FALLING FROM GRACE

(Photo credit: Michael Martin/Getty Images)

By Chris Carrano

For most of this season, the surprising Colorado Avalanche have had a tight grip on a playoff berth. After last nights 5-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks, all their playoff hopes are dangling from a thread. With Calgary’s victory last night, the Avalanche only have a two-point cushion over the Flames for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.

The two teams play each other on Friday night in what should be a monumental classic in the Rocky Mountains. For Calgary, and most of its fans, anything less than a playoff berth this season will be considered unsuccessful and would probably lead to the exiling of the Sutter brothers, GM Daryll and Head Coach Brent. The Avs, however, have been a surprise all season long and were never expected to make a playoff run.

The Avalanche have lost three straight games and six of their last seven. Much like how the stock market corrects itself, maybe the NHL’s Western Conference is doing the same. Teams like Detroit who were out of playoff positioning before the Olympic break now find themselves in thick of the race as they sit in sixth place and Colorado, who expected to be a bottom feeder this season, sees it’s stock falling rapidly.

Goalie Craig Anderson has given up 14 goals in this last three starts and surrendered five goals on the 27 shots he faced last night. "We're still leading the race," he said. "We have six games left and destiny in our own hands. We control our own fate. If we win Friday, we're looking pretty good. That's the bottom line. We need to focus for the next game and put this one behind us."

So what’s the problem with the Avs? "I certainly don't think that we're squeezing the sticks," Avalanche coach Joe Sacco said. "All season long, the couple things that we've done pretty consistently is play with passion and play with energy, use our speed. We've got to find a way to get that back for 60 minutes in our game. Right now that's lacking."Listen, we're fighting for a playoff spot. There's a lot on the line here, but we're still in a good spot. Are we playing the way we want to be playing? No, but it's a long season and you're going to face some obstacles along the way and we've got to face the challenge the right way."

At least the coach is positive. Colorado picked the wrong time to get into a slump and with six games left to play, time is running out.

AROUND THE NHL

Sabres vs. Panthers: Buffalo moved closer to clinching the Northeast Division last night with a 6-2 win over the Florida Panthers. Rookies Tyler Ennis and Nathan Gerbe scored for the Sabres Tim Kennedy, Henrik Tallinder and Adam Mair also chipped in scores and Jason Pominville scored his team leading 24th goal of the season. Trade deadline acquisition Raffi Torres had three assists in his first game back since sitting out for six with a hand injury. He was also named the first star of the game. Goalie Ryan Miller made 13 saves for his 39th victory which pretty much eliminated the Panthers from making the playoffs.

Blackhawks vs. Wild: Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville decided to start Antii Niemi in goal last night and his decision paid off as Niemi and Co. blanked the Wild 4-0 last night in Minnesota. Niemi made four saves during a 91-second 5-on-3 power play for Minnesota late in the second period, and held off the Wild the rest of the way to improve to 21-7-3. "It's big, it was a nice response," Quenneville said. "It was nice to show him some confidence as well and he responded with the game we were looking for."

Coyotes vs. Flames: With their playoff hopes all but evaporated less than a week ago, the Flames held on for a 2-1 victory over the Phoenix for their second straight win. Ian White started the scoring with a second period power play goal and Ales Kotalik netted the game winner at 3:46 of the third. Lee Stempniak pulled the Coyotes to with one when he scored on a feed from teammate Wojtek Wolski, but despite pressing hard in the closing minutes, the Coyotes couldn’t get the equalizer. The Flames also stunned the Washington Capitals in their prior game and head to Colorado tomorrow with a chance to tie the Avalanche for the eighth and final playoff spot. We know what the stakes are," said coach Brent Sutter said. "We knew going in ... if we did our job and got some help that we'd have an opportunity to go down there two points behind. It's a big difference from where we were last Saturday."

OTHER SCORES

Carolina 2, MONTREAL 1
Tampa Bay 2, PITTSBURGH 0
DALLAS 5, San Jose 1

TONIGHT'S GAMES (All times EST)

Florida at Boston 7pm
Buffalo at Toronto 7pm
Philadelphia at NY Islanders 7pm
Atlanta at Washington 7pm
Carolina at Ottawa 7:30pm
Columbus at Detroit 7:30pm
St. Louis at Nashville 8pm
Vancouver at Los Angeles 10:30pm

ARE THE PENS IN TROUBLE???

Photo Credit: Nick Wass/ Associated Press

By Chris Carrano

There are only two teams that the Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t beaten yet this season and that grim fact may have an effect on them come payoff time. In nine games against the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitals, the Penguins have compiled an 0-7-2 record, having lost all six regular season meetings to the Devils.

The Penguins, however, have one more meeting against the Capitals in Pittsburgh and according to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com, the Pens need to win this game if they want to restore some measure of confidence in themselves. Even though they are the defending Stanley Cup champions, heading into the postseason having lost all ten games to Washington and New Jersey will bear some significant weight on their minds.

The game proved to be another classic battle between the two teams and the NHL’s two superstars. The Penguins had a 2-1 lead after the second period, but Alexander Semin tied the game with what the Associated Press described as “one of the best individual short-handed efforts of the year”. He picked off a pass from Crosby deep in the Capitals' end, skated the length of the ice weaving around and through the Penguins' power-play unit and then unleashed a wrister from the slot that found the upper right-hand corner of the net.

That wasn’t the only lead the Penguins would blow. After Pittsburgh’s Jordan Staal tied the game late in the third period, the two teams battled to an overtime stalemate. The Penguins then went up 2-0 in the shootout on goals by Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby. The Caps answered right back with three straight goals from Alexander Ovechkin, Semin and the eventual game winner from Mike Knuble.

Not everyone in Steeltown is worried though. Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that the 4-3 loss last night at the Verizon Center just might turn out to be one of the pivotal moments in their season: in a positive way. Molinari writes that the Penguins did a lot of good things on the ice in competing for a full 65-minutes against the NHL’s top point producing team. Despite playing without Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins competed on even or better terms.

At the very least, the point they earned when Jordan Staal tied the score with 3:06 left in regulation boosted them back into first place in the Atlantic Division, one point ahead of New Jersey. The Devils, though, have played two fewer games.

But the impact of this kind of performance, accomplished without two guys who contribute a lot of quality minutes, could be felt long after the current standings have been forgotten.

"For a lot of reasons, that's the type of game we expect from our team, and the way we can play," coach Dan Bylsma said. "The way we played, that's the way we need to play to play our game. Getting to our game, we did that for long stretches. And we responded when things didn't go well, stuck with our game."

So mark April 6th on your calendars hockey fans. It’s the last tune-up between these two teams before the playoffs get here. Let’s all hope they meet again in May.

OTHER SCORES

NY RANGERS 5, NY Islanders 0
BUFFALO 3, Montreal 2
DETROIT 4, St. Louis 2
COLORADO 4, Los Angeles 3
VANCOUVER 4, Anaheim 3

TONIGHT’S GAMES

Intriguing matchups abound tonight as the playoffs draw near. The Rangers, Thrashers and Bruins all play tonight as each team battles for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Out West, Phoenix, Chicago and San Jose all take to the ice tonight as they jockey for position in the race for the Western Conference’s number one seed.

Tampa Bay at Boston 7:00 PM
Washington at Carolina 7:00 PM
NY Rangers at New Jersey 7:00 PM
Calgary at NY Islanders 7:00 PM
Minnesota at Philadelphia 7:00 PM
Toronto at Atlanta 7:00 PM
Chicago at Columbus 7:00 PM
Florida at Montreal 7:30 PM
Los Angeles at St. Louis 8:00 PM
Phoenix at Nashville 8:00 PM
Dallas at San Jose 10:30 PM

STICK A FORM IN 'EM...

(Photo credit: New York Post/ Reuters)

By Chris Carrano

...RANGERS ARE DONE

They may not be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention yet, but with the way they’ve played all season long, that five point lead the Bruins hold on them for the final playoff spot looks more like 15. The Rangers squandered a huge opportunity to gain ground in the playoff race as they fell 2-1 to the Boston Bruins yesterday afternoon on national television. Now, they may have to make their playoff push without the help of Ryan Callahan, one of their better players for the season. Callahan left the game after he collided with Boston’s hulking defenseman Zdeno Chara in the second period.

As has happened so many times this season, the Ranger’s dismal power play reared its ugly head again. With Chara off the ice for a double minor, the Blueshirts couldn’t manage to get a shot on goal. I’ll rephrase that another way: In four minutes of having a one-man advantage, the Rangers couldn’t make Bruin’s goalie Tuuka Rask work for his money. Instead, they wasted ours. Even Ronnie from the Jersey Shore would’ve been able to get “one shot, bro” against the Bruins. The Rangers also had a 5-on-3 advantage for 11 seconds and didn’t manage a shot on net as well. It was only 11 seconds, but still. The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, once said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” When will the Rangers realize that by putting pucks on the net, one of them is bound to go in?

It wasn’t only the power play that struggled, there were many communication lapses all over the ice that it was hard to tell if the Bruins were playing against the New York Rangers or the New York Mets. The first of Boston’s two goals came at 16:36 of the second period when Miro Satan, who the Ranger’s left wide-open, took a left-circle feed from Andrew Ference and slammed it home. Satan was left alone, wrote Larry Brooks of the New York Post, after Marc Staal drifted to the opposite side of the net. Chris Drury was late picking up Satan, but the captain perhaps was covering for Ryan Callahan.

Boston’s second goal, and the eventual game winner, came when Dennis Wideman back-handed a shot from the left circle past a screened Henrik Lundqvist. Who provided the screen? None other that Lundqvist’s own teammate, Olli Jokinen. That's a hard one," said John Tortorella. "I'm upset about the second goal, too - we have our coverage and some player gets glued in on the puck who shouldn't be."

So much for the “Game 7” mentality the Rangers talked about before the game. Henrik Lundqvist, who can’t be blamed for how this season has gone so far, did his best yesterday in making 29 saves, including a penalty shot save on Danny Paille. When asked whether it would be an effort to stay positive from here on out, Lundqvist replied, "It's been an effort the last few weeks to stay positive and see good things."

Yes ladies and gentleman, this is the team that Glen Sather put together. I never thought I would say this, but I hope the Rangers miss the playoffs this season. If they somehow make it, they’re not going to get past the first round. All it would do is put more money in James Dolan’s pocket and justify him keeping Sather around for another year. In order for the upper management (or mis-management) in the Rangers organization to wake up, they need to be hit where it would hurt the most: in their wallets. It’s absurd that they would ask some season subscribers for $3,600 for tickets for all four rounds of the playoffs. Since they have done so, the Blueshirts have only won one game. It’s going to be okay though. In a few short weeks, Opening Day will be upon us!

OTHER SCORES

MINNESOTA 4, Calgary 3
Buffalo 5, CAROLINA 3
FLORIDA 5, Tampa Bay 2
Nashville 3, ST. LOUIS 2
Atlanta 3, PHILADELPHIA 1
Phoenix 3, DALLAS 2
EDMONTON 5, San Jose 1
ANAHEIM 5, Colorado 2 (Teemu Selannne scored his 600th career NHL goal)

TONIGHT'S GAMES

Pittsburgh at Detroit 7pm VERSUS
Ottawa at Montreal 7:30 pm
Colorado at Los Angeles 10:30 pm

HAPPY ST. PATRIK'S DAY!!!!!

Photo credit: Kostroun/ AP

By Chris Carrano

Patrik Elias led the New Jersey Devils to a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins last night at the Prudential Center, sweeping the six game series from their divisional rivals for the first time in franchise history.

Elias scored on a breakaway goal and set up another for the Devils as they took over first place in the Atlantic Division. The defending Stanley Cup Champions have been outscored 22-5 against New Jersey this season.

"It's kind of a measuring stick a little bit because you're playing the Stanley Cup champs," said Danius Zubrus. "Guys get up and play well." Zubrus tied the game at 1-1 when Elias intercepted Kris Letang’s pass at the Penguins blue line. With his back to the offensive zone, Elias sent a pass backward to Zubrus, who skated toward him with a full head of steam. Zubrus charged in, deked Fleury onto his back and put the Devils on the scoreboard.

Paul Martin, who returned to the Devils lineup after missing 59 games with a broken forearm, scored an unassisted goal in the first to put New Jersey up 2-1. Elias then scored on a shorthanded breakaway just 3:09 into the second period when he intercepted Jordan Leopold’s pass at the blue line and raced down the ice for his breakaway chance.

The Penguins, who looked nothing like defending Stanley Cup Champions last night, have only themselves to blame. Their sloppy play and multiple turnovers gave the Devils numerous breakaway chances and even led to two unassisted goals. Remarkably, the Penguins out shot the Devils 26-19, but none of that matters when you commit turnovers at the rate that they did. "They had 12 shots on net and five were clear breakaways," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "That's leaving your goalie out to dry."

BLACKHAWKS LOSE GAME, SEABROOK

With a chance to tie the San Jose Sharks for the lead in the Western Conference, the Chicago Blackhawks fell 4-2 to the Anaheim Ducks last night, losing their third straight game. Anaheim can thank the refs for getting dust in their eye at the exact moment Corey Perry’s cross-check on Brent Sopel set up the game winning goal.

Lubomir Vishnovsky rifled a shot from just inside the blue line that was deflected high in the air. As Sopel was waiting for it to come down, he was cross-checked to the ice by Perry who then got the puck to Saku Koivu, whose 20-foot wrister beat Corey Crawford with 5:36 remaining.

"I thought it was definitely going to be a penalty. It was pretty evident," Sopel said. "I was jumping for the puck and he pushed me down. You can't do that. You've got to blow it down. You can't let it go in the slot like that and let them score a goal."

The game took an ugly turn when former Blackhawk James Wisniewski drove Brent Seabrook into the boards with a vicious hit to the jaw. Seabrook hit the boards with such force that he was left momentarily dazed before he crumpled down on to the ice. Seabrook left the game with an upper body injury while Wisniewski was given a two minute charging penalty and a five minute misconduct for fighting Duncan Keith, who came to his fallen teammates aid.

"I don't understand how the referees can see something like that and don't identify the fact that he's trying to hurt one of our players. He wasn't skating in from the blue line for any other reason than to run Seebs over and take the liberty on him," said Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews.

The hit will most certainly be reviewed by the NHL especially in the aftermath of Alexander Ovechkin's hit on Brian Campbell over the weekend and Matt Cooke’s hit on Marc Savard that led to a concussion.

"It is being looked into," NHL spokesperson Julie Young said Thursday. "If there is a suspension, it has to be done before the next game, unless the player is suspended until further notice."

Said Wisniewski after the game, “It probably will get looked at, but the result wasn't because of a shot to the head. I'm 5-foot-11 and he's 6-3. What happened was that my face hit his face. The visor came down and cut up my nose. I was shocked when I saw the result of it on the replay.

"I didn't do anything wrong," Wisniewski added. "The result of what happened isn't good, but there wasn't anything wrong that I did."

THE OTHER GAME…

Rene Bourque scored twice, once on a power play and once short handed to lead the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche last night. "We got off with a good start, getting a lucky break on the short-handed goal,” said Bourque. “ I got a nice bounce and it turned into a nice night."

Milan Hejduk scored at 19:27 of the third period to get Colorado within one goal of the desperate Flames, but it was all for naught.

"We were buzzing at the end," Hejduk said. "We came out flat right out of the gate. They outplayed us the first period and then you play catch-up hockey."

TONIGHT'S GAMES

(All times EST)

Pittsburgh at Boston 7 p.m.
Washington at Carolina 7 p.m.
St. Louis at NY Rangers 7 p.m.
Ottawa at Atlanta 7 p.m.
Buffalo at Tampa Bay 7:30 p.m.
New Jersey at Toronto 7:30 p.m.
Phoenix at Florida 7:30 p.m.

Minnesota at Nashville 8 p.m.
Philadelphia at Dallas 8:30 p.m.
San Jose at Vancouver 10 p.m.
Chicago at Los Angeles 10:30 p.m.