Despite four regulars being out of their starting lineup, the Ottawa Senators still found a way to punch a ticket into the post-season.
It’s one of five things we learned in the NHL on Thursday night.
Get back to the office in no time with BPs New Half-Time Lunch and $10 Combos. Dine-In Only. Click here to learn more.
Step back
Despite playing well over the past three weeks, the Toronto Maple Leafs blew a golden opportunity against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Maple Leafs had a chance to earn a berth into the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season, but came up short in a 4-1 loss.
All Toronto needs in its final two regular season games — Saturday vs. Pittsburgh and Sunday vs. Columbus — is a win to get into the post-season. The Leafs are three points up on both Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders for the final wild-card spot.
Toronto had gone 8-1-1 in its last 10 games before two straight 4-1 defeats.
New coach, new results
The Ottawa Senators are back into the playoffs after a 2-1 shootout win over the Boston Bruins.
It’s an impressive feat for new coach Guy Boucher and the Senators, who were missing four regulars including captain Erik Karlsson.
Marc Methot, Zach Smith and Bobby Ryan are also out of the lineup. Getting those players healthy in time for the post-season would be a huge lift to the Sens.
Ottawa is currently second in the Atlantic Division and would have home-ice advantage over Boston in its potential first-round series should the standings stay intact.
Tis the season
With the regular season nearing a close, several NHL teams that are out of the playoff hunt will start to try some new, young guys in the lineup.
Among those teams on Thursday night were Eric Comrie and the Winnipeg Jets. Comrie made 35 saves in his NHL debut as the Jets edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Jon Gilles got the nod for the Calgary Flames, who toppled the Kings 4-1. He finished the game with 27 saves.
And in Colorado, top prospect Tyson Jost scored his first career NHL goal in his third game as the Avalanche fell to the the Minnesota Wild 4-3.
[snippet id=3332601]
Wrong time of year
Speaking of those Winnipeg Jets, they’ve been on fire of late, winning six in a row. It’s their longest winning streak since moving back to Manitoba in 2011-12.
The one problem is that this win streak is coming at the wrong time of year. Winnipeg has been out of the playoff conversation for some time now.
The poor timing of their streak has got a few Jets fans talking on Twitter using the hashtag #ThatsSoJets.
In Lucic we trust
Talk about ramping it up just in time for the playoffs.
Milan Lucic was a machine for the Oilers on Thursday night, scoring a natural hat trick and playing physical to lift Edmonton past San Jose 4-2.
The 28-year-old also had a fight in the first period and logged 14:02.
These types of performances were exactly what GM Peter Chiarelli was hoping for from Lucic when the Oilers signed him to a seven-year, $42-million deal last summer. With the Stanley Cup Playoffs starting next week, Lucic is getting hot at the right time and will be aiming for his second championship this spring.
Not to be outdone, Cam Talbot set an Oilers season franchise record with his 41st victory of the season.
[relatedlinks]
