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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3A 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
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