NHL Morning Papers–Western Conference (Wednesday Edition)

Here are the Northwest Division morning papers:

• The Oilers continued to make the playoff race more interesting last night, with an exciting 8-4 victory over the visiting Coyotes. Ilya Brygalov was shaky last night, writes Derek Van Diest. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal has an interesting article on the new breed of tough-guy in the NHL.
• The Flames finished their four-game road trip in Columbus last night with a 3-0 loss, writes Jean Lefebvre.
• The Canucks cannot wait to take on the streaking Oilers on Thursday, writes Ben Kuzma. Meanwhile, apparently the Sedin twins don’t mind being split up.
• If the Avalanche want to make the playoffs, then they are going to have to improve on their porous power play.
• As Michael Russo tells readers, the Wild are going to put a lot of pressure on their checking line for the remainder of the season.

Here are the Central Division morning papers:

• The Blue Jackets played a perfect Ken Hitchcock game last night and came away with an impressive 3-0 victory on home-ice. Danny Fritsche backed up his tough pre-game talk with his performance in last night’s game. Here are the Blue Jackets’ projected lines for tonight’s contest versus the Red Wings.
• The Predators continued their slide from the playoffs into golf tee-times last night, writes John Glennon. At least the organization can take solace in the fact that Wednesday’s game was a sell-out.
• With the Red Wings beginning to get healthier, coach Mike Babcock has some difficult decisions to make on the blue line, writes Helene St. James. On the injury front, don’t expect Kris Draper or Tomas Holmstrom back before the end of the week.
• Tonight’s Blackhawks/Capitals game will be an exhibit of youthful NHL talent.
• The Blues finally ended their six-game losing streak last night in Montreal, writes Jeremy Rutherford. Last night’s victory was most exciting for Quebec native David Perron.

Here are the Pacific Division morning papers:

• The Stars/Ducks game tonight should not lack any intensity, writes Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News.
• It sure did not take the Sharks long to get back into the win column, as they defeated L.A. 2-1 last night. On the injury front, the Sharks should be getting Curtis Brown back in the line up after the forward has missed 25 games with a thumb injury.
• The Kings will continue so long as they don’t get production from top scorers, writes Dan Arritt.
• The Ducks have their mind on getting home-ice for the playoffs when they visit the Stars tonight.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.

Email any thoughts, ideas or suggestions to illegalcurve@gmail.com