FanHouse YannDanis

With the playoff race as tight as it is in the Eastern Conference, every point counts, and when you're faced with winnable games against teams currently out of the playoff picture, picking up the two points is an absolute must.

With less than 10 minutes to play in their game against Atlanta on Saturday, the Carolina Hurricanes were holding a rather comfortable 3-1 lead. Then, for whatever reason, the bottom fell out for the Hurricanes, as Atlanta erupted for four unanswered goals to pick up a 5-3 win.

Capitals 5, Devils 2: The Washington Capitals took advantage of their three power play chances on Tuesday night, converting on all of them on their way to a 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. Mike Green and Brooks Laich scored a pair of goals with the man advantage just three minutes apart in the first period, while Michael Nylander picked up his second goal of the game at the 10:59 mark of the third period.

Jose Theodore stopped 32-of-34 shots in net for Washington, including 16-of-17 in the third period. The loss for New Jersey snaps its eight game winning streak, despite receiving another goal another Jamie Langenbrunner, who has now picked up seven goals in his past four games.

Wednesday's action across the NHL marked the end of the first half of the season, and there were nine games on the schedule.

Bruins 4, Maple Leafs 3: For a while, it appeared as if Toronto had a chance to knock off the top team in the Eastern Conference, jumping out to a 3-1 lead over Boston. The Bruins, however, proved why there's a 30-point difference between the two teams in the standings and scored a pair of power play goals in the third period, forcing overtime. Michael Ryder scored the game-winner in a shootout, leading the Bruins to a 4-3 win.

The bad news continues to pour in for the New York Islanders on Thursday, as Greg Logan reports the team has signed goaltender Wade Dubielewicz to a one-year, $500,000 deal. Such a move would likely indicate Rick DiPietro, out for much of the season with a knee injury, will be shut down for the remainder of the season.

The Islanders goaltending situation is a mess right now, as DiPietro's absence, combined with the recent injury to Joey MacDonald, leaves New York with Yann Danis and Peter Mannino as its options in net for Thursday night's game against the top team in the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins. Good luck, gentlemen, you'll need it.

It was a great night of rivalries in the NHL on Tuesday, including a classic original six tilt in Boston, where the Bruins pulled out a 3-1 win over Montreal.

Tim Thomas stopped 34-of-35 shots, and even inserted himself into the rough stuff when he clobbered Montreal's Andrei Kostitsyn just moments after he sent Aaron Ward into the boards.

Kostitsyn gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead early in the second period, until Zdeno Chara added a pair of power play goals later in the period. David Krejci put the game out of reach late in the third period, scoring 17th goal of the season, helping lead the Bruins to their third straight win. Montreal had won four in a row, and eight of its past nine entering the game.