The Edmonton Oilers look like a team trying to make its move for a playoff spot. They’ve won five in a row and are holding on to the final spot following an 8-2 drilling of the Calgary Flames. Taylor Hall had a goal and four assists while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and three assists to pace the Oilers.
SPIN: Edmonton put it all together last night. They connected three times on the power play and were dominant on both ends of the ice. Jordan Eberle and Nail Yakupov each scored twice in the win as the Oilers made their fantasy owners smile with a big offensive night. Matt Stajan scored both goals for the Flames. Stajan scored twice in the first five minutes of the game. Take a second and realize that Calgary was up 2-0 before the floodgates opened on them. Joey MacDonald took it on the chin allowing all eight goals to the Oilers who had 13 of their 18 skaters pick up at least a point in this game.
Joe Thornton scored the eventual game-winner for the Sharks as they doubled up the Wild 4-2.
SPIN: Brent Burns picked up pair of assists and continues to be one of the few consistent Sharks to put in your lineup since his return from injury. San Jose has won six in a row and moved into the fourth spot in the West thanks largely to their continued dominance on home ice at 13-1-4 this season. San Jose also scored twice on the power play which was a big reason for their early season success. Minnesota dropped its second straight game but Nicklas Backstrom still has the feel of a must-start goaltender.
The Rangers thumped Pittsburgh 6-1 as their new acquisitions all came together. Ryane Clowe, acquired in a trade from San Jose, scored his first two goals of the season. Derek Brassard came over from Columbus and rang up a goal and three assists in his Ranger debut.
SPIN: Pascal Dupuis had the lone goal for Pittsburgh, his 18th of the season in the loss. Pittsburgh has lost both games since Sidney Crosby took a puck to the face and suffered a broken jaw. Marc-Andre Fleury looked weak as he allowed all six goals in this game including three of them on the power play. The bigger question is whether this will continue for the Rangers and it’s hard to say that it will.
Philly took down Montreal 5-3 with a three-goal third period. Wayne Simmonds, Jakub Voracek and Erik Gustaffson all scored for the Flyers in a five-minute span to get the win.
SPIN: The Flyers have won three straight for the first time all season. However, they are back to being within a game of .500 and they have had well-documented struggles with getting above .500. Montreal is still a solid team to roll with.
Anaheim dumped Dallas 5-2. The Ducks built a 3-0 lead and didn’t look back as they pulled to within two points of Chicago for the best record in the league.
SPIN: Ryan Getzlaf had a three-point night and continues to be a stellar performer on fantasy teams as do the Ducks. Dallas has lost three in a row and will be in a fight until the final day to try and get into the playoffs.
Multiple Goal Scorers
Clowe-NYR, Eberle-EDM, Yakupov-EDM,
Stat of the Night
Dan Boyle of the Sharks has six goals this season and four of them have come on the power play. All of his power play goals have come in 5-on-3 situations.
Three Stars of the Night
1 Hall
2 Clowe
3 Nugent-Hopkins
Thursday’s Games (all times ET)
New Jersey at Boston 7pm
Philadelphia at Toronto 7pm
NY Islanders at Washington 7pm
Tampa Bay at Carolina 7pm
Winnipeg at Montreal 730pm
Columbus at Nashville 8pm
St. Louis at Chicago 830pm
Detroit at Phoenix 10pm
Minnesota at Los Angeles 1030pm
Edmonton at Vancouver 1030pm
