Off-Topic » New Jersey holds the second wild-card

Two years ago the St Louis Blues were a couple of games from reaching the Stanley Cup Finals. Today Erik Condra Jersey Womens , they are near last in the Western Conference standings and dealing with trade rumors ahead of their matchup with the red-hot Colorado Avalanche.According to TSN Canada, the Blues are interested in trading for Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard, who was in net when the Red Wings beat St. Louis on Wednesday night. It would mean moving away from current No. 1 goalie Jake Allen.It’s what happens when a team is struggling like the Blues.Article continues below ...St. Louis (8-12-3) has lost two in a row and seven of its last 10. Four of those losses came with captain Alexander Steen out with an injury, but he returned to the lineup against Detroit. He played on the fourth line after spending the first part of the season on the third line.“It’s always tough sitting out,” Steen told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Wednesday. “I used the time as well as I could to get myself back to a place where I could play.”St. Louis did make a move Thursday, placing forward Nikita Soshnikov on waivers. Defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, who has missed all but five games with a lower-body injury, could be activated.It might be hard for the Blues to turn things around Friday in Denver. The Avalanche (15-6-4) have won six straight after Wednesday’s 6-3 win over Pittsburgh and the top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabe Landeskog have been nearly unstoppable this season.The trio combined for eight of Colorado’s 16 points on Wednesday, with Landeskog scoring the game-winning goal late in the third period.Rantanen (42 points) and MacKinnon (40 points) are 1-2 in scoring in the NHL.“Obviously, we’ve been finding ways to create some offense here this season and at this point, you just kind of want to keep it going and keep contributing offensively and being reliable defensively,” Landeskog said after Wednesday’s win.The top line has been producing despite facing every team’s top defensive pairing and top line on a nightly basis. Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said it’s the best line he’s seen this season after it dominated Wednesday night.“They’re not easy to contain,” he said. “It’s not an easy challenge. That line, they’re three elite players that are all on the same line.”The Blues will have to slow down the trio if they want to stop their losing streak. Colorado has scored the most goals (95) in the NHL entering Thursday’s slate of games and is a point behind Nashville in the Central Division.Friday’s game will also serve as a reunion for St. Louis center Ryan O’Reilly. He was a second-round pick of the Avalanche in the 2009 draft and spent his first six seasons in Colorado. He was traded to Buffalo in 2015 and then to St. Louis last summer.He leads the Blues in goals (12), assists (15) and scoring (27). He’s been a solid addition but the Blues might not be done dealing if TSN’s reporting is accurate. TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Nikita Kucherov scored twice to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.Louis Domingue stopped 28 shots to help the Lightning end a two-game slide and move back to four points ahead of Boston for the top overall spot in the Eastern Conference standings. Victor Hedman also scored and Steven Stamkos added two assists.Tampa Bay killed off five Edmonton power-play chances and kept Connor McDavid off the scoresheet Carl Soderberg Jersey , leaving him four points behind Kucherov for the league lead in points.Ty Rattie scored for Edmonton and Al Montoya finished with 37 saves.JETS 4, STARS 2WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) – Patrik Laine scored twice to extend his point streak to 15 games and tie Alex Ovechkin for the NHL goal lead, and Winnipeg beat Dallas to match the franchise wins record at 43.The second-year sniper has 43 goals, matching the total from Ovechkin, the Washington star and Laine’s boyhood favorite. Laine’s point streak is the longest active run in the NHL and adds to his league record for the longest point streak by a teenager. The streak includes 18 goals and eight assists.Ben Chiarot also scored and Blake Wheeler added an empty-netter for Winnipeg. Mattias Janmark and Jamie Benn each scored for Dallas.Connor Hellebuyck made 28 saves for the Jets in the second game of a six-game homestand. The last time they reached 43 wins was 2014-15, when they made the playoffs for the first time since relocating to Winnipeg from Atlanta.GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4, FLAMES 0LAS VEGAS (AP) – William Karlsson scored a natural hat trick to lead Vegas over Calgary.Colin Miller also scored as Vegas snapped a four-game home losing streak and improved to 25-9-2 at T Mobile Arena.Marc-Andre Fleury, who made his 20th start in 21 games, made 42 saves. In getting his 48th career shutout and fourth of the season, Fleury moved into a tie with Chris Osgood for 12th all-time among goaltenders at 401.Vegas improved to 3-0-0 against Calgary while outscoring the Flames 15-5. The teams meet once more, in the regular-season finale at Calgary on April 7.Mike Smith stopped 27 shots as the Flames, one of the league’s better road teams this season, dropped to 20-11-6 away from home.BLUES 5, BLACKHAWKS 4, OTCHICAGO (AP) – Patrik Berglund scored 3:31 into overtime, and St. Louis came from behind for a big victory over lowly Chicago.Defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Vince Dunn each had a goal and three assists for the Blues Gabriel Landeskog Jersey Kids , who are trying to rally for a playoff wild card in the Western Conference. Alexander Steen had a goal and an assist, and Vladimir Sobotka also scored.St. Louis was trailing 4-3 with 1:22 left in regulation when Pietrangelo drove a long slap shot past a screened Jean-Francois Berube for his 15th of the season. Berglund then got the winner when his shot trickled under Berube in OT.Alex DeBrincat scored three times for last-place Chicago, which has dropped five of six, including its first loss to Buffalo since December 2009 on Saturday. David Kampf also scored, and Berube made 36 saves.FLYERS 6, CAPITALS 3PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Wayne Simmonds scored two goals to help lift Philadelphia past Washington.Oskar Lindblom, Shayne Gostisbehere, Ivan Provorov and Jakub Voracek also had goals for Philadelphia, which stayed in third place in the Metropolitan Division and moved within four points of the first-place Capitals (41-24-7, 89 points). The Flyers began play tied with Columbus, which was idle Sunday, but have a tiebreaker over the Blue Jackets.Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 43rd goal of the season, and Chandler Stephenson and John Carlson had goals for the Capitals, whose four-game winning streak was snapped.AVALANCHE 5, RED WINGS 1DENVER (AP) – Nathan MacKinnon kept up his torrid scoring with two goals and an assist, Semyon Varlamov was sharp in making 37 saves and Colorado extended Detroit’s skid to 10 games.Gabriel Landeskog, Blake Comeau and Tyson Barrie also scored to help the Avalanche remain in playoff position with 10 games remaining. The Avs have 86 points after accumulating a league-low 48 last season.Justin Abdelkader had a goal for the Red Wings http://www.officialavalanche.com/authentic-adidas-j.t.-compher-jersey , who fell to 0-9-1 during a winless streak in which they’ve been outscored by a 41-19 margin. It’s the team’s longest winless streak since a 12-game run in 1989.HURRICANES 4, ISLANDERS 3NEW YORK (AP) – Trevor van Riemsdyk scored the go-ahead goal late in the third period and Scott Darling made 26 saves as Carolina beat New York.Van Riemsdyk’s second goal of the season came on a long slap shot with 6:49 remaining to help snap Carolina’s three-game losing streak and continue the late season swoon by the Islanders, who have just one win their last 12 games.Jaccob Slavin, Lee Stempniak and Victor Rask also scored for the Hurricanes. Anders Lee scored twice and Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist for New York. John Tavares had three assists and Jaroslav Halak finished with 35 saves.DUCKS 4, DEVILS 2ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Brandon Montour scored a power-play goal, helping lift Anaheim into third place in the Pacific Division with a win over New Jersey.Ryan Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell each had a goal and an assist, and Jakob Silfverberg also scored for the Ducks, who lead Los Angeles by two points in the division. Anaheim won its third straight game and is 6-1-0 in its last seven at home. John Gibson made 15 saves, improving to 9-2-0 in his last 11 starts.Kyle Palmieri had a power-play goal and Patrick Maroon also scored for the Devils, who had won the first three games of their six-game road trip. Keith Kinkaid made 32 saves, ending a four-start winning streak. New Jersey holds the second wild-card in the Eastern Conference, five points ahead of Florida.—