Your daily shot of hockey to go with your coffee
Wednesday, March 19th, 2014

LAST NIGHT’S SCORES:

Very quick Roundup Today. I didn’t write one yesterday but I went 3-1 on Monday’s Picks, 91-72 on the season now.

Bruins down Devils 4-2: Jerome Iginla scored again last night to extend his points streak to six games and his goals streak to four. He has seven goals and an assist in this six game span. Iceman will have a full recap soon in the Devils section.

Wild roll over Islanders 6-0: Oddly enough, the Islanders outshot the Wild 36-22. Deadline acquisition Ilya Bryzgalov stopped all 36 Islander shots as the Wild defense blocked 22 shots themselves.

Penguins blast Stars 5-1: Sidney Crosby took over this game and has now eclipsed 90 points. With 91 in total, he leads the NHL by 17 on Ryan Getzlaf. Jeff Zatkoff played outstanding for Pittsburgh, saving 32 shots.

Canes beat Blue Jackets 3-1: Anton Khudobin stopped 46 shots from the Blue Jackets. Wow. Columbus also drastically outhit Carolina 46-17 but the Canes were able to prevail.

Red Wings hold off Maple Leafs 3-2: Detroit took a 2-0 lead but Toronto didn’t back down. The Leafs cut the lead to one twice while out-shooting the Red Wings 12-7 in the third period. Jimmy Howard made 31 saves for Detroit.

Habs double up Avs 6-3: Nathan MacKinnon started off the scoring for Colorado by scoring his 23rd of the year. However, it was Thomas Vanek’s hat-trick that propelled the Canadiens over the Avalanche.

Rangers dominate Senators 8-4: Henrik Lundqvist won 302nd game as a Ranger last night which sets the all-time record for NYR. Lundqvist stopped 35 of 39 shots from the Senators. Derick Brassard scored two goals and assisted another as Rick Nash scored twice as well.

Flames down Sabres 3-1: Mike Cammalleri scored his 20th goal of the year as the Sabres were only able to fire 14 shots. Sounds about right with these two teams.

Oilers youths over Preds 5-1: The youth shows their potential again. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle each had three points while Taylor Hall netted one for himself. Edmonton will be great in a few years.

Caps edge Ducks 3-2: This is a surprising outcome but it would be more surprising if Alex Ovechkin hadn’t scored the game-winner. That’s his 46th of the year as the Caps’ power play goes 2 for 3 on the road in Anaheim.

And the biggest surprise of the night:

Panthers drop Sharks 3-2 in San Jose: Well biggest surprise in name. In case you forgot, Roberto Luongo is now the Panthers’ goalie and did he step up big. Luongo saved 52 of 54 Sharks shots. The Sharks tried to chomp away the Panthers but Luongo’s experience led Florida to a surprising win.

Thundercrew Coverage:

I have coverage of the Flyers’ OT win over the Blackhawks last night in the Flyers section. Check back later for Iceman’s coverage of the Devils’ loss to the Bruins.

GAMES TONIGHT:

Four games around the league tonight: Lightning @ Maple Leafs at 7, Blues @ Blackhawks at 8 (NBCSN), Avalanche @ Jets at 8, and Predators @ Canucks at 10. 

My Picks:
Maple Leafs over Lightning: The Leafs are in a rut but are great at home. The only thing that could hold them is that they played in Detroit last night.
Blackhawks over Blues: Chicago needs to win for multiple, related reasons: to get back into 2nd (if the Avs lose tonight) and to narrow the gap between themselves and the Blues. The Hawks are still one of the best at home, I like their odds.
Avs over Jets: The Avs are hot and the Jets are under .500 at home. Nathan MacKinnon will have a big game tonight.
Preds over Canucks: The Preds don’t travel very well but the Canucks are in a tailspin.