You gotta love NHL Rivalry Night, kicked off by an epic Islanders-Senators battle that folks will be talking about for years. The narrative was either a battle of Zdeno Chara's former lovers or a wrestling match over ping pong balls.

 

The Islanders won, which means they lost in the scheme of ping pong balls I just alluded to. They are facing a real dilemma with the draft pick that they owe to the Sabres but to me there's no question that they should keep their pick this summer and send their 2015 pick. They cannot concede next season.

 

With a solid off-season, particularly if they can upgrade in goal this team can contend. They have two of the league's best young stars in John Tavares and Kyle Okposo signed to a couple of the best contracts in the league. They need to take advantage of these years. Planning against losing next season doesn't help them. Planning towards winning does.

 

They've got a ton of other young talent that has been on display these past few weeks Ryan Strome, for instance, notched two assists last night and has five points in the last five games. He could be a nice injury fill in for those of you in one-year leagues. Strome actually has 12 points in his last 16 games as well.

 

Josh Bailey is never going to be a star but when given minutes he can produce like he is right now. He has scored six points in the last five games and 12 in last 16.

 

Anders Lee is another one. He has slowed down but I'm a big fan of his in-your-face game. It feels like a long shot but if he could grab that top line spot with Tavares and Okposo next season he could make noise.

 

I like Brock Nelson as well. He's in a similar vein as Lee but a more responsible two-way guy. I prefer Lee's upside though.

 

They need some help on defense though. Calvin de Haan is intriguing but I'm not convinced he's going to be the offensive guy that he was projected to be when he was drafted. I mean, the Islanders still aren't skating him on the top power play unit despite having literally nothing to lose at this point.

 

They are running Matt Donovan in that spot instead. He notched an assist last night but frankly Donovan doesn't do it for me. Add a couple of veterans on the blue line and a legit starter and I become a fan.

 

 

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Check out @RossyYoungblood’s Thursday morning prospect ramblings over at DobberProspects

 

 

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The Senators loss isn't quite the nail in the coffin but they've essentially been done for a while now. Just waiting for that formality.

 

Jason Spezza missed last night's contest. Supposedly he was ready to go but was held out all the same.

 

 

Spezza wants to play, but says he’s the proverbial “game-time decision.” #sens #isles

— Wayne Scanlan (@HockeyScanner) April 2, 2014

 

 

 

I wonder if the Sens decide to sit Spezza frequently the rest of the way as part of some subtle tanking. I mean, they could say they just don't want to bother risking an injury with nothing to play for and it also gives them a chance to see some of their youngsters in action but we know that throwing in the towel is at least part of the motivation.

 

It's worth noting that Spezza will be a key to keeping Ales Hemsky in Ottawa.

 

 

Hemsky says a chance to play with Spezza would be “a big part” of his free agency decision. #sens

— Wayne Scanlan (@HockeyScanner) March 31, 2014

 

 

 

I love the notion of Ottawa building a Band-Aid Boy line.

 

Patrick Wiercioch notched an assist in this one and is worth grabbing if you have needs. He has scored four points in five games since returning to the lineup with three of those coming on the power play. The Senators are giving him top unit minutes, which should keep him productive.

 

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Regarding my jokes about NHL Rivalry Night above, do we give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they really only meant rivalry with regard to the contests between American teams? I say no but credit where credit is due the Boston-Detroit game was a really good one and potential first round matchup.

 

Before you applaud take a glimpse at how NHL.com decided to promote this matchup, by building up the "burgeoning" rivalry between Danny DeKeyser and Dougie Hamilton. Ummm… What?

 

I would have personally built up the Smith brothers playing one another, even if Reilly is ice cold and Brendan is looking like a bust but that's just me.

 

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The Legend of Gustav Nyquist continues to build. He received the ultimate sign of respect from the Bruins last night, by constantly seeing Zdeno Chara thrown at him. Nyquist was stifled for much of the game, until this happened:

 

Nyquist caught the big man flat-footed and blew past him for the game-winner late in the third period. What a revelation.

 

Tomas Tatar played a huge role in helping the Red Wings steal victory from the clutches of defeat. He scored the first Detroit goal and assisted on the 2-2 tying goal. That gives him four multi-point efforts in the last six games.

 

I remember earlier this season reading some people complaining about how the Red Wings got too much respect for their draft/development and that it had been years since their last late-round steal. Eat your heart out.

 

The Red Wings got the win without Pavel Datsyuk or Daniel Alfredsson. This is nothing new for them, of course but Alfredsson has only recently hit the shelf and Datsyuk was rumored to potentially make his return last night. Guess we'll have to wait for Friday but considering they've got the Sabres on tap maybe Datsyuk rests one more.

 

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Only injury could derail Jarome Iginla after getting named NHL First Star in March. Sure enough he's day-to-day and missed last night's contest. I wouldn't expect him to miss much time but that's poor timing for you who have been riding his late-season push.

 

Loui Eriksson jumped to the top line in Iginla's stead but was held scoreless. Just not his year.

 

Carl Soderberg's hot streak continued with a power play score. He also committed the turnover on Nyquist's game-winner so there's good and bad there. I'm not overly interested in Soderberg myself. I don't see how he breaks into the top six in Boston. That makes his run these past two months all the more impressive but it doesn't seduce me into grabbing him next season.

 

Patrice Bergeron extended his scoring streak to nine games and fired off six shots but went minus-two on the game. That's the first time he's gone minus-two in a game all season.

 

Tuukka Rask suffered his first regulation loss since March 1^st. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2014 Vezina Trophy winner.

 

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Oil/Ducks is a natural rivalry so I'll give the NHL credit for this one. The Oilers looked to play a bit of spoiler in Anaheim's attempt to lock down the Pacific Division crown. They even got off to a 2-0 lead before Corey Perry happened.

 

Perry scored two goals to tie things up and then assisted on the winner, all in the third period. His goals got him over the 40-goal mark for the second time in his career. Yes, only the second.

 

Matt Beleskey got to ride shotgun as Perry went on his third period steamrolling of the Oilers. He had one hell of a rotisserie game too, going plus-three, with an assist, seven PIM, and four hits. I can't advise picking him up because the scoring is too scarce and he might be off the top line by next week but it's notable.

 

Frederik Anderson hung on for the win. This was his third straight start, all of which have been wins. He may not stop getting starts until the next back-to-back, which comes on Sunday/Monday.

 

Jonas Hiller has been remarkably average of late, which is why it's not surprising to see Andersen starting frequently. The Ducks need the points to escape opening the playoffs against the Kings. At some point they are going to have to hand the reigns back to Hiller though. I don't picture the Ducks going with Andersen in the playoffs unless they have to.

 

Look for the switch to come Sunday/Monday but if Hiller falters in his start, maybe he doesn't start again until next weekend. There are only six games left and he might only get two of them. The Ducks do have a bit of cushion now though (three points up with a game in hand on San Jose) so perhaps they can stomach a bad start or two.

 

The next three starts should be cakewalks too with Nashville, Vancouver and Edmonton again. The real question is: who starts against San Jose next Wednesday. Whoever gets in just might be your playoff starter. Worth monitoring.

 

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The Oilers have a lot of work to do (obviously). By my count, they have four redeemable forwards – five if you want to count Sam Gagner. Those would be Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle and David Perron. Lo and behold, those four were the only forwards to record points last night.

 

The Hall-RNH-Eberle line combined for over half of Edmonton's shots (officially 19 of 32).

 

The Oilers have been experimenting with Philip Larsen at forward recently. He scored a power play marker last night. He is only seeing limited action so don't get too excited but I'll be interested to see if this is something that sticks. Larsen doesn't strike me as a capable NHL defender but he has some wheels so maybe forward is his way into a permanent NHL job.

 

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The Coyotes got roughed up by the Kings in a game they really needed to have. They now sit tied with the Stars for the last wild card spot but Dallas has two games in hand.

 

Thomas Greiss has now lost three straight starts at a very critical time. One can only imagine where they'd sit if Mike Smith was healthy.

 

The offense has really dried up of late as well.

 

Mike Ribeiro has just four points since the Olympics and has received a couple of healthy scratches.

 

Radim Vrbata has one point in his last seven games, Oliver Ekman-Larsson has just one in his last five, and meanwhile Keith Yandle is scoreless in five.

 

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Things are going much better in LA. It's too late for them to really move anywhere in the standings. They are essentially locked into third in the Pacific. That's not stopping them from rolling into the playoffs though.

 

Jonathan Quick has won 12 of 14 since the Olympics, which is excellent timing for poolies.

 

Tanner Pearson notched two points last night skating with Jeff Carter. He also has four points in his last four games.

 

Marian Gaborik extended his scoring streak to five games. Something to keep in mind for your playoff pools: Gaborik has scored just 35 points in 54 career playoff games. Not exactly inspiring.

 

Consider that Drew Doughty has scored 32 points in 50 career playoff games. Not bad for a defenseman, although his five points in 18 games last spring was a bit disappointing.

 

Alec Martinez now has 14 points in his last 16 games. Like I said last week, I'm not even questioning it any more. Just ride the wave. I will say that I don't trust Martinez for a second come playoff time. Matt Greene has been a scratch for a while now and maybe the Kings feel like Martinez is necessary to their power play success (he does have eight PPP in these 16 games) but Greene is a proven playoff warrior. I think he gets in there at some point.

 

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The biggest news out there is of the unfortunate kind with Jonathan Toews ruled out for the rest of the regular season. Ditto for Matt Duchene. Sorry to those of you relying on either of those two for your stretch run. Situations like these are mostly impossible to plan for.

 

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For all 12 of you still clinging to Nikolai Kulemin in your pool he is supposedly looking to stick in the NHL, which is good news as we all know the KHL looms. I'm a fan of Kulemin, he needs to land in the right spot, however. Would the Penguins consider reuniting him with Evgeni Malkin?

 

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This isn't really fantasy relevant but Douglas Murray will have a hearing after his brutal elbow on Mike Kostka the other night. Expect a suspension and for some animosity to carry over when the Habs and Lightning faceoff in the first round. I hate that I'm excited by that aspect of the hit because it was absolutely senseless.

 

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The Buffalo Sabres signed defenseman Jake McCabe out of Wisonsin and he'll report directly to the Sabres because they evidently don't have enough defensemen called up as it is. You can read more about McCabe over at DobberProspects. His profile was just updated yesterday.

 

I'm a fan of McCabe. He looked good at the World Juniors for the US. He'll likely have more impact in rotisserie leagues because he plays with an edge but there is some offensive upside there. And if Christian Ehrhoff is dealt in the near future there is going to be a huge opening on the top power play unit in Buffalo and a bunch of young defenders with a chance at grabbing a spot.

 

What really appeals to me is that McCabe will compete for a roster spot right away. I'm not really interested in waiting on prospects so I get excited when they get ready to jump to the NHL, even if they have less upside than another prospect.

 

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Anatoliy Metter looks at Four Goalies Under 25% Owned.

 

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Tomas Hertl practiced for the first time in three months. I wouldn't expect to see him back in the regular season he suddenly becomes an intriguing sleeper for your playoff pool.

 

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Some more fodder for the Sidney Crosby haters out there.

 

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This young lady clearly doesn't know that Doug Weight is a saint.

 

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You can follow me on Twitter @SteveLaidlaw.