Here are the morning papers for Monday the 23rd of March:
- Those who wrote off the Ducks might want to take a look at this morning’s standings. After beating Phoenix yesterday, Anaheim have a huge game on Tuesday night against the Predators to look forward to.
- The Bruins not only won the Northeast Division crown on Sunday, but they stretched out their lead for home-ice advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs. Milan Lucic was moved to the fourth line with Stephane Yelle and it resulted in a goal. “We really wanted this game,” said Marc Savard.
- John Vogl of the Buffalo News talks about the importance of not having Ryan Miller between the pipes for the Sabres.
- The Wings face the Flames tonight for the first time since Calgary’s comeback win at the Joe Louis Arena. Eric Nystrom was certainly flattered that Don Cherry complimented him on Hockey Night in Canada. Predictions for tonight’s game from the Calgary Herald. Meantime, Jarome Iginla vows that the Flames will be better defensively.
- The streaking Hurricanes get to face-off against a Panthers team that has given them problems this season. Matt Cullen (lower body) won’t play tonight for Carolina.
- The Blackhawks definitely respect the team’s historic logo.
- Terry Frei thinks Joe Sakic is attempting to return this season becuase he is probably going to retire. The Avs competed hard last night, but they just lost to a better team in San Jose.
- Manny Malhotra has had a breakout season for the Jackets, but he is not going to worry about his contract situation until after the season.
- The Stars have decided to go on the aggressive for the remainder of the season.
- Marian Hossa says he wants to sign somewhere this off-season where he can retire. The Wings have no problem winning of the road.
- The Oilers just couldn’t get a goal past Niklas Backstrom on Sunday, as the netminder was especially sharp in the first period. At least Sam Gagner is back to scoring again.
- The Panthers know that their season comes down to their final ten-game segment on the schedule.
- After losing to Chicago at the United Center on Sunday, the Kings are pretty much out of the playoff race in the Western Conference.
- You don’t mess with Wild winger Owen Nolan. In bad news, the Wild lost Mikko Koivu to a knee injury on Sunday.
- George Gillet may be looking to sell the Habs. The Habs are a very fragile team right now. One thing is for certain, firing Guy Carbonneau hasn’t turned things around, writes Jack Todd.
- In Nashville, Jason Arnott is still injured and won’t play Tuesday night.
- Brent Sutter wasn’t happy with the Devils performance on Sunday versus Boston.
- Jack Hillen is really developing well on the Islanders’ back-end, writes Greg Logan.
- The Rangers’ power play was the difference last night at MSG, but not for the right reasons, writes Steve Zipay. “We didn’t bring our ‘A’ game tonight, ” said Sean Avery.
- It was Ryan Shannon night at MSG, and he sure didn’t disappoint. With last night’s win, the Senators are only seven points out of the playoffs.
- The Flyers got a great performance from Martin Biron on Sunday to move two points ahead of Pittsburgh for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Flyers tried to limit Crosby and Malkin as best they could. Are the Flyers good enough to make a playoff run?
- It looks like the Penguins and Flyers will meet in the playoffs once again. The Pens lost to Philadephlia yesterday but didn’t play that poorly. Are the Penguins better than they were last season?
- Marcel Goc is expected to be out of the Sharks lineup for 1-2 weeks. The Sharks have been getting great play from their call-ups this season.
- Should the Lightning just shutdown Mike Smith for the season?
- The Leafs are already starting to focus on improving the development of their own players. Meanwhile, Alexei Ponikarovsky’s production has not fallen off since Nik Antropov was traded.
- Ossi Vaananen can’t wait to actually get in the lineup for the Canucks.