Justin Peters, who faced 40 shots in the game, looked shaky at times.  In the end, though, he earned his fourth win in five tries thanks to some outstanding work in the third frame.

Brian Pothier, who was part of the return on the Joe Corvo trade, scored his first Hurricanes goal to win the game very early in the overtime period. 

Continue reading "Big but inconsequential win for the Canes"

The boys are back in town and going through their checklist.

Kiss wife, pat dog, change diapers, throw dirty underwear in laundry, fall asleep on couch, wake up, stretch arms and say: “Well, as far as 14-game road trips go, that was one of the better ones.”

Or maybe it will be the only one. In any case, the Vancouver Canucks emerged from six weeks on the road – broken up by that Olympic thing – sitting atop the Northwest Division and with a playoff spot almost secured.

The Canucks did some interesting work on the 8-5-1 odyssey. Most notably, they began it by coming back from three goals down in the Centre of the Universe to shock the Maple Leafs 5-3 on national TV, outscoring Brian Burke’s Buds 4-0 in the final period.

They also came back to win after being down two goals in Boston, Columbus and Columbus again.

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Have to admit, my relentless optimism that this team would squeeze into the playoffs as the eighth seed took a hit last night. Still think they’re going to find a way to do it but ask me again after Friday’s game against the Thrashers and Sunday against the Flyers. No points in those two games would likely swing me into the other column.

So, before getting to today’s articles, here’s the current standings as it pertains to the Rangers:
6. Flyers - 65 games played, 35-26-4, 74 points (won 2 in a row)
7. Canadiens - 68, 33-29-6, 72 (won 3)
8. Bruins - 65, 29-24-12, 70
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9. Rangers - 67, 29-29-9, 67
10. Thrashers - 65, 28-27-10, 66 (lost 3)
11. Lightning - 65, 27-27-11, 65
12. Panthers - 65, 27-28-10, 64 (won 3)

Notice the problem, right? Other teams manage to put together winning streaks and only the Canadiens have played more games than the Rangers. The Thrashers play a big game in Columbus tonight so you would think that helps out the Rangers since Atlanta has to fly home and host the Rangers Friday.

Click here for more. He’s starting to look at it like a Ranger fan.

The Sharks forward had two goals and two assists in the third period, leading San Jose to an 8-5 victory after trailing the Nashville Predators 4-2 after two. Patrick Marleau's(notes) 40th goal and Jay Leach's(notes) empty-netter capped the scoring, but this incredible Pavelski spin-o-rama goal broke a 5-5 tie:

No. 2 Star: Miikka Kiprusoff(notes), Calgary Flames

Kipper made 33 saves, including 17 in the third period, earning his fourth shutout of the season and giving the Flames a big 2-0 victory over the visiting Ottawa Senators. A case of a goalie bailing out his team.

No. 3 Star: Brian Pothier(notes), Carolina Hurricanes

Pothier took a pass from the corner from Ray Whitney(notes) and ripped a shot past his former Washington Capitals teammate Brent Johnson(notes) to give the Hurricanes a 4-3 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Pothier also had a helper on Whitney's first-period goal. Eric Staal(notes) scored his 21st and Zach Boychuk(notes) his second for the Canes; Bill Guerin(notes), Jordan Staal(notes) and Mr. Popularity Matt Cooke(notes) tallied for the Penguins.

Honorable mention: Craig Anderson(notes) stopped all 27 shots in shutting out his former team, as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Florida Panthers, 3-0. Paul Stastny(notes) had two goals. ... Tyler Bozak(notes) scored a goal made a nice play in overtime to spring a 2-on-1 break that Phil Kessel(notes) converted to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 4-3 OT victory against the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning. Steven Stamkos(notes) scored his 42nd goal. Viktor Stalberg(notes) scored twice for the Leafs. ... Despite holding 17-1 shot advantage in the third period, the Atlanta Thrashers couldn't rally against Mathieu Garon(notes) (28 saves) and the Columbus Blue Jackets, who won 2-1. ... The St. Louis Blues won for the sixth time in seven games, taking a 2-1 shootout decision from the New York Islanders. Chris Mason(notes) made two shootout saves and 29 for the game; Marty Biron had 35 for the Isles. ... The Boston Bruins located their offense for a night, as Patrice Bergeron(notes) had three points in a 5-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Jeff Carter(notes) scored his 32nd for the Flyers. ... Solid win for the Detroit Red Wings over the Minnesota Wild, 5-1, as Johan Franzen(notes) had two goals and Henrik Zetterberg(notes) had a 3-point night. ... Unpredictable game between the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers, as the two played to a 4-4 tie and a five-round shootout that Andrei Kostitsyn(notes) eventually won for the 5-4 Habs victory. Jaroslav Halak(notes) turned aside five shots in the skills competition.

Did you know? The Bruins are one of two NHL franchises with a winning record against the Flyers, at the 81-61-21-6. Montreal is the other. (AP)

Dishonorable mention: Michael Leighton(notes) was pulled after giving up four goals on 25 shots, but Coach Peter Laviolette said: "You go back and look at the goals, our defense was porous." ... Shea Weber(notes) of the Predators was a minus-5; Ryan Suter(notes)? He was a minus-6. ... Dan Ellis(notes) allowed four goals on 12 shots in the third period for Nashville before being yanked for Pekka Rinne(notes). ...  Both Ottawa and Minnesota were 0-for-5 on the power play.

What if matters were reversed and it was Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby felled by a shoulder to his head? What if the Bruins target him in next Thursday’s game? Try to imagine the outrage if Crosby should be sidelined for any length of time, including the playoffs.

This is not a comfortable spot for the NHL, not when a Cooke suspension would have calmed things and prevented a steady cry from veteran NHLers such as Bill Guerin and Vincent Lecavalier calling for a ban on head shots. What we have instead is what we’re hearing and reading: The Bruins are ticked, their fans want revenge.

It’s a bad mix – dangerous, noxious, regrettable. And the game looms ever larger.

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