Here are the morning papers for Wednesday the 25th of March:
- Last night’s shootout victory at Nashville moved the Ducks into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
- The Bruins certainly feed off the aggressiveness of both Zdeno Chara and Aaron Ward, writes Barbara Matson. Boston GM Peter Chiarelli believes that practice makes perfect.
- Ryan Miller is close to returning to the Sabres lineup, but Mikael Tellqvist is expected to start tonight for Buffalo. If the Sabres’ best players played like they were the team’s best players then Buffalo would probably be sitting in playoff position right now, writes Bucky Gleason.
- The Flames understand that to shutdown the Penguins, you need to shutdown Crosby and Malkin. Mike Cammalleri is hoping he can play as well on the road as he has at home. Playing on the first line has Dustin Boyd receiving extra respect. Is Sidney Crosby overrated? Predictions for tonight’s tilt.
- Since Paul Maurice has returned to the Hurricanes bench, the RBC Center has been louder.
- Dustin Byfuglien has not minded his switch back to defense, as the Hawks deal with a couple minor injuries.
- Joe Sakic is hoping to return this season, but no timetable has been set for his return.
- “There’s no such thing as a bad point right now,” said Rick Nash after his team’s 2-1 overtime loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday. Jason Chimera (groin) is feeling better and is closing in on a return to the lineup.
- Mike Heika says the Stars aren’t going to make the playoffs playing the way they did on Tuesday. Stars owner Tom Hicks supports Dave Tippett. Steve Ott is not only an agitator but a scorer now too.
- The Wings outshot the Oilers 35-13 and took over the game in the third period last night at Rexall Place. With last night’s win, the Wings are now the top seed in the NHL. The Wings won’t lose sleep if they lose one of Hossa or Franzen this off-season.
- Dwayne Rolson could only hold the Red Wings off for so long. The Oilers simply lost to the better team. Ales Hemsky calmed down after his Monday outburst, writes Robert Tychkowski.
- Panthers know that they have to keep it simple during these desperate times. Lately the Cats have lost but they have played well enough to win. According to coach DeBoer, Nathan Horton was the Panthers’ best player on Monday.
- The Wild obviously missed Mikko Koivu during last night’s 2-1 loss at MSG. Even though he didn’t play much, former Ranger Dan Fritsche really did love living in New York City.
- Montreal’s best players were its best players last night at the Bell Centre, writes Pat Hickey. Stephen Brunt of the Globe & Mail thinks George Gillett is one year too late.
- The Predators had their chances, but they couldn’t capitalize and lost 2-1 to Anaheim in a shootout. Jason Arnott is slowly recovering from a concussion.
- John Madden and Brian Gionta are both UFAs this off-season and both players would like to remain Devils.
- Greg Logan takes a look at the tremendous season Mark Streit has had for the Islanders.
- Young defenseman Marc Staal said the Rangers did a really good job of not getting frustrated by Minnesota’s style last night. The Rangers now sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
- Since Cory Clouston took over, everything has changed in Ottawa. Daniel Alfredsson is a Senators lifer. The Sens players don’t want to hear that they have only a 1% chance of making the playoffs.
- Simon Gagne has had a quietly tremendous season for the Flyers. The Flyers are taking the retro fashion trend to the next level.
- The Coyotes have a spiritual leader helping them out.
- So much of hockey is mental and Dan Bylsma has done a great job changing the Penguins players’ mindsets. Every game played these days can change your standing in the Conference playoff race. Sidney Crosby loves Jarome Iginla’s game.
- Jeremy Roenick is expected to return to the San Jose lineup tonight against Chicago.
- T.J. Oshie noticed Patrick Berglund battling in the first period and that was a sign of things to come, as the rookie Berglund scored twice in the third period to lead the Blues to an imporant 2-0 win over Los Angeles.
- Tampa Bay defeated the playoff bound Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. Chris Gratton, now with Columbus, certainly doesn’t miss the Tampa Bay organization.
- It felt like the early 2000s out there last night, as Cujo stole the show for Toronto and led the Leafs to a win over the Capitals. Cujo only got his chance because Martin Gerber made contact with an official. Niklas Hagman thinks headshots are the fault of the players. Is Tomas Kaberle ever going to return this season?
- Roberto Luongo proved how important he is to the Canucks’ cause on Tuesday. Ryan Kesler had a nice talk with the NHLPA and has now changed his tune on his contract comments. Who says the Sedins aren’t tough?
- The Capitals know they ran into a hot goalie late in yesterday’s shootout loss to Toronto.
