The Leafs dropped another decision and are quickly falling out of the playoff race. They’ve been getting some help lately, like Detroit losing Thursday and Columbus losing Friday, but they are not taking advantage of the good fortune. Saturday’s game against Detroit is all the more massive now and the Leafs need a regulation win. Nothing else will do.

 

David Bolland scored in this one. It was his first goal since his return. You’d like to say they really missed him when he was out of lineup, but they weren’t playing all that poorly until two weeks ago and Bolland returned shortly after that. He would be a huge boost for the playoffs though if the Leafs can pull a rabbit out of their hat.

 

Dion Phaneuf looked especially awful tonight. I’m not sure if he’s injured or what’s going on, but there were a few shifts in the third where he looked completely lost, culminating in a brutal effort leading to the Flyers’ fourth goal. 

 

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You can credit a couple of turnarounds for the reason the Flyers are just about a lock to book a trip to the postseason. One is from Steve Mason, who made 32 saves on a rare night when the Leafs outshot someone. He hasn’t been spectacular this year, but he’s been reliable and regained some respectability back from where his career had fallen to in Columbus. 

 

The other is Claude Giroux, who posted three points against the Leafs to give him 78 on the season. From how his campaign got started with that awful drought, that’s saying a lot. Not to mention being passed over for Team Canada. Not everyone could recover and rebound from that the way Giroux has. 

Vincent Lecavalier has been moved to the fourth line, which isn't all that surprising with the way his season has gone. He hasn't been horrible, but expectations were high for him with the Flyers. He's just not the point producer he once was, but go figure, he scored a power play goal against the Leafs. On the bright side, he's still making an obscene amount of money from both Philly and Tampa.

 

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I’m not sure if anyone wants those two final playoff spots in the East. Columbus missed a chance to separate themselves from the pack and it seems like the big winners are the teams that don’t play. The Devils’ playoff chances took quite a jump considering they didn’t step onto the ice Friday. 

 

Curtis McElhinney got the start and gave the Blue Jackets a chance to beat a Pittsburgh team playing the second of a back-to-back, but they couldn’t come through. 

 

James Wisniewski has four assists in his last two games but no goals in his last seven. He’s had a good year with 43 points but I always feel like he should score more goals. Wisniewski has never had more than 10 in a season and that was just once. With the point shot he possesses, combined with his power play minutes, it just seems like he should be getting more. 

 

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Chris Kunitz now has goals in back-to-back games after a four-game slide. He also notched five shots.

 

Lee Stempniak has now gone pointless in five-straight outings. I thought he would find a home with Crosby and Kunitz and cash in on some cheap points. He started off well but has really fallen off as of late. They are going to need him to come through in the playoffs with some secondary scoring if they hope to matchup against the Bruins at some point. 

 

Marcel Goc reportedly is now out for three weeks with a foot injury.

 

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Even in a losing cause the Blackhawks are frightening to watch. They put up 49 shots against the Sens and it’s really tough to envision anyone taking them out in a seven-game series. Who has the best shot? I'm going to say the Blues.

 

If there is cause for concern right now with the Blackhawks it might be with Brandon Saad. He’s been pointless in six straight and gone minus-5 over that span. There’s not much excuse for that with the lineup the Blackhawks can put out there, even with Patrick Kane sidelined. 

 

Matt Carey falls for the oldest trick in the book.

 

 

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Craig Anderson made 46 stops and he has salvaged his season after a rough patch earlier in the year. His numbers don’t stack up to last year, but he was never going to be able to duplicate that crazy pace. It will be interesting to see what the Sens do next year. Roll with Anderson again or turn things over to Robin Lehner? Good problem to have, at least.

 

Clarke MacArthur notched three points to give him 52 on the year. Remind me why the Leafs couldn’t sign him again? Oh right, they gave a truck load of money to David Clarkson. That worked out well.

 

Mark Stone had a pair of assists to give him four points in three games. He’s having a nice late season audition to earn a regular spot in the lineup for next year.

 

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Pekka Rinne was in for all seven Dallas goals in the Stars’ dominating win on Friday. It was only 5-3 at one point in the third, so maybe that’s why Rinne didn’t get the hook. 

 

 

Don’t look now but Michael Del Zotto has played decent minutes in his last three games and potted a goal against the Stars. Sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery, so we’ll see how he does next year during a full season in his new surroundings. 

 

Patric Hornqvist is quite a run. He notched a whopping nine shots and a goal on Friday to give him six points in four games. 

 

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On a night where the Stars scored seven times, Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Valeri Nichushkin combined for just three points. 

 

Alex Goligoski had three points and five blocks. He’s another guy that you have to think is capable of more. Is that trade for James Neal one of the worst ever?

 

Colton Sceviour had two points. I think there’s some decent potential there to be an average point producer with above average penalty minutes. 

 

Ray Whitney had his third point in four games. If the Stars get in he’s going to be valuable come playoff time. He has plenty of experience and could easily get on a scoring run. He’d be someone to look at for a playoff pool where you have to pick ‘one player from the group’ when you are debating over your final selections. 

 

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The Flames continued their solid March with a victory over the Rangers on Friday.

 

Joe Colborne, Mike Cammalleri and Mark Giordano all scored, which is far from shocking with the way those three have played this month. Cammalleri is an unrestricted free agent and is driving his price up with his strong finish to the year.

 

I had to do a double take on Karri Ramo's stats for this season as I realized they are anything but terrible. He owns a winning record with a .913 save percentage, and that's saying a lot with the state of the Flames for much of the season.

 

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Chris Kreider will undergo hand surgery and be out indefinitely for the Rangers. He had 17 goals this year and provided some decent secondary scoring. With the addition of Martin St. Louis, New York looked poised for a deep playoff run, but this is a blow if he is out long-term.

 

St. Louis is now without a point in five straight and has only managed four shots on goal in that span. One thing he is going to have to adapt to is the pressure of playing in New York rather than Tampa Bay. I'm not saying he's buckling, but it's very different from anything he's dealt with other than say the Olympics. The playoffs will only magnify that and dealing Ryan Callahan was far from a popular move, so there will be plenty of weight on his shoulders to produce.

 

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The Oilers and Flames won on the same night. Quick, everybody rush out and buy a lottery ticket!

 

David Perron had three assists to give him 12 points in 13 games. He's one Oiler who has been fairly consistent all year. Edmonton's talented group seem to all play well during different stretches, but rarely at the same time.

 

Ben Scrivens was rock solid again facing 51 shots and he's someone to look at for next year. If you have total saves as a category it's not a bad idea to own an Oilers netminder as they gave up a plethora of shots. As long as you can afford to sacrifice a few other categories.

 

Oscar Klefbom scored his first NHL goal.

 

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Calling all desperate fantasy owners trying to stay alive in the playoffs, Patrick Maroon had a goal and an assist for the Ducks to give him five points in three games. He was also pushing four minutes of power play time against Edmonton, some of which with Getzlaf and Perry.

Mathieu Perreault is far less likely to still be kicking around in your league, but he is on an impressive run of his own. His two points against the Oil give him eight in seven games. In two of those contests he's managed six and seven shots.

 

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Roberto Luongo won't be in goal when Florida takes on Montreal on Saturday. Luongo left Thursday's game after being on the wrong end of a big collision with Radek Dvorak. It's a tough break to lose him at this time of the year with fantasy playoffs in full swing. He's been solid since coming over to the Panthers and looks rejuvenated. It will be interesting to see how he stacks up next year when the excitement of moving to a new team has worn off.

 

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It looks like David Legwand is heading for a demotion to the third line. He had a good start with the Wings but has struggled lately. If he can stay healthy he should move back up by default at some point though with the way things are going for Detroit this year.

 

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Dominik Hasek will have his number retired by the Buffalo Sabres next season. Well deserved. They just might want to confirm that he is indeed done playing before the ceremony.

 

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No words needed to describe this.

 

 

Michael Amato is an Associate Editor for DobberHockey and a News Editor for theScore. You can follow him on Twitter at @amato_mike