Craig Anderson made 33 saves as the Ottawa Senators blanked the New Jersey Devils 2-0 to send them to a ninth straight loss. Ottawa fired just 11 shots on goal and Martin Brodeur stopped nine shots for the Devils.
SPIN: Jean Pageau and Milan Michalek scored the goals for Ottawa but neither has too much fantasy value.
Columbus knocked off St. Louis 4-1 with Cam Atkinson tallying a goal and an assist in the win that ended the Blues’ six-game winning streak.
SPIN: Kevin Shattenkirk scored the lone goal for the Blues and was his first goal since the first of March. Columbus has to make the playoffs on the road. They sit two points behind Detroit for the last playoff spot but play six in a row on the road before closing with Nashville. Columbus is 5-11-2 on the road this season so it will be an uphill climb.
Calgary’s Mark Giordano scored 4:36 into overtime to give the Flames a 3-2 win over visiting Phoenix.
SPIN: Phoenix really needed the two points but they are also in the pig pile of teams two points out of the playoffs. Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith has stopped 115 of 120 shots since coming back from an upper-body injury and has been on the upswing as of late.
Dallas thumped Nashville 5-2 with Alex Chiasson scoring twice for the Stars. Ray Whitney had a goal and an assist in the win.
SPIN: Chris Mason got the start in net for Nashville as they gave Pekka Rinne a night off after 25 straight starts. With their fifth straight loss, the Predators are all but done with the season. Look for more starts from Mason over the final couple weeks as Rinne gets extra rest.
Chicago clinched the Central division when they took down Detroit 3-2 in the shootout. Johnathan Toews scored his 20th of the season in the win.
SPIN: The Hawks have won a top-three seed but are looking to fend off Anaheim and Pittsburgh for home-ice advantage all the way throughout the playoffs. Look for Chicago to keep the pedal down until they wrap it all up.
Multiple Goal Scorers
Chiasson-DAL
Stat of the Night–Powerless
New Jersey is 3-of-33 on the power play during their slide.
Stat of the Night II–Friday, I’m In Love
Dallas is 6-0 on Friday this season.
Three Stars of the Night
1 Anderson
2 Atkinson
3 Giordano
Saturday’s Games (all times ET)
Philly at Buffalo 3pm Blah meets blah
Vancouver at Colorado 3pm Canucks look to widen the lead on Minnesota
Montreal at Toronto 7pm The Northeast Division war rages on.
NY Rangers at NY Islanders 7pm Both teams are in the playoffs, for now.
Tampa Bay at Washington 7pm Can the Bolts slow down the Capital Express?
Boston at Carolina 7pm Bruins should take this easily.
Pittsburgh at Florida 730pm Great offense meets poor goaltending. Play all your Penguins!
San Jose at Dallas 8pm Both teams need the win for different reasons.
Columbus at Minnesota 8pm The Blue Jackets’ road (trip) to the playoffs starts here.
Calgary at Edmonton 10pm Not much interest outside of Alberta.
Anaheim at Los Angeles 11pm An Anaheim win would almost wrap up the division for the Ducks.
