Calgary, Detroit Fight for 8th

The Western Conference bubble teams were the main stories on Friday night, including the battle for 8th between Calgary and Detroit. The Flames were at home playing the struggling Pacific Division-leading Sharks, while the Red Wings traveled to Alberta to play the last-place Oilers in Edmonton. An unbelievable finish at Rexall Place gives us our Game of the Night:

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Edmonton's season couldn't get much worse. They came into Friday last in the league with 49 points, they went through a 1-18-2 span earlier in the year, including a 0-10-2 month of January, they were on a 5-game losing streak, and their starting goalie Devan Dubnyk, who was appearing in his 14th game this year, was still looking for his first career win (0-8-2).

Dubnyk ended up getting his first win, it just took a little longer than expected.

The Oilers jumped out to a 2-0 lead less than 5 minutes into the 1st period on goals from Andrew Cogliano and Ryan Whitney. Patrick Eaves scored for Detroit in the 2nd to cut the lead in half to 2-1. Dubnyk, who finished the game with 31 saves, and Jimmy Howard, who finished with 22 saves for the Red Wings, held the score in check late into the 3rd.

With time winding down in regulation and Howard on the bench for Detroit for the extra attacker, a loose puck found its way out of a scramble and right onto the stick of Detroit's Brian Rafalski, who deposited it into the net with 0.2 seconds remaining in regulation.

Fortunately for the Oilers, Gilbert Brule netted the winner in the shootout to salvage Dubnyk's first win. But the all-important 1 point for Detroit keeps them in the 8th and final playoff spot in the West. They are tied with Calgary with 81 points but have played 1 fewer game than the Flames.

Detroit's Western trip continues Saturday night when they will be in Vancouver to face the Northwest Division-leading Canucks.

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Wild 2 Blue Jackets 4

Minnesota came into Friday 11th in the Western Conference, 6 points out of a playoff spot, and needing a big win to stay in the race. It looked like they had it in their grip, but gave it away in the final 10 minutes of regulation. The Wild had a 2-0 lead over Columbus in the 2nd period, and a 2-1 lead with less than half of the 3rd period remaining. But the Jackets' captain, Rich Nash, who was playing his first game in 5 due to injury, scored 2 goals in the 3rd period, quickening what has been a slow dwindling of hope for playoffs in Minnesota. The Wild put up only 20 shots in the game, including a 5-shot 3rd period in which they were outscored 3-0. They stay at 74 points and are 7 points back of 8th. Columbus is up to 69 points, sitting 14th in the West.

Sharks 3 Flames 4

Calgary entered the night 9th-place in the Western Conference and 1 point behind 8th-place Detroit for the final playoff spot in the West. The Sharks were coming off a 3-game losing streak, seeing their Western Conference lead slip away and their comfortable Pacific Division lead become not-so-comfortable in the process. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st and had a 4-1 lead in the 3rd, but a late frenzy from San Jose made Calgary fight for their lives. The Sharks' 4th-straight loss keeps them at 96 points and 2nd in the West, while their game-in-hand on Phoenix goes for naught and their 3 point lead on the Coyotes for 1st in the Pacific remains with 11 games left for both teams. Calgary is up to 81 points, now tied with Detroit, but remains in 9th because they have played 1 more game than the Red Wings.

Islanders 4 Ducks 5 (OT)

New York came into the game 7 points out of a playoff spot, but they had won 3-straight games, including a 5-2 win in Vancouver on Tuesday. Their 4th-straight was less than 1 minute away. The Islanders took a 4-2 lead into the 3rd period, led by 2 goals from Kyle Okposo. Jason Blake would score for Anaheim almost 10 minutes into the 3rd to cut the lead to 4-3. And with 32 seconds left in regulation, Lubomir Visnovsky's 2nd goal of the game tied it at 4 for the Ducks. Saku Koivu would end the game only 14 seconds into overtime, giving Anaheim the 5-4 win, their 3rd-straight, and keeping them within 7 points of the final playoff spot with 12 games remaining. The Islanders sit 12th in the Eastern Conference and are 6 points out of 8th.

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Saturday's Schedule:

Hurricanes @ Penguins, 1:00

Senators @ Stars, 2:00

Canadiens @ Maple Leafs, 7:00, NHL Network

Blues @ Devils, 7:00

Flyers @ Thrashers, 7:00

Sabres @ Panthers, 7:00

Capitals @ Lightning, 7:30, CSN

Blue Jackets @ Predators, 8:00

Blackhawks @ Coyotes, 9:00, NHL Network

Red Wings @ Canucks, 10:00

Islanders @ Kings, 10:30, FS West

Lucky No. 7 for PHX; ATL, STL Stay Alive

The Capitals and Kings fall, the Rangers can't capitalize, the Thrashers stay alive, and the Wild and the Stars drop tough ones. A close call for the Blues/Rangers game, but a different inter-conference matchup surprises us for Thursday's Game of the Night:

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Phoenix can't lose. An improbable win by the Coyotes over the Panthers sets a franchise record for wins in a season and gives them their 7th-straight.

Stephen Weiss, David Booth, and Cory Stillman each scored for Florida while Tomas Vokoun stopped 43 shots, but the Panthers pick up only 1 point and remain 7 points out of the final playoff spot in the East.

Florida took a 3-0 lead into the 3rd period when Martin Hanzal and Lee Stempniak tallied 43 seconds apart early in the period to start the comeback for Phoenix. The Coyotes outshot the Panthers 19-6 in the 3rd, but it was a fluke goal that tied it late in the game.

A dump-in from the center-line by Radim Vrbata bounced its way past Vokoun, tying the game at 3 with only 59.7 seconds left in regulation. Vrbata would add the shootout winner later. As Florida coach Pete DeBoer put it, "Whatever can go wrong is going wrong." But for Phoenix, it's the complete opposite.

The win caps a 4-0-0 road trip for Phoenix through every Southeast Division team except Washington. They now have 93 points and are 3 points behind San Jose for 1st in the Pacific Division, messing up what seemed to be a runaway Pacific title for the Sharks. They're also 3 points back of the Western Conference lead and own the 4th-best record in the NHL.

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No Ovie, almost no problem, for Washington on Thursday. They traveled to Raleigh without their captain who was serving his 2nd game of his 2-game suspension. Carolina has played the Capitals tough in every meeting this year, and this one was no different.

Joe Corvo, who was traded to Washington from the Hurricanes at the trade deadline, scored twice for the Capitals in his first trip back to his old home. Eric Staal, Brett Carson, and Chad Larose scored in regulation for the Hurricanes.

With 1:35 left in regulation and a 2-2 tie, Larose found himself on a clear breakaway during a 4-on-4 situation and deked Semyon Varlamov to give Carolina a 3-2 lead. But with Varlamov pulled for an extra attacker, Eric Fehr found a loose puck and tucked it past Hurricanes' goalie Justin Peters to tie it at 3 with only 10 seconds to go, forcing overtime.

4 minutes into overtime, Ray Whitney ripped the winner for Carolina through Varlamov, giving the Hurricanes a 4-3 win.

Carolina sits 14th in the East and 8 points out, while the Capitals move to 104 points, 8 points ahead of San Jose and Chicago for the most in the NHL.

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Chicago had lost 3-straight games coming into L.A. on Thursday badly needing a rebound game. And did they ever rebound. The Blackhawks possessed the puck at a rate that completely overwhelmed the Kings, who played a game that no playoff team should ever play.

The Kings were outshot 37-17 and looked as flat as they possibly could throughout the entire game. Chicago never gave them a power-play chance, but the way they were skating, they never deserved a power-play chance.

Troy Brouwer scored the first of the game in the 2nd period for the Blackhawks, and Tomas Kopecky added 2 goals in the 3rd. Antti Niemi's 17 saves earned him his 5th shutout of the season, while Jonathan Quick ended the game with 34 saves for L.A.

Chicago takes the Western Conference lead with the win, tying the Sharks in points, 96, but having 2 more wins than San Jose. The Kings remain 6th in the West, 1 point behind Colorado for 5th and a game-in-hand. They are tied with Nashville in points, but hold 2 games-in-hand over the Predators. They are 6 points ahead of the 9th-place Flames.

But if the Kings want to go anywhere in the playoffs or even, for that matter, make the playoffs, they must have much better showings than this one. Their homestand continues on Saturday versus the Islanders, and 13 games remain in the regular season.

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Penguins 3 Bruins 0

In a highly-anticipated matchup between Pittsburgh and Boston, the first game between the two clubs after Matt Cooke's blindsided hit on Marc Savard, ending his season, the Bruins didn't exactly get the revenge they were looking for. Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke took on Boston's Shawn Thornton in a fight on Cooke's first shift of the game. But after that, the Penguins knew what their real goals were. Pittsburgh moves back into 1st place in the Atlantic Division and 2nd in the East thanks to Marc-Andre Fleury's first shutout of the season. Boston remains in the 8th and final playoff spot in the East, only 3 points up on the Thrashers and Rangers.

Blues 4 Rangers 3

New York couldn't capitalize on Boston's loss, as they remain 3 points back for the final playoff spot in the East. St Louis' win keeps their playoff hopes alive as they currently have 75 points and sit in the 10th spot in the West, 5 points out of 8th. This back-and-forth game saw Paul Kariya net his 400th goal of his career, which turned out to be the game-winner. The goal gave the Blues a 4-3 lead with just over 11 minutes to go in the 3rd period.

Senators 3 Thrashers 6

A huge win for Atlanta as they tied the Rangers in points, 71, for 9th in the East, but hold that spot themselves because they have played 1 fewer game. Ottawa came back from a 3-1 deficit in the 2nd period, but a 3-goal outburst from Atlanta in the 3rd gives the Thrashers their 2nd-straight win. The Senators sit 6th in the East with 79 points.

Devils 1 Maple Leafs 2 (SO)

Toronto's win gives them their 5th in the last 6 games, as Phil Kessel scored 1 in regulation and 1 in the shootout for the Leafs to lead them to the victory. Yann Danis got the start in goal for New Jersey, making 24 saves. The Leafs are up to 62 points but remain last in the East, while the Devils have 88 points and drop to 2nd in the Atlantic and 4th in the East.

Sabres 6 Lightning 2

Tampa Bay's loss drives another nail into the coffin for their playoff hopes. The first 3 games of a huge 4-game homestand have been disastrous for the Lightning, going 0-3-0 and scoring only 4 goals in those 3 games. They are now 11th in the East and 6 points out of the playoffs with 12 games to play. Buffalo, meanwhile, remains tops in the Northeast Division and they sit 3rd in the Eastern Conference.

Wild 0 Predators 5

Nashville wins their 4th-straight game over a Wild team that badly needs points. A shutout won't bode well for Minnesota's playoff hopes, as they remain 6 points out in the Western Conference. The Predators, on the the other hand, are now 6 points into a playoff spot, tied in points with the Kings for 6th and 1 point behind the Avalanche for 5th.

Flyers 3 Stars 2

The Stars are another team on the bubble in the Western Conference that sees it about to pop, as Dallas falls to Philadelphia to remain 12th in the West and 7 points out of 8th. Scott Hartnell scored for the Flyers almost 8 minutes into the 3rd period to break a 2-2 tie, as they move to 5th in the East with 79 points.

Sharks 2 Canucks 3

Struggling San Jose falls for the 4th-straight time as they start a 6-game road trip 0-3-0. The battle of division-leaders sees Vancouver handle the Sharks for only the 2nd time in their last 10 tries. The Canucks sit 3rd in the West with 91 points while the Sharks are in 2nd, tied with Chicago in points for 1st, with 96 points. San Jose's losses and Phoenix' wins have the Sharks trying to hang on to their Pacific Division lead.

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Friday's Schedule (ET):

Wild @ Blue Jackets, 7:00

Sharks @ Flames, 9:00

Red Wings @ Oilers, 9:30

Islanders @ Ducks, 10:00, KDOC

A Devil of a Day

St Patrick's Day had three games on tap, and the Game of the Night goes to the battle for the Atlantic Division:

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Pittsburgh hadn't been able to solve New Jersey in the teams' first 5 meetings of the year, and while the jerseys might have been different, the results were not.

The Devil's wore their red, white, and green retro jerseys, similar to the ones they wore during their first decade of existence after coming to New Jersey in 1982, for the first and last time this season. It didn't distract them from sweeping the season series from the Penguins, 6-0, in front of a packed house in Newark.

Pittsburgh jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the 1st period, but it was all New Jersey after that. Turnover after turnover from the Penguins helped the Devils score 4 straight goals and take a 4-1 lead into the 3rd period.

Dainius Zubrus, Paul Martin, Patrik Elias, Zach Parise, and Rob Niedermayer each scored for New Jersey while Martin Brodeur made 24 saves. Martin's goal was his 1st of the year after missing 59 games due to injury. Chris Kunitz and Ruslan Fedotenko tallied for the Penguins.

The Devils outscored Pittsburgh by a total of 22-5 in the 6-game sweep of the season series.

The win gives New Jersey 87 points, tying them with the Penguins in points, but giving them 1st place in the division because they have 1 more win. The Devils have also played 1 fewer game. This jumps New Jersey to 2nd in the Eastern Conference and brings Pittsburgh down to 4th.

The Devils travel to Toronto Thursday to play the Leafs, while Pittsburgh is in Boston to face off against the Bruins. The Pittsburgh/Boston game Thursday is one to keep an eye on. After Penguins' Matt Cooke blindsided Bruins' Marc Savard almost 2 weeks ago, leaving him with a concussion and ending the star player's season, the expectations are pretty high that things could get a bit chippy, to say the least. That game can be seen locally, as usual, and also on the NHL Network.

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Flames 3 Avalanche 2

A great opportunity for Calgary to catch 8th-place Detroit came 2 days ago when they played Detroit, but turning it around and winning the next game in Colorado will do. The Flames had a 3-0 lead in this game and held off the Avalanche to give them 79 points on the season and move them to within 1 point of the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. This was Calgary's first win this season over Northwest Division-rival Colorado in their 5th try. The Avalanche stay at 86 points and 5th place in the West, 5 points behind Phoenix and 1 point ahead of Los Angeles.

Blackhawks 2 Ducks 4

Anaheim needs every point they can get if they look to make the same type of run they did last year, finishing the year 10-2-1 and sneaking into the final playoff spot, and a win against 2nd-place Chicago will help. But even a run like that might not work for the Ducks as they currently sit 13th in the West with 72 points and are 8 points out of a playoff spot. They have 13 games remaining. Some of the Blackhawks, particularly Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, had spent the last couple days in Southern California making appearances on SportsCenter and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Chicago has now lost 3 in-a-row and travel up I-5 on Thursday to face the Kings in L.A.

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Thursday's Schedule (ET):

Penguins @ Bruins, 7:00, NHL Network

Blues @ Rangers, 7:00

Capitals @ Hurricanes, 7:00, CSN

Senators @ Thrashers, 7:00

Devils @ Maple Leafs, 7:30

Sabres @ Lightning, 7:30

Coyotes @ Panthers, 7:30

Wild @ Predators, 8:00

Flyers @ Stars, 8:30

Sharks @ Canucks, 10:00

Blackhawks @ Kings, 10:30, FS West