NHL Morning Papers–Western Conference (Wednesday Edition)

Here are the Central Division morning papers:

• The Predators got a terrific relief performance from Chris Mason last night and with two more victories, they will be in the playoffs. The Predators did get a little bit lucky after the referees made an iffy call in the third period.
• The Blues blew a 3-0 lead on home-ice last night and were defeated 4-3 by the Predators in overtime, writes Jeremy Rutherford.
• Red Wings winger Johan Franzen has been named the third star of the NHL for the month of March. In injury news, it appears that Kris Draper will be lost to the Red Wings until the beginning of the playoffs.
• It looks like David Vyborny is going to exit the Columbus scene quietly at season’s end and Michael Arace of the Columbus Dispatch thinks that is wrong. Tom Reed of the Dispatch has a touching story about a Nationwide Arena employee.
• Hawks rookie Jonathan Toews does not want the season to end, writes Chris Kuc. If the Blackhawks want to make the playoffs, they’ll need to win all three of their remaining games and get some help too.

Here are the Pacific Division morning papers:

• Joe Thornton recorded his 300th point as a Shark last night in his team’s fairly easy 5-2 victory over the lowly Kings. Evgeni Nabokov will not get a shot at the NHL’s win record for one season because Brian Boucher is slated to start Thursday’s game at Los Angeles.
• According to Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News, Sergei Zubov may not be ready for the start of the playoffs. Meanwhile, coach Dave Tippett is not too concerned about starting the playoffs on the road.
• The Ducks got Ryan Carter back at practice on Tuesday, writes Al Balderas.
• Recently signed Coyotes prospect Kyle Turris is going to make his NHL debut on Thursday versus Dallas.

**There were no L.A. Kings articles this morning**

Here are the Northwest Division morning papers:

• The Wild need a win in one of their last two games to get Jacques Lemaire his 500th career NHL victory as a head coach. If the Wild beat the Flames on Thursday, the team may give some of its veterans a little time off prior to the playoffs.
• The Flames recorded a huge victory last night over the desperate Oilers in Edmonton. Last night’s victory was more sweet for the Flames in that they eliminated the Oilers from playoff contention. Oilers coach Craig MacTavish thinks Robyn Regehr has gotten away with some dirty hits throughout the season.
• The Oilers run to the playoffs stopped last night versus Calgary, writes Joanne Ireland. Oilers defenseman Joni Pitkanen was diagnosed with a strained groin after Saturday’s game against the Flames but he was not going to miss Tuesday’s rematch. The dream is done for Edmonton, writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun.
• The Canucks blew a 2-0 lead at home, and got no help from the out-of-town scoreboard to put their playoff chances in peril. The Canucks just could not match the Avalanche in all aspects of the game, writes Ed Willes of the Vancouver Province.
• The Avalanche clinched a playoff birth last night with a 4-2 win at Vancouver. Avalanche youngster David Jones was ecstatic to be able to play at GM Place last night in Vancouver.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.

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