Krejci Gives B's A Commanding Lead

After some confusion, the Bruins have taken a commanding 2-0 series lead against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Playoff Goal of the Year?

In last night's playoff matchup between the Anaheim Ducks and Nashville Predators, Ducks forward Bobby Ryan would make a nice defensive play which would lead to a spectacular goal.

Here's the move:

Ryan dekes around David Legwand twice and absolutely burns Pekka Rinne to score the go-ahead goal.  Unfortunately for the Ducks, they would lose in overtime.

Crosby Cleared To Practice; Return Is Imminent

Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby has been cleared to return to the teams morning skates today by team doctors.

What does this mean for the Penguins? Well, this is just one more very important step that Crosby is taking to eventually return from his concussion.  Unfortunately, he is just returning to the teams morning skates, and not their full practices but this is still great news for the Penguins and their fans.  

When GM Ray Shero made the announcement, he also mentioned that the team does not expect Crosby to return during the regular season which would mean he will most likely make his return in the playoffs.  If that was not the case, there would be no reason for him to even practice at all.  

Before Crosby was injured January 5th against the Lightning, he was leading the league in scoring with 32 goals and 34 assists in just 41 games.  

Don't Skip Practice

Earlier today, Blues forward T.J. Oshie was suspended for 2 games by GM Doug Armstrong for "skipping practice".

The former first round pick will miss Tuesday's game vs. the Wild and Wednesdays game vs. the Red Wings.  Fortunately for Oshie he will not be fined, but this will shorten an already abbreviated season.  He missed 31 games due to a broken ankle he suffered November 10th. 

This is just a dumb mistake on his part.  Even though the Blues are out of playoff contention there is no excuse for not showing up to practice.  Its good to see the Doug Armstrong is not afraid to dish out punishment.  

The Playoff Picture Part II: THE WEST

Will you be seeing your team in the playoffs in just under a month when the NHL concludes its regular season April 10th?

This concludes our two part series looking at the playoff picture.  Part I featured the Eastern Conference and Part II will look at the Western Conference. 

View the Eastern Conference playoff race here.

At a glance, spots 4-11 are likely to switch, but the real battles are going to be between the 7-11 seeds. 

Penguins Bylsma Receives Extension

Today, the Pittsburgh Penguins and head coach Dan Bylsma have agreed to a 3 year contract extension.  This deal will keep Bylsma with the Penguins until the 2013-14 season.

Gillies Suspended...Again.

New York Islanders forward Trevor Gillies has been suspended by the NHL again, this time for his hit against Minnesota forward Cal Clutterbuck.

The hit came just minutes into the game.  That was also Gillies first game back from a 9 game suspension in which he was suspended for elbowing and fighting Penguin's forward Eric Tangradi.  Gillies will forfeit close to $61,000 in salary.

Because this is his second offense in such a short amount of time, I would imagine Gillies is on his last straw with the league.  Once he comes back I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he does something stupid.