Thursday's NHL Action

RANGERS, CANADIENS HEADED TO PLAYOFFS

BRUINS, CAPITALS, DEVILS ARE 1-2-3

New York and Montreal are playoff-bound after a victory and overtime loss, respectively, Thursday night, which means Florida and Buffalo will have the spring off. The Rangers (42-30-9) held off the Flyers, 2-1, at Madison Square Garden to clinch their fourth consecutive postseason berth. Markus Naslund and Ryan Callahan scored first period goals for the Blueshirts and Henrik Lundqvist made sure they were enough with 37 saves in his 36th victory. Philadelphia (43-26-11) remains tied with Carolina and Pittsburgh for spots four through six in the Eastern Conference.

The Rangers and Canadiens are even with 93 points for the final two positions, with the New Yorkers technically 7th because of one more win. Montreal earned its ticket for the Second Season with the one point from an overtime loss in Boston. Mark Recchi scored 2:42 into the extra session to give the Bruins the 5-4 decision and, more importantly, the Eastern Conference title. The latest edition of this rivalry included 76 penalty minutes.
Capitals 4 – Lightning 2

Brooks Laich’s two goals and Mike Green’s two assists helped give Washington the East’s #2-seed, the franchise record for points (108; 50-23-8) and its 11th consecutive defeat of the Lightning. The Caps need one more win for another franchise mark. Steven Stamkos made his own history with a Tampa rookie record 22nd goal.

Devils 3 – Senators 2 SO

Minutes before securing a second point from Ottawa with shootout goals from Zach Parise and Brendan Shanahan, the Devils won the Atlantic Division when the Flyers fell at the Garden. New Jersey (50-27-4) will be the 3rd-seed in the East bracket. Brian Gionta, Brian Rolston, Jarkko Ruutu, and Dany Heatley scored in regulation in this one. The Devils have now won three of four after six straight.

Penguins 6 – Islanders 1

At least it was 9-0 again for the Islanders, who were less bad Thursday in Pittsburgh than they were Tuesday in Carolina. Philippe Boucher, Pascal Dupuis, Matt Cooke, Bill Guerin, Sidney Crosby, and Tyler Kennedy scored for the Penguins, who remain in the hunt for home ice in round one. Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Carolina all have 97 points.
Sabres 5 – Hurricanes 1

Carolina is stuck on 97 points after this one-sided defeat on home ice, which ended the Hurricanes’ nine-game winning streak. Jason Pominville scored twice for Buffalo and Ryan Miller took a shutout into the final minute, only to find out moments after the game that they had been eliminated from playoff contention. Eric Staal scored his 40th goal of the season.

Panthers 3 – Thrashers 2

Like the Sabres, the Panthers took care of business Thursday night and then watched their playoff dreams end. David Booth’s goal 15:35 of the third period was the difference on this night in Atlanta. Zach Bogosian had both Thrasher tallies.
Predators 4 – Red Wings 3 SO

Nashville captain Jason Arnott scored in the fourth round of the shootout to give the Predators a necessary second point. Arnott and J.P. Dumont scored in the back-half of the third period to force extra time in the first place. The victory in Detroit kept the Preds even with Anaheim and St. Louis at the bottom of the Western playoff picture, although Nashville is technically 9th.

Canucks 1 – Kings 0

Two nights after facing 46 shots, Roberto Luongo saw only 20, saving them all, at GM Place against the Kings. Ryan Kesler scored the lone goal, on the power play in the second period. The victory puts Vancouver (44-27-10) two points ahead of Calgary for third place in the West, but the Flames control their own destiny with a home-and-home this weekend against Edmonton. The Canucks finish the regular season Saturday in Colorado.

Coyotes 4 – Sharks 1

Al Montoya’s 40 saves prevented the Sharks from securing the Presidents’ Trophy in front of their home crowd. Scottie Upshall and Peter Mueller had a goal and an assist for the last-place Coyotes. San Jose (53-17-11) is three points better than Boston for the overall top seed, but the Bruins have a game in-hand. The Sharks final game is Saturday in Los Angeles.

Stars 3 – Avalanche 2 SO

If you haven’t seen Mike Ribeiro’s deciding goal in the shootout, go find it somewhere! The Stars center skated in slowly on Peter Budaj, turned his back, put the puck between his legs, and flipped it over Budaj into the net. The Colorado goalie had no idea where the puck was as it fluttered over him, dropped into the crease and rolled into the net.

IN OTHER NEWS…

According to the ESPN.com, the next Winter Classic will be played at Fenway Park. New York and Philadelphia were the other cities in contention, but Beantown is the choice. The Bruins will host an Original Six foe, most likely Montreal, on New Year’s Day.

After the Avalanche lost to the Stars, Colorado captain Joe Sakic announced he would not play again this season. The 39-year-old has yet to recover from a back injury suffered in late November. Sakic refused to discuss his playing status past this season.

Don Koharski ended his 32-year on-ice career by refereeing Thursday night’s Capitals-Lightning game. Koharski is expected to move into the League office to help train and recruit officials.

The Calgary Flames have signed winger David Moss to a three-year, $3.9 million-dollar extension. The 27-year-old Michigan native has 20 goals and 18 assists this season.

FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE
Nashville @ Minnesota 8:00pm ET
Columbus @ St. Louis 8:30
Calgary @ Edmonton 9:00
Dallas @ Anaheim 10:00

"Dropping the Gloves" with Andrew Bogusch

IT'D BE BEST IF YOU MISSED THE PLAYOFFS...

With just four days left in the regular season, we have eight teams mathematically alive for four playoff spots. For you non-math majors, four of the eight will be sitting out the second season come Sunday night. Let’s ignore the traditional point system and decide who should lose these races.

This will be about franchise and league preservation, about saving jobs and about getting some people fired.

We are strong enough to put aside our personal feelings and write that the New York Rangers should miss the playoffs this spring. To their fans, the Blueshirts will lose to whomever in the opening round because they still lack the requisite heart and grit, so you might as well get their funeral out of the way now and not in three weeks.

But our hope is that a 9th-place finish will be enough to maybe, just maybe, force Cablevision to dismiss general manager Glen Sather. His free agent signings and trades continue to waste Henrik Lundqvist’s early prime. This roster needs an overhaul, and Sather should not get the opportunity to oversee it.

Even more, no Rangers in the Eastern Conference bracket would likely mean the Panthers snuck in, which would only be good news for the organization and the NHL. Ranger fans will sellout the Garden next season whether or not their team makes the Final 16, but another year without the postseason (and Jay Bouwmeester’s likely departure) would push the Panthers back to the periphery in south Florida.

For purely sadistic reasons, we’d like to see the Canadiens finish their centennial season in a La-Z-Boy next to the Rangers, but it is just not possible that Florida AND Buffalo can find their way into the playoffs.

Out West, let’s keep Minnesota and St. Louis on the outside looking in.

As we wrote two weeks ago, the Wild need a new head coach and GM, but probably would not get either following another postseason appearance. Doug Risebrough is the real culprit here, allowing this team to regress so far by losing prominent players in free agency and not drafting well enough to replace them from within. You could make the argument that the Wild are more of an expansion team today than they were five years ago.

The Blues are getting the boot because we believe more in the St. Louis market than the Nashville one. The Scottrade Center has been 88% full this year. Those folks aren’t going anywhere. And another high draft pick would look nice alongside T.J. Oshie, Patrick Berglund and Erik Johnson.

And while Nashville could use the talent of a lottery pick, the organization needs the playoffs more. It cannot afford a dormant spring as it continues to tread water.

So apologies to those that we are keeping out of the playoffs. But at least some of you will get revenge by making the real ones.

* * *

The Shootout…Here’s hoping the Ottawa Senators have finally found the right head coach for their roster. AHL call-up Cory Clouston is the fourth bench boss since the team’s run to the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals. The Sens have bought whatever Clouston is selling, compiling a 19-10-3 record since he replaced Craig Hartsburg, which is why owner Eugene Melnyk reward Clouston with a two-year contract Tuesday.

How do you know your franchise is abysmal? When the commissioner issues a press release to congratulate you for getting your building “green” status. The Atlanta Thrashers received such a note Monday from Gary Bettman after Phillips Arena earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. We’re all for saving the environment, and it is commendable that Phillips Arena is the first “green” arena in the country, but shouldn’t we be discussing more important things this time of year – like a playoff spot, Don Waddell?

So Ron Wilson loses his job in San Jose mainly because his teams never came close to a Stanley Cup and that makes him the choice to lead Team USA in the Vancouver Olympics this winter? Wilson will do an OK job, especially since the rebuilding Maple Leafs will keep his coaching skills in good condition, but at least John Tortorella has won a championship.

As always, please direct all comments, questions, complaints to boguschhockey@gmail.com

FTS - 4/9/09

TOP STORY

FINALLY...POST-SEASON HOCKEY IN COLUMBUS
Fedor Tyutin scores the shootout winner to clinch the first ever Blue Jackets playoff birth
(Photo Credit: Paul Beatty - AP)

It was appropriate that Fedor Tyutin, the main acquistion in an off-season trade for Nikolai Zherdev, was the man to put the Blue Jackets in the playoffs. Columbus (41-29-10) has finally turned the corner as a franchise, and that corner was turned with a 4-3 shootout win over the Chicago Blackhawks (44-24-12). Columbus, which entered the NHL in 2000-01, was the only active team that hadn't made the playoffs. Against Chicago, the Blue Jackets overcame 2-0 and 3-2 deficits.

Center and Captain Rick Nash scored his 39th goal with 5:30 left in regulation to tie it at 3 and set up overtime. Antoine Vermette (a trade deadline acquistion) also scored and assisted on Jason Williams' goal in regulation. Brent Seabrook, Dave Bolland and Martin Havlat scored in regulation for the Blackhawks, whose four-game winning streak ended.

For the Blue Jackets, the milestone had additional meaning. John H. McConnell, the Blue Jackets' founder and majority owner, died in April 2008 at age 84. "It's great," Nash said. "We did it for ourselves, but most of all we did it for Mr. Mac. We know he's up there watching. I'm sure he's sitting in his chair and has a cigar in his mouth."

Steve Mason, most likely your Calder Trophy winner for the 2008-09 season, made 24 saves to improve to 33-18-7 on the season. While off-season and mid-season acquistionts, Ken Hitchcock, and Rick Nash are all key components in Columbus' losing their playoff virginity, Mason is the number one reason that Columbus will be playing past mid-April. A 2.23 GAA and .918 save percentage for a guy who was only supposed to see some playing time this year is remarkable. Of all of the playoff bound teams, the Blue Jackets are one of the teams that have a goalie that's truly a threat to steal a series right now.

Columbus finishes the season at St. Louis and then at home against the Wild. With the way the standings are now, they are pretty much locked in to 6th place and will face either Vancouver (bad match-up for Columbus) or Calgary (good match-up for Columbus).

The Blackhawks set a single-season attendance record of 835,972 on Wednesday night with a crowd of 21,536, their 42th straight sellout at the United Center. The record total does not include the 40,818 who attended the NHL Winter Classic, played by the Blackhawks and Detroit on New Year's Day 2009 at Wrigley Field. The Blackhawks finish their season battling to keep home ice in the 1st round of the playoffs with a home and home with the Red Wings.

Only the Capitals (ninth season) had to wait longer to make the playoffs for the first time among franchises to join the NHL in the expansion era (since 1967-68). With the Blue Jackets securing their spot in the postseason, all 30 current NHL franchises have now made the playoffs. Only two teams in the four major sports, the Texans and Bobcats, have never reached the postseason.

OTHER ACTION FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE...

Buffalo Sabres (39-32-9) over the Toronto Maple Leafs (33-35-13) 3-1
Ryan Miller and the Buffalo Sabres kept their slim playoff hopes alive thanks to Miller's 32 saves in the 3-1 win. The Sabres needed the win, and to have an extraordinary combination of circumstances to go their way, to avoid missing the playoffs for the second year in a row. They are four points behind the New York Rangers for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff position, and two points behind ninth-place Florida. All three teams have two games remaining. Curtis Joseph tied the late Gump Worsley for most losses in NHL history with 452.

NHL STANDINGS & PLAYOFF SCENARIOS
http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?type=CON&navid=NAVSTNMain

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=417334

OTHER HEADLINES

-New York Islanders head coach Scott Gordon has been named as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men's National Team that will compete in the World Hockey Championship in Switzerland. ''We're thrilled to have Scott join Ron Wilson in guiding our men's national team,'' said Brian Burke, general manager of the National Team. ''While this will be his first experience as a coach on the international scene, he's a proven winner and no doubt one of the bright young coaches in the game today.'' Gordon is in his first year as the head coach of the Islanders. Last season, he led the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League to a league-best 55-18-3 mark and earned AHL Coach of the Year honours. Gordon played on the 1992 United States Olympic Team and retired from his playing career following the 1993-94 season.

-Cory Clouston can consider his audition as head coach of the Ottawa Senators a success. The Senators signed the 39-year-old to a two-year deal Wednesday, removing the interim tag he held since taking over after Craig Hartsburg was fired on Feb. 2. With the team's run of 11 straight post-season appearances having come to an end after a dismal start to the season, owner Eugene Melnyk and general manager Bryan Murray sought to lock up the man who's had a hand in its recent turnaround. "Cory's come in and done a remarkable job really," Murray said during a news conference at Scotiabank Place, where the Senators play their final home game tonight against the New Jersey Devils. "He's made (the players) accountable. "We're watching a team now that will make it very entertaining for the fans and maybe even give (the media) something nice to write about once in a while." The Senators were 17-24-7 when Hartsburg was fired and replaced by Clouston, a native of Viking, Alta., who had been the coach of the Senators' Binghamton AHL affiliate. The Senators are 19-10-3 since he took over. On Tuesday, they beat the Eastern Conference's best team, the Boston Bruins, to run their franchise-record home-ice win streak to nine games.

-Linus Omark has decided to play in Russia next season and has accepted a two-year contract with Moscow Dynamo. The deal will pay him $1.2 million in year one and $1.4 million in the second year. The contract has an escape clause for Omark after year one, should he want to come to North America. Omark's agent Jared Bousquet and the Oilers were in negotioations, and according to Bousquet, the Oilers made a very fair offer, but simply couldn't compete with the money available in Russia. Omark caused stir when a highlight of a shootout goal he scored against Switzerland was posted on YouTube. He was originally a fourth round draft pick (97th overall) by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2007 NHL Entry draft. Omark is one of the top scorers in the Swedish Elite League this season with Luela, racking up 23 goals and 32 assists in 53 games. He is also slated to play for Sweden at the upcoming World Hockey Championship in Switzerland.

-Former Montreal Canadiens general manager Serge Savard says he and a group of partners are prepared to buy the NHL franchise if it is put up for sale. Canadiens majority shareholder George Gillett is seeking advice from financial firms in Canada and elsewhere about how he might maximize his holdings. Gillett owns the Bell Centre, where the Canadiens play, as well as 80 percent of the team. Savard doesn't know if the Canadiens will go on the block, but he has told various Quebec media he would be part of a consortium that would bid for the team. Gillett also owns 50 percent of the Liverpool English soccer team and has interests in the Richard Petty Motorsports NASCAR team and other sports entities.

TONIGHTS ACTION:
Montreal @ Boston - 7PM
Buffalo @ Carolina - 7PM
Philadelphia @ NY Rangers - 7PM
Florida @ Atlanta - 7PM
%Nashville @ Detroit - 7:30PM
New Jersey @ Ottawa - 7:30PM
NY Islanders @ Pittsburgh - 7:30PM
Washington @ Tampa Bay - 7:30PM
Dallas @ Colorado - 9PM
Los Angeles @ Vancouver - 10PM
Phoenix @ San Jose - 10:30PM

% = Game of the Night
^All Times are Eastern

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out on Thursdays

TO EMAIL FTS, write fromtheslot@gmail.com

FTS - 4/8/09

TOP STORY

NOT SO FAST

Roberto Luongo Closes the Door on the Flames and Prevents Them From Clinching the Northwest Title

(Photo Credit: Vancouver Province)

The Calgary Flames came to Vancouver determined to clinch the Northwest Division title Tuesday night. Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had other ideas. Luongo made 21 of his 46 saves in the first period, defenseman Mattias Ohlund scored twice, and the Canucks moved into a tie with Calgary atop the Northwest Division with a 4-1 victory. The Flames could have clinched the division with a win.

"We wanted to finish it off tonight, said Calgary coach Mike Keenan. "Luongo obviously thought differently. Luongo was the difference. We had a number of chances to get involved in the game offensively and he just stymied us. He was putting on a goaltending clinic tonight.

Flames captain Jarome Iginla tied the game 1-1 with 5:16 left in the second period, finally beating Luongo on the 33rd shot. But Ohlund restored the lead 22 seconds later with a shot off a Calgary defenseman -- his first goal in 26 games -- and added an insurance goal on the power play with 5:09 left.

The Canucks host Los Angeles on Thursday before ending the season in Colorado on Saturday afternoon. The Flames finish with a home-and-home series against Edmonton on Friday and Saturday. The timing of Calgary's final games could become significant because it fell to 2-10-2 in the second half of back-to-back games with the loss to Vancouver.

OTHER ACTION FROM LAST NIGHT

Carolina Hurricanes (45-28-7) over the New York Islanders (26-44-9) 9-0
Eric Staal had a hat trick (and an assist) and Erik Cole had four assists . Never before had the Isles lost by more than eight goals (and they hadn't done that since losing 8-0 at St. Louis in 1988).

Toronto Maple Leafs (33-34-13) over the New Jersey Devils (49-27-4) 4-1
Christian Hanson scored his first NHL goal against his favorite childhood player (Martin Brodeur). The Devils can win the division by earning a point in either of their last two regular season games or by having Philadelphia drop a point.

New York Rangers (41-30-9) over the Montreal Canadiens (41-29-10) 3-1
Chris Drury scored twice to get the Rangers within one win (or a Panthers regulation loss) of clinching a playoff birth

Philadelphia Flyers (43-25-11) over the Florida Panthers (39-30-11) 2-1
Jeff Carter scored the game-winning goal at 7:32 of the 3rd period to clinch a playoff birth for Philly.
Washington Capitals (49-23-8) over the Atlanta Thrashers (34-40-6) 4-2
Tomas Fleischmann had a goal and an assist and Washington beat Atlanta for the Capitals' second win over the Thrashers in three days. Simeon Varlamov stopped 29 shots in only his fifth start of the season for Washington, which moved four points ahead of New Jersey in the conference with the Devils' 4-1 loss to Toronto.

Ottawa Senators (36-34-10) over the Boston Bruins (51-18-10) 3-2
Dany Heatley scored his 38th goal on a power play in the second period and the Senators set a franchise record with their ninth straight home win. It's too little too late as the Senators will miss the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

Pittsburgh Penguins (43-28-9) over the Tampa Bay Lightning (24-38-18) 6-4
Sidney Crosby scored twice in a 1-minute, 4-second span midway through second period to help the Penguins clinch a playoff berth.Crosby reached 100 points for the third time in his career.

Chicago Blackhawks (44-24-11) over the Nashville Predators (39-33-8) 4-2
Patrick Kane and Martin Havlat each had a goal and an assist in the Blackhawks' fourth straight win. The Predators close out the season on the road at Detroit on Thursday night and at Minnesota on Friday. They are two points behind eighth-place St. Louis.

Minnesota Wild (38-33-9) over the Dallas Stars (35-35-10) 3-1
Marian Gaborik kept up his scoring ways with a goal and two assists, and the Minnesota Wild avoided elimination from the playoff chase for at least three more days. The Wild moved within one point of Nashville for ninth place after the Predators lost to Chicago, but St. Louis beat Phoenix later to remain three points ahead in eighth place. Minnesota hosts Nashville on Friday and finishes the regular season Saturday at Columbus, but is currently trailing in tiebreakers with both the Blues and the Predators and will need plenty of help to qualify for the playoffs for the third straight year.

Los Angeles Kings (33-36-11) over the Edmonton Oilers (37-34-9) 2-1
Kings forward Wayne Simmonds had a goal and an assist to help officially eliminate the Edmonton Oilers (coupled with the Blues' 5-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes later last night). Fernando Pisani had the lone goal for the Oilers, who started the game slowly with 19 first-period giveaways. lexander Frolov also scored for the Kings, who have won two of their last three

St. Louis Blues (39-31-10) over the Phoenix Coyotes (34-39-7) 5-1
BJ Crombeen scored twice, Chris Mason made 28 saves and the St. Louis Blues inched closer to their first playoff berth since 2004. "We can't get too high with it," Crombeen said. "We've still got two games left and it's such a tight race you can't let anything slip away." The Blues won for the seventh time in nine games to move two points ahead of Nashville for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

San Jose Sharks (53-16-11) over the Colorado Avalanche (32-44-3) 1-0 (SO)
Evgeni Nabokov made 20 saves in his seventh shutout and then stopped all three Colorado attempts in the shootout, carrying the Sharks two points closer to clinching the NHL's best regular-season record. Joe Pavelski scored the only goal during the first round of the shootout to move five points ahead of Boston in the President's Trophy race. Peter Budaj stopped 30 shots in his second shutout for the Avalanche, who have lost nine of ten.

NHL STANDINGS
http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?type=CON&navid=NAVSTNMain

OTHER HEADLINES

-The New York Islanders have signed veteran forward Doug Weight to a one-year contract extension Tuesday. In his first season with the Islanders, the 39-year-old Weight has recorded nine goals and 26 assists despite missing 29 games because of injury. Weight will earn US$2 million next season, his second with the Islanders. He signed- with New York as an unrestricted free agent last July and earned $1.75 million this season. In 1,180 career games, Weight has 274 goals and 730 assists. The two-time Olympian is one of four American-born players to have recorded at least 200 goals and 700 assists in their career.

-Ron Wilson will be coaching Team USA in the 2010 Olympics
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/hockey/news/newsid=8838.html?cid=rsstsn

TONIGHTS ACTION:
Buffalo @ Toronto - 7:30PM (NHL Network)
%Columbus @ Chicago - 8:30PM

% = Game of the Night
^All Times are Eastern
We'll have the playoff scenarios for you tomorrow as well

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out on Thursdays

TO EMAIL FTS, write fromtheslot@gmail.com