Martin St Louis rang up a hat trick for the Tampa Bay Lightning as the raked the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2. Steven Stamkos added a goal and an assist in the win and went +5 on the evening.
SPIN: St. Louis now jumps to the top of the scoring list with 58 points this season, 42 of them assists. Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul scored the goals for Toronto. This was the kind of night we thought Tampa Bay was capable of and they did games like this earlier in the season. Of course it’s a case of too little, too late but it was fun for one night.
Phoenix escaped San Jose 2-1 with Mike Smith stopping 33-of-34 shots in the win. Shane Doan assisted on both Phoenix goals. Brent Burns had the lone goal for San Jose.
SPIN: Tomas Greiss got the start in goal to give Antti Niemi a night off after 24 straight starts. The Sharks are still tied with the Kings for the fourth spot and it will come down to the last game of the season as to who gets the spot when those two teams go head-to-head.
Detroit slipped into the eighth spot for the time being by knocking off the Kings 3-1. Pavel Datsyuk had a goal and an assist in the win while Johan Franzen scored for the second straight game and has scored in five of his last six games to finish strong.
SPIN: Henrik Zetterberg picked up two more assists so he has five in his last two games and 34 of them this season. But once you got past Detroit’s big three, there wasn’t much else behind it.
Chicago wrapped up the President’s Trophy and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs with a 4-1 win over Edmonton.
SPIN: Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists while Michael Handzus added three helpers for the Hawks. Johnathan Toews added his 22nd of the season in the win. Ray Emery picked up the win despite leaving the game late in the first-period with a lower-body injury. Corey Crawford came on in relief and made 14 saves. Emery is day-to-day.
Multiple Goal Scorers
St. Louis-TB HAT TRICK was the only one.
Stat of the Night
Edmonton has 20 players on its roster with a negative plus-minus rating. Chicago has just three.
Three Stars of the Night
1 St. Louis
2 Kane
3 Smith
Thursday’s Games (all times ET)
NY Islanders at Philadelphia 7pm The Isles look to improve on their standing in their first post-season foray in several years.
Ottawa at Washington 7pm The Sens need this one to hold off both New York teams and Winnipeg for a playoff spot.
NY Rangers at Carolina 7pm The Rangers are right in the thick of the chase for the final spot.
Pittsburgh at New Jersey 730pm Totally meaningless game for both teams.
Toronto at Florida 730pm Hopefully the Leafs don’t get sucked into the same trap Montreal did.
Nashville at Detroit 730pm The Wings need this win to keep Columbus at arm’s length.
Tampa Bay at Boston 730pm Can the Bruins beat the Bolts and nail down a #2 spot?
Montreal at Winnipeg 8pm It’s the season finale for the Jets and it’s a must-win situation.
Calgary at St. Louis 8pm The Blues need a win to keep their home-ice hopes alive.
Columbus at Dallas 830pm The Stars are in a must-win while a Columbus win could put them on the brink of the playoffs for the second time in team history.
Anaheim at Vancouver 10pm The Ducks are the #2, the Canucks are the #3 so this is really a meaningless game since neither can change.
