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