A Look Ahead to the Weekend...

Pekka Rinne's 31 save shutout helps Nashville stay in 7th in the West while further hurting Anaheim's playoff hopes

By Adam Bernard

FRIDAY RESULTS
Devils 3 - Penguins 1
Lightning 3 - Capitals 2
Wild 3 - Sabres 2
Rangers 5 - Thrashers 2
Kings 2 - Stars 1 (SO)
Predators 1 - Ducks 0

SATURDAY:

Chicago @ Philadelphia - 1PM
This should be a fast paced, physical match-up as the Hawks continue their road trip and will try and rebound from an OT loss to the Kings. Philly is looking to bounce back from a bad 5-1 loss to Boston. Can we make a trophy for this game and call it the Mike Keenan Cup?

Buffalo @ Detroit - 7PM
This should be a low-scoring/grind it out game between two teams that are very close geographically. The Wings are coming off a 5-1 trouncing of the Wild while the Sabres lost to Wild 3-2 at home last night, although it was Patrick Lalime in net for Buffalo, not all-world goalie Ryan Miller.

Ottawa @ Vancouver - 10PM
This game matches two north-of-the-border teams that play similar styles. Ottawa is coming off a 2-0 shutout to Calgary as they continue their Western Canada road trip while the Canucks are looking to rebound from a 4-3 shootout loss to Phoenix on Wednesday. An Ottawa win with a Buffalo loss puts Ottawa in the Norhteast Division lead again

OTHER GAMES
Panthers @ Sharks - 4PM
Coyotes @ Hurricanes - 7PM
Bruins @ Canadiens - 7PM
Devils @ Islanders 7PM
Oilers @ Maple Leafs - 7PM
Blues @ Blue Jackets - 7PM

SUNDAY:

Washington @ Chicago - 12:30PM
NBC picked wisely for it's Sunday afternoon hockey game. This could very well be a Stanley Cup Finals preview. Both teams are fast, can score in bunches, and have questionable goaltending. Washington is coming off a 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay while the Blackhawks will be coming off a tough game in Philly on Saturday. Everything points to this being a high-scoring game and will be a fun one to watch.

Philadelphia @ NY Rangers - 3PM
Anytime these two teams meet, it's a fun and physical affair (I will be attending this game). The Rangers currently trail the 6th place Flyers in the standings by 7 points and are 5 points behind 8th place Boston. The Blueshirts got crucial win over Atlanta on the road to distance themselves from 10th place. For Philly, they will be heading to MSG after a rough and tough battle with the Blackhawks. The Flyers lead the season series 2-1.

Calgary @ Vancouver - 10PM
This is a classic Northwest Division battle between two Rivals. For Vancouver, they'll be looking to distance their division lead over Colorado and will be coming off a home game against Ottawa the night before. For Calgary, they'll be looking to hold on to the 8th spot in the West and stay ahead of the Red Wings. Calgary is 3-1 so far in the season series while Vancouver is 1-2-1

OTHER GAMES:
Predators @ Kings - 3PM
Avalanche @ Stars 3PM
Maple Leafs @ Islanders - 5PM
Penguins @ Lightining - 5PM
Coyotes @ Thrashers - 5PM
Blues @ Wild - 6PM
Sharks @ Ducks - 8PM

NHL REWIND

(Keivom/New York Daily News)

By Chris Carrano

New York Rangers at New Jersey: Diagnosis: Post Olympic break hangover. Remedy: A game against the New York Rangers. The New Jersey Devils regained their scoring touch last night, defeating their cross-river rival 6-3 at the Prudential Center. Rob Neidermayer, Jamie Langenbrunner, Brian Rolston, Zach Parise and Travis Zajac each had a goal and an assist for New Jersey who chased Ranger goalie Henrik Lundquist from the net at 15:19 of the second period. Lundquist finished the game with only 12 saves. Quick Take…The stress of this season and the inconsistent play by the Rangers looks to be taking its toll on Henrik Lundqvist. King Henrik, who has kept his team in games all season long despite the Rangers’ defensive gaffes and offensive woes, cannot do it all by himself. An old cliché says that a hot goalie can steal games, but Lundqvist has had to do that since the puck first dropped back in October. Without him, the Rangers would be fighting with Toronto to stay out of the cellar in the East, instead of being in the playoff conversation. He cannot do it all by himself and the guys in front of him need to step it up if this season is going to be considered a success.

Dallas at Buffalo: Six-foot-eight Tyler Myers was lightning in a bottle for the slumping Buffalo Sabres offense, chipping in with a goal and three assists in their 5-3 victory over the Dallas Stars last night. Myers opened the scoring with a shot that deflected in goal off of three different bodies. Of note….Dallas hasn’t won in Buffalo since 1999 when Brett Hull scored the Stanley Cup clinching goal in the 1999 playoffs.

Los Angeles at Chicago: Patrick Sharp’s two goal night book ended a 3-2 overtime victory for the Blackhawks last night. Sharp opened the scoring at 2:34 of the first period and scored the game winner at 2:08 of the extra session. "I saw the bouncing puck there and the L.A. players flooded the zone," Sharp said. "I felt if we could force a turnover, I'd get a chance to sneak in. Of note…The Kings, who are in the running for home ice advantage in the playoffs, get their shot at redemption in eight days when the two teams meet again.

Carolina at Washington: Tomas Fleischmann had a point to prove and a chip on his shoulder to go with it. His overtime goal sealed the victory for the Capitals, who beat the Hurricanes 4-3 last night at the Verizon Center. Fleischmann was scratched for the first time all season on Monday night. "It's a little message," said Fleischmann. "Don't sit me out again." Of note…The Capitals have scored 118 goals in their last 26 games and are the sexy pick to represent the East in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Vancouver at Phoenix: Adrian Aucoin scored in the sixth round of the shootout to propel the Coyotes to a 4-3 victory over the Canucks last night. Lee Stempniak, a trade deadline acquisition for the Coyotes, scored two goals, in addition to his shootout goal. Taylor Pyatt of Phoenix also scored his 100th career goal. Of note…Vancouver has lost three times in OT this season, twice in Phoenix.

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TONIGHT'S ACTION (all times EST)

Tampa Bay at Toronto 7 pm
St. Louis at NY Islanders 7 pm
Boston at Philadelphia 7 pm
Pittsburgh at Carolina 7 pm
Atlanta at Columbus 7 pm
Edmonton at Montreal 7 pm
Minnesota at Detroit 7:30 pm
Florida at Colorado 9 pm
Ottawa at Calgary 9:30 pm
Nashville at San Jose 10 pm

The Canucks are Almost Home

photo credit: Vancouver Sun

It’s almost over. The Vancouver Canucks have one game left on their 14-game, Olympics-induced road trip. And after last night’s 6-4 victory in Denver, and no matter what happens tonight in Phoenix in the finale of this sojourn, they have earned a good night’s sleep.

The Canucks outscored the Avalanche 6-1 over the final two periods last night to improve to 8-5 on this trip. Mikael Samuelsson scored three of those comeback goals for his first career hat trick. Jannik Hansen notched the game-winner when the puck deflected off Colorado goalie Craig Anderson, then Hansen’s jersey, then into the net.

“It would have been easy for us to pack it in, especially being on the road for so long,” said Alex Burrows. “But we battled back and showed the character of this group. Every win on this road trip, except one, we’ve come back from two or three goals.”

Vancouver’s last home game was January 27^th, a 3-2 victory over the Blues, which improved their record to 33-18-2 and gave them a two-point lead over the Avalanche in the Northwest Division. Forty-two days later, the Canucks’ lead is four points.

That’s not the lead the Capitals, Blackhawks or Sharks currently enjoy in their divisions, but increasing your edge (even by two points) with 14 games and six weeks in between home dates is impressive. And now with a five-game homestand starting Saturday vs. Ottawa, Vancouver is primed to push the Avalanche farther away.

TUESDAY'S OTHER ACTION (home teams in CAPS)

Calgary 4 -- DETROIT 2
TORONTO 4 -- Boston 3 OT ... Nickolai Kulemin scored game-winner
Predators 2 -- THRASHERS 1
CANADIENS 5 -- Lightning 3 ... career win #550 for Jacques Martin
FLYERS 3 -- Islanders 2 ... PHI's 15th straight defeat of NYI
Panthers 3 -- WILD 2 SO
Canucks 6 -- AVALANCHE 4
Senators 4 -- OILERS 1
Blue Jackets 5 -- DUCKS 2

IN OTHER NEWS
Bruins head coach Claude Julien told the Boston Globe Tuesday that center Marc Savard was not feeling any better, 48 hours after being knocked unconscious by a Matt Cooke elbow. The Penguins winger still hadn't been punished by the NHL as of Wednesday morning.

"It's been a little hard on [Savard]. So obviously it's a pretty serious concussion," Julien said.

Savard has been diagnosed with a Grade-2 concussion and will be re-evaluated over the rest of the week. After that, team doctors will set an initial timetable for his return. Savard had just crossed the blue line and released a shot when Cooke struck him from the side. Savard never saw him coming and took a direct hit from either Cooke's forearm or shoulder.

WEDNESDAY'S SCHEDULE (all times are Eastern)
Stars @ Sabres 7:00
Rangers @ Devils 7:00
Hurricanes @ Capitals 7:30 (NHL Network)
Kings @ Blackhawks 8:30
Canucks @ Coyotes 10:00

- Andrew Bogusch boguschhockey@gmail.com

The Jackets are Blue

photo credit: Stephen Dunn, Getty Images

Just six months ago, the Columbus Blue Jackets were still beaming about a 41-win season, their first playoff appearance, and an extension with Rick Nash. Steve Mason was the reigning Calder Trophy winner and a Vezina finalist, while other youngsters like Derick Brassard, Nikita Filatov and Jakub Voracek were primed to make an impact this season.

Instead of building towards a second straight postseason appearance, Columbus is licking its wounds after its latest loss, 6-0 last night in Los Angeles. The Kings scored four times in the opening period to erase any doubt quickly.

“That was more than tough, it was embarrassing. We didn’t play smart,” said winger R.J. Umberger. “If we get beat, we get beat. But we were our own worst enemies out there.”

Which has happened more than a few times this season. Last night was the Jackets’ fifth straight defeat. They will wake up stuck in 14^th place in the Western Conference. With 61 points, they are closer to the Islanders and Maple Leafs than the Red Wings and Blackhawks, which is whom they thought they’d be next to in the standings this season.

“You can’t lose hope,” interim head coach Claude Noel advised last night. “If people want to judge us on this game…We gave up four goals in the first period. I still like our group.”

But it remains a group that has fallen miles short of expectations. Mason allowed four goals on 12 Kings shots, raising his GAA to 3.15 and decreasing his save percentage to .895. The southpaw is just 16-21-7 in his sophomore campaign.

Those in front of Mason have done him few favors: Jan Hejda and Fedor Tyutin are a -12, Mike Commodore -10. Tough guy Derrick Dorsett somehow leads Columbus in plus/minus at +3.

Up front, Nash (28G-29A-67 pts), free agent signing Antoine Vermette (20-29-49), and Kristian Huselius (17-30-47) have produced. Voracek, though, has just nine goals…but at least he’s still in this country – with Filatov back in his native Russia.

Add it all up and there isn’t a more disappointing team in the NHL than Columbus. There is way too much talent on this team for the Jackets to be cuddling up to Edmonton in the standings.

Stars 4 – Capitals 3 SO

Alex Ovechkin beat Marty Turco twice, including another gorgeous individual effort coming down the left wing, but the Dallas goaltender survived in the end. Forty-nine saves in total, four in the shootout, for Turco. The Stars end the Capitals’ 13-game home winning streak.

IN OTHER NEWS

Colorado right wing Chris Stewart, Tampa Bay center Steven Stamkos and Florida defenseman Brian McCabe were named the Three Stars of last week on Monday. Stewart registered five goals and four assists over four games. Stamkos found the net five times (in three games) to run his point-scoring streak to 16 games. McCabe led all blue-liners with eight points (G, 7 A) over three contests.

The Ottawa Senators signed defenseman Brian Lee to a two-year contract Monday. It is worth $875,000 annually. Lee has split this season between the big club and Binghamton in the AHL. In 18 games with the Sens, Lee has two goals and an assist.

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE (all times are Eastern)

Islanders @ Flyers 7:00 (Versus)

Bruins @ Maple Leafs 7:00

Predators @ Thrashers 7:00

Flames @ Red Wings 7:30

Lightning @ Canadiens 7:30

Panthers @ Wild 8:00

Senators @ Oilers 9:00

Canucks @ Avalanche 9:00

Blue Jackets @ Ducks 10:00

- Andrew Bogusch boguschhockey@gmail.com

CHI-TOWN MELTDOWN

Cristobal Huet looks on after Detroit scores one of its five second period goals. ( Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images / March 7, 2010

By Chris Carrano

The Red Wings tightened their grip on the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 yesterday afternoon. Detroit went on a five-goal surge in the second period and despite a hat trick from Andrew Ladd, held on to defeat their Original Six and divisional rival.

It was a win that the Red Wings desperately needed. After being decimated with injuries for the first half of the season, they seem to be regaining their winning touch. The Olympic break couldn’t have come at a better time for them, as most of their players are once again healthy. Detroit has won three of their last four games since returning from the break.

Trailing 2-0 in the second period, the Red Wings netted five straight goals in a span of 6:15. Team USA hero Brian Rafalski started it off when he one-timed a Nicklas Lidstrom pass by Blackhawks goalie Cristobal Huet. Lidstrom then added his own tally 28 seconds later to tie the game, with help from Todd Bertuzzi who provided an effective screen in front of the net.

Detroit then added another pair of quick goals to chase Huet from the goal. Huet left the left side of his goal exposed as he geared up to defend a shot from Henrik Zetterberg who was racing in from the left faceoff circle. Instead Zetterberg passed the puck to Jason Williams who managed to poke it in the practically empty net despite being swarmed by a pair of Blackhawks defenders. Valtteri Filppula put the nail in Huet’s coffin 42 seconds later, scoring on a partial breakaway.

"I'm not blaming Huet there," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "I called the timeout and that didn't seem to slow it down. (Detroit) got two tips on cross-ice passes."

Andrew Ladd did his best to get the Blackhawks and the sellout crowd at the United Center back in the game by recording his first career hat trick. It was too little, too late as Detroit was able to hang on, regardless of coach Mike Babcock’s assessment of how his team played. “We thought we played well in the first period and took control of the game in the second period and then I thought we stopped playing in the third,” said Babcock. “I don’t know if we got scared to keep playing, or what. I thought we got fortunate to get away with a win, but I liked our effort for 40 minutes.”

Although they sit comfortably atop the Western Conference standings, many will question whether or not the Blackhawks goaltending will get them far in the post-season. Lets face it, says Jon Greenberg of ESPN Chicago, Hawks fans have as much confidence in [Huet and Niemi] in the playoffs as commuters do in the CTA. You know a train will probably come, and nine times out of 10 your ride will be fine, but you're not surprised when things break down. You swear and stamp your feet, but you knew it was possible all along.

The Red Wings however seem to be ticking upwards. Despite losing Todd Bertuzzi this afternoon to an apparent Charlie horse, the Red Wings have bounced back from all the injury woes that plagued them for much of this season. They are clicking on all cylinders and after a four-game losing streak in February, they have won four of their last five games, scoring 20 goals in the process. A healthy Red Wings team would be a menace in the playoffs. Mike Babcock shares the same sentiment: “The good teams in the league, are hoping that we don’t get into the seventh and eighth spot.”

AROUND THE NHL

Marc Savard of the Boston Bruins was carried off the ice on a stretcher yesterday after being blindisded by the Penguins’ Matt Cooke. Cooke came from behind, raised his shoulder, and struck him in the head.

"It's pretty obvious that was definitely a dirty hit," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "That's probably the classic blindside hit to the head ... I'm usually reserved in making comments, but definitely the league will take care of it."

No penalty was called on the hit, which angered the Bruins. Cooke stated that he was only finishing his check, but TV replays appeared to show otherwise. He had plenty of time to pull up and not hit Savard, but instead he pulled a Donald Brashear on him.

"A guy like that has to be suspended," Julien said. "That's the way I see it because it's an elbow to the head from the blindside, and that's exactly the example they show, what we've got to get out of this game. We got a guy who's got a concussion, our best player, and he's going to be out for a while. He was out on the ice for a bit and that's unacceptable."

Savard stayed behind at the team hotel in Pittsburgh, along with a member of the Bruins medical staff.

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Reebok Canada is offering a $10,000 reward for the return of the stick and gloves that Sidney Crosby used to score the gold medal-winning goal at the Olympics. The equipment went missing after Crosby dropped it to the ice to celebrate his goal. "The stick and glove are priceless," said Len Rhodes, vice president and general manager for Reebok Hockey CCM. "There's absolutely no substitute for that exact stick and glove."

Crosby’s black stick has special markings on it that will help identify it. If the equipment is found, it would be returned to Crosby and it would be his choice as to whether he wants to keep it or donate it.

Information and quotes from ESPN.com, NHL.com and the Detroit Free Press was used in this story

SCORES (Home Team in CAPS)

Pittsburgh 2, BOSTON 1
Vancouver 4, NASHVILLE 2
Calgary 5, MINNESOTA 2
Carolina 4, ATLANTA 0
Buffalo 2, NY RANGERS 1 (OT)
PHILADELPHIA 3, Toronto 1
EDMONTON 2, New Jersey 1
Montreal 4, ANAHEIM 3 (SO)

TONIGHTS GAMES

Dallas @ Washington 7pm EST
Columbus @ Los Angeles 10:30 pm EST