The Dallas Stars came up with a tremendous fire power and vengeance to beat the Los Angeles Kings with a big margin of 7-2 and are now on course to play well in their final four games of the National Hockey League season. Loui Eriksson showed his class as he scored two times in the space of less than four minutes in a goal filled second period and this was when the game totally slipped from the hands of the Kings. The Stars avenged their earlier defeat to the Kings 4-2 in Dallas and in the course of the game came up with their 2nd win in ten games.

Marty Turco, the goalie of the Stars, was appreciative of his team mates fighting skills when the chips were down and wanted the players to perform similarly in the last four games as well. He said that the team was very happy to end the losing streak and will look to win the final four games that are lying ahead of them.

Minnesota Wild played one of the best first period sessions this season as they beat Edmonton Oilers 3-1 last Wednesday night. The Minnesota team scored two goals in the space of the opening seven minutes and further consolidated their lead to end with a final score line of 3-1 and avenging for their poor showdown in Edmonton. This victory has placed them in the first place in the NHL’s Northwest division and the coach of the Wild was pretty pleased to see his side put behind the loss to Oilers in their last match.

Rolston, the coach, said that this win puts the team in for bigger challenges ahead and wants them to continue their rich hockey skills that they showcased in the match to stay perched on top of the table. Nikalas Backstorm was responsible for Wild to win the game as he made 32 saves and was thrilled to get the better off the Oilers as they lost very badly to them last Monday.

The Anaheim Ducks came to their favorite touring arena in San Jose, California hoping to beat their arch rivals San Jose Sharks to close in on the gap at the Pacific Division. But San Jose Sharks got the better of them by defeating the Ducks 2-1. The Stanley Cup champions had no answer to the defensive traps set by the Sharks and did not have even a single shot at the Sharks goal during the third period. The Sharks controlled the entire third period with excellent defensive skills and good puck possession.

Joe Thorton one of the goal scorers for the Sharks said that his team is now playing the game with good confidence. The Sharks have now won 14 of their last 15 games. The dark horse in the three team Pacific Division race is close to grabbing a top two playoff place. The Sharks coach Ron Wilson said that his team had 75% of the puck possession and was happy that his team played like true champions.

The Pittsburgh Penguin boys were at the top of their game last Sunday when they displayed a clinical performance to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers by 7-1 courtesy of twin goals by both Malkin and Sykora. The victory for the Penguins came without their top player, Sidney Crosby, who has been sidelined with an ankle injury. The Penguins dominated the entire game leaving the Flyers no place to take cover for their humiliating performance. Penguins have now won five of their last six straight games and have scored 7 goals in two consecutive matches. The Penguins with this emphatic win moves into the 2nd place of the Atlantic division and Eastern Conference, behind the New Jersey team.

The strong offensive line up of the Pittsburgh Penguins will be further strengthened with the addition of Crosby into the team and Crosby who is the leading scorer in the NHL has not played a single game since his ankle injury in January. The Flyers coach John Stevens accepted the fact that there were several lapses in the defensive tactics of his team that left the gate open for Malkin to score freely. Malkin said that he was pretty much satisfied with his performance for the Penguins and wanted to score more points for his team in the future as well.

The Chicago Blackhawks stemmed their flow of continuous four game defeat by coming up with an impressive 6-3 performance against the Columbus Blue Jackets last Friday night and by beating the jackets they have put their foot on the playoff race. The Blackhawks coach Denis said that all his team members played a solid game and wanted his team to play like they did on Friday in a bid to enter into playoff race. The Chicago Blackhawks rallied to a three goal advantage in the first period itself and the Columbus team always had to fight from behind in the entire course of the game.

The Chicago goalie Patrick Lalime made 29 saves in the game and the only face saving players for the Blue Jackets were Nash, the new captain, Modin and Fritsche. The Blue Jackets are fast slipping off from the playoff race and have only won a single game of their last nine games at home. The Chicago Blackhawks at this moment are in danger of getting knocked out of the playoffs and will have to play out of their skin to enter it. The Blue Jackets have never made it to the playoffs so far in their history and there will be two more contests among these two teams in this season.

San Jose Sharks beat the Nashville Predators 2-1 at their home and ended their three week long touring program with a franchisee record of ten consecutive wins. The San Jose with this game have played 11 out of the last 13 games as away games and have the best record for away games by any team in the NHL. Douglas Murray, the Sharks defense man said that the players were really tiring and was glad that the team picked up the momentum in the second period. The Sharks won the game, but felt that this was not the way they ought to finish the game.

The Nashville Predators coach Bary Trotz coached the Predators for a record 727th game and grabbed the 11th position of all time for being the coach of a single NHL team. The first goal scored by Pavelski was awarded to the Sharks after a long video review. The Sharks extended their lead in the 37th second of the third period and the Sharks coach felt that the players did not put up a game as was expected of them, but have scored a victory nevertheless. The goalie of Sharks, E. Nabokov made 26 saves in the match and the Predators goalie D. Ellis made 40 saves.

The New York Rangers team is in a discussion to play their final game on the chilly ice at the Yankee Stadium. A report said that the Rangers are making rapid progress in this discussion and a final solution in their favor is likely to be the outcome of this discussion. The Yankees are in full support of this proposal as well. The NHL deputy commissioner, Bill Daly, said that they have spoken to both the Yankees and the team about this proposal, but the deal is not yet closed as there are lots of ifs and buts’ to be still discussed.

The Rangers want to ride on the noise that has been created by this year’s NHL winter Classic that had the Pittsburgh Penguins and Sidney Crosby fight against the Sabres at the Ralph Wilson Stadium. The New York Rangers opponents for their final match at the Yankees is not yet decided, and reports are filtering through that the NHL will be looking for a major team to compete with the Rangers in an attempt to woo a larger television audience. The Islanders Vice President Chris Botta said that he wants the Islanders to compete with the Rangers at the Yankees and he has been working for two years to get this deal through.

The Vancouver Canucks who had been in a four game losing streak has come up trumps in their Western Conference clash against their arch rivals Nashville. This victory not only ended their winning drought but also helped them to move back into the playoff position. The Canucks who showcased one of the biggest offensive games of the season beat Nashville 6-2 and six different players were responsible in scoring each of these goals. The Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said that he wanted his guys to show some urgency right from the start and he got what he had asked for from his team.

The Canucks with their win over the Nashville were able to sneak into the final position of the playoff and dethroned the Predators from the eighth spot. The first goal was scored by Alex Brown in the 37th second of the game and was followed by a power play goal by Alex Edler in the fourth minute. Matt Pettinger who scored the third goal had twin reasons to celebrate the goal as it was the first one for his new team Vancouver Canucks as well a the 100th NHL career point. Kevin Bieksa, Mason Raymond and Ryan Shannon were the other goal scorers for the Vancouver Canucks.

The Los Angeles Kings goaltender, Jason LaBarbera will be out of the action for the rest of the season following a sports hernia surgery. The LA Kings goalie is in the first of his two year extension with the Kings and has not played a game since Feb 18 after injuring his groin. This season has ended for him with a stopping of 1,220 goals out of 1,341 shots at .910 SV% and with a 3.00GAA.

The head coach of the Kings, Crawford, said that it is an unfortunate situation for LaBarbera as he was having a decent season till the injury and said that he had showed all that it takes to be an NHL goalkeeper. He hoped that LaBarbera has got enough time to recoup and can start afresh next season. As LaBarbera is out of the game, the goaltending duties for the kings will either fall on rookie Erik Ersberg as well as on veteran Dan Cloutier. Ersberg, the first Swedish to play as the goaltender for the Kings has a .929 save percentage till now, but has not been able to win a game for the Kings in the three matched he has played so far.

Nigel Dawes, a 5 foot 9 inch player of the New York Rangers, has silenced his critics, who has criticized him for his small stature, by scoring ten goals and as many as 21 points in his 45 games for the Rangers this season. He acknowledges the fact that there will be critics who will keep on questioning him throughout his entire career and he says that he would not like to reply for those unwarranted comments and feels that his play will do the talking. He feels that he will have to change people’s opinion on him by showing his skills on the playing arena.

The rookie player has gained a certain respect in the New York Rangers team and has adapted well as the left winger of the side. The veteran Rangers right wing Shanahan feels that Nigel pretty knows well how to score a goal and is always thinking of ways on how to beat a goalie with his shot. The Rangers are pretty happy about the offensive lift that Dawes has provided their team and Dawes is playing in the defense as well this season. Dawes says that the game is not totally about scoring goals and raking up points, but it is important for a player to play at both ends of the ice with reasonable consistency.