Hype for April 04, 2010

Denied a shutout and then a victory one night earlier, Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils took an early lead and didn't let it go.

Brodeur stopped all 26 shots and carried the Devils to a 4-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night that moved New Jersey into a flat-footed tie with Pittsburgh atop the Atlantic Division.

It seems that whenever Jaroslav Halak's personal accomplishments are the topic, the Montreal Canadiens goaltender deflects it all to his teammates.

He even did it after posting his second shutout in as many nights, making 29 stops in a 3-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. That followed a 35-save effort in a 1-0 win in Philadelphia only 24 hours earlier.

The Washington Capitals' prodigious offence is the best in the NHL.

Despite doubts about their defence - and their goaltending in particular - when the Capitals need to put the clamps on a team they can still do it.

Alexander Semin, Tomas Fleischmann and Mike Green scored first-period goals and that was enough for Jose Theodore as the Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Saturday night.

Carlo Colaiacovo's instincts proved valuable and kept the St. Louis Blues' faint playoff hopes alive.

Colaiacovo's 26th NHL goal, scored midway through the third period, was the difference in the Blues' 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Saturday night.

The Phoenix Coyotes have mastered the shootout.

Now if they can just improve their power play they might not need to rely so much on overtime. Matthew Lombardi scored in the eighth round of the shootout, the lone goal in the lengthy tiebreaker, and the Coyotes beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 on Saturday night.

Tuukka Rask did it to the Maple Leafs once again.

For the fourth time in five career starts against Toronto, the rookie Boston Bruins goaltender beat the team that traded him in the summer of 2006 for netminder Andrew Raycroft, 2-1 on Saturday.

The Anaheim Ducks are trying to beat the odds and avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in five seasons, while their Southern California neighbours are closing in on their first post-season berth since 2002.

The Ducks and their area rivals from Los Angeles have never made the post-season in the same year, but Anaheim improved its slim chances of qualifying with a 2-1 shootout win over the Kings on Saturday night.