Your daily shot of hockey to go with your coffee
Wednesday, March 12th, 2014

LAST NIGHT’S SCORES:

Here are yesterday’s picks in case you missed them. Asterisk indicates who I picked.

Preds top Sabres 4-1: Shea Weber and Craig Smith both had a goal and an assist in this low shooting affair. Nashville won the turnover battle and converted big time in their first trip to Buffalo in nearly three years.

Hurricanes down Rangers 3-1: Adios to the Rangers’ ten-straight over the Canes. Carolina last defeated the Rangers on January 20th, 2011. This was also G Cam Ward’s first win since New Year’s Eve. Carolina fired 35 shots on King Henrik and blocked 26 of the Ranger’s shots.

Blue Jackets* drop Red Wings 4-1: Sergei Bobrovski is making a surge to defend his Veniza. Bob saved 39 of 40 Detroit shots and his defense stepped up the physicality with 29 hits. CBJ overtakes third place in the Metropolitan.

Penguins* blank Capitals 2-0: And SWEEP. Was I right about Fleury being well-rested? Yup. He stopped all 32 Washington shots en route to Pittsburgh’s third-straight win.

Coyotes down Panthers 3-1: Radim Vrbata had a goal and two assists in this game as Mike Smith saved 31 of 32 Florida shots. The Coyotes have brought themselves back into the Western Conference Playoff Picture as they now sit only a point out the Wild Card.

Stars edge Blues 3-2 in OT: Former Northeast Division rivals in Ryan Miller and Tim Thomas faced off in net. Both faced 30 shots but Timmy T emerged victorious with 28 saves as Jamie Benn netted the game-winner in overtime.

Oilers rally over Wild; win 4-3 in SO: The Parise-Granlund-Pominville line struck twice as the Wild got up to a 3-0 lead in the first period. Edmonton rallied to force OT, despite 13 third period shots from the Wild. Taylor Hall buried the game-winner in the fourth round of the shootout.

Sharks* blast Maple Leafs 6-2: CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP! Joe Pavelski and Jake Gardiner each had two goals for San Jose and Toronto, respectively. Pavelski’s two goals brings his season total to 34.

Thundercrew Coverage:

Iceman and myself have the coverage of the Devil’s 2-1 win over the Flyers. Iceman’s Preview, my Recap, and Iceman’s Recap.

3-0 (!!!) last night. 84-68 on the season.

GAMES TONIGHT:

Four games tonight in the NHL: Bruins @ Canadiens at 7:30 (NBCSN), Canucks @ Jets at 7:30, Blackhawks @ Avalanche at 9:30, and Ducks @ Flames at 10. Bruins over Canadiens: FINALLY! A real rivalry on NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Rivalry. The Bruins are a decent road team (17-13) but Montreal is only 18-15 at home. The fact is: the Bruin’s offense 5th overall while their defense is #1. Jets over Canucks: Torts and the Canucks are in a tailspin. The Jets may be under .500 at home but they’ve scored 182 goals, more than the Canucks have allowed but WAY more than Vancouver has scored. Avalanche over Blackhawks: The Avs actually have four more wins than the Blackhawks in as many games. The Blackhawks have a point on them in the standings because of OT losses. The Hawks have the #1 offense in the NHL but Colorado has allowed only two goals in each of its last three games. Ducks over Flames: The Ducks have the fifth-best record in the league while Calgary is 14-19 at home. The Flames have also scored the least amount of goals in the league.