NHL Morning Papers (Friday Edition)

Here are the national morning papers:

• Roy MacGregor of the Globe & Mail would love to see the Habs play the Senators in the playoffs.
• Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail reviews Richard Peddie’s interview with Gary Bettman on XM Satellite Radio yesterday.
• Bruce Arthur of the National Post has an entertaining article about the Leafs’ conquest for the playoffs.
• Kevin Allen of USA Today takes a closer look at the teams chasing playoff spots in both conferences.
• Allen also has a very interesting article about the possibility of huge salaries being throw around in the free agent market this off-season.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Leafs are hoping Mats Sundin can suit up for tomorrow night’s game versus Buffalo, writes Mark Zwolinski. Here is the Leafs’ schedule for the remainder of the season.
• Newly acquired Mike Smith was terrific last night for the Lightning, as he led the team to a 3-1 victory over the Bruins. Smith is also looking sharper these days with his new pads and helmet.
• The Senators looked a lot like last season’s team in their 3-0 road victory at Montreal last night. Jason Spezza has the Habs’ number, writes Allen Panzeri.
• Greg Logan of Newsday says it is time for the Islanders to call up Kyle Okposo from Bridgeport of the AHL.
• Jamie Langenbrunner scored the only goal in the shootout last night to cap the Devils’ comeback victory over the Wild, writes Rich Chere. A couple of Devils made their homecoming last night.
• “We won’t get out of the east until we find a way to beat these guys,” said Habs forward Christopher Higgins after his team’s 3-0 loss to Ottawa last night.
• The Panthers have some high praise for their backup goalie Craig Anderson in this morning’s South Florida Sun Sentinel. The Panthers have less than 1,000 tickets available for their upcoming home game versus the Rangers.
• Since he decided to start skipping morning skates, Capitals netminder Olaf Kolzig has been playing a lot better, writes Tarik El-Bashir.
• With the Flyers set to face-off against the Penguins on Sunday, Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a feature on Flyers forward R.J. Umberger who grew up close to Pittsburgh.
• Tim Panaccio of the Philadelphia Inquirer examines the playoff possibilities and what the Flyers need to do to make it in. The Flyers will get a lot of help this weekend, when it is expected that Mike Richards will return to the lineup.
• With the way the team has been playing the past month, the Rangers feel very confident moving forward, writes Mike Puma. John Dellapina tells readers that Jaromir Jagr has yet to decide on his future.
• Luke Decock of the News Observer is sure to cause some controversy with his claim that Canadian teams get a break when it comes to suspensions. Here is the injury report for the Canes tonight.
• The Sabres’ young players are not accustomed to losing, writes John Vogl.
• The Bruins continued their free-fall last night, with a 3-1 loss to the Lightning. The Bruins had some of their long-time injured players on the ice yesterday, but that doesn’t mean they are close to returning to the lineup.
• Ilya Kovalchuk told his team before yesterday’s game that he wants them to play for pride, and then he went out and led by example. Last night’s match up versus Calgary was Mark Recchi’s 1400th career game.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province is wondering where the Sedin brothers have disappeared to. Botchford’s colleague Tony Gallagher thinks the reason for their struggles may be the fact that they are being physically punished by opponents.
• The Coyotes penalty killing and goaltending was terrific last night in their 2-0 home victory over the Canucks, writes Jim Gintonio.
• Any chance the Oilers had at making the playoffs probably fell by the wayside last night, writes Jim Matheson. The Oilers’ youngsters made a number of important mistakes last night, writes Derek Van Diest.
• The Avalanche have played very well in March over the past two seasons, writes Adrian Dater. The Avs got a strong performance last night from Peter Budaj, in their 5-1 home victory over Edmonton.
• The Blackhawks still don’t believe they are out of the playoffs, writes Chris Kuc.
• The Calgary Herald has a short review of the Flames’ 6-4 loss at Atlanta last night. (Writer’s note: The Herald didn’t send a beat writer to last night’s game.)
• This season has proved to be a coming out party for Pascal Leclaire, writes Aaron Portzline. The Columbus Dispatch has five questions with Rick Nash. Here are the Jackets’ probable lines for tonight’s contest.
• The Stars collapsed down the stretch last night to lose 5-3 to the Red Wings, writes Mike Heika. The Stars will certainly be helped by the return of Sergei Zubov once he is healthy enough to return to the lineup.
• The Red Wings came back from down 3-1 last night, to record a victory over Dallas and, in turn, be the first team to qualify for the playoffs.
• The Kings upset the Predators last night by a score of 4-1.
• The Wild couldn’t hold a couple of leads last night, and then lost, of course, in the shootout, writes Michael Russo.
• If the Predators don’t make the playoffs, they will probably look back to last night’s game, writes John Glennon. On the injury front, David Legwand still hasn’t skated on his injured foot.
• Even though they have won ten straight games, the Sharks still don’t have much room to relax atop the Pacific Division, writes Mark Emmons.
• Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch discusses the improved play of Blues rookie Erik Johnson.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.

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