Hype for March 29, 2010

Well, that was quite a 24-hour swing. One day after the Calgary Flames looked done for the season, they went out and dominated the league's top team.

Having reached the desperation point in their bid to make the playoffs, the Flames scored four goals in the first period Sunday and beat the Washington Capitals 5-3.

Goalies truly dread seeing this sight: Sidney Crosby skating down the slot, the puck on his stick during a shootout.

It's about as close to an automatic goal as there is in the NHL.

Crosby scored two goals to take over the league lead, then he and teammate Pascal Dupuis scored in the shootout as the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Sunday.

Keith Tkachuk waited a long time for this goal.

Tkachuk scored the winner on his 38th birthday, and the St. Louis Blues maintained slim playoff hopes with a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night. Tkachuk's 13th of the season was his first in 15 games. It snapped a 1-1 tie 7:36 into the third period. Tkachuk has 54 points in 63 career games against Edmonton.

Whatever was said in the Philadelphia Flyers' dressing room before the struggling team took on the New Jersey Devils paid immediate dividends.

Matt Carle, Ville Leino, Kimmo Timonen, Lukas Krajicek and Simon Gagne scored for the Flyers, who beat New Jersey 5-1 on Sunday night. It was the fifth time in six meetings that Philadelphia knocked off the Devils.

The San Jose Sharks looked fine for one game without top playmaker Joe Thornton.

It turns out they have plenty of offensive firepower without him. Devin Setoguchi had two goals including the game-winner, Dan Boyle added a goal and an assist, and Thomas Greiss made 42 saves to lift the Sharks to a 4-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Sunday night.