Logan Couture’s two goals and two assists paced the San Jose Sharks in a 6-1 rout of the Minnesota Wild. Marty Havlat added a pair of goals and an assist as San Jose stays in the three-team race for the last home ice spot.
SPIN: The Sharks are 16-1-5 at home this season and with this game being played in the Shark Tank, it was as close a sure thing as you can get. Raffi Torres also added a goal and an assist in the win as the Sharks have won three in a row. Nicklas Backstrom of Minnesota got shelled allowing five goals before getting pulled. It’s hard to tell if he’s worth starting in the final few days of the season as he has cooled off from that hot streak he had earlier this month.
St. Louis knocked off Phoenix 2-1 in a shootout behind a 33-save night from Brian Elliott.
SPIN: Phoenix has lost four of its last five games and has a nearly-impossible path to take to get in the playoffs. They’ve scored just five goals in their last five games. David Perron had the St. Louis goal while Radim Vrbata’s goal with 1:07 left in regulation tied the game for Phoenix. Vrbata battled injuries this season so his totals are down and the Coyotes can’t be relied upon this late in the season.
The Islanders continue their surge as they bumped off Toronto 5-3. John Tavares and Brad Boyes each had three-point nights in the win.
SPIN: The Islanders still have plenty to play for and would be a solid team to roll with for the last few days of the season. Tavares is making a good case for MVP of fantasy hockey with his 26-goal season.
The Rangers blew out Florida 6-1 with Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello each scoring twice.
SPIN: New York continues to get the wins they need while Florida is just fodder at this point.
Montreal knocked off Tampa 3-2 as Brian Gionta scored a pair of goals in the win.
SPIN: Carey Price finally stopped the bleeding in goal for Montreal with a 32-save effort. He allowed 12 goals on the last 53 shots he saw before this game and was pulled twice in a row. Hopefully this is more of the Price we can see down the rest of the regular season and not the guy who got lit up repeatedly.
Ottawa took down Washington 3-1 with Kyle Turris netting a pair of goals to stop the Caps’ eight-game winning streak.
SPIN: The Caps took advantage and went on their big run at the right time and are likely to snag the Southeast Division title. Turris’ two goals are nice but he’s been too inconsistent to be reliable.
New Jersey finally got a win blanking Philly 3-0 to end a 10-game winless streak.
SPIN: It’s a case of too little, too late for both of these teams but it’s good see the Devils finally get off the schneid.
Winnipeg knocked off Carolina 4-3 in overtime as Dustin Byfuglien scored the game-winner.
SPIN: The Jets are still in it for now as they’ve won five in a row and tied for the eighth spot and two points behind Washington in the division. Blake Wheeler had a goal and two assists in the win and has arrived as a solid fantasy option. Tuomu Ruutu scored twice in the loss.
Dallas knocked off Vancouver 5-1 as they sit two points out of a playoff spot with two games in hand. Dallas is 6-1-0 in its last seven games.
SPIN: Jamie Benn has come on strong as of late and had a goal and an assist in the win. The Stars aren’t wonderful from a fantasy perspective but they have put it together as a team and just might sneak in to the last spot in the West.
Los Angeles knocked down Columbus 2-1.
SPIN: Columbus is showing they can play with anyone, should they make the playoffs.
Multiple Goal Scorers
Couture-SJ, Havlat-SJ, Tavares-NYI, Zuccarello-NYR, Gionta-MTL, Turris-OTT, Brassard-NYR, Ruutu-CAR,
Stat of the Night–The Difference Between Two And Three
The Islanders are 20-2-2 when scoring at least three goals and a paltry 2-14-3 when scoring two or fewer.
Three Stars of the Night
1 Couture
2 Tarvares
3 Turris
Friday’s Games (all times ET)
Pittsburgh at Boston 7pm
NY Rangers at Buffalo 7pm
Dallas at St. Louis 8pm
Nashville at Chicago 830pm
Edmonton at Colorado 9pm
Anaheim at Calgary 9pm
