Ovechkin gets goal number 50 and Backstrom gets point number 100 on the same play in Washington and Keith Tkachuk plays his final game in St Louis. But Friday's Game of the Night has to be the do-or-die matchup for a playoff spot in the East at MSG between the Flyers and the Rangers:
3 
4A win for Philadelphia and they would knock out the Rangers from contention and clinch a spot for themselves, the Bruins, and the Canadiens. But no one clinched tonight, and the final playoff spot in the East won't be decided until Sunday afternoon.
The Rangers knew they had to play their hearts out facing elimination, and they did just that, outshooting the Flyers 12-4 in the 1st period and taking a 2-1 lead into the 2nd.
It may not have looked great at the beginning for New York when Mike Richards scored for Philadelphia off of a clear cut turnover from Marc Staal to put the Flyers up 1-0 only 40 seconds into the game.
But Chris Drury would put the Rangers on the board 7:22 into the 1st on the power-play and Jody Shelley would score his 1st goal of the season almost 3 minutes later to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.
Brandon Dubinsky made it 3-1 Rangers just under 7 minutes into the 2nd period, before the Flyers would make a little comeback of their own.
Danny Briere and Richards again would net goals for Philadelphia within the next 8 minutes and the game was tied at 3.
Just over 2 minutes after that, with 3:06 left in the 2nd period, Marian Gaborik would give the Rangers the lead back, and they would hold on by a thread.
Henrik Lunqvist made 10 saves in the scoreless 3rd period for New York, and at least 2 or 3 of those on great chances for the Flyers. He would end the game with 24 saves. Brian Boucher stopped 21 for the Flyers.
Here's the picture in the East heading into the final 2 days of the season with 4 teams battling for the last 3 spots: Boston sits in 6th with 87 points and they have 2 games left, tomorrow at home versus Carolina and Sunday afternoon in Washington. Montreal is 7th with 87 points as well and their last game will be tomorrow night at home against Toronto.
Philadelphia is 8th with 86 points while the Rangers are in 9th with 86 points too but 2 fewer wins than the Flyers. The Flyers and Rangers each have 1 game left and it's against each other. The game will be Sunday at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.
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5The Washington Capitals keep their feet on the pedal as they try to head into the playoffs with as much momentum as possible. They were looking for their 5th-straight win on a night where the President's Trophy was awarded to the team in a short ceremony before the game against Atlanta.
Not that they needed any more positive things to play for, but a couple of milestones were reached on this night as well.
Nicklas Backstrom would net his 32nd goal of the year and 99th point at 14:44 of the 1st period to give Washington the 1-0 lead.
The Capitals hadn't decided to fully turn up the on-switch yet in the 2nd period, and the Thrashers would take advantage. Evgeny Artyukhin tied the game at 1 with 8:45 left in the 2nd period.
Almost 2 minutes later, Clarke MacArthur would strip Ovechkin of the puck and head down the ice on a short-handed breakaway, depositing the wrist shot past Jose Theodore.
3 minutes after that, Alex Ovechkin would rip a one-timer off a pass from Alexander Semin past Ondrej Pavelec to tie the game at 2 on his 49th goal of the year.
It was all Washington in the 3rd, and the 1st of 3 goals in the period wasn't just the most important because it was the game-winner...
Nicklas Backstrom fed a pass to Alexander Semin, who found Ovechkin rolling through the middle of the ice. As Backstrom headed toward the yet, providing a screen, Ovechkin threw his wicked wrist shot to the back of the net for his 50th goal of the season, now taking the lead in the race for the Rocket, a goal ahead of Sidney Crosby.
Ovechkin becomes only the 3rd player ever--joining only Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy--to score 50 or more goals in 4 of his first 5 years in the league.
Backstrom's assist on the goal was his 100th point of the season. After the game, they were asked how they would decide who gets the puck. The answer is easy: split it in half. They don't quite know how they will go about that yet, but it sounds like a good idea.
Jason Chimera and Backstrom would add goals for the Capitals in the next 4 minutes, completely taking over the game for Washington and giving them a 5-2 lead.
Ondrej Pavelec would stop 42 of the Capitals' 47 shots--of which Tyler Sloan was the only Capital not to register one--and Jose Theodore would stop 29 for the Capitals.
Atlanta has 81 points and are 10th in the East and they have 1 game left to play.
The Capitals are up to 120 points, and they will try to end the season on a 6-game winning streak as they face the Bruins at Verizon Center on Sunday.
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Red Wings 1 Blue Jackets 0 (SO)
Columbus was the only team in the league to finish off their season on this night, and their goalie Steve Mason would go out in style, but their disappointing season would end on another bad note, as the Jackets' offense could get nothing going. Mason would make 45 saves--including 19 in the 3rd--to get credit for his 5th shutout of the year, while Jimmy Howard gets his 3rd shutout of the season for Detroit. Columbus will end the year with 79 points, 14th in the West. Detroit is now up to 5th in the West with 100 points, 2 up on the Kings and Predators with 1 game to play, while Nashville also has 1 left but the Kings have 2. It's the 10th-straight season that the Red Wings have put up 100 points or more.
Ducks 3 Blues 6
Keith Tkachuk goes out in style in front of his home fans in St Louis. He gets 2 3rd-period assists in their win over Anaheim. The Blues have 89 points and are 10th in the West with 1 game left, while the Ducks are in 11th with 87 points with 1 game remaining as well. The fans would send off Tkachuk with a great ovation after his post-game interview telling the fans he will never leave that great city.
Blackhawks 5 Avalanche 2
Chicago takes 1st-place back in the Western Conference with their win over the 8th-place Avalanche. The Blackhawks have 111 points, tied with San Jose in points for 1st but they have 2 more wins than the Sharks. Each team has 1 game remaining. The Avalanche have 94 points and 1 game left, but they are set to head into the playoffs as the 8th-seed, knowing they will have to face either these Blackhawks or the Sharks in the 1st round.
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Saturday's Schedule:
Hurricanes @ Bruins, 1:00
Oilers @ Kings, 4:00, FS West
Maple Leafs @ Canadiens, 7:00
Sabres @ Senators, 7:00, NHL Network
Islanders @ Devils, 7:00
Penguins @ Thrashers, 7:00
Panthers @ Lightning, 7:30
Blues @ Predators, 8:00
Stars @ Wild, 8:00
Flames @ Canucks, 10:00
Coyotes @ Sharks, 10:30, NHL Network
