FanHouse Patrick Osullivan

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Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin made his debut in Edmonton on Saturday night, and it couldn't have gone any worse for the veteran netminder. Just seconds after Oilers forward Patrick O'Sullivan missed the net on a wide open shot at the opposite end of the ice, Khabibulin came out of his crease to play a loose puck, only to turn it over to Calgary's David Moss who directed it into the open net, giving the Flames a 4-3 lead with just 47 seconds to play in The Battle Of Alberta.

Video after the jump.

We're in the home stretch of the NHL season, and both conference playoff races are heating up as the standings change on a daily basis. The Eastern Conference has seven teams separated by just seven points in the No's 4 through 10 spots, while everybody except Phoenix and Colorado is still competing for a playoff spot in the West.

Even though the NHL's trade deadline has already passed, deals are still being announced because, as ESPN describes it, there's been a log jam at the NHL's fax machine. For some reason the idea of the NHL, in this world of modern technology, still using a fax machine on its biggest day of the regular season is somewhat hilarious. Does the league still hammer out salary cap details with an abacus? Does Gary Bettman get his trade alerts via beeper?

One of the deals being announced is a four-team trade that involves Erik Cole returning to the Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton receiving Patrick O'Sullivan and Ales Kotalik, Los Angeles picking up Justin Williams, and Buffalo getting a draft pick. If only it were that simple.

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Before the season, you probably could have turned a lot of heads by predicting that the Los Angeles Kings would make a run at a Western Conference playoff spot. They finished dead-last in the West a year ago, 20 points out of a playoff spot.

There is still a lot of hockey to go, but the Kings are on the verge of one of the league's better turnarounds this season. Heading into the start of a three-game homestand Thursday night, the Kings are just three points out of the eighth spot in the West, and they're playing the best hockey of any of the teams they're fighting with.

Thanks to a pair of goals from Matt Ellis, the Buffalo Sabres ended Boston's 10-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory at TD Banknorth Garden on Saturday afternoon. The loss not only snaps Boston's 10-game winning streak, it also ended a 14-game home winning streak, while also giving the Bruins their sixth regulation loss of the season.

Ellis opened the scoring for the Sabres just three minutes into regulation, while Thomas Vanek added his 26th goal of the season just two minutes later.

After Phil Kessel cut the deficit in half with his 24th goal of the season, Ellis added his second goal of the game early in the second period to score what proved to be the game-winner. Paul Gaustad added his fourth goal of the year for the Sabres, while Ryan Miller turned aside 29 shots in net.

The win for Buffalo, combined with Pittsburgh's loss to Florida, moved the Sabres into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

After setting an NHL record for the best start through 30 games, the San Jose Sharks ran into a brick wall on Wednesday by the name of Steve Mason. The Columbus rookie netminder stopped 47 shots in a 2-1 overtime win for the Blue Jackets.

For the Sharks, the loss snaps a three-game winning streak, though, they still haven't lost a game in regulation since November 9, so they've gained at least a point in 15 straight games. The Blue Jackets have now won three of their past four, all of which have come with Mason in net, who seems to be cementing himself as the team's No. 1 goaltender. The 47-save performance against San Jose improves his save percentage on the season to an impressive .929, while his record goes to 9-5-1.

The game remained scoreless through the first two periods, until San Jose's Devin Setoguchi scored at the 3:41 mark of the third period. Later in the frame, Mike Peca picked up his second of the season, tying the game, ultimately sending it to overtime.

The Blue Jackets registered only one shot in the extra period, though, they made it count as R.J. Umberger scored his ninth goal of the season to give Columbus the win.