Twitter: @Nichols_NHLPool/ Email: chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com
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CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS 4 @ MINNESOTA WILD 2
Goaltending match-up: Corey Crawford (24/26, .923 SV%) vs. Niklas Backstrom (30/34, .882 SV%)
Combos: Patrick Sharp - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Kane/ Bryan Bickell - Dave Bolland - Marian Hossa/ Troy Brouwer - Jake Dowell - Michael Frolik/ Viktor Stalberg - Ryan Johnson - Tomas Kopecky/ Duncan Keith - Nick Leddy/ Niklas Hjalmarsson - Brent Seabrook/ Brian Campbell - John Scott
Scratches: Hendry, Campoli, Pisani
Top PP times: Sharp (3:01), Kane (3:01), Toews (3:01), Seabrook (2:26), Kopecky (1:41)
Trending: Another multi-pointer here for Jonathan Toews (1G, 2A, +1, 3 SOG), who has been tearing it up. This is his ninth game with at least two points in his past 14. Patrick Sharp (1G, 1A, 5 SOG) had 27 points in 29 road GP headed in here. Brian Campbell (1A, +2, 0:55 PP, 3 SOG) ended a five-game pointless skid, while Duncan Keith (1A, 1:34 PP, 4 SOG) has points in five of eight now. Patrick Kane (1A, 2 SOG) had 7-9-16 in 12 February starts before tonight. Marian Hossa (1G, +1, 0:55 PP, 2 SOG) extended his goal streak to four games and put this game away late in the third period with a SHG on a 2-on-1 resulting from a poor choice from PMB.
Combos: Andrew Brunette - Matt Cullen - Antti Miettinen/ Pierre-Marc Bouchard - Kyle Brodziak - Martin Havlat/ Cal Clutterbuck - John Madden - Eric Nystrom/ Brad Staubitz -Warren Peters - Chuck Kobasew/ Greg Zanon - Clayton Stoner/ Nick Schultz - Brent Burns/ Marek Zidlicky - Jared Spurgeon
Scratches: Barker
Top PP times: Burns (4:26), Havlat (3:25), Brodziak (3:25), PMB (3:25), Zidlicky (3:04)
Trending: Martin Havlat (1G, 1A, -1, 2 PIM, 6 SOG) broke the shutout on a breakaway and has goals in four of six with points in five of those affairs. Brent Burns (1G, +1, 7 SOG) scored Minnesota's second goal and entered this one just two points shy of securing a 40-point campaign in what has been a marvelous bounce-back effort. He only played 47 GP last year and had 20 points. Kyle Brodziak (1A, -2, 3 SO)G was back in the line-up tonight and had 4-5-9 in 11 GP this month before this clash.
DETROIT RED WINGS 7 @ LOS ANGELES KINGS 4
Goaltending match-up: Jimmy Howard (35/39, .897 SV%) vs. Jonathan Quick (18/24, .750 SV%) & Jonathan Bernier (2/3, .667 SV%)
Combos: Danny Cleary - Pavel Datsyuk - Jiri Hudler/ Valtteri Filppula - Henrik Zetterberg - Todd Bertuzzi/ Tomas Holmstrom - Mike Modano - Justin Abdelkader/ Drew Miller - Darren Helm - Kris Draper/ Nicklas Lidstrom - Brad Stuart/ Jonathan Ericsson - Niklas Kronwall/ Jakub Kindl - Ruslan Salei
Scratches: Eaves, Rafalski, Franzen
Top PP times: Holmstrom (4:43), Zetterberg (4:20), Datsyuk (4:10), Kronwall (3:55), Lidstrom (3:16)
Trending: Pavel Datsyuk (1G, 2 SOG) carried February totals of 6-5-11 in 10 GP coming in. Jiri Hudler (1G, 1A, +1, 4 PIM, 1:17 PP, 1 SOG) had 12 points in his past 10 starts before this outing, while Nicklas Lidstrom (1G, +1, 2 SOG) had five points in six games before this outing. This was Mike Modano's (1A, 1:12 PP, 1 SOG) second game back and first box score appearance. Henrik Zetterberg (2A, -1, 3 SOG) already had a strong 35 points in 31 road games before this one.
Combos: Brad Richardson - Anze Kopitar - Wayne Simmonds/ Ryan Smyth - Jarret Stoll - Dustin Brown/ Alexei Ponikarovsky - Michal Handzus - Justin Williams/ Wayne Clifford- Trevor Lewis - Peter Harrold/ Willie Mitchell - Drew Doughty/ Jack Johnson - Rob Scuderi/ Alex Martinez - Matt Greene
Scratches: Westgarth, Penner, Drewiske
Top PP times: Doughty (5:09), Stoll (4:54), Kopitar (3:50), Williams (3:38), Brown (3:16)
Trending: Obviously a little quick to have Dustin Penner in the line-up for this one, but he'll surely slot into the L1 LW position alongside Anze Kopitar (2A, 2 SOG). Speaking of the man, he had 10 points in 8 GP coming in here. Jarret Stoll (1A, 4 PIM, 3 SOG) had three points in four games coming in after a period of four games without a point. Dustin Brown (1G, 5 SOG) had a pair of two-pointers in five starts before tonight. Drew Doughty (1A, 4 SOG) has his first three-game point streak of the month. Brad Richardson (1G, 1A, -1, 0:14 PP, 2 SOG) has a point in three of five.
