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NEW YORK ISLANDERS 2 @ BOSTON BRUINS 3
Goaltending match-up: Rick DiPietro (30/33, .909 SV%) vs. Tim Thomas (30/32, .938 SV%)
Combos: Matt Moulson - John Tavares - P.A. Parenteau/ Michael Grabner - Josh Bailey - Kyle Okposo/ Matt Martin - Blake Comeau - Jesse Joensuu/ Michael Haley - Zenon Konopka - Trevor Gillies/ Travis Hamonic - Ty Wishart/ Radek Martinek - Matt Campanale/ Mark Katic - Dylan Reese
Scratches: Gervais, Jurcina, Hillen, MacDonald, Nielsen
Top PP times: Moulson (3:23), Hamonic (2:55), Parenteau (2:47), Tavares (2:47), Bailey (2:31)
Trending: Michael Grabner (2G, -1, 0:0-9 PP, 6 SOG) had a goal the last time these teams met and he added to his 31 goal total here. He had been blanked in his past three coming in. His second goal, which was a SHG, was awesome. Such speed! Blake Comeau (1A, 0:45 PP, 2 SOG) has points in three of four after five without one. Josh Bailey (1A, 3 SOG) has a point in four of seven.
Combos: Milan Lucic - David Krejci - Nathan Horton/ Brad Marchand - Patrice Bergeron - Mark Recchi/ Rich Peverley - Chris Kelly - Michael Ryder/ Daniel Paille - Gregory Campbell - Shawn Thornton/ Zdeno Chara - Johnny Boychuk/ Tomas Kaberle - Dennis Seidenberg/ Andrew Ference - Adam McQuaid
Scratches: Seguin, Hnidy, Kampfer
Top PP times: Bergeron (5:02), Recchi (4:48), Peverley (4:16), Chara (4:00), Seidenberg (4:00)
Trending: Dennis Seidenberg (1G, +2, 2 SOG) has points in four of nine from the back end. Gregory Campbell (1G, 1A, +2, no PP, 1 SOG) really isn’t fantasy worthy, but he’s had a few solid nights like these along the way and depth scoring like that will be crucial for the Bruins to make a deep run this spring.
DETROIT RED WINGS 0 @ CAROLINA HURRICANES 3
Goaltending match-up: Jimmy Howard (29/32, .906 SV%) vs. Cam Ward (42/42)
Combos: Henrik Zetterberg - Pavel Datsyuk - Danny Cleary/ Johan Franzen - Justin Abdelkader - Todd Bertuzzi/ Mike Modano - Valtteri Filppula - Tomas Holmstrom/ Kris Draper - Darren Helm - Patrick Eaves/ Nicklas Lidstrom - Brad Stuart/ Jonathan Ericsson - Brian Rafalski/ Jakub Kindl - Ruslan Salei
Scratches: Miller, Hudler, Kronwall
Top PP times: Lidstrom (4:02), Rafalski (3:55), Datsyuk (3:40), Holmstrom (3:40), Franzen (3:35)
Trending: Henrik Zetterberg left this one with a lower-body injury.
Combos: Cory Stillman - Eric Staal - Erik Cole/ Jeff Skinner - Tuomo Ruutu - Jussi Jokinen/ Drayson Bowman - Brandon Sutter - Chad LaRose/ Jiri Tlusty - Pat Dwyer - Jerome Samson/ Tim Gleason - Joe Corvo/ Joni Pitkanen - Jamie McBain/ Bryan Allen - Derek Joslin
Scratches: Bodie, Harrison
Top PP times: McBain (4:22), Staal (4:05), Stillman (4:05), Pitkanen (3:51), Cole (3:35)
Trending: Cory Stillman (1A, 4 SOG) had 4-9-13 in 18 GP vs. CAR coming in here and Eric Staal (3A, +2, 2 PIM, 4 SOG) maintained his point-per-game pace for the season at home. Jeff Skinner (1G, +1, 2:28 PP, 5 SOG) headed into this one with an even 29-29-58 in his highly-impressive rookie campaign. Erik Cole (1G, +1, 5 SOG) had 6-5-11 in 16 GP coming into this affair.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS 2 @ NEW JERSEY DEVILS 4
Goaltending match-up: James Reimer (18/21, .857 SV%) & Jean-Sebastien Giguere (11/11) vs. Martin Brodeur (22/24, .917 SV%)
Combos: Clarke MacArthur - Mikhail Grabovski - Nikolai Kulemin/ Joffrey Lupul - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel/ Joey Crabb - Darryl Boyce - Nazem Kadri/ Jay Rosehill - Mike Brown - Fredrik Sjostrom/ Dion Phaneuf - Keith Aulie/ Luke Schenn - Carl Gunnarsson/ Matt Lashoff - Mike Komisarek
Scratches: Armstrong, Lebda, Brent, Gustavsson
Top PP times: MacArthur (0:54), Gunnarsson (0:54), Grabovski (0:54), Kulemin (0:54), Phanuef (0:51)
Trending: Phil Kessel’s (1G, -1, 0:19 PP, 5 SOG) point streak is at nine games now and he’s been on one a real tear since the second week of February. Joffrey Lupul (1A, -1, 0:19 PP, 3 SOG) had eight points in seven outings coming in here. This was Tyler Bozak’s (1G, -1, no PP, 3 SOG) first career SHG and he did it with his team down two men. Great hustle.
Combos: Ilya Kovalchuk - Travis Zajac - Nick Palmieri/ Brian Rolston - Patrik Elias - Mattias Tedenby/ Dainius Zubrus - Jacob Josefson - David Clarkson/ Rod Pelley - David Steckel - Adam Mair/ Anssi Salmela - Andy Greene/ Henrik Tallinder - Mark Fayne/ Mark Fraser - Jay Leach
Scratches: White, Parise, Zharkov, Volchenkov
Top PP times: Kovalchuk (9:03), Elias (5:38), Zajac (5:36), Rolston (5:10), Josefson (4:38)
Trending: Make that eight straight 30+ goal seasons for Ilya Kovalchuk (1G, 1A, 6 SOG) and after the start he and the Devils had, that’s quite an accomplishment for this season. He also hit the 700 point mark in his 700th career game. Patrik Elias (1G, 1A, +1, 2 SOG) hit the 60-point plateau this evening in extending his current point streak to five. Jacob Josefson (1A, +1, 2 PIM, no SOG) had no points in three April starts coming in, but had 3-5-8 in 14 GP last month. He and Mattias Tedenby (1G, +1, 4:09 PP, 3 SOG) continue to make fans of the Devils look forward to next season. Dainius Zubrus left this one with an injury.
FLORIDA PANTHERS 2 @ WASHINGTON CAPITALS 5
Goaltending match-up: Scott Clemmensen (20/24, .833 SV%) vs. Semyon Varlamov (31/33, .939 SV%)
Combos: David Booth - Marty Reasoner - Jack Skille/ Sergei Samsonov - Mike Santorelli - Steve Bernier/ Evgeny Dadonov - Ryan Carter - Shawn Matthias/ Michal Repik - Tim Kennedy - Niclas Bergfors/ Mike Weaver - Jason Garrison/ Clay Wilson - Joe Callahan/ Keaton Ellerby - Dmitry Kulikov
Scratches: Sulzer, Weiss, Hordichuk, Timmins
Top PP times: Kulikov (4:46), Wilson (4:24), Santorelli (4:13), Samsonov (4:08), Booth (3:49)
Trending: David Booth (1G, -3, 2 PIM, 2 SOG) broke the shutout bid and he also scored in his last start against this team. Disappointing season for the winger, but he should be a pretty solid candidate to improve upon his totals next year. Sergei Samsonov (2A, 2 SOG) had 3-9-12 in 17 GP with FLA coming in. Mike Santorelli (1G, 2 PIM, 4 SOG) added one late and that put him at 39 points overall.
Combos: Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - Mike Knuble/ Marco Sturm - Marcus Johansson - Eric Fehr/ Jason Chimera - Brooks Laich - Jay Beagle/ Matt Hendricks - Boyd Gordon - Matt Bradley/ Karl Alzner - John Carlson/ Jeff Schultz - Sean Collins/ John Erskine - Tyler Sloan
Scratches: Wideman, King, Hannan, Semin, Arnott
Top PP times: Ovechkin (4:17), Laich (3:30), Backstrom (3:26), Knuble (3:26), Johansson (2:19)
Trending: Alex Ovechkin (1G, 2A, +2, 5 SOG) had 43 points in 36 affairs vs. FLA before adding more here and he added the ENG too. Mike Knuble (1G, +2, 2 PIM, 1 SOG) had three goals in three tries headed in here, while Brooks Laich (2A, 2 PIM, 3 SOG) has a five-game point streak rolling along. Nicklas Backstrom (2A, +2, 2 SOG) had collected 26 points in 24 GP vs. FLA coming in and had 30 points in 37 home games before tonight.
ST. LOUIS BLUES 3 @ CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS 4 (OT)
Goaltending match-up: Ty Conklin (35/39, .897 SV%) vs. Corey Crawford (21/24, .875 SV%)
Combos: Andy McDonald - David Backes - T.J. Oshie/ Matt D'Agostini - Patrik Berglund - Chris Stewart/ Alex Steen - Vladimir Sobotka - Chris Porter/ Ryan Reaves - B.J. Crombeen - Philip McRae/ Nikita Nikitin - Roman Polak/ Barret Jackman - Kevin Shattenkirk/ Carlo Colaiacovo - Alex Pietrangelo
Scratches: Janssen
Top PP times: Pietrangelo (2:55), McDonald (2:47), Colaiacovo (2:46), Stewart (2:29), D'Agostini (1:41)
Trending: T.J. Oshie (1G, 1A, +1, 0:59 PP, 3 SOG) didn’t waste any time before scoring tonight and he had four points in five starts coming in here. Alex Pietrangelo (1A, -1, no SOG) had a two-pointer the last time he faced the Hawks and had five in five overall against Chicago coming in too. Andy McDonald (1A, +1, 4 SOG) continues to pile up points nightly and David Backes (1G, 1:16 PP, 2 SOG) had 14 points in 18 GP before tonight. Chris Stewart (1G, +1, 2 SOG) had already scored 14 times in 24 starts with STL coming in here.
Combos: Tomas Kopecky - Jonathan Toews - Marian Hossa/ Michael Frolik - Patrick Sharp - Patrick Kane/ Bryan Bickell - Jake Dowell - Fernando Pisani/ Viktor Stalberg - Ryan Johnson - Ben Smith/ Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook/ Niklas Hjalmarsson - Brian Campbell/ Nick Leddy - Chris Campoli
Scratches: Hendry, Kruger, Brouwer, Scott, Bolland
Top PP times: Keith (3:58), Kane (3:47), Hossa (3:45), Toews (3:34), Sharp (3:02)
Trending: Patrick Sharp (1A, 7 SOG) made a quick return to the line-up from his knee injury with his team badly needing a win here and it was captain Jonathan Toews (1G, 3 SOG) who delivered the OT GWG. Brent Seabrook (1A, 2:16 PP, 3 SOG) had 2A the last time these teams met and Duncan Keith (2A, +1, 1 SOG) came into tonight needing two points to make it three straight years with at least 44 points. Marian Hossa (1G, 4 SOG) had gone four games without a goal.
EDMONTON OILERS 1 @ CALGARY FLAMES 6
Goaltending match-up: Nikolai Khabibulin (41/47, .872 SV%) vs. Miikka Kiprusoff (22/23, .957 SV%)
Combos: Teemu Hartikainen - Chris Vande Velde - Jordan Eberle/ Magnus Paajarvi - Ryan O'Marra - Ryan Jones/ Liam Reddox - Andrew Cogliano - Linus Omark/ Steve MacIntyre - Jean-Francois Jacques - Jason Strudwick/ Ladislav Smid - Taylor Chorney/ Kurtis Foster - Theo Peckham/ Jeff Petry - Jim Vandermeer
Scratches: Hall, Horcoff, Fraser, Brule, Gilbert, Hemsky, Gagner
Top PP times: Paajarvi (2:03), Foster (1:59), Petry (1:53), Jones (1:49), Vandermeer (1:44)
Trending: Magnus Paajarvi (1G, 5 SOG) has a goal in three straight with points in four in a row. Andrew Cogliano (1A, +1, 2 PIM, 1:18 PP, 3 SOG) had nine points in 16 GP coming in here.
Combos: Alex Tanguay - Mikael Backlund - Jarome Iginla/ Curtis Glencross - Daymond Langkow - Tom Kostopoulos/ Rene Bourque - Olli Jokinen - Tim Jackman/ Lance Bouma - Matt Stajan - Greg Nemisz/ Robyn Regehr - Jay Bouwmeester/ Mark Giordano - Brett Carson/ Cory Sarich - Anton Babchuk
Scratches: Hagman, Staios, Mikkelson
Top PP times: Tanguay (1:56), Giordano (1:56), Backlund (1:56), Jackman (1:56), Iginla (1:56)
Trending: Rack up another 40-goal season for Jarome Iginla (3G, 1A, +2, 7 SOG) , who recently passed the 1000 point mark in his career. This was his 12th career hat trick. Rene Bourque (1G, 2 PIM, 1:38 PP, 5 SOG) had 0-2-2 in 4 GP vs. EDM this season coming in and Olli Jokinen (1A, -1, 1:38 PP, 6 SOG) has points in five of seven. Mikael Backlund (3A, +2, 2 PIM, 4 SOG) had six points in 15 GP coming into this clash. Alex Tanguay (1G, 2A, +2, 3 SOG) was denied on his penalty shot attempt too. Curtis Glencross (1G, +1, 1:38 PP, 1 SOG) had one point in six games coming into this one.
SAN JOSE SHARKS 2 @ ANAHEIM DUCKS 6
Goaltending match-up: Antero Niittymaki (28/34, .824 SV%) vs. Ray Emery (22/23, .957 SV%, left with minor injury but is apparently fine and this was precautionary) & Dan Ellis (14/15, .933 SV%)
Combos: Patrick Marleau - Joe Thornton - Devin Setoguchi/ Brandon Mashinter - Logan Couture - Dany Heatley/ Torrey Mitchell - Joe Pavelski - Kyle Wellwood/ Ben Eager - Andrew Desjardins - Jamal Mayers/ Douglas Murray - Dan Boyle/ Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Jason Demers/ Ian White - Niclas Wallin
Scratches: Clowe, Braun
Top PP times: Pavelski (4:33), Setoguchi (4:12), Boyle (4:11), Marleau (3:37), Thornton (3:37)
Trending: Dan Boyle (1G, -1, 2 PIM, 1 SOG) had never scored in 23 prior starts against the Ducks. He reached the 50-point plateau for the season here too.
Combos: Bobby Ryan - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry/ Jason Blake - Saku Koivu - Teemu Selanne/ Brad Winchester - Brandon McMillan - Matt Beleskey/ Jarkko Ruutu - Todd Marchant - George Parros/ Lubomir Visnovsky - Toni Lydman/ Francois Beauchemin - Luca Sbisa/ Cam Fowler - Sheldon Brookbank
Scratches: Lilja, Sutton, Chipchura, Sexton, Hiller
Top PP times: Visnovsky (5:53), Fowler (4:47), Selanne (4:28), Perry (4:01), Getzlaf (4:01)
Trending: Corey Perry (3G, 1A, +2, 9 SOG) came into tonight three goals short of 50 and seven points shy of 100, so why not get a hat trick and do it up in style? Bobby Ryan (3A, +2, 2 PIM, 1:53 PP, 3 SOG) had 16 points in 16 GP coming in, while Ryan Getzlaf (4A, +2, 2 SOG) added to the 35 points in 30 home games he had before this outing. Cam Fowler (1G, 1A, -1, 2 SOG) has been especially hot in the past few weeks and came into this evening needing two points to reach 40 for the season. Lubomir Visnovsky (1A, +2, 1 SOG) had 20 points in 16 outings headed into this one. Teemu Selanne (1G, 1A, 6 SOG) had been blanked in his past two starts.
PHOENIX COYOTES 2 @ LOS ANGELES KINGS 3 (SO)
Goaltending match-up: Ilya Bryzgalov (31/33, .939 SV%) vs. Jonathan Quick (33/35, .943 SV%)
Combos: Ray Whitney - Eric Belanger - Shane Doan/ Mikkel Boedker - Kyle Turris - Radim Vrbata/ Taylor Pyatt - Vernon Fiddler - Lee Stempniak/ Lauri Korpikoski - Andrew Ebbett - Paul Bissonnette/ Keith Yandle - Derek Morris/ Ed Jovanovski - Adrian Aucoin/ Rostislav Klesla - Michal Rozsival
Scratches: Schlemko, Hanzal, Hollweg, Miele, MacLean
Top PP times: Yandle (3:27), Doan (3:27), Korpikoski (3:08), Whitney (3:08), Vrbata (2:58)
Trending: Lee Stempniak (1G, 1A, +1, 0:52 PP, 6 SOG) has points in six of 10 now, while Vernon Fiddler (2A, +2, 0:10 PP, no SOG) had three points dating back to the start of March coming into this clash. Shootout: Vrbata
Combos: Ryan Smyth - Jarret Stoll - Dustin Brown/ Dustin Penner - Michal Handzus - Oscar Moller/ Wayne Simmonds - Brad Richardson- Kyle Clifford/ Alexei Ponikarovsky - Trevor Lewis - Kevin Westgarth/ Rob Scuderi - Drew Doughty/ Jack Johnson - Willie Mitchell/ Alec Martinez - Matt Greene
Scratches: Harrold, Kopitar, Williams, Drewiske
Top PP times: Johnson (3:54), Doughty (3:47), Handzus (3:37), Brown (3:26), Ponikarovsky (3:00)
Trending: Dustin Brown (1A, 1 SOG) had 11 points in 11 GP coming into this one and Jarret Stoll (1G, 2 PIM, 2:08 PP, 6 SOG) has points in two of three after having only three last month. Shootout: Handzus, Stoll
