and Ducks on the schedule. Well, they're 3-for-3 so far, beating 3 of the 8 current playoff teams in the West who happen to be 3 of the best teams in the NHL. Edmonton now has 55 points, while Vancouver remains 2nd in the West with 92 points, and tops in the Northwest Division, 5 points up on the Avalanche.

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Wednesday's Schedule:

Islanders @ Rangers, 7:00, MSG 3D (first ever live 3D sports event in the U.S.)

Penguins @ Capitals, 7:00, CSN, NHL Network (during free preview of NHLN for U.S.)

Canadiens @ Sabres, 7:30

Blues @ Red Wings, 7:30

Kings @ Avalanche, 9:00, FS West

Ducks @ Canucks, 10:00, Prime Ticket

Playoff Positions on the Line

Monday's schedule included a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Finals, a fight for 5th in the East between Ottawa and Montreal, and a fight for 6th in the West between Colorado and Los Angeles. The Western Conference playoff battle is our Game of the Night:

3 4 (OT)

The Kings have lost some ground in the Western Conference standings in the last couple of weeks, but they looked to move back into the 5th spot with a win on Monday in the first half of a home-and-home series against Colorado.

Chris Stewart started the scoring for the Avalanche just over 7 minutes into the 1st period, when his pass across ice deflected off the stick of Kings' Freddy Modin. Almost 3 minutes later, Ryan Smyth capitalized for the Kings on the power-play to make it 1-1, just moments after T.J. Galiardi missed a wide-open net after a turnover from Kings' goalie Jonathan Quick.

Wayne Simmonds got the only goal of the 2nd period to give the Kings a 2-1 lead.

Ryan Smyth scored his 2nd goal of the game in the 3rd period, giving the Kings a 3-2 lead, sandwiched in between 2 Avalanche goals. Peter Mueller tied the game at 2 for Colorado, and then T.J. Galiardi made up for his missed shot back in the 1st with a game-tying goal with only 7 seconds left in regulation.

But in overtime, Drew Doughty scored the game-winning goal on a power-play 3:40 into the extra session to give the Kings a 4-3 win. Doughty, the young Norris Trophy candidate, stepped into a slap shot and absolutely ripped it through the screen of Ryan Smyth and past goaltender Craig Anderson.

The Kings are now 28-0-0 when leading after 2 periods.

Anderson ended the game with 19 saves. Jonathan Quick made 23 saves and picked up his 39th win of the season for L.A.

The Kings move up to 89 points, tying them in points with Nashville for 5th in the West, but they hold the spot on their own because of their 2 games-in-hand on the Predators. The Avalanche do pick up a huge point as they sit 7th in the West with 87 points and are 2 points up on 8th-place Detroit, and 6 points ahead of the 9th-place Flames.

These two teams face each other again on Wednesday in Denver.

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Penguins 1 Red Wings 3

This was the 2nd and last meeting of the year between the two teams that faced each other in the Stanley Cup Final in each of the previous 2 seasons. Pittsburgh won 2-1 in a shootout at the Igloo on January 31st. But the last time the Penguins were in Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, they were hoisting the Stanley Cup. Detroit out-dueled the Penguins in this rematch, led by 2 goals from Henrik Zetterburg, to pick up 2 huge points and move even farther into a playoff spot in the West. The win gives the Red Wings 85 points on the year, and although they remain in the 8th and final playoff spot in the West, they move 4 points ahead of 9th-place Calgary. Both Calgary and Detroit have 10 games remaining. The Penguins remain at 90 points, still 2 points up on the Devils for the Atlantic Division lead, but they have played 2 more games than New Jersey.

Senators 2 Canadiens 0

Coming into the night, Ottawa was on a 5-game losing streak, Montreal had gotten points in 7-straight games, and both teams were tied in points for 5th in the Eastern Conference. What a good time for the Senators to snap both streaks, especially in shutout-form when their goaltending recently has been suspect, to put it lightly. 29 saves from Brian Elliott and goals from Peter Regin and Erik Karlsson help lead the Senators to 5th-place in the East all by themselves with 81 points. The Canadiens remain tied with Philadelphia for 6th, but sit in 7th because they have played 1 more game than the Flyers. They are 3 points ahead of 8th-place Boston and 4 points up on 9th-place Atlanta.

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Tuesday's Schedule:

Panthers @ Maple Leafs, 7:00

Blue Jackets @ Devils, 7:00

Bruins @ Thrashers, 7:00

Flyers @ Senators, 7:30

Hurricanes @ Lightning, 7:30

Stars @ Predators, 8:00

Sharks @ Wild, 8:00, Versus

Coyotes @ Blackhawks, 8:30

Ducks @ Flames, 9:00, FS West

Canucks @ Oilers, 9:00

Take Two: Thrash, Yotes Win--Again

For the second-straight night, the Thrashers and Coyotes extend their winning streaks--Atlanta to 4 and Phoenix to 9. The Thrashers remain 1 point out of the playoffs, and the Coyotes...well, let's just say they're pretty comfortable. Phoenix gives us our Game of the Night for their 3rd-straight game:

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The Phoenix Coyotes did it again. And so did Adrian Aucoin. Aucoin scored the winner in the shootout after Radim Vrbata scored to extend it, making him 5-for-5 on the season in shootout attempts with all of them being game-winners.

The 2 Coyotes goals were scored on power-plays, and Phoenix actually had a 2-0 lead in the game. Petr Prucha started the scoring for the Coyotes with less than 1 second to go in the 1st period. Radim Vrbata put the Coyotes ahead 2-0 early in the 2nd, just to see Jamie Benn score for Dallas about a minute later to cut the lead in half.

Loui Eriksson tied it at 2 for the Stars 7 minutes into the 3rd period. Phoenix outshot Dallas 6-0 in overtime, but the game would go to a shootout. Brad Richards scored for Dallas on the first shot of the shootout, and Radim Vrbata kept it alive for Phoenix in the 3rd round. Next round, Adrian Aucoin put it home.

Jason LaBarbera got the win for the Coyotes, making 30 saves. Marty Turco made 33 saves for the Stars.

The Coyotes 9th-straight win ties a Winnipeg Jets-Phoenix Coyotes franchise record, but more importantly, their win and San Jose's loss gives them sole possession of the Pacific Division lead.

They have 97 points and are tied in points with Chicago for the lead in the Western Conference, but sit in 2nd because they have played 2 more games than the Blackhawks. Dallas has 76 points and sits 13th in the West.

The Coyotes will go for 10-straight on Tuesday when they face off against those Blackhawks in Chicago.

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Rangers 1 Bruins 2

NBC's Game of the Week featured a battle for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. New York began the day in 10th, 3 points behind Boston for 8th. At the end of the day, they now sit 5 points back of the Bruins. The Rangers have 71 points and are 4 points behind the 9th-place Thrashers. The Bruins are 3 points behind 7th-place Montreal.

Flames 3 Wild 4

Calgary had a chance to tie the Red Wings for the 8th and final playoff spot in the West coming into the night, but they couldn't handle the Wild. They remain at 81 points and 2 back of Detroit. Minnesota sits 12th in the West with 76 points, 7 points back.

Sabres 5 Hurricanes 3

Buffalo moves up to 88 points and takes a 9-point lead over Ottawa in the Northeast Division. They stay 3rd in the East. Carolina remains 12th in the East with 68 points and are now 8 points back of 8th.

Lightning 2 Panthers 5

Florida hands Tampa Bay their 5th-straight loss and jumps to 11th in the East, but are 7 points back of 8th-place Boston. The Lightning have scored 7 goals in their last 5 games and are now 14th-place in the East with 68 points and only 28 wins.

Predators 3 Blues 2

Nashville moves back to 5th in the Western Conference with a win over the Blues, who had a chance to move within 4 points of a playoff spot in the West. The Predators have 89 points, 2 points ahead of 6th-place L.A., but they have played 3 more games than the Kings. St Louis has 77 points and sits 10th in the West, 6 points back.

Thrashers 3 Flyers 1

Atlanta wins their 4th-straight game to remain in 9th in the East and 1 point back of Boston for 8th. It was a sweep for the Thrashers in a home-and-home between these two teams Saturday and Sunday. Ondrej Pavelec made 44 saves for Atlanta. They are now up to 75 points, and have taken a 4-point lead over the 10th-place Rangers. Philadelphia has 79 points and is tied in points with Ottawa and Montreal for 5th in the East.

Sharks 1 Oilers 5

After going 0-8-2 in his first 10 decisions of his career, Edmonton's goalie Devan Dubnyk has won 2-straight games, and lost the shutout with only 3:02 left in regulation. The Oilers, though, remain last in the league with 53 points. Most importantly, the struggling Sharks have now lost 5-straight games, and have not only lost their Western Conference lead, but their Pacific Division lead as well. They have 96 points and are 1 point behind Phoenix for 1st in the Pacific Division with a game-in-hand, and are 1 point behind both those Coyotes and the Blackhawks for the Western Conference lead. The Sharks are sitting 4th in the West for the first time in a long time.

Avalanche 2 Ducks 5

Anaheim wins their 4th-straight and moves to 11th in the West with the win, upping their total to 76 points and sitting 7 points back of 8th. Teemu Selanne scored his 600th goal of his career for the Ducks on the power-play 34 seconds into the 2nd period. The assists went to Scott Neidermayer and Corey Perry. Colorado stays with 86 points, 7th in the West, 1 point back of 6th-place Los Angeles, and 5 points in front of the 9th-place Flames.

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Monday's Schedule:

Penguins @ Red Wings, 7:00, Versus

Senators @ Canadiens, 7:30

Avalanche @ Kings, 10:30, FS West

Ovie Returns; Thrash, Yotes Win Again

Saturday night: Alex Ovechkin returns from his suspension, the Thrashers try and move closer to 8th, and the Kings look to rebound. But there's no question that our Game of the Night comes from sold-out Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona:

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In a battle between two top Western Conference teams, the Phoenix Coyotes outlast the Chicago Blackhawks in another unbelievable comeback, giving Phoenix their 8th-straight win.

A quiet 1st period saw Troy Brouwer score the only goal to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. Patrick Kane made it 2-0 on the power-play about 5 minutes into the 2nd period, but Wojtek Wolski cut the lead in half for the Coyotes just over 4 minutes later.

4 goals were scored in the first 7 minutes of the 3rd period. Lee Stempniak tied it at 2 for Phoenix 1:11 into the period. Andrew Ladd and Patrick Sharp scored 2 goals for Chicago almost a minute-and-a-half apart to quickly give the Blackhawks another 2-goal lead at 4-2. But the resilient Coyotes didn't back off.

Stempniak got his 2nd of the night just over 3 minutes later to cut the lead to 4-3. Adrian Aucoin tied the game at 4 with 5:07 remaining in regulation to send the sold-out arena into a frenzy. The game would go to overtime.

Phoenix had 2 glorious chances in overtime, including a missed penalty shot by Matthew Lombardi and a disallowed goal kicked in by Vernon Fiddler. But in the shootout, Radim Vrbata scored the only goal to seal the win for the Coyotes.

Ilya Bryzgalov made 34 saves for Phoenix, not including all three shots in the shootout, and Antti Niemi finished with 32 saves for Chicago.

Phoenix stays 3rd in the Western Conference with 95 points, but they are now 1 point behind San Jose for the Pacific Division lead and 2 points behind the Blackhawks for the Western Conference lead. They travel to Dallas to face the Pacific Division-rival Stars on Sunday

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Alex Ovechkin returned from his 2-game suspension on Saturday night in Tampa and scored his 45th goal of the season, his league-leading 97th point, as the Capitals move up to 106 points on the year.

Tomas Fleischmann started the scoring for Washington 2:40 into the game, giving the Capitals a 1-0 lead. Just over 4 minutes later, Vincent Lecavalier tied it at 1 for the Lightning.

Later in the period, Nicklas Backstrom fed a perfect pass off the boards to lead Ovechkin to a breakaway goal. It was Backstrom's 59th assist and 88th point of the season. Alexander Semin added his 33rd goal of the season in the 3rd to put the dagger in the Bolts.

Jose Theodore made 33 saves to win his 6th-straight game and moves to 16-0-2 in his last 18. Antero Niittymaki made 25 saves for Tampa Bay.

The Capitals now have a 9-point lead in the race for the President's Trophy. The Lightning were playing their 4th game of a disastrous 4-game homestand in which their playoff lives have all but ended. Their 0-4-0 homestand has them sitting 6 points back of the 8th and final playoff spot in the East, but they are in 12th place. Tampa Bay scored a total of 5 goals in those 4 games.

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The Kings scoring drought continues, but when your team's goalie makes every one of his saves, 1 goal will do. It wasn't pretty, but the Kings pick up 2 huge points.

Los Angeles has only scored 7 goals in their last 5 games, but they have now won 2 of those 5 and recorded an overtime loss in another. The win breaks a short 2-game losing streak for the Kings.

Brad Richardson scored the only goal of the game 13:35 into the 1st period, his 11th of the year. Wayne Simmonds tallied his 22nd assist on the goal.

Jonathan Quick ended the game with 26 saves and picked up his 4th shutout of the season and his 38th win. Dwayne Roloson finished with 25 saves for New York.

The Kings move up to 87 points in the West and are tied in points with Nashville for 5th place. They hold the 5th spot though because of their important 2 games-in-hand on the Predators. The Islanders go 0-1-1 in Southern California, and sit 13th in the East with 68 points and are 6 points out of 8th.

The Kings have a home-and-home coming up against Colorado, which sits 7th and is just 1 point back of the Predators and Kings in the Western Conference.

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Hurricanes 3 Penguins 2 (OT)

Jamie McBain scored his first NHL goal with 9-tenths of a second left in overtime to give Carolina the win over Pittsburgh. The Hurricanes have 68 points and move to within 6 points of the final playoff spot in the East with 11 games remaining. Pittsburgh's point gives them 90 and a 2-point lead over the Devils for the Atlantic-Division lead.

Senators 4 Stars 5

Dallas keeps their very slim playoff hopes alive and hands Ottawa their 5th-straight loss in the process despite a hat trick for Senators' Jason Spezza. The Stars are 11th in the West but are 8 points back of 8th-place Detroit with 11 games remaining. The Senators have 79 points and are tied in points with both Philadelphia and Montreal for 5th in the East.

Canadiens 2 Maple Leafs 3 (SO)

Toronto wins their 3rd-straight to give them 64 points on the year, staying in last in the East 3 points behind Florida for 14th. Montreal's point gives them 79 and they sit in 7th in the East but are tied in points for 5th place.

Blues 1 Devils 0

Alexander Steen scored the only goal of the game for St Louis late in the 1st period, and Ty Conklin made 29 saves to record his 4th shutout of the season in only his 10th win of the season for the Blues. Devils' Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and Blues' Cam Janssen had the longest fight of the season, going toe-to-toe for almost 3 minutes. The Blues move to 10th in the Western Conference and are 6 points back of Detroit for the last playoff spot. New Jersey stays 4th in the East with 88 points and are 2 points behind the Penguins for the Atlantic Division lead with a game-in-hand on Pittsburgh.

Flyers 2 Thrashers 5

Atlanta wins their 3rd-straight game after going 0-5-1 in their previous 6 to move back to 9th in the Eastern Conference with 73 points and 1 point back of Boston for 8th. 17,024 people attended the game at Philips Arena in Atlanta. The Flyers are tied for 5th in the East. These two teams play again on Sunday in Philadelphia.

Sabres 3 Panthers 1

Florida loses their 3rd-straight game as their playoff hopes have fallen off a cliff. They have 67 points and sit 14th in the East. The Sabres remain tops in the Northeast Division with 86 points and sit 3rd in the East.

Blue Jackets 0 Predators 1 (OT)

Pekka Rinne made 33 saves for Nashville to record his 2nd-straight shutout and 6th of the season. 3 of his last 4 wins have been by a shutout. Columbus' Steve Mason took a shutout into overtime, but Cody Franson beat him 1:54 into overtime to give the Predators the win. Mason finished with 30 saves. The Predators move to 6th in the Western Conference with 87 points, tied with L.A., but they have played 2 more games than the Kings. The Jackets have 70 points and are 14th in the West.

Red Wings 4 Canucks 3 (OT)

A 3-goal 2nd period, including 2 goals 5 seconds apart, and a Henrik Zetterberg overtime goal with less than 1 second remaining--the 2nd-straight night of last-second heroics for Detroit--moves the Red Wings 2 points ahead of 9th-place Calgary for the 8th and final playoff spot in the West. The Red Wings have 83 points, the Flames have 81, and both teams have 11 games remaining. Detroit ended the game with 54 shots on Roberto Luongo. Vancouver has 92 points and remains the leader in the Northwest Division by 6 over Colorado.

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Sunday's Schedule (ET):

Rangers @ Bruins, 12:30, NBC

Flames @ Wild, 3:00

Sabres @ Hurricanes, 5:00

Lightning @ Panthers, 5:00

Predators @ Blues, 6:00

Thrashers @ Flyers, 7:00

Coyotes @ Stars, 7:00

Sharks @ Oilers, 8:00

Avalanche @ Ducks, 8:00, Prime Ticket