The Eastern Conference’s two wild card teams remained the same by the end of Friday, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t some important jockeying for positioning above and below those positions. Here’s a rundown of how a few key games - including one win and one loss involving desperate squads against cellar dwellers - played out tonight.
- “It might not be pretty, but ...” could become the mantra of the 2013-14 Detroit Red Wings. They’re banged up and are absolutely in a dogfight to keep a stunning playoff streak going. It could have taken a big hit against the lowly (but still talented) Edmonton Oilers team on Friday, yet they managed a 2-1 (SO) win thanks to Tomas Tatar’s shootout-winner. Feel free to enter your favorite saucy puns there, as it was a pretty stylish way to take the victory.
- They might need to share that motto with the Washington Capitals, however, as they edged an even more schizophrenic Vancouver Canucks team by a score of 4-3. Washington really needed this win, as their 72 points in 68 games leave them vulnerable in a race to catch Detroit (73 points in 66 games played) and bottom wild card team Philadelphia (73 points in 65 GP).
- The New Jersey Devils could really look back at a 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers as a haunting defeat, not only because Cory Schneider will continue to roll his eyes about Roberto Luongo questions after his former teammate topped him for a third time in three tries.
- The New York Rangers kept themselves above the bubble fray - for now - with a 4-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets thanks to Carl Hagelin’s “hag trick.” The Rangers are now second in the Metropolitan, going back in front of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Here are video clips of the three goals:
Check out how the East races look as of Friday night, via NHL.com:
