Hockey Today - March 29
Thu, Mar 29, 2007
By Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
Thursday, March 29
Detroit at Nashville (8 p.m. EDT).
The Red Wings are 5-1-1 against the Predators this season, but trail Nashville by two points for first place in the Central and NHL standings.
STARS
Wednesday
-Jozef Stumpel, Panthers, scored the tying goal in the third period and notched the winner in the shootout, leading Florida to a 3-2 victory over Atlanta.
-Jochen Hecht, Sabres, scored twice in Buffalo's 4-3 win over New Jersey.
-Dustin Penner, Ducks, scored two goals to lead Anaheim to a 3-1 victory over Chicago.
CRUNCH TIME
Carolina is still on the outside of the playoff cutoff line after Wednesday's 5-1 loss to Philadelphia, the Hurricanes' second loss in two nights. The defending Stanley Cup champions, who lost 6-1 at Toronto on Tuesday night, have 84 points with five games left and trail Montreal and Tampa Bay by two points each for the final playoff spot.
CUTTING EDGE
Daniel Briere's assist in Buffalo's 4-3 win over New Jersey on Wednesday night gave him 90 points (31 goals, 59 assists), making him the first Sabres player to reach that plateau since Pat LaFontaine had 91 points in 1995-96.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
Vyacheslav Kozlov scored twice for Atlanta in Wednesday night's 3-2 shootout loss to Florida.
SLUMPING
Chicago dropped its sixth straight, 3-1 to Anaheim on Wednesday night.
SPEAKING
''We're in a fight to get back into the playoffs, so we need wins and we need to come on the road and take away points. We took away nothing.'' - Carolina coach Peter Laviolette after Wednesday's 5-1 loss to Philadelphia, the Hurricanes' second loss in two nights. The defending Stanley Cup champions are on the outside of the playoff cutoff line, behind both Montreal and Tampa Bay.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The goalies below have been confirmed by a source:
Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins - Fleury is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Bruins, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings - Osgood is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Predators, reports the Detroit News. Coach Mike Babcock is starting Osgood because a) he wants to keep Dominik Hasek healthy for the playoffs and b) because Osgood has undefeated (2-0-1) record against the Preds this season. Hasek will start Friday against the Stars and Babcock said the plan is for his veteran goalie to start three of the last four games leading into the post-season. For the record, the original plan was for Hasek to start both today and tomorrow and we figured this much when we did up the HI weekly planner on Sunday.
Johan Hedberg, Atlanta Thrashers - Hedberg is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Maple Leafs, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution blog.
The goalies below have not been confirmed by any sources:
Joey MacDonald, Boston Bruins - MacDonald is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Penguins. He has thoroughly outplayed Tim Thomas as of late and could be rewarded with his third start in four games. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette seems to agree with us but make sure you check back later today because either the Boston Globe or the official Bruins website will have news of a confirmation or a change.
Andrew Raycroft, Toronto Maple Leafs - Raycroft is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Thrashers.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Anaheim Ducks - Giguere is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Blue Jackets.
Dwayne Roloson, Edmonton Oilers - Roloson is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Blues.
Curtis Sanford, St. Louis Blues - Sanford is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Oilers.
Tomas Vokoun, Nashville Predators - Vokoun is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Red Wings.
Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames - Kiprusoff is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Wild.
Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild - Backstrom is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Flames.
Peter Budaj, Colorado Avalanche - Budaj is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Coyotes.
Curtis Joseph, Phoenix Coyotes - Joseph is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Avalanche.
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks - Luongo is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Kings.
Mathieu Garon, Los Angeles Kings - Garon is the probable starter for Thursday's game against the Canucks.
Year-to-date: 2182 / 2296 = 95.0%