LOGIN
The greatest goal scorer added himself to another list on Thursday: players who scored a hat trick at age 40 or above.  He became the sixth person ever to do that, joining Jagr, Howe, Selanne, Bucyk, and... Lidstrom!  You could have given me 100 guesses, and I'm sure I'd have gotten the first three, and probaly Buyck, but never Lidstrom.  Anyways, Ovechkin scored only two goals in his first 12 games, but since then, he has seven in the past six.  Add in three assists, and we've seen Ovechkin get back on track lately.  An ugly start is now a thing of the past, and while I still think a repeat of last season is too farfetched, a monster season is possible again.  MarmosDad covered the early part of the week here, so please check that out if you haven't.  Now, it's time for me to recap Thursday night after a depressing Bills loss (fire McDermott!):
Going into Wednesday's game against the Sabres, the Red Wings were at the bottom of the cluster of teams battling for a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.  They have the hardest remaining schedule in the NHL, so it was as close to a must win that a game could be for them with five weeks left in the season.  After falling down 1-0, they took control of the game, with their future Hall of Famer leading the way.  Patrick Kane had three points in the first period and finished with five, totaling two goals and three assists with five shots.  I can't lie, I completely whiffed on a potential Kane turnaround.  You can split his season into two parts: with Lalonde as coach and McLellan as coach.  Since the coaching change, Kane has turned back the clock and found a level that we haven't seen in three years.  He's a clear hold in all formats as the Red Wings try to snap the second longest playoff drought in the league.  Let's take a look at what else happened over the last two nights: