Community Picks: Carolina Hurricanes 0% vs New York Islanders 0%

Ryan Dadoun discusses the Blackhawks' playoff-clinching win, Nail Yakupov's trade request and more. Continue to Article

March 28, 2016 12:30:am EST

Less than three weeks ago, the New York Islanders were on the verge of surging into second place in the Metropolitan Division. Saddled with a six-game road losing streak and a freefall in the standings, the Islanders look to regain some much-needed momentum Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. After completing a 6-1-0 road trip with a 6-4 victory over the rival Rangers on March 6 and following two days later with a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh, the Islanders (39-25-9) were within one point of second in the division with games in hand. Continue to Article

March 26, 2016 12:13:am EST

No. 1 Star: Nazem Kadri, Toronto Maple Leafs   Wait … it’s March 24 and a Leafs player is the first star? What the what?! Yes, in fact Kadri is the No. 1 star, thanks to a four-point night (2 goals, 2 assists) that included the overtime game-winner in Toronto’s 6-5 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Tyler Bozak also had two goals. The Ducks did clinch a playoff spot. No. 2 Star: Zach Parise, Minnesota Wild Parise had a first-period hat trick and assisted on a big Jared Spurgeon goal in the second period in the Wild’s 6-2 win over the Calgary Flames. He now has 22 goals on the season. No. 3 Star: Kyle Palmieri, New Jersey Devils The Devils’ forward scored two first-period goals, giving him 29 on the season, and Scott Wedgewood made 39 saves for the shutout in Jersey’s 3-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Honorable Mention: Vincent Trocheck and Jussi Jokinen had a goal and an assist while Roberto Luongo made 34 saves in the Florida Panthers’ big 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins. … Victor Rask, Chris Terry and Elias Lindholm all scored in the first 2:30 of the third period to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. … Riley Sheahan had two goals and the Detroit Red Wings survived a 3-goal Montreal Canadiens’ rally for a crucial 4-3 win. … Craig Smith and Ryan Johansen had shootout goals as the Nashville Predators rallied for a 3-2 win. James Neal and Filip Forsberg scored in the third to send the game to OT. … The Winnipeg Jets sent the Los Angeles Kings to their third loss in a row, 4-1. Third-period goals by Dustin Byuglien, Paul Postma and Drew Stafford blew it open. … Martin Hanzel scored the go-ahead goal and a key shorthanded goal in the third period to power the Arizona Coyotes over the Dallas Stars, 3-1. … Third-period goals by Radko Gudas and Claude Giroux rallied the Philadelphia Flyers over the Colorado Avalanche, 4-2. … Taylor Hall had two goals and Patrick Maroon had a goal and two assists in the Edmonton Oilers’ 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks. Did You Know? Henrik Sedin passes Maurice 'Rocket' Richard for 88th on the NHL's all-time scoring list.   Dishonorable Mention: David Krejci, Torey Krug and Brad Marchand were a minus-3. … This somehow wasn’t a goal for the Bruins. …  Jake Gardiner was a minus-3. … Niklas Kronwall was a minus-3. … Brandon Bollig played 9:08 and managed to take two penalties in the third period. … Jake Muzzin was a minus-3. … Joel Ward was a minus-5 (!!!), while Patrick Marleau and Brent Burns were a minus-4. … Zack Kassian was given a misconduct on top of his boarding major for punching the penalty box glass: -- Greg Wyshynski  is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at  puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com  or  find him on Twitter.  His book,  TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK , is  available on Amazon  and wherever books are sold. Continue to Article

March 25, 2016 1:54:am EST