Thanks to Ryan once again for continuing to always help us out.  Here it comes, the Hump Day Edition of the Morning Skate.

The Morning After:

Yesterday’s scores:

Flyers 3, Capitals 2 (OT)

Penguins 4, Red Wings 1

Bruins 3, Hurricanes 2

Sabres 2, Canadiens 1 (OT)

Ducks 2, Senators 1 (SO)

Lightning 3, Blue Jackets 2 (SO)

Blues 2, Kings 1

Avalanche 4, Canucks 3 (OT)

Predators 5, Coyotes 2

Wild 4, Oilers 1

Predictions record: 6-4

My 3 stars of the night:

1. J.P. Dumont, NSH (3 Goals)… Dumont’s first hat trick since 2001 came out of left field. His performance lifted the Preds to a big win over Phoenix.

2. Tim Thomas, BOS (43 Saves, 1 GA)

3. Steven Stamkos, TB (2 Goals)

Close but no cigar: M. Hejduk, C. Anderson and D. Jones, COL; J. Hiller, ANA; M. Fleury, PIT; P. Rinne and P. Hornqvist, NSH

—

Tonight’s Slate:

Maple Leafs @ Rangers, 7:00 ET

Blue Jackets @ Panthers, 7:30

Wild @ Flames, 9:30

Game of the Night:

Minnesota Wild @ Calgary Flames

9:30 ET… TV: Local Networks

Records:

Overall: Wild (23-18-5) … Flames (20-20-6)

Last Ten: Wild (6-4-0) … Flames (5-2-3)

Away/Home: Wild (12-7-3) … Flames (11-8-1)

Season Series: 3-2 Wild

Players to watch:

MIN- Martin Havlat

Havlat has 25 points in 25 career games vs. Calgary.

CGY- Anton Babchuk

Babchuk has quietly been a nice find for the Flames.

Projected Goaltenders:

MIN- Niklas Backstrom (2010/11 stats: 13-10-3, 2.58 GAA)

CGY- Miikka Kiprusoff (2010/11 stats: 17-17-2, 2.75 GAA)

Injury Report:

MIN- Niklas Backstrom (hip, probable), Jose Theodore (hip, doubtful), Marek Zidlicky (shoulder, out), Guillaume Latendresse (sports hernia, out), Marco Scandella (concussion, out), Josh Harding and James Sheppard (knee, out)

CGY- Steve Staios (upper body, out), Raitis Ivanans (concussion, out), Daymond Langkow (neck, out)

Game Thoughts:

Northwest Division rivals, Minnesota and Calgary, are both looking to make a late-season push for the playoffs. The Wild are in 9th, while the 14th-place Flames have been playing better of late. This will be the sixth and final meeting of the season between the two teams. Minnesota comes in off a win in Edmonton and likely gets Backstrom back; however, go with Calgary in a toss-up.

Prediction: Flames 3, Wild 2 (SO)

The rest of tonight’s predictions:

Rangers over Maple Leafs

Blue Jackets over Panthers

Ryan brings us a late breakfast and a hope for better things to come on The Morning Skate and check out his great show in an hour on BTR.  If you do not, you will be held back a grade.  Its really that good!

The Morning After:

Yesterday’s scores:

Red Wings 3, Coyotes 2 (OT)

Predictions record: 1-0

My 3 stars of the night:

1. Henrik Zetterberg, DET (GWG)… Zetterberg’s game-winner lifted the Wings over Phoenix; ‘Hank’ also recorded six shots.

2. Ilya Bryzgalov, PHX (37 Saves, 3 GA)

3. Nicklas Lidstrom, DET (1 Goal)

—

Tonight’s Slate:

Oilers @ Hurricanes, 7:00 ET

Capitals @ Rangers, 7:30

Canucks @ Canadiens, 7:30

Thrashers @ Senators, 7:30

Maple Leafs @ Lightning, 7:30

Flames @ Avalanche, 9:30

Ducks @ Sharks, 10:30

Games of the Night:

Washington Capitals @ New York Rangers

7:30 ET… TV: VERSUS

Records:

Overall: Capitals (10-4-0) … Rangers (7-6-1)

Last Ten: Capitals (7-3-0) … Rangers (6-4-0)

Away/Home: Capitals (3-3-0) … Rangers (2-4-1)

Season Series (09/10): 3-1 Capitals

Players to watch:

WSH- Alex Ovechkin

‘Ovie’ has a six-game point streak and seems to always perform at his best at MSG.

NYR- Alexander Frolov

Can Frolov snap his eight-game goalless drought against his fellow Russians?

Projected Goaltenders:

WSH- Michal Neuvirth (2010/11 stats: 8-3-0, 2.41 GAA)

NYR- Henrik Lundqvist (2010/11 stats: 6-4-1, 2.55 GAA)

Injury Report:

WSH- Brooks Laich (upper body, questionable), Semyon Varlamov (groin, out), Marcus Johansson (hip, out), Tom Poti (lower body, out)

NYR- Marian Gaborik (shoulder, out), Chris Drury (finger, out), Vinny Prospal (knee, out), Derek Boogaard (illness, questionable)

Game Thoughts:

The Caps and Rangers meet up for the first time this season as the ‘Great Eight’ will be on the big stage once again. Ovechkin has 13 goals in 20 career games against the Blueshirts, and the Caps have won three of their last four games in the Big Apple. Couple that with the Rangers’ inconsistencies at home, and I’ll take Washington in this one.

Prediction: Capitals 4, Rangers 2

—

Vancouver Canucks @ Montreal Canadiens

7:30 ET… TV: Local Networks

Records:

Overall: Canucks (8-3-2) … Canadiens (8-5-1)

Last Ten: Canucks (7-2-1) … Canadiens (6-4-0)

Away/Home: Canucks (2-3-1) … Canadiens (3-3-1)

Season Series (09/10): Tied 1-1

Players to watch:

VAN- Raffi Torres

He was the NHL’s first star last week with six points in four games, including a hat trick.

MTL- Andrei Kostitsyn

Kostitsyn has suddenly gone cold, pointless in five games.

Projected Goaltenders:

VAN- Roberto Luongo (2010/11 stats: 5-3-2, 2.75 GAA)

MTL- Carey Price (2010/11 stats: 7-5-1, 2.45 GAA)

Injury Report:

VAN- Dan Hamhuis (foot, questionable), Sami Salo (Achilles, out), Guillaume Desbiens (hand, out), Ryan Parent (groin, questionable), Alexandre Bolduc (ankle, out)

MTL- None

Game Thoughts:

Vancouver heads east and puts their six-game winning streak on the line tonight in Montreal; Luongo’s play has improved while the team’s secondary scoring has awakened. The Habs are 1-3 since a nice four-game winning streak and faces a stiff challenge here. If the Canucks’ power play can keep rolling, I’ll go with the visitors.

Prediction: Canucks 3, Canadiens 2

The rest of tonight’s predictions:

Hurricanes over Oilers

Thrashers over Senators

Lightning over Maple Leafs

Avalanche over Flames

Sharks over Ducks

As things crawl back to some sort of normalcy (if you can call it that), Ryan presents the Morning Skate.

The Morning After:
Last night’s scores:
Senators 5, Bruins 1
Islanders 4, Devils 0
Lightning 3, Hurricanes 2
Blue Jackets 4, Blues 2
Sabres 7, Coyotes 2
Panthers 1, Thrashers 0
Maple Leafs 4, Predators 3
Stars 4, Wild 3
Avalanche 6, Oilers 0
Sharks 9, Flames 1
Predictions record: 7-3

My 3 stars from last night:
1. Daniel Alfredsson, OTT (3 Goals)
Alfie’s hat trick helped the Sens finally solve Tim Thomas.
2. Rick DiPietro, NYI (20 Saves, Shutout)
I gotta give a shout out to ‘DP’ for picking up his first shutout in almost two years.
3. Jason Pominville, BUF (2 Goals, 1 Assist)
Pominville tallied 3 points in the Sabres’ dominant win in the desert.
Honorable Mention: T. Vokoun, M. Duchene, B. Richards, C. Anderson, M. Fisher, R. Torres, T. Vanek, A. Miettinen, A. Ponikarovsky, and the whole Sharks team
Dud of the Night:
Porous play from Flames & Oilers… Hockey fans in Alberta couldn’t have been too happy with last night’s shoddy road efforts from Calgary and Edmonton. The two teams were outscored 15-1 by the Avs and Sharks, and the score may not tell the whole story, frankly. It’s safe to say both were ‘smashed like a bug on a windshield’.
Honorable Mention: Terrible matinee efforts from Boston & New Jersey
—

Tonight’s Slate:
Lightning @ Rangers, 7:00 ET
Blue Jackets @ Flyers, 7:00
Red Wings @ Capitals, 7:00
Maple Leafs @ Thrashers, 7:00
Blackhawks @ Senators, 7:30
Islanders @ Penguins, 7:30
Sabres @ Ducks, 10:00
Sharks @ Kings, 10:30

Games of the Night:
Detroit Red Wings @ Washington Capitals
7:00 ET… TV: Local Networks

Records:
Overall: Red Wings (24-16-8) … Capitals (30-12-6)
Last Ten: Red Wings (5-2-3) … Capitals (6-4-0)
Away/Home: Red Wings (10-9-5) … Capitals (16-3-3)
Season Series: 1-0 Red Wings

Players to watch:
DET- Henrik Zetterberg
Zetterberg has 5 points in the last 3 games, and must keep it up.
WSH- Alex Ovechkin
‘Ovie’ has been unbelievable lately – 14 points in the last 6 games.

Projected Goaltenders:
DET- Jimmy Howard (09/10 stats: 17-10-4, 2.18 GAA)
WSH- Jose Theodore (09/10 stats: 13-7-4, 2.88 GAA)

Injury Report:
DET- Johan Franzen and Niklas Kronwall (knee, out), Tomas Holmstrom (foot, out), Jason Williams (leg, out), Andreas Lilja (head, out)
WSH- Semyon Varlamov (groin, out), Brian Pothier (undisclosed, questionable), John Erskine (upper body, questionable)

Game Thoughts:
You have to imagine that the Red Wings are going to give their best effort tonight, right? They’ve lost a couple nail-biters via the shootout, and need to rack up some wins. The task will be tough, though, as Washington’s offense has been more than prolific lately. Howard is going to have to be a brickwall in net, but I don’t it’ll be strong enough. Go with the Caps in a tight one…
Prediction: Capitals 3, Red Wings 2
—
San Jose Sharks @ Los Angeles Kings
7:00 ET… TV: Local Networks

Records:
Overall: Sharks (32-10-8) … Kings (27-18-3)
Last Ten: Sharks (7-2-1) … Kings (5-5-0)
Away/Home: Sharks (16-6-2) … Kings (13-8-2)
Season Series: 3-1-1 Kings

Players to watch:
SJ- Devin Setoguchi
Setoguchi went 8 games without a point, shaved his head, and has now re-found his scoring touch. Whatever works!
LA- Anze Kopitar
The Kings need Kopitar to start playing like he did in October.

Projected Goaltenders:
SJ- Evgeni Nabokov (Last night vs. CGY: 21 Saves, 1 GA)
LA- Jonathan Quick (09/10 stats: 25-15-3, 2.54 GAA)

Injury Report:
SJ- None
LA- Matt Greene (lower body, out), Justin Williams (leg, out), Davis Drewiskie (shoulder, out)

Game Thoughts:
San Jose and L.A. complete their season series tonight; it’s a shame they don’t play at least once after the Olympics. Team Teal, coming off a monstrous 9-1 win over Calgary last night, will look to even the series with the Kings. But I don’t think it will happen. Terry Murray’s club needs the points, and the Sharks will run out of offense.
Prediction: Kings 4, Sharks 2

The rest of tonight’s predictions:
Rangers over Lightning
Flyers over Blue Jackets
Thrashers over Maple Leafs
Blackhawks over Senators
Penguins over Islanders
Ducks over Sabres

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