March 26, 2013; Raleigh, NC, USA; Winnipeg Jets left wing Evander Kane (9) celebrates his 3rd period goal with teammates against the Carolina Hurricanes at the PNC center. The Jets defeated the Hurricanes 4-1. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

1. Joffrey Lupul scored twice in the third  period to lift the Leafs to a 3-2 win over the Panthers.  Dion Phaneuf had the other goal for Toronto, who now sit 7 points up on 9th, which should be enough to clinch a playoff spot, in not mathematically then virtually. Tomas Fleischmann and Shawn Matthias replied for the Panthers.
2. Marc-Andre Fleury and Tomas Vokoun combined for a 37 save shutout as the Penguins blanked the Canadiens 1-0 in a battle of the two top seeded teams in the East.  Sidney Crosby was the lone Penguin to beat Carey Price, who made 24 stops.  The Penguins 13th straight win gives them a 7 point cushion over the Bruins (who now have the 2nd seed) and the Habs.
3. The Islanders won a battle of the teams tied for 10th place and leapfrogged Carolina for 9th place with a 3-2 win over Washington.  The Isles are in sole possession of 9th, two points behind the Rangers.  Michael Grabner and Josh Bailey scored first period goals for the Isles, but Mike Ribeiro and John Carlson tied it up with second period markers.  John Tavares‘ 20th of the season broke the tie with just over 5 minutes left to give the Islanders the huge win.
4. Carolina got the opening goal from Jiri Tlusty, but it was the Evander Kane show after that as Winnipeg scored a big 4-1 win over the Hurricanes, putting them 6 points up on the Canes for the top spot in the Southeast division.  Kane had assists on the first 3 Jets goals (scored by Olli Jokinen, Tobias Enstrom and Nik Antropov) before capping off the victory with a goal of his own.  The Canes do have 3 games in hand, but they now need to win them all to challenge the Jets for the Division lead and possibly the only Southeast team to get a playoff spot. The Canes dropped to 10th in the conference with the loss combined with the Islanders win.
5. The Rangers got a big win for themselves and virtually put the final nail in the Flyers’ coffin at the same time with a 5-2 win over Phiadelphia.  Derek Stepan led the way with a goal and three assists, while Rick Nash added a pair of goals and an assist.  The Rangers hold the 8th and final playoff spot, with a 2 point cushion on the 9th place Islanders.
6. In a game the Buffalo absolutely needed to win, the already “virtually” eliminated Lightning got a goal and an assist from Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis to give Tampa a 2-1 win.  The loss puts the Sabres 5 points behind the Rangers for 8th, with 4 teams to pass. Jordan Leopold was the only Sabre to beat Mathieu Garon in the Lightning net.
7. Edmonton kept their playoff hopes alive as Nikolai Khabibulin made 43 saves to shut out the Blues 3-0.  The kid line of Jordan Eberle (2G, 1A), Taylor Hall (1G, 2A) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2A) did all the damage for Edmonton, as they are going to have to dominate like that down the stretch if they want to make up the 3 point deficit to catch a playoff spot, as they also have to leapfrog 4 teams to get there.
8. Ray Emery needed to stop just 16 Flames shots to get the shutout as Chicago beat Calgary 2-0. Patrick Kane assisted on both goals, by defensemen Nick Leddy and Brent Seabrook.  The Flames have lost 10 straight road games and should be ready for a fire sale to begin the long-awaited rebuild.
9. If you were suffering from insomnia the Vancouver-Columbus game could have been the cure, as both Cory Schneider (17 saves) and Sergei Bobrovsky (34 saves)  were credited with shutouts after not allowing a goal through 65 minutes.  Maxim Lapierre was the only player among the 6 shooters to score in the shootout, giving the Canucks a 1-0 win.  The win puts the Canucks up 2 points on the Wild for first in the Northwest, while the single point draws the Blue Jackets within a point of 8th in their unlikely playoff chase.

That concludes our tour around the NHL.  Playoff implications abound in almost every game from here on out, which makes for great hockey.  There are just 4 games on Wednesday night, but a huge game between the Bruins and Habs.  The teams are tied for the top spot in the Northeast, and a Boston win would put them 2 points up with a game in hand.  Check back tomorrow for a recap of all the action.

Feb 26, 2013; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers center Tomas Kopecky (82) reacts to his goal against Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Tomas Vokoun (not pictured) in the first period at the BB

1. Evander Kane had two goals and an assist as the Jets continue to be hot on the road, beating the Rangers 4-3.  Olli Jokinen had the other 2 goals for the Jets, who won 4 of the 5 games on their longest road trip of the season to climb into a tie with Tampa for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.  The Rangers have now lost 6 straight (with 1 SO point mixed in), got goals from Ryan Callahan, Taylor Pyatt and Anton Stralman.
2. Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson each had a goal and an assist and Braden Holtby made 33 saves for the shutout as the Capitals blanked the Canes 3-0 despite a 37 save performance from Cam Ward.  John Erskine had the other Washington goal, as they slowly try to turn around the Titanic-like start to their season.
3. The Blue Jackets snagged a point on R.J. Umberger‘s goal with 94 seconds remaining, but Loui Eriksson scored in overtime to give the Stars a 5-4 win in Columbus.  Brenden Morrow, Derek Roy, Antoine Roussel and Cody Eakin had scored in regulation for the Stars, who fired 39 shots on Sergei Bobrovsky.  Nikita Nikitin, Derek Dorsett and Cam Atkinson had the other Colubumbus goals.
4. Tuukka Rask made 36 saves to help the Bruins down the Islanders 4-1.  Brad Marchand, Adam McQuaid, David Krejci and Gregory Campbell scored for Boston, while Casey Cizikas had the lone Islander goal.  Boston moved within 1 point of first in the conference despite having played fewer games than any team in the league thanks to the schedule maker.
5. The Sabres actually won a game, 2-1 over the Lightning, despite playing with fire for much of the game.  After Steven Stamkos scored 1:24 in, it looked like the Sabres would be on the wrong end of the scoreboard once again.  However, despite giving up 6 power plays and a 45 second 5-on-3, the Sabres held on and got goals from Cody Hodgson and Tyler Myers to squeak out the win. Ryan Miller made 30 stops to get Ron Rolston his first win behind the Sabres bench in 3 tries.
6. Florida coughed up a 4-1 lead in the second period and then broke a 4-4 tie with two goals in the third to defeat the Penguins 6-4.  Tomas Kopecky had three goals  and an assist for the Panthers, and Brian Campbell and Tomas Fleischmann each had a goal and two assists in the win.  Tomas Vokoun was pulled after allowing the 4th Panther goal, which came just 31 seconds after the 3rd Panther goal. The Penguins woke up after that, striking for 3 goals in the next 10 minutes to tie it up before the period was out.  Marcel Goc had the other Florida goal while Pittsburgh got goals from James Neal, Chris Kunitz, Dustin Jeffrey and Paul Martin.
7. Zach Parise‘s goal 27 seconds into overtime was the difference as the Wild doused the Flames 2-1.  Alex Tanguay‘s first period goal looked for a while like it might stand, but Jason Zucker scored with under 5 minutes left to force the extra time.  Much maligned defenseman Ryan Suter set up both Wild goals.
8. Kyle Chipchura opened the scoring, and then also ended the scoring with an empty netter as the Coyotes upended the Canucks 4-2.  Mikkel Boedker and Antoine Vermette also scored for Phoenix, while Jason Garrison and Henrik Sedin replied for Vancouver.  Cory Schneider took the loss, allowing 3 goals on 21 shots, while Mike Smith made 29 saves for the Coyotes.
9. San Jose allowed a tying goal late, but Patrick Marleau saved the game with the shootout winner to lift the Sharks to a 3-2 win over the Avalanche.  Logan Couture and TJ Galiardi scored in regulation for the Sharks, while Chuck Kobasew and Mark Olver (with 3:15 remaining) scored for Colorado. Semyon Varlamov gave his team a chance to win by stopping 39 San Jose shots.

There are only 4 games on a light Wednesday night, as the Senators get a rare 2nd consecutive night off.  They can sit back and watch as two of their main rivals square off when Montreal visits Toronto.