Dallas Stars vs Los Angeles Kings March 21, 2013

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The Los Angeles Kings have won five straight at home since losing to the Dallas Stars.

The defending Stanley Cup champions have that defeat fresh in their minds as they host the Stars on Thursday night.

Los Angeles (17-10-2) has taken the first three of this five-game homestand, and will now look to exact revenge on the last visiting team to win at Staples Center. Dallas (13-13-3) won 5-2 on March 7 in the only 2013 meeting between these Pacific Division rivals.

"Dallas kicked our (butt) in here last time," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said.

Sutter voiced his displeasure with Jonathan Quick after that contest. Quick made 17 saves on 21 shots, as the Stars scored three times in the third period to snap a tie.

Quick has a 3.13 goals-against average in his last five starts and has been splitting time with Jonathan Bernier, who is 1-2-1 with a 2.22 GAA in four career starts versus Dallas.

Bernier improved to 7-2-0 with a 1.94 GAA this season with a career-high 40 saves Tuesday in a 3-2 home victory over Phoenix.

Sutter continues to play it by ear as to who his goaltender will be on a nightly basis.

Vancouver Canucks vs Phoenix Coyotes March 21, 2013

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A return home might be what the Phoenix Coyotes need to consistently generate some offense and end their longest skid of the season.

The Coyotes look to avoid a fifth straight loss while trying for a fourth consecutive victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

Phoenix (13-13-4) ended its franchise-record three-game stretch without a goal, but concluded an 0-3-1 trip with a 3-2 loss at Los Angeles on Tuesday. Shane Doan scored the first of his two in the third period to snap the Coyotes' drought of 245 minutes, 32 seconds without a goal.

Doan's goals were Phoenix's first during an 0-4-1 road slide.

"When you haven't scored in three games, you're going to get pretty desperate," Doan said. "We were desperate enough, but we didn't find a way to do it."

The Coyotes hope they're able to get it done during a two-game stop at home, where they have averaged 3.5 non-shootout goals while winning six of eight. Phoenix went 0 for 12 on the power play during the recent trip but has scored with the man advantage in three of the last four at home.

Florida Panthers vs New York Rangers March 21, 2013

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After stumbling a bit, the New York Rangers are starting to regain momentum.

A visit from the NHL-worst Florida Panthers isn't likely to slow them down.

The Rangers aim for a third consecutive win and fourth in a row over the Panthers as these teams meet for the first time this season Thursday night.

New York (15-12-2) had been outscored 9-2 in losing a season-worst three straight in regulation, but got back on track with Monday's 2-1 shootout win over Carolina. The Rangers earned another two points the following night with a 3-2 victory at New Jersey, moving into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Michael Del Zotto had a goal and an assist and Rick Nash's team-leading 10th score put the Rangers up for good 7:25 into the second period. New York improved to 13-3-1 when Nash has least one point.

Montreal Canadiens vs New York Islanders March 21, 2013

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The Montreal Canadiens weren't entirely discouraged after their failed comeback bid, which would have extended their winning streak to their longest of the season. But they'll still have plenty to clean up after a crucial mistake proved costly.

To get back on track, Montreal will need a road victory Thursday night against the New York Islanders, a team they've had difficulties with recently.

Montreal (19-5-5), which trails only Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference standings, is 13-1-4 in its last 18 games, with that lone regulation loss coming on Long Island, 6-3, on March 5. The Canadiens had won five in a row since that defeat, but that run came to an end with Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss to Buffalo.

It was the second straight game that Montreal was held to two goals after scoring four or more in seven of the previous eight contests.

But coach Michel Therrien saw a positive in finding a way to come away with a point after the club trailed 2-0 entering the third.

"We never quit," he said "I thought the guys worked really hard to make a comeback. As long as the effort is there, I'm going to be satisfied."

Boston Bruins vs Ottawa Senators March 11, 2013

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The Boston Bruins look to continue their dominant play when they take on the struggling Ottawa Senators on Monday evening.
The Bruins are coming off a tremendous 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers that saw the team score in three goals in the span of over two minutes.
"I think we only had one shot in the first 10 minutes, but I didn't think that we were playing poorly," Forward Chris Kelly said. "The shots aren't always there. We seemed to get rolling after that and I thought we played a pretty consistent game."

Boston Bruins vs Ottawa Senators March 11, 2013

"I think it was better for our team to play a solid 60-minute defensive game but still get the offense," said goalie Tuuka Rask who made 23 saves for his 13th career shutout. "Not so for me to get the shutout cause we're a team here and win as a team and lose as a team but it's always good to get a shutout, it tells a lot about team defense."
"Our guys stuck to the game plan," Coach Claude Julien said. "We looked more like the team that had those leads in the past. We had a little glitch there for a couple of games. We're hoping to turn the page on that."

Vancouver Canucks vs Minnesota Wild March 10, 2013

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Welcome to the halfway mark of the season, ladies and gentlemen. It is fitting that the Wild not only play the Canucks tonight, but also have the chance to take over the Northwest Division with a win in regulation. While the faux rivalry with the Canucks has grown tired after missing the playoffs for the better part of the last century, this game will no doubt carry a playoff atmosphere, which should ratchet up the bitterness.

The Wild are going to need to do their best to not buy into the stupidity that normally comes with a Canucks game. If Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Mikael Granlund are scratched again, and Zenon Konopka skates tonight, Konopka will need to find a way to stay out of the penalty box. That is, unless he is taking a Canuck with him for an equal amount of time. Putting the Canucks on the power play is just begging for a loss.

For the Canucks, the struggles are palpable. Just 3-3-4 in their last ten, they have to be salivating coming into tonight. The Canucks love them some Wild games, and have to be thinking easy two. However, the Wild play the Canucks much better at the X than at in Vancouver, and the Nucks know it. The Sedins will be flying and Burrows will be hungry (watch your fingers, boys).

Struggles or not, the Canucks are still one of the best in the league. If the Wild let the Nucks get rolling, this game is going to turn into a repeat of the Hawks game, and no one is going to want any part of it. On the flip side, if the Wild play a full 60 minutes, this is a winnable game, and the Northwest can be theirs.

Should be a good one tonight, folks. This one should have a great vibe to it. That will be up to the Wild to provide.

Game time is 7:00 PM. Hopefully you all changed your clocks.

St.Louis Blues vs Anaheim Ducks March 10, 2013

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The San Jose Sharks look to rebound from their defeat on Saturday when they travel to Colorado to take on the Avalanche. It wasn't easy for the Sharks against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday afternoon and in the end they just didn't have enough to pull out the win. Logan Couture's ninth goal of the season tied the game at 1-1 in the opening period and the Sharks then seemingly took control in the second. Scott Gomez added his second goal of the year and Matt Irwin added a power play goal as San Jose led 3-1 going into the final 20 minutes. They watched the Blues tie it during a stretch of a little over a minute and ultimately take the game to overtime. In the extra frame the Blues snuck another one past Antti Niemi as St. Louis handed the Sharks a 4-3 defeat. Niemi was pulled after allowing St. Louis to tie the game and he watched Alex Stalock come in and stop his first six shots before surrendering the game winner in overtime. They'll look to get back on track in this one as they'll travel to Colorado to take on an Avalanche club that they've already defeated twice this season. Colorado comes into this one after Friday night's impressive performance that saw them hand the Chicago Blackhawks their first regulation loss of the season. Matt Duchene had a goal and three assists, P.A. Parenteau added a goal and two assists, and the Avalanche used a four goal second period to rout the Blackhawks by a final of 6-2. Semyon Varlamov was strong in goal again for Colorado and he made 31 saves to pick up his seventh win of the season. The home team is 17-5 the last 22 meetings in this series. San Jose is 20-7 the last 27 overall. The Over is 4-1 the last five meetings.

St Louis Blues vs Anaheim Ducks March 10, 2013

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Jonas Hiller hasn't played a whole bunch this season, but when he has played, he has played very well. He's won four of his last five, his last start was a shutout, and has a 7-2-2 record. It's interesting that his record is so good, because his stats have seen better days. He has a 2.93 GAA and a .896 save percentage. His team's overcome the occasional clunker of a game from their goaltender, which is why they're leading the Pacific and the Blues are just trying to keep pace in the playoff hunt.

A clunker of a game from whatever goaltender is in the Blues' net usually starts a trickle-down effect of a defensive breakdown followed by a lack of scoring. The last game the Blues played against the Ducks broke that trend, at least as far as the offense goes. They lit up newcomer Viktor Fasth for five goals, but still managed to lose 6-5 in the shootout because the defense was unobservant and Brian Elliott couldn't stop a Mack truck if he wanted to.

Jaroslav Halak is back in net tonight, and despite a clunker in Los Angeles against the Kings, he gives the Blues a chance to win every night. The Blues just need to continue focusing their offense and they can break the Ducks' winning streak at home.

Also helpful would be some tightening at defense, but one thing at a time, people.

Buffalo Sabres vs Philadelphia Flyers March 10, 2013

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The Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres are both in last place in their respective divisions and on three-game losing streaks.

One of these teams will end its slide Sunday night when they meet in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia (11-14-1) never recovered from a bad start in Saturday's 3-0 loss at Boston. The game was scoreless midway through the first period before the Flyers yielded all three goals in a span of 2 minutes, 18 seconds.

"You look down the bench and everyone's heads were down and it just seemed like we were real deflated right from that bad, and that's not what good teams do," winger Scott Hartnell said. "It's on us to pick each other up and to support each other and just be positive and it just seemed like it was down 1-0 and it seemed like we just packed it in."

Philadelphia held a team meeting after the loss as it tries to avoid its first four-game slide in two seasons.

"It's always good when you have a meeting," captain Claude Giroux told the league's official website. "You want to make sure everybody's on the same page, and that's what we did."

While the Flyers' defeats in their streak have all come in regulation, Buffalo (9-13-3) is 0-1-2 in its last three. The Sabres have played six straight one-goal contests, and are 3-3-2 under interim coach Ron Rolston.

"You throw the first two games out, Toronto and the Islanders, in the last six, we've gotten eight points," Rolston said. "And when you look at those games, potentially we should have had 10 points of 12."

One area that remains a concern for Buffalo is a power play converting a league-worst 12.2 percent of its chances, and an Eastern Conference-low 8.7 percent on the road. That unit has scored in consecutive games for the first time under Rolston, whose team has not played since Thursday's 3-2 shootout loss at New Jersey.

"Certainly we're seeing some better things there, better puck movement, more options for the power play now and I think that's going to continue to grow," Rolston said.

Montreal Canadiens vs Florida Panthers March 10, 2013

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Montreal Canadiens 16-5-4 (36 pts) at Florida Panthers 7-12-6 (20 pts)

A tough test awaits the Florida Panthers tonight at 6 pm when they face the Eastern Conference leading Montreal Canadiens in the second game of a three game home stand. Florida dropped the first game against the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 in overtime. Florida went down 2-0 early on Friday night against the Jets.


Goalie Jacob Markstrom allowed a goal on the Jets first shot one night after allowing two goals on the Washington Capitals‘ first two shots in Florida’s 7-1 loss Thursday in Washington.  While Markstrom was pulled from the game Thursday, head coach Kevin Dineen kept him in the game Friday and Markstrom shut the door the rest of regulation allowing Florida to comeback and send the game to overtime. Jonathan Huberdeau (12) and Shawn Matthias (6) scored for the Panthers. Huberdeau has now scored in all four match ups against the Jets this year. Dustin Byfuglien scored the overtime winner for the Jets on a play where he split the Panther Tomas duo as Fleischmann and Kopecky seemed unable to do anything other than wave their sticks at the big defender.

Portland Trail blazers vs San Antonio Spurs March 8 2013

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The San Antonio Spurs have won all three of their games since losing starting point guard Tony Parker to an ankle injury, which is important to consider when making your NBA picks on Friday night, when they host the Portland Trail Blazers at the AT&T Center.

The San Antonio Spurs look to improve on their dominant record at home when they play host to the Portland Trailblazers tonight.

Coming off blowout victories over the Kings and the Pistons, the Spurs started slow against the Bulls and fell behind by 14 but were able to turn it around with a dominant second half to win by 101-83 on Wednesday. Tim Duncan looked a spry as ever and had himself 18 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, while Manu Ginobili added 18 points and nine assists off the bench. Cory Joseph continues to fill in for Parker, but with the game blown wide open, Patty Mills was able to play some rare minutes in which he contributed 13 points. With the win, San Antonio improved to 48-14 on the season and 25-3 at home.

Philadelphia 76ers vs Miami Heat March 8 2013

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It's going to take one heck of a game from the Philadelphia 76ers to stop the Miami Heat's win streak at 16 games.

With the 76ers dropping 10 of their past 11 games, it's clear that their season is heading in the completely opposite direction.

Chris Bosh starts things off with a nearly air-balled layup. That sounds about right.

76ers 1, Heat 0—11:34 remaining in the 1st quarter


The Miami Heat's winning streak continues to grow. While the team insists they're focused on the bigger picture, a home matchup with the struggling Philadelphia 76ers seems to pose little threat to the team's red-hot run.

Miami can win its 17th straight game, matching the 12th-longest streak in NBA history and the league's best this season, with a victory over the Sixers on Friday night.

The Heat (45-14) already defeated Philadelphia once during the streak, 114-90 on Feb. 23, and now look for their 13th consecutive win in this regular-season series.

Eleven of the Heat's 16 straight victories - one shy of the Clippers' run to close 2012 - have come by double digits. However, three of four this month have been by seven points or fewer.

They needed some late-game heroics from LeBron James in a 97-96 win over Orlando on Wednesday. James provided the game-winning layup with 3.2 seconds left to extend the franchise-record streak, though the team doesn't sound preoccupied with the number.

"It really doesn't affect us," said Dwyane Wade, averaging 27.7 points and shooting 61.9 percent over the last seven games. That stretch includes 33 points on 14-of-18 shooting against Philadelphia.

"In a sense, we want to win, and we want to win every game we play. The day it comes where our streak gets broken we move on to the next game. Obviously, it is great, when you look back at it one day and say, 'Oh, we won that many games in a row.' But right now, we are just playing."

Instead, Miami still has its focus set on winning a second straight championship. A win Friday is the next step on that road, as the Heat would become the first team to clinch a playoff spot - with 22 games to play.

"We don't even talk about it," James said of the streak, during which he's averaging 28.2 points and shooting 61.0 percent. "We don't really get caught up into the streak at all. What we are trying to do is bigger than a streak."

Winnipeg Jets vs Florida Panthers March 8 2013

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Winnipeg Jets vs Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers must be glad to be out of Washington. After last night’s 7-1 loss, the Panthers have been outscored 12-1 in their two games in Washington. Luckily for Florida, they only have to face the Capitals one more time and the game will be in Florida. The Panthers have little time to regroup after last night’s drubbing as they return home tonight to face the Winnipeg Jets.

 Florida has fared well against the Jets this season having gone 2-0-1 against them. It was only three nights ago that the Panthers convincingly beat the Jets at home 4-1. Both teams are coming off a game the previous night. We know all about what happened to the Panthers in Washington, the Jets had a much better night, beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1. Al Montoya got the start for the Jets, his first since Feb. 12th, and picked up the win, stopping 27 of 28. We can expect to see Ondrej Pavelec in net for the Jets tonight.


 The Panthers goaltender tonight is a mystery. Neither keeper did anything last night to demonstrate they deserve the start tonight. Jacob Markstrom was pulled 3:10 into the first period after allowing two goals on two shots. Scott Clemmensen came on in relief and allowed five goals on 24 shots. I would guess that Markstrom will be given a chance to redeem himself tonight especially since he played well in the Panthers win over the Jets on Tuesday

Winnipeg Jets vs Florida Panthers March 8 2013

Start Time : 7:30 PM

Ottawa Senators vs New York Rangers March 8 2013

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Ottawa Senators vs New York Rangers Ottawa Senators vs New York Rangers will play at home after winning this fight. This Friday evening match, the first match played between Senators vs Rangers.

7:00 am Match starts at.


Rangers center Brad Richards is back in the New York lineup Friday night against the Ottawa Senators after missing two games following a hard hit into the boards five days earlier.

Richards, who sat out a pair of Rangers wins, skated on his own Friday as his teammates had the morning off, and felt well enough to return. No specific injury was announced, but New York coach John Tortorella had said that Richards was "banged up."

Richards was shoved from behind into the boards by Buffalo's Patrick Kaleta on Sunday in the third period of New York's 3-2 victory, but returned to the ice that night. Neck and back soreness are believed to be what kept him out since then.
Kaleta was ejected from the game and then received a five-game suspension from the NHL.