Playoff Positions on the Line

Monday's schedule included a rematch of last year's Stanley Cup Finals, a fight for 5th in the East between Ottawa and Montreal, and a fight for 6th in the West between Colorado and Los Angeles. The Western Conference playoff battle is our Game of the Night:

3 4 (OT)

The Kings have lost some ground in the Western Conference standings in the last couple of weeks, but they looked to move back into the 5th spot with a win on Monday in the first half of a home-and-home series against Colorado.

Chris Stewart started the scoring for the Avalanche just over 7 minutes into the 1st period, when his pass across ice deflected off the stick of Kings' Freddy Modin. Almost 3 minutes later, Ryan Smyth capitalized for the Kings on the power-play to make it 1-1, just moments after T.J. Galiardi missed a wide-open net after a turnover from Kings' goalie Jonathan Quick.

Wayne Simmonds got the only goal of the 2nd period to give the Kings a 2-1 lead.

Ryan Smyth scored his 2nd goal of the game in the 3rd period, giving the Kings a 3-2 lead, sandwiched in between 2 Avalanche goals. Peter Mueller tied the game at 2 for Colorado, and then T.J. Galiardi made up for his missed shot back in the 1st with a game-tying goal with only 7 seconds left in regulation.

But in overtime, Drew Doughty scored the game-winning goal on a power-play 3:40 into the extra session to give the Kings a 4-3 win. Doughty, the young Norris Trophy candidate, stepped into a slap shot and absolutely ripped it through the screen of Ryan Smyth and past goaltender Craig Anderson.

The Kings are now 28-0-0 when leading after 2 periods.

Anderson ended the game with 19 saves. Jonathan Quick made 23 saves and picked up his 39th win of the season for L.A.

The Kings move up to 89 points, tying them in points with Nashville for 5th in the West, but they hold the spot on their own because of their 2 games-in-hand on the Predators. The Avalanche do pick up a huge point as they sit 7th in the West with 87 points and are 2 points up on 8th-place Detroit, and 6 points ahead of the 9th-place Flames.

These two teams face each other again on Wednesday in Denver.

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Penguins 1 Red Wings 3

This was the 2nd and last meeting of the year between the two teams that faced each other in the Stanley Cup Final in each of the previous 2 seasons. Pittsburgh won 2-1 in a shootout at the Igloo on January 31st. But the last time the Penguins were in Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, they were hoisting the Stanley Cup. Detroit out-dueled the Penguins in this rematch, led by 2 goals from Henrik Zetterburg, to pick up 2 huge points and move even farther into a playoff spot in the West. The win gives the Red Wings 85 points on the year, and although they remain in the 8th and final playoff spot in the West, they move 4 points ahead of 9th-place Calgary. Both Calgary and Detroit have 10 games remaining. The Penguins remain at 90 points, still 2 points up on the Devils for the Atlantic Division lead, but they have played 2 more games than New Jersey.

Senators 2 Canadiens 0

Coming into the night, Ottawa was on a 5-game losing streak, Montreal had gotten points in 7-straight games, and both teams were tied in points for 5th in the Eastern Conference. What a good time for the Senators to snap both streaks, especially in shutout-form when their goaltending recently has been suspect, to put it lightly. 29 saves from Brian Elliott and goals from Peter Regin and Erik Karlsson help lead the Senators to 5th-place in the East all by themselves with 81 points. The Canadiens remain tied with Philadelphia for 6th, but sit in 7th because they have played 1 more game than the Flyers. They are 3 points ahead of 8th-place Boston and 4 points up on 9th-place Atlanta.

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Tuesday's Schedule:

Panthers @ Maple Leafs, 7:00

Blue Jackets @ Devils, 7:00

Bruins @ Thrashers, 7:00

Flyers @ Senators, 7:30

Hurricanes @ Lightning, 7:30

Stars @ Predators, 8:00

Sharks @ Wild, 8:00, Versus

Coyotes @ Blackhawks, 8:30

Ducks @ Flames, 9:00, FS West

Canucks @ Oilers, 9:00

Take Two: Thrash, Yotes Win--Again

For the second-straight night, the Thrashers and Coyotes extend their winning streaks--Atlanta to 4 and Phoenix to 9. The Thrashers remain 1 point out of the playoffs, and the Coyotes...well, let's just say they're pretty comfortable. Phoenix gives us our Game of the Night for their 3rd-straight game:

3 2 (SO)

The Phoenix Coyotes did it again. And so did Adrian Aucoin. Aucoin scored the winner in the shootout after Radim Vrbata scored to extend it, making him 5-for-5 on the season in shootout attempts with all of them being game-winners.

The 2 Coyotes goals were scored on power-plays, and Phoenix actually had a 2-0 lead in the game. Petr Prucha started the scoring for the Coyotes with less than 1 second to go in the 1st period. Radim Vrbata put the Coyotes ahead 2-0 early in the 2nd, just to see Jamie Benn score for Dallas about a minute later to cut the lead in half.

Loui Eriksson tied it at 2 for the Stars 7 minutes into the 3rd period. Phoenix outshot Dallas 6-0 in overtime, but the game would go to a shootout. Brad Richards scored for Dallas on the first shot of the shootout, and Radim Vrbata kept it alive for Phoenix in the 3rd round. Next round, Adrian Aucoin put it home.

Jason LaBarbera got the win for the Coyotes, making 30 saves. Marty Turco made 33 saves for the Stars.

The Coyotes 9th-straight win ties a Winnipeg Jets-Phoenix Coyotes franchise record, but more importantly, their win and San Jose's loss gives them sole possession of the Pacific Division lead.

They have 97 points and are tied in points with Chicago for the lead in the Western Conference, but sit in 2nd because they have played 2 more games than the Blackhawks. Dallas has 76 points and sits 13th in the West.

The Coyotes will go for 10-straight on Tuesday when they face off against those Blackhawks in Chicago.

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Rangers 1 Bruins 2

NBC's Game of the Week featured a battle for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. New York began the day in 10th, 3 points behind Boston for 8th. At the end of the day, they now sit 5 points back of the Bruins. The Rangers have 71 points and are 4 points behind the 9th-place Thrashers. The Bruins are 3 points behind 7th-place Montreal.

Flames 3 Wild 4

Calgary had a chance to tie the Red Wings for the 8th and final playoff spot in the West coming into the night, but they couldn't handle the Wild. They remain at 81 points and 2 back of Detroit. Minnesota sits 12th in the West with 76 points, 7 points back.

Sabres 5 Hurricanes 3

Buffalo moves up to 88 points and takes a 9-point lead over Ottawa in the Northeast Division. They stay 3rd in the East. Carolina remains 12th in the East with 68 points and are now 8 points back of 8th.

Lightning 2 Panthers 5

Florida hands Tampa Bay their 5th-straight loss and jumps to 11th in the East, but are 7 points back of 8th-place Boston. The Lightning have scored 7 goals in their last 5 games and are now 14th-place in the East with 68 points and only 28 wins.

Predators 3 Blues 2

Nashville moves back to 5th in the Western Conference with a win over the Blues, who had a chance to move within 4 points of a playoff spot in the West. The Predators have 89 points, 2 points ahead of 6th-place L.A., but they have played 3 more games than the Kings. St Louis has 77 points and sits 10th in the West, 6 points back.

Thrashers 3 Flyers 1

Atlanta wins their 4th-straight game to remain in 9th in the East and 1 point back of Boston for 8th. It was a sweep for the Thrashers in a home-and-home between these two teams Saturday and Sunday. Ondrej Pavelec made 44 saves for Atlanta. They are now up to 75 points, and have taken a 4-point lead over the 10th-place Rangers. Philadelphia has 79 points and is tied in points with Ottawa and Montreal for 5th in the East.

Sharks 1 Oilers 5

After going 0-8-2 in his first 10 decisions of his career, Edmonton's goalie Devan Dubnyk has won 2-straight games, and lost the shutout with only 3:02 left in regulation. The Oilers, though, remain last in the league with 53 points. Most importantly, the struggling Sharks have now lost 5-straight games, and have not only lost their Western Conference lead, but their Pacific Division lead as well. They have 96 points and are 1 point behind Phoenix for 1st in the Pacific Division with a game-in-hand, and are 1 point behind both those Coyotes and the Blackhawks for the Western Conference lead. The Sharks are sitting 4th in the West for the first time in a long time.

Avalanche 2 Ducks 5

Anaheim wins their 4th-straight and moves to 11th in the West with the win, upping their total to 76 points and sitting 7 points back of 8th. Teemu Selanne scored his 600th goal of his career for the Ducks on the power-play 34 seconds into the 2nd period. The assists went to Scott Neidermayer and Corey Perry. Colorado stays with 86 points, 7th in the West, 1 point back of 6th-place Los Angeles, and 5 points in front of the 9th-place Flames.

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Monday's Schedule:

Penguins @ Red Wings, 7:00, Versus

Senators @ Canadiens, 7:30

Avalanche @ Kings, 10:30, FS West

Ovie Returns; Thrash, Yotes Win Again

Saturday night: Alex Ovechkin returns from his suspension, the Thrashers try and move closer to 8th, and the Kings look to rebound. But there's no question that our Game of the Night comes from sold-out Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona:

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In a battle between two top Western Conference teams, the Phoenix Coyotes outlast the Chicago Blackhawks in another unbelievable comeback, giving Phoenix their 8th-straight win.

A quiet 1st period saw Troy Brouwer score the only goal to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. Patrick Kane made it 2-0 on the power-play about 5 minutes into the 2nd period, but Wojtek Wolski cut the lead in half for the Coyotes just over 4 minutes later.

4 goals were scored in the first 7 minutes of the 3rd period. Lee Stempniak tied it at 2 for Phoenix 1:11 into the period. Andrew Ladd and Patrick Sharp scored 2 goals for Chicago almost a minute-and-a-half apart to quickly give the Blackhawks another 2-goal lead at 4-2. But the resilient Coyotes didn't back off.

Stempniak got his 2nd of the night just over 3 minutes later to cut the lead to 4-3. Adrian Aucoin tied the game at 4 with 5:07 remaining in regulation to send the sold-out arena into a frenzy. The game would go to overtime.

Phoenix had 2 glorious chances in overtime, including a missed penalty shot by Matthew Lombardi and a disallowed goal kicked in by Vernon Fiddler. But in the shootout, Radim Vrbata scored the only goal to seal the win for the Coyotes.

Ilya Bryzgalov made 34 saves for Phoenix, not including all three shots in the shootout, and Antti Niemi finished with 32 saves for Chicago.

Phoenix stays 3rd in the Western Conference with 95 points, but they are now 1 point behind San Jose for the Pacific Division lead and 2 points behind the Blackhawks for the Western Conference lead. They travel to Dallas to face the Pacific Division-rival Stars on Sunday

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Alex Ovechkin returned from his 2-game suspension on Saturday night in Tampa and scored his 45th goal of the season, his league-leading 97th point, as the Capitals move up to 106 points on the year.

Tomas Fleischmann started the scoring for Washington 2:40 into the game, giving the Capitals a 1-0 lead. Just over 4 minutes later, Vincent Lecavalier tied it at 1 for the Lightning.

Later in the period, Nicklas Backstrom fed a perfect pass off the boards to lead Ovechkin to a breakaway goal. It was Backstrom's 59th assist and 88th point of the season. Alexander Semin added his 33rd goal of the season in the 3rd to put the dagger in the Bolts.

Jose Theodore made 33 saves to win his 6th-straight game and moves to 16-0-2 in his last 18. Antero Niittymaki made 25 saves for Tampa Bay.

The Capitals now have a 9-point lead in the race for the President's Trophy. The Lightning were playing their 4th game of a disastrous 4-game homestand in which their playoff lives have all but ended. Their 0-4-0 homestand has them sitting 6 points back of the 8th and final playoff spot in the East, but they are in 12th place. Tampa Bay scored a total of 5 goals in those 4 games.

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0 1

The Kings scoring drought continues, but when your team's goalie makes every one of his saves, 1 goal will do. It wasn't pretty, but the Kings pick up 2 huge points.

Los Angeles has only scored 7 goals in their last 5 games, but they have now won 2 of those 5 and recorded an overtime loss in another. The win breaks a short 2-game losing streak for the Kings.

Brad Richardson scored the only goal of the game 13:35 into the 1st period, his 11th of the year. Wayne Simmonds tallied his 22nd assist on the goal.

Jonathan Quick ended the game with 26 saves and picked up his 4th shutout of the season and his 38th win. Dwayne Roloson finished with 25 saves for New York.

The Kings move up to 87 points in the West and are tied in points with Nashville for 5th place. They hold the 5th spot though because of their important 2 games-in-hand on the Predators. The Islanders go 0-1-1 in Southern California, and sit 13th in the East with 68 points and are 6 points out of 8th.

The Kings have a home-and-home coming up against Colorado, which sits 7th and is just 1 point back of the Predators and Kings in the Western Conference.

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Hurricanes 3 Penguins 2 (OT)

Jamie McBain scored his first NHL goal with 9-tenths of a second left in overtime to give Carolina the win over Pittsburgh. The Hurricanes have 68 points and move to within 6 points of the final playoff spot in the East with 11 games remaining. Pittsburgh's point gives them 90 and a 2-point lead over the Devils for the Atlantic-Division lead.

Senators 4 Stars 5

Dallas keeps their very slim playoff hopes alive and hands Ottawa their 5th-straight loss in the process despite a hat trick for Senators' Jason Spezza. The Stars are 11th in the West but are 8 points back of 8th-place Detroit with 11 games remaining. The Senators have 79 points and are tied in points with both Philadelphia and Montreal for 5th in the East.

Canadiens 2 Maple Leafs 3 (SO)

Toronto wins their 3rd-straight to give them 64 points on the year, staying in last in the East 3 points behind Florida for 14th. Montreal's point gives them 79 and they sit in 7th in the East but are tied in points for 5th place.

Blues 1 Devils 0

Alexander Steen scored the only goal of the game for St Louis late in the 1st period, and Ty Conklin made 29 saves to record his 4th shutout of the season in only his 10th win of the season for the Blues. Devils' Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and Blues' Cam Janssen had the longest fight of the season, going toe-to-toe for almost 3 minutes. The Blues move to 10th in the Western Conference and are 6 points back of Detroit for the last playoff spot. New Jersey stays 4th in the East with 88 points and are 2 points behind the Penguins for the Atlantic Division lead with a game-in-hand on Pittsburgh.

Flyers 2 Thrashers 5

Atlanta wins their 3rd-straight game after going 0-5-1 in their previous 6 to move back to 9th in the Eastern Conference with 73 points and 1 point back of Boston for 8th. 17,024 people attended the game at Philips Arena in Atlanta. The Flyers are tied for 5th in the East. These two teams play again on Sunday in Philadelphia.

Sabres 3 Panthers 1

Florida loses their 3rd-straight game as their playoff hopes have fallen off a cliff. They have 67 points and sit 14th in the East. The Sabres remain tops in the Northeast Division with 86 points and sit 3rd in the East.

Blue Jackets 0 Predators 1 (OT)

Pekka Rinne made 33 saves for Nashville to record his 2nd-straight shutout and 6th of the season. 3 of his last 4 wins have been by a shutout. Columbus' Steve Mason took a shutout into overtime, but Cody Franson beat him 1:54 into overtime to give the Predators the win. Mason finished with 30 saves. The Predators move to 6th in the Western Conference with 87 points, tied with L.A., but they have played 2 more games than the Kings. The Jackets have 70 points and are 14th in the West.

Red Wings 4 Canucks 3 (OT)

A 3-goal 2nd period, including 2 goals 5 seconds apart, and a Henrik Zetterberg overtime goal with less than 1 second remaining--the 2nd-straight night of last-second heroics for Detroit--moves the Red Wings 2 points ahead of 9th-place Calgary for the 8th and final playoff spot in the West. The Red Wings have 83 points, the Flames have 81, and both teams have 11 games remaining. Detroit ended the game with 54 shots on Roberto Luongo. Vancouver has 92 points and remains the leader in the Northwest Division by 6 over Colorado.

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Sunday's Schedule (ET):

Rangers @ Bruins, 12:30, NBC

Flames @ Wild, 3:00

Sabres @ Hurricanes, 5:00

Lightning @ Panthers, 5:00

Predators @ Blues, 6:00

Thrashers @ Flyers, 7:00

Coyotes @ Stars, 7:00

Sharks @ Oilers, 8:00

Avalanche @ Ducks, 8:00, Prime Ticket