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:
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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 
3St 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
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