Columbus lost to Chicago in heartbreaking fashion after a Ben Smith goal with four seconds to play. They were that close to earning at least one point and making things really tough on the Leafs.

 

Cam Atkinson picked up a point in his third straight game and saw over two minutes of power play time, which was more than Ryan Johansen. He's had a decent season in some respects, with nearly 200 shots and five game-winning goals.

 

The Blue Jackets are a squad that really rely on Sergei Bobrovsky to bail them out on most nights. They give up an average of more than 30 shots per night and conceded 38 against a shorthanded Blackhawks squad. Bobrovsky wasn't bad against Chicago and you couldn't pin the loss on him, but if he's not in top form this last week, Columbus could easily stumble.

 

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Without Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith stepped up with three assists to end a four-game pointless streak.

 

Jeremy Morin had a goal to start a two-game point streak. He's a guy that could step up with all the injuries the Blackhawks are dealing with at forward. This might be a good time for Chicago to examine how some of their depth guys handle more responsibility.

 

Bryan Bickell looked sharp with five shots in just over 11 minutes. What a bonus it would be for the Hawks if he replicated some of his magic from last year's playoffs.

 

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Alex Ovechkin is closing in on 50 goals again, scoring his 49^th on Friday against the Devils, but it wasn't enough to prevent a 2-1 New Jersey win.

 

Jaroslav Halak had a good outing making 29 stops and the Caps have favored him over Braden Holtby down the stretch. Halak is a UFA at the end of the year, so does Washington re-sign him with Holtby still under contract? They've been searching for a capable goalie for a while and Halak might be it.

 

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I've been impressed with the Devils in the last month. They looked long out of it but have at least battled back to get themselves in the playoff conversation again, although they'll likely fall short.

 

Defenseman Eric Gelinas had an assist Friday. He's got 29 points in just 58 games from the blue line this year with close to 125 shots. He's definitely someone to target for next year in your draft that may fly under the radar.

 

Patrik Elias left this one after taking a hard hit where his head appeared to hit the turnbuckle. No word on how serious his injury is yet.

 

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In likely the least anticipated matchup of the night, the Flames beat the Panthers 2-1.

 

Mike Cammalleri potted his 26^th of the season and that's with missing substantial time due to injury. If he had been healthy for the majority of the year he'd likely be around the 35-goal mark. He's going to be in very high demand this summer as a free agent. I wonder if Los Angeles may take a look at bringing him back to help stop their goal-scoring woes.

 

Kenny Agostino scored his first NHL goal for the Flames. The Yale product signed a contract with the team just a few weeks back and looks like he has some promise.

 

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The main news in this one for Florida was Roberto Luongo returning from injury. However, he only faced 17 shots and wasn't tested much. It will be interesting to see how much of an impact he has on the Panthers in the standings over a full season next year.

 

Jimmy Hayes led the Panthers with a season-high five shots and an assist.

 

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Detroit beat the Sabres 3-2. Shocking, I know. I would say the Wings are pulling away now and the East is really just a fight for one final playoff spot at this point.

 

Pavel Datsyuk returned to the lineup and played nearly 18 minutes, managing one shot. It's going to take him a few games to get rolling again, so by the playoffs hopefully for Detroit fans he'll shake off any rust.

 

Danny DeKeyser had two assists to give him four points in his last four. He's not a big points guy, but he usually gets them in small stretches of three or four game runs. If you use him at the right times he could help steal a weekly matchup or two throughout the season.

 

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Matt Hackett made his fifth start for the Sabres and all things considered, he hasn't been terrible. He's 24 now and in a tricky situation as an RFA this summer. With Enroth and Neuvirth already locked up for next season, the Sabres will have a decision to make on Hackett.

 

*

 

Don Van Massenhoven reffed the Detroit/Buffalo contest and it was his final game as an official.

 

 

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Ottawa jumped out to a 3-0 lead over Montreal, but the Canadiens answered with a touchdown to win 7-4.

 

Max Pacioretty and Thomas Vanek are starting to click as Pacioretty had a five-point night that included a hat-trick, while Vanek had three assists. The pair give Montreal some good size that they can use to matchup with bigger Eastern Conference opponents. The deadline deal for Vanek might turn out to be a great move when it's all said and done if they can re-sign him.

 

Don't look now but Mike Weaver picked up two points to give him four in his last three outings. He could be a desperate last second addition for the final few games if you're running out of options.

 

I liked Lars Eller's effort on Friday. He scored a goal and added three hits, playing a very physical game. I mentioned size earlier and he's one of the few Montreal forwards that has it.

 

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I bet the two Zack Smith owners were happy on Friday night. He had a pair of goals, four shots, and 14 PIM.

 

Mika Zibanejad had a two point night to continue a decent stretch of play. He saw solid power play time and the Sens have been featuring him more from an offensive standpoint down the stretch.

 

Can we now say that Mark Stone is cooling off after four games without a point? Not to say that he's playing poorly, but unless your league counts good shifts and scoring chances, he's not helping you much right now. Still, expect him up with Ottawa full time next season and he looks like he's going to be a player.

 

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Phoenix lost a crucial point in their bid for a playoff spot, dropping a 3-2 decision in a shootout to the Oilers.

 

Mike Smith is still sidelined, but you can’t really use that as an excuse for the Coyotes recent struggles. Thomas Greiss has played well in relief, giving them a shot to win on most nights. He’s only allowed more than two goals once in a game since Smith went down. 

 

Martin Hanzal went down with an injury and did not return. If he’s out for a while it could be bad news for their playoff hopes.

 

*

 

Ben Scrivens had a nice outing. I’m a fan, but still not convinced he’s the future in goal for the team. It’s not a knock on him so much as it is the fact the Oilers need an elite goalie to make up for their defensive shortcomings. If you’re in the Oilers front office you have to consider what’s easier to accomplsih going forward; fixing a dreadful defensive game? Or trading for an elite goalie? The defensive game needs to be addressed without question, but a top goalie might be a quicker path to some Ws.

 

*

 

Four Predators, Mike Fisher, Matt Cullen, Patric Hornqvist, and Colin Wilson had multi-point nights in Nashville’s victory over Anaheim. 

 

The line of Fisher, Cullen, and Hornqvist have been on a ridiculous pace lately. In the last seven games, Fisher has nine points, Cullen 10, and Hornqvist 11. If the Preds could could get even half that production on a somewhat consistent basis next season, combined with their D and a healthy Pekka Rinne, they could be a force in the West. 

 

*

 

Teemu Selanne hasn’t performed they way I thought he would down the stretch. He has one point in his last five and just five since the start of February. With the way the Ducks tried to rest him throughout the year, you would have thought he could produce a bit more than that. Maybe it will pay off in the playoffs. 

 

*

 

So Jonathan Bernier is out for three weeks, meaning his season is over unless the Leafs can pull off a miracle, which would probably also have to involve getting not only to the playoffs, but the second round as well. The Leafs have no choice to go with James Reimer for the final four games and if it's anything like the last time Bernier went down, it could be a disaster. The one positive, however, if you own Reimer, is that the pressure should be entirely off him. Even if the team wins four straight and gets in, we're past the point of him being a threat to Bernier's job, so he should be playing loose and using these final few games to impress another team enough to hopefully give him a shot for next year.

 

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Bad news for poolies in a heated battle for a fantasy hockey title, as it looks like Alex Steen will be out for the weekend while he continues to recover from an upper-body injury.

 

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New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh thinks he'll be back in time for the playoffs. It looks as though players like McDonagh, Patrick Kane, and Jonathan Toews will be taking no chances on returning with their teams comfortably guaranteed a postseason spot. Smart move by the organizations, but tough to deal with in the most critical time of year for fantasy hockey.

 

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The news for Stephen Weiss is not that promising as it looks as though his season is done. He's still recovering from sports hernia surgery and what looked to be a brilliant signing last summer has turned into a disaster for the Wings.

 

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