I know this is after the 1st game of the night has started but at least I'm getting it done...sorta. The whole plan of writing it at night failed when I tried to write it BEFORE the last game has ended (curse you western conference games!). So, luckily for me, there's only 4 games tonight so this shouldn't take forever to write.
- MTL vs. PIT: Pittsburgh played (and won) last night in New York while Montreal had a few days off. This is the first meeting between the teams since Max Pacioretty caused Kris Letang to miss 21 games with a concussion and broken nose and the same team that gave Zbynek Michalek a concussion. With a win, Pittsburgh will stay in 6th. A win for Montreal will move them into 12th place (taking the spot they vacated yesterday with the Islanders' win). Of course, because it's Montreal, they've already scored a goal. 2-1 Montreal as of time of post. Seriously Pittsburgh....
5-4 PIT in shootout. Pittsburgh came out flat and just sloppy in the 1st, only for it get WORST in the 2nd but still somehow finding a way to capitalize on the mistakes that have been costing the Habs all season in the 3rd period to tie it by none other than Malkin (assisted by Neal) BUT the majority of the oomph was provided by Dustin Jeffrey in his 1st and 2nd goals of the season (just came back from knee surgery). Malkin finishes off the night with the shootout win. Pittsburgh remains in 6th and Montreal moves into 12th
- WSH vs. CAR: Washington is looking to hold onto its Southeast division title because a loss by them a win by Florida (who plays tonight as well) would mean that they drop down to 7th or 8th. So no matter what, Washington will want to get at least 1 point out of this game. Carolina could move into 14th if they win this game because they'll have more points than 14th place Tampa Bay but they've played 3 more games.
3-0 CAR. Really...where did this come from? A divisional game that really had no meaning to Carolina (because their season is pretty much fried either way), they're doing the spoiler job really well. That and why is Washington NOT shooting the puck? 23 SOG just sounds really low for a team with the offensive firepower that they have to me, and I'm definitely not the only one noticing this. Washington stays in 3rd because Florida didn't win against Chicago while Carolina stays in 15th because Tampa Bay also won.
- FLA vs. CHI: Florida is looking to re-claim its Southeast division title (much like Washington trying to hold onto it) while Chicago is in a dog-fight for the Central division title between themselves, Detroit and St. Louis. A win or an overtime loss for Florida (and a Washington loss, meaning no points) would move them into 3rd regardless of how many points they have BUT if Washington gets at least 1 point in their game, Florida will stay in 8th place regardless. A Chicago win would move them into 1st in the West and atop the Central division again (only until Detroit or St. Louis plays a game, and they don't even have the benefit of having less games played either).
Side note for this game: it's the homecoming for Brian Campbell and Kris Versteeg, members of the 2009-10 Chicago Blackhawks that won the Cup. Versteeg hasn't even seen the Stanley Cup banner yet, so it'll be a special moment for both.
3-1 CHI. While I'm certainly not surprised because Chicago isn't the battling for top spot in the Central division and the West conference for nothing. Florida may be a surprise team but they're certainly not as good as Chicago no matter how you slice it. Jonathan Toews is making a HUGE push to be the Rocket Richard winner with his 27th goal (4 behind leader Stamkos) and his season high was 34 in 2008-09, so he's definitely turning into Crosby 2.0 with the changing of his game (maybe?). Anyways, Florida remains in 8th because they lose their tiebreaker to Washington while Chicago jumps up to 1st in the West again, for now.
- TBL vs. DAL: Tampa Bay is looking to dig itself out of the hole they've fallen into while Dallas wants nothing more than to get into the playoffs. The situation for Tampa is a bit of a mess:
(1) if Tampa wins and Montreal wins, Tampa stays in 14th
(2) if Tampa wins and Montreal loses, Tampa moves into 13th
(3) if Tampa wins and Montreal loses in overtime, Tampa stays in 14th
(4) if Tampa loses and Carolina wins or loses in overtime, Tampa falls into 15th
(5) if Tampa loses in overtime, Tampa stays in 14th regardless of the results of the Montreal game and could fall into 15th if Carolina wins
As for Dallas, they could move into 8th if they win because they would win the tiebreaker against Colorado (less games played for same number of points). An overtime loss would move them into 9th because they win the tiebreaker against Minnesota (again, less games played).
2-1 TBL. After all that talk about Tampa really needing to turn it around, they did but their top stars not named Steven Stamkos are STILL not scoring. Both Tampa goals by Teddy Purcell and solid goaltending from Mathieu Garon. Tampa remains in 14th and Dallas failed to take advantage of a night off by the 2 teams ahead of them in the standings and remain in 10th.
Ugh, games have all started. Dinner time.
ETA: final scores have been added and current standings updated.