There's always a Winner and a Loser in the NHL, and this is a new nightly look at some of the winners and losers in the biggest games and biggest situations across the league.Winners
Detroit Red Wings: Midway through the second period the Detroit Red Wings appeared to be on their way to watching a season-long six-game losing streak reach a seventh goal as they trailed the Carolina Hurricanes by three goals. Then, all of a sudden, the Red Wings opened the floodgates and peppered Cam Ward, scoring four consecutive, unanswered goals to pick up a 5-4 win, winning for just the fourth time in their past 15 games.
It was also a huge night for the Wings because defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom returned to the lineup for the first time since February 25. He ended up logging over 20 minutes of ice-time and finished with an assist, four shots on goal and two blocked shots.
Detroit is still a little banged up, missing Johan Franzen , Darren Helm , Jimmy Howard and Jonathan Ericsson , but getting Lidstrom back was obviously a huge addition, and the win allowed the Wings to stay ahead of Nashville for the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference playoff picture.
[Related: Red Wings 5, Hurricanes 4]
Buffalo Sabres: Well, it finally happened. With their 3-1 win over the Minnesota Wild the Buffalo Sabres moved ahead of the Washington Capitals for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference and stayed within two points of the Ottawa Senators (winners against Pittsburgh). Not bad for a team that, again, was tied for last place in the conference just a little over a month ago.
With Saturday's win, Buffalo is now 13-2-3 over its past 18 games, and this all seems pretty similar to what the Sabres did last season to get into the playoffs, finishing with a 16-4-4 record over their final 24 games to capture the No. 7 seed.
If nothing else, they seem to be doing their part to test out the old cliche of, "it's not how you start, it's how you finish."
[Related: Sabres 3, Wild 1]
| NHL Playoffs | ||
|
||
| More NHL coverage | ||
New York Rangers: We have a new leader in the clubhouse for the Presidents Trophy race, as their 4-3 shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs moved the Rangers into a tie with St. Louis for the best record in the NHL with 101 points, with New York getting the tiebreaker at the current time due to having more regulation and overtime wins.
The Rangers win, combined with the Penguins loss in Ottawa, gives them a three-point cushion over their division rivals.
[Related: Rangers 4, Maple Leafs 3]
Losers
Winnipeg Jets: After a come-from-behind win just 24 hours earlier in Washington, the Winnipeg Jets could not afford a letdown in Nashville. I don't know if you can view their 3-1 loss to the Predators as a letdown, but at the end of the day it was still a big loss and when combined with the wins by Buffalo and Ottawa, it's not doing the Jets playoff chances any favors.
[Related: Predators 3, Jets 1]
Pittsburgh Penguins: They haven't had to be in this category many times over the past two months, but with an opportunity to move into first place in the Eastern Conference, or at the very least keep pace with the Rangers, the Penguins had one of the worst defensive games of the season, losing in Ottawa by an 8-4 margin. Amazingly, it's the Penguins first loss in regulation since February 19, and only their fifth regulation loss since the start of February. A rare off night for the Penguins.
[Related: Senators 8, Penguins 4 -- Bizarre national anthem performance before game]
Calgary Flames: The losing streak reaches five games, and the playoff hopes take yet another hit with a 4-1 loss in Dallas.
[Related: Stars 4, Flames 1 -- Playoff chances dropping]
Play of the night: One of the highlights of the night for the Penguins was this beautiful spin-o-rama assist from Sidney Crosby , setting up Matt Cooke for his second goal of the game. Since he started playing on a line with Crosby, Cooke has scored seven goals in his past six games.
Photo: Getty Images
For more hockey news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnHockey and @agretz on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
