NHL Match Preview Roundup for Friday March.18.2011 Part 1
Friday will be a big day for most of the Eastern Conference teams as a number of teams who are looking to climb up the ranking ladder need those valuable two points if they want to get anywhere near the playoffs.
Vancouver and Phoenix will go head-to-head in a single Western Conference matchup on Friday while Canucks have already clinched their divisional spot along with a playoff position, and Phoenix can’t catch up with them, but they can surely overtake either
Detroit Red Wings or San Jose Sharks, above by a marginal three and seven point, respectively.
Washington Capitals vs. New Jersey Devils
Capitals were on a perfect nine-game winning streak this month until recently being clobbered by Detroit. They’ve flown up to the second position, throwing down Boston and Pittsburgh who have held the number two and three positions since the start of regulation
season.
If New Jersey had just performed like they have done post All-Star Game break, than they would have also been in the top eight no doubt.
They are only four points away from the opening playoff spot, currently sitting at 12th position.
Devils will have the chance of levelling the series’ meetings between each other, now having lost twice to Washington in their fourth and final meeting.
The matchup could have been a memorable one for two players who would have played on opposite sides with their old teams, but Jason Arnott who played six seasons with Devils is out with an undisclosed injury for the third straight contest.
David Steckel, who was traded for Arnott, will be playing for the first time with another team in his six-season NHL Career.
Both teams have a number of missing players who are out due to injuries.
Washington is lacking Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green, Eric Fehr and Arnott while the Devils will be without Zach Parise, Matthew Corrente, and Matt Taormina.
New Jersey will wear their retro jerseys against Washington, which will be a match which decides whether being a low or high ranking team really makes a difference closing in on the playoffs or does it take just sheer determination.
"It'll be a tough matchup, Washington has a lot of skilled players, but we feel we can beat anyone we play … it's going to be a great game," Devils forward Brian Rolston said.
Montreal Canadiens vs. New York Rangers
Without a break, Montreal Canadiens fly to New York to meet conference rivals at the Madison Square Garden.
Both teams are among some of the most historically rich teams the NHL has ever seen, but in their fourth and final meeting this season, Montreal will be looking to make the clean sweep, having defeated them the previous three times.
Candiens are just coming out fresh from a big win over Tampa Bay, crushing them in a shootout by 3-2 as Carey Price made some bewildering saves at the most critical moments of the match.
They’ve been on a pretty wild run themselves, winning the past six out of eight matches has raised them far above Rangers and much closer to Tampa Bay with 85 points.
Even their crowd couldn’t believe it.
"From the line of questioning I can tell a lot of people thought we might not win tonight, but in this room it didn't feel that way," Michael Cammalleri said afterwards.
Rangers aka The Blueshirts, are still confused about what they want to achieve this season.
They are number seven in the Eastern Conference right now with 78 points, but it’s hard to tell how long they’ll be able to maintain the position.
Teams are closing in quickly, as the 11th placed team is only behind by six points.
Approaching the playoffs, it’s becoming to look like a Western Conference type of situation where teams will struggle to secure a postseason position until the last season game.
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