Friday was a night of missed opportunities for three Western Conference teams. And with a light schedule, the spotlight shone brightly on each of them as they fell short.
NHL scores 2015: Wild brushes back Flames, Stars begin to fade in Edmonton
Opportunities slipped away for three teams on Friday.
Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
But they couldn’t follow through. A late collapse kept them from gaining any ground and let the Wild distance themselves even further from the teams chasing them.
You might not realize it, but Chicago's position is more perilous than you'd expect. With 94 points, Chicago is clinging to the Central's final playoff spot while hovering just a few points ahead of the Wild Card race. They can ill-afford to drop games against lesser teams. So we look forward to hearing them explain how they imploded in a 5-2 loss at home to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
And then there was the Stars, who are grasping out at their playoff hopes like Gollum grasped for the One Ring before he fell into Mount Doom's lava pit. Dallas' shocking shutout loss in Edmonton speaks for itself. In a night full of disappointed teams, the Stars take the cake.
Scores
Minnesota Wild 4, Calgary Flames 2
Columbus Blue Jackets 5, Chicago Blackhawks 2
Edmonton Oilers 4, Dallas Stars 0
3 things we learned
1. Minnesota outlasted Karri Ramo.
Watching the Wild test the Flames netminder all night was like watching a sword fighter slowly wear down his opponent before making the killing blow. Ramo was sensational for two periods, shutting down any quality scoring chance the Wild could generate. But you knew that at some point, someone had to blink. It was Ramo; Minnesota broke the tie in the third and Calgary couldn’t stop the bleeding.
2. Corey Crawford (unfairly) became the scapegoat for Chicago's loss.
At least that's how it felt watching him get yanked after four quick Columbus goals in the first period. The reality is that he didn't have much of a chance on three of them. One was a deft tip-in by Cam Atkinson and two others were on breakaways off his teammates' mistakes up the ice. Crawford was a problem, yes, but not the biggest one for Chicago on Friday.
3. Dallas blew it.
The Stars’ effort to stay alive in the playoff race over the last few weeks has been pretty impressive. Dallas rattled off wins in nine of their last eleven games, leading to a pretty nice scenario on Friday as they closed the gap on eighth place. With Calgary’s loss, the Stars just needed to take down the lowly Oilers to keep pace.
Instead, they were shut out in an embarrassing 4-0 defeat at Rexall Place. It’s a shame that 2½ weeks of stellar, desperate play was undone by a loss in Edmonton.
Impact Moment
Shellacking the Blackhawks in their own barn usually takes a Herculean effort by an entire team. And if not the whole squad, then one player usually stands out. That one guy on Friday was Cam Atkinson, who scored his second career hat trick in grand style.
Stat of the Night
Devan Dubnyk can’t be stopped.
Devan Dubnyk's 34th straight start...33 in a row for Minnesota...now 25-6-1 for the Wild after beating Calgary.
— John Shannon (@JSportsnet) March 28, 2015 See More:
