Posted by Tim Kavanagh, special to ESPN.com
With the regular season in its final death throes, 'tis the time for a proverbial ice-length shot (I would've said Hail Mary, but I want to keep this hockey-oriented) when it comes to free agent pickups. In one of my head-to-head leagues, I've made it to the finals, and it's been a spot-starting fiesta the past two weeks as the other owner and I attempt to outwit the other with our pickups.
Daniel Carcillo's name was amongst those available for a spot start in our league and I passed him up, since I'm already up by quite a bit in penalty minutes. Little did I know the man would transmogrify into a goal-scoring monster Friday night. Carcillo tallied a goal in each period, the last coming on an empty net, to lead Phoenix over Dallas 4-2. Martin Hanzal picked up the other Coyote goal while the Stars were paced by Trevor Daley and Philippe Boucher. Not forgetting his roots, Carcillo led all skaters with four penalty minutes in a game where just seven minor penalties were called. In net, Marty Turco faced just 20 shots, saving a mere 17, while Mikael Tellqvist grabbed the win by saving 30 of 32 shots. It looks like Tiger William's single-season penalty minute record is safe (358), but what a season for young Daniel with 324 penalty minutes and one game left.
While Carcillo and Co.'s best effort couldn't put Phoenix in the playoffs this season, the Flyers blanked their hated rival and clinched a spot in the playoffs after a miserable 2006-07. Martin Biron was the focal point of this victory, turning aside all 22 shots sent his way while the Devils' Martin Brodeur 'tended admirably but was beaten thrice. R.J. Umberger got the Flyers' attack started in the first period, with goal No. 13 on the season. The score remained at 1-0 until the third, when Scottie Upshall and Joffrey Lupul scored within a minute, driving New Jersey coach Brent Sutter to bring in Kevin Weekes. Given the usual intensity of the matchups between these two teams, it's a little odd that there were only 10 total minor penalties issued, and no fights. Hopefully those looking for a penalty minute boost searched elsewhere.
If one had the gift of clairvoyance, one would've given Kip "Who?" Brennan a spot-start on Friday night, since he was a man that could have added 12 minutes to your penalty total. It's more likely that you might've been "stuck with" Jaromir Jagr and his one-goal, one-assist effort in a losing cause as the Rangers were downed by the Islanders 4-3 after a shootout. Wade Dubielewicz was razor sharp again -- he hasn't given up any more than three goals in the post-DiPietro era this season -- stopping 48 of 51 shots for the win. Henrik Lundqvist continued to prepare for the postseason, making 29 saves on 32 shots in defeat. Dan Girardi and Nigel Dawes added the other goals for the Rangers; for Girardi, that's goal No. 10 and point No. 28 for the season, and he's reliably started every single game during this campaign. I like him as a steady No. 3 or No. 4 defenseman next season, since those scoring numbers should increase in season No. 3 for the Ontario native. I don't think you can quite call him a "rookie sensation", but Kyle Okposo scored another goal for the Islanders, and he was joined by Miroslav Satan and Richard Park.
Two teams looking down on the Islanders, both in a standings and geographic sense, are the Bruins and the Senators, both of whom clinched a spot in the playoffs after Friday's results. Boston won the contest between the Northeast Division rivals 2-1 on goals by Zdeno Chara and Phil Kessel, but Ottawa was able to back into a playoff berth due to Carolina's loss (see below). Tim Thomas made it 51:46 minutes of shutout hockey, but Antoine Vermette finally solved the alliterative netminder to prevent shutout No. 4 on the season. On the other side, Martin Gerber had a nice game, saving 27 shots of the 29 he faced, but his once-mighty offense could not keep pace with the Bruin output.
While the Senators offensive has faded into Bolivia, as Mike Tyson would say, the Blackhawks' attack has stayed strong as the season comes to a close. Led by Super Rookies Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, the 'Hawks turned the tables on the Predators, winning 3-1 in a game seen by 21,929 in person. Toews and Kane were the bread and Adam Burish added the meat in between to account for the three Chicago goals, and Patrick Lalime saved 29 of 30 shots. Guelph, Ontario's Rich Peverley scored the lone goal for Nashville, who was backstopped first by Chris Mason, whose stats make me want to lose my lunch -- 9 saves on 12 shots -- then by Pekka Rinne, who was perfect on eight shots against.
With a division title within their sights, the Hurricanes managed to let a victory slip away, as the Panthers held on to win 4-3. Nathan Horton picked up goal No. 27 and point No. 62, a solid campaign with one game left for the rising star, but it was Radek Dvorak's eighth of the year that proved to be the difference. Jay Bouwmeester and Steve Montador also scored for the victorious Floridians, who got a 17-for-18 first period out of Tomas Vokoun before back spasms sent him to the dressing room in favor of Craig Anderson who closed the deal with 26 saves on 28 shots. For the 'Canes, who now must wait and watch tonight's game between Florida and Washington to see if they even make the playoffs, Cam Ward stopped 13 of 17 shots faced while Eric Staal, Sergei Samsonov and Trevor Letowski "El Duderino" Letowski scored goals. Ray Whitney, who had two assists in the game, had some bulletin-board material for the Panthers heading into the showdown with the Caps, noting to the AP: "We've got to hope [the Panthers] do the same job tomorrow night as they [did against Carolina]. I doubt they will. Washington's taking care of their business like it means something, and it's just frustrating that we let this one slip away."
Good luck in the last couple days here, and I'll catch you on the flipside.
Tim Kavanagh is a fantasy hockey analyst for ESPN.com
