 Marc-Andre Gragnani #5 scored his 1st goal as a Canuck last night and it was the tying goal to send the game into OT! The Western Standings: 1st Vancouver with 107 points 2nd St. Louis with 106 points 3rd Los Angeles with 91 points 4th Nashville with 98 points 5th Detroit with 97 points 6th Chicago with 97 points 7th Phoenix with 91 points 8th San Jose with 90 points |  After last night's New Jersey win 5-0 over the Carolina Hurricane, the Devils get a place in the post season! The Eastern Standings: 1st New York Rangers with 107 points 2nd Boston with 96 points 3rd Florida with 90 points 4th Pittsburgh with 102 points 5th Philadelphia with 99 points 6th New Jersey with 96 points 7th Ottawa with 90 points 8th Washington with 88 points |
Two more teams are going to the playoffs first round. The Chicago Blackhawks and the New Jersey Devils. St. Louis is the 2nd team this year to solidify their division title. They got this last night after losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2 but Nashville lost to Chicago, therefore allowing St. Louis to clinch the Division. Here is a quick breakdown of last night's game:
Jason Spezza #19 scored the winning OT goal!
The day started off with a heated game between the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers. Ottawa scored 3 goals in the 1st period, Philly came back to score 3 goals in the 2nd period. It was a scoreless 3rd period and no goal in OT meant shootout. Matt Read of Philly and Milan Michalek of Ottawa scored scored in the 1st round, Claude Giroux missed in the 2nd and Jason Spezza scoed. Danny Briere missed for Philly and it was an Ottawa win! Possibly the best part of the game? Wayne Simmonds took a puck to the face that sent him to the locker room for maintainance. Then in the 2nd intermission he gave an interview looking like this! God Bless a hockey player!
Wayne Simmons giving an interview after a 2nd period puck to the face!
The Boston Bruins beat the New York Islanders 6-3. It was a 2-2 tie after the 2nd period. Boston scored 2 in the 3rd followed by 1 Islander goal then Boston scored two more. Boston has a spot in the playoffs, Islanders are 13th in the east.
In a heated game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabers the Maple Leafs took it 4-3. It was a 3-1 score at the end of the 2nd period with a John-Michael Liles goal with less then a second left in the period. Buffalo scored 2 more in the 3rd and Toronto 1 goal but it wasn't enough for Buffalo. Surprisingly, Toronto won at home for the 1st time in 54 days. Randy Carlyle got his 1st win at home since becoming the head coach of the team. It was also Carlyle's first home win as a member of the Maple Leafs since his playing days as a Leaf in 1978. Buffalo is going to have to really work hard to solidify a playoff spot after this loss.
The Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Capitals 3-2 in a S/O. Matt Hendricks and Alexander Semin scored for Washington in the shootout. After these 2 points Washington has a 2 point lead over the Buffalo Sabres for 8th place. This also meant the return of Nicklas Backstrom for the Capitals. Backstrom had missed 40 games this season due to injury(concussion).
The New Jersey Devils beat the Carolina Hurricane 5-0. Five different Devils scored including Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise. New Jersey will be in the 1st round of the playoffs and Carolina? Better luck next year they are 12th in the east with 78 points.
In a heated game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabers the Maple Leafs took it 4-3. It was a 3-1 score at the end of the 2nd period with a John-Michael Liles goal with less then a second left in the period. Buffalo scored 2 more in the 3rd and Toronto 1 goal but it wasn't enough for Buffalo. Surprisingly, Toronto won at home for the 1st time in 54 days. Randy Carlyle got his 1st win at home since becoming the head coach of the team. It was also Carlyle's first home win as a member of the Maple Leafs since his playing days as a Leaf in 1978. Buffalo is going to have to really work hard to solidify a playoff spot after this loss.
The Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Capitals 3-2 in a S/O. Matt Hendricks and Alexander Semin scored for Washington in the shootout. After these 2 points Washington has a 2 point lead over the Buffalo Sabres for 8th place. This also meant the return of Nicklas Backstrom for the Capitals. Backstrom had missed 40 games this season due to injury(concussion).
The New Jersey Devils beat the Carolina Hurricane 5-0. Five different Devils scored including Ilya Kovalchuk and Zach Parise. New Jersey will be in the 1st round of the playoffs and Carolina? Better luck next year they are 12th in the east with 78 points.
Ryan Malone #12 and Steven Stamkos #91 of the Tampa Bay Lightning!
The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 in OT. This officially knocks the Jets out of a playoff spot. Tampa is out as well. This game was entertaining though. Ryan Malone scored both goals for Tampa in regulation and Steven Stamkos scored the OT winner with only 45 seconds gone. Malone has now scored 5 goals in his last 2 games and Stamkos scored his 56th goal this year and a record 5 OT winners in 1 season! WOW!
The Columbus Blue Jackets who have been 15th and last in the west all season have picked an odd time to go on a winning streak? They have won their last 3 games. Last night's win came against the uber strong and 1st in the west 'til last night, the St. Louis Blues. Columbus always had the lead during the game and made St. Louis attempt to play catch up. RJ Umberger scored twice for Columbus. Vinny Prospal scored an empty netter to really secure the deal with only 1:26 left in the 3rd. Columbus now has 61 points but was the first team officially out of a playoff spot.
The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Nashville Predators 5-4. Five different Blackhawks scored including Patrick Sharp, Dave Bolland, Patrick Kane, Viktor Stalberg and Brent Seabrook. Nashville team Captain Shea Weber scored twice for his team. Both of these teams are heading to the playoffs.
The Minnesota Wild beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in a shootout. Erik Christensen and Mikko Koivu both scored for the Wild in the S/O. Minnesota is out of a playoff spot but with the single point LA picks up they move to 3rd in the west and 1st in their Pacific Division.
The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-0. Four different Coyotes scored including Radim Vrbata assisted by Ray Whitney at 16:14 in the 2nd and then Ray Whitney assisted by Radim Vrbata 40 seconds later. Anaheim is out of the playoffs and Phoenix is 7th in the west with 91 points.
The Dallas Stars lost for the 2nd time in as many nights. This time is came in the form of a 3-0 lose to the San Jose Sharks. Joe Pavelski scored twice for the Sharks and Jason Demers scored once. Dallas now sits 9th in the standings with 89 points and with San Jose's win they're now one point ahead of their Pacific Division rival with 90 points.
The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Nashville Predators 5-4. Five different Blackhawks scored including Patrick Sharp, Dave Bolland, Patrick Kane, Viktor Stalberg and Brent Seabrook. Nashville team Captain Shea Weber scored twice for his team. Both of these teams are heading to the playoffs.
The Minnesota Wild beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in a shootout. Erik Christensen and Mikko Koivu both scored for the Wild in the S/O. Minnesota is out of a playoff spot but with the single point LA picks up they move to 3rd in the west and 1st in their Pacific Division.
The Phoenix Coyotes beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-0. Four different Coyotes scored including Radim Vrbata assisted by Ray Whitney at 16:14 in the 2nd and then Ray Whitney assisted by Radim Vrbata 40 seconds later. Anaheim is out of the playoffs and Phoenix is 7th in the west with 91 points.
The Dallas Stars lost for the 2nd time in as many nights. This time is came in the form of a 3-0 lose to the San Jose Sharks. Joe Pavelski scored twice for the Sharks and Jason Demers scored once. Dallas now sits 9th in the standings with 89 points and with San Jose's win they're now one point ahead of their Pacific Division rival with 90 points.
The Vancouver Canucks picked up 2 points last night in a 3-2 OT victory over the Calgary Flames. It wasn't the usual suspects showing up to score for the Canucks either. Maxim Lapierre scored the opening goal. His 4th point in 2 games. The 1st period ended 1-0 Vancouver. Olli Jokinen scored in the 2nd for 1-1 tie to end the 2nd. Mike Cammalleri scored 51 seconds into the 3rd period to give Calgary the lead but then Marc-Andre Gragnani scored his 1st goal as a Canuck to tie up the game! Into OT and it couldn't have been written any better. 4th line forward Andrew Ebbett who missed 35 games and was making his return tonight scored the OT goal to give Vancouver the victory. Ebbett, who had been practicing with the team for a few weeks, was recovering from a broken collar bone he sustained on his 3rd shift during the much heated Boston/Vancouver matchup earlier this year. Ebbett ended up with 3 plates and 9 screws to fix his collarbone. Funny enough he got the surgery in Boston and was given a security guard to stand outside his hospital room in case unruly Bruins fans wanted a piece of the Canuck. All in all it was a great game to watch between the 2 teams. After this win Vancouver is 1 point ahead of the St. Louis blues in the west and tied with the NY Rangers for 1st in the league.
Tonight's lineup is short:
Philadelphia takes on Pittsburgh at 9:30
Ottawa takes on the NY Islanders at 12:00
Florida takes on Detroit at 1:00
Minnesota takes on Chicago at 4:00
Boston takes on the NY Rangers at 4:00
and Edmonton takes on Anaheim at 5:00 Enjoy X
And head on down to Jack Poole Plaza today in downtown Vancouver for the Annual Canucks Autism Network's Family Festival from 10:00am to 3:00pm!
Tonight's lineup is short:
Philadelphia takes on Pittsburgh at 9:30
Ottawa takes on the NY Islanders at 12:00
Florida takes on Detroit at 1:00
Minnesota takes on Chicago at 4:00
Boston takes on the NY Rangers at 4:00
and Edmonton takes on Anaheim at 5:00 Enjoy X
And head on down to Jack Poole Plaza today in downtown Vancouver for the Annual Canucks Autism Network's Family Festival from 10:00am to 3:00pm!
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