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This has to feel like some cruel nightmare for Anaheim fans.

Why can't both lose? The hockey gods have been taken over by some force of evil.

Rangers doing their best impression of the Red Wings in the 3rd.

(cue mysterioso Montreal suspension)

Shades of 2004 for Calgary on that no goal.

Presenting the Minnesota Wild. Your free pass to the Western Conference Finals

There is a real double standard in this league. How many times have we seen Detroit on the wrong end of a cheap hit and nothing is done about it? Good grief.

Let's see... Dan O'Halloran will waive off a Detroit goal to completely demoralize the team. Stamkos will proceed to score two minutes later on a massive defensive lapse. That communist Datsyuk will execute an epic deke to tie the hockey game. Smith will make a careless pass at the offensive blue line and Johnson will skate it in for an easy goal. Detroit will receive a phantom penalty late in regulation for (subtle) interference. The Wings will hit the usual untimely goal post in the final minute and fail to tie the game. Filppula with the empty netter just to add salt to the wound. 3-1 Tampa Bay. What? A bit too dramatic?

The Wings seem cursed in clinching games at home.

I am really impressed with how Mike Yeo has turned the Wild around. I did not believe they had it in them to even make the playoff this season given how buried they were in the standings at one point. Poor St. Louis Blues. They just never win anything.

Now if it were the Red Wings playing the Predators... (MVP game genie code activated)

It is going to take an honest miracle for Nashville to pull off a comeback in this series. Darling's entrance has absolutely changed this series.

What a sad tradition the Oilers have forged. I could not help but laugh when I heard the news. I really believe the NHL needs to reform its draft policy because as it stands it hurts the integrity of the game. Franchises like Edmonton should not be rewarded year after year for their explicit mismanagement and failure.

This is like an EA game for Tampa Bay. Bust your a** the entire game, yet the CPU player has a handful of shots and is beating you with its cheap goals.

Chicago fans be like

Pens up on the Sabres 1-0 on the Sutter goal late in the 2nd.

It is clear who should be starting in net for the playoffs. Howard's performance this year has been inexcusable quite frankly. Those pointless shootouts nearly came back to haunt the team. Panthers nail it down in regulation. Detroit is in.

Too Many Men on the Ice for Boston. That may seal it. 2:37 remaining. 4-2 Florida.

WOOO! Cats get it back! 4-2.

Marchand makes it a 1 goal game in Florida. 3-2 Florida with about 6 minutes to go in regulation.

I can careless if Babcock runs to Toronto anymore as well. He’s not the miracle people are trying to make him out to be. There’s much deeper problems in the Maple Leafs organization than just the head coach position. Babcock rode the final momentum of the Bowman era talent and was fortunate enough to win a Stanley Cup in that residual period. This team hasn't done anything relevant in over half a decade besides making quick playoff exits. Babcock preaches the same old excuses after every game, but it seems like this team doesn't adjust materially nor show up ready half of the time. Nevermind the fact that the defense keeps making the same boneheaded plays time after time. I hope Howard has a solid game tonight, but I honestly think he's still injured and shouldn't be starting at all (his body language last game seemed to imply as much anyhow).

Send a tape of that Statue of Liberty save by Mrazek to Patrick Roy.

I'll try not to go into a Jim Mora rant, but I do not feel Howard is going to take the Wings anywhere in the playoffs at the rate he is going. It's only been a couple of games since his return from injury, so hopefully he'll pick it up a bit down the stretch. I am really frustrated with how much of an unnecessary defensive liability Howard is though. It is bad enough our defense has its rich moments during contests, but adding fuel to the fire is even more incredibly frustrating. I know that shootouts are not part of the playoffs, but good goaltenders don't blow it off like it's nothing. His numbers in the shootout are outright pathetic (1-8, 9 saves/24 shots faced, a 37.5% save percentage). Good goaltenders find a way to at least be somewhat respectable in the shootout.

As bad as the team has been defensively tonight, it is an absolute miracle they were able to salvage a point from this contest.