Backstrom joins Peter Stastny and Wayne Gretzky as the only players to have 55 assists in each of their first three seasons in the NHL. Impressive stuff. His OT winner was a thing of beauty as well.

I still have FOUR tickets left to this amazing DobberHockey event. Details are outlined neatly (including some new ones) HERE. As you can see, now that the details have fallen into place, that this will be quite a fun event for Dobber Nation. You can buy a ticket right here – just four left.

In case you missed it from another news source, Marian Hossa is out due to an upper body injury. It’s probably called “playoff-itis” and Washington players suffer from the same ailment from time to time. I don’t know that for certain, I’m just sayin’…

Alex Ovechkin received a game misconduct for boarding/ hitting from behind. Because it is his second offense, I believe he will have to miss the next game. Funny enough, that probably coincides with Boudreau’s rotation of resting his players (not really, I’m just kidding).

Tikhonov owners should be very relieved – he has rejoined the team. We were all fairly certain that he would come back, but you can never be 100 percent until he is actually here. He is ranked 105 on my prospects list, but probably took a small hit due to said uncertainty and is probably a better fit around 75. I think he can be a 65-plus player in a few years, although that may be tough under Tippett.

Kevin Bieksa was back in the lineup, playing 17 minutes and getting a small taste of the power play. He’s probably fourth in the PP pecking order on the blue line, until he can start proving himself again.

Buffalo prospect Tyler Ennis has 19 points in his last 15 AHL games, but had a seven-game points streak snapped yesterday. As it stands now, he is competing with Nathan Gerbe for a roster spot in the fall – and has the edge. Gerbe is two years away still, thanks to his size.

St. Louis prospect Lars Eller is on a six-game AHL points streak. He has 10 in that span. He’ll be on the Blues next year, though I’ll be shocked if he gets 35 as a rookie.

Ville Leino was pointless yesterday, despite actually playing on a good line – Carter and JVR were his linemates.

Benoit Pouliot extended his points streak to five games. He also has 19 points in his last 21 games.

Give Lee Stempniak five goals in four games for his new club and six points in that span. I think the hot streak will continue through to the end of the season, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him hit a wall come playoff time. I also don’t believe he will reach the 50-point mark again in his career. That said, he is streaky and he’s hot now.

With three points last night, Andy McDonald has nine in eight games.

Jakub Voracek has 12 points in his last 10 games. In the post-Hitchcock era, he is a great candidate to flirt with 70 next season.

With Erik Cole back in the lineup, the Hurricanes returned Oskar Osala to junior. They had their 6:46 look at him and confirmed that he does indeed suck. If Osala could use his 6-4, 225 frame better – and reconnect with the sniper that went nutty in the first two months of his AHL career a year ago, he could be a decent second liner. But I don’t see it.

Pascal Leclaire continues to struggle, unable to string together multiple strong games. He’s 11-11-2 and his SP is below .900. Meanwhile, Elliott is 23-15-3. I really hope they ride him in the postseason, and I’m sure they will.

It would be a shame if the NHL never sees Ottawa’s third goalie, Mike Brodeur again. To have a career 3-0 record with a shutout, 1.00 GAA and .966 SP and not get another chance would really suck.

What a sloppy game between the Leafs and Oilers last night. Still, offensively the Bozak, Kessel and Kulemin line continued to dominate. I can’t say enough about Kulemin and what an entirely different player he is now. Give him six points in four games now.

Bozak is also going nutty and he looks like an NHL star. Just when I was starting to doubt that the undrafted college player hype was turning into much ado about nothing, this guy steps in and shows real promise. I know Angus already had a love-in for him this week, so I’ll keep mine short – 12 points in his last 11 games.

Shawn Horcoff has eight points in his last eight games and is a plus-5 in that span. I know, I don’t believe it either. But it’s true. If you drafted and dropped him this year, you may want to pick him back up.

I loved the youtube clip Angus threw up yesterday. If you didn’t catch it, click “next” below and have a listen.

Look at Patrick Kane skate to the bench, needing a change with six seconds left in the game. The Flyers score three seconds later. Uh…couldn’t you stick it out and hustle back? (I was told it was Kane via PJ Stock on HNIC)