Mike Richards

The Atlanta Thrashers know there's still plenty of time for them to get into the playoffs, especially with the way Nik Antropov is playing. Antropov looks to continue his surge for the Thrashers on Saturday night when they host the Philadelphia Flyers in the start of a home-and-home set. Philadelphia is tied for fifth place in the conference, eight points ahead of the Thrashers.

We've got two tough games coming up against Philly   -Jim Slater

 

Cooke, whose blindside hit sidelined Boston's Marc Savard indefinitely with a Grade 2 concussion in Pittsburgh on March 7, took the ice for the first time 1:53 into the game as fans booed loudly. Just 5 seconds later, he and Shawn Thornton brushed against each other in the faceoff circle to the left of the Penguins net. They dropped their gloves and, in a brief exchange, traded punches before Cooke's helmet fell off and he went to the ice.  

The pressure is on Philadelphia goalie Brian Boucher. Boucher made 27 saves a few hours after the Flyers learned that top goalie Michael Leighton will be out at least eight weeks because of a high ankle sprain, and Philadelphia rallied to beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Thursday night. "It's nice to get an opportunity," Boucher said.

It's nice to get an opportunity   -Brian Boucher

 

Scott Hartnell scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period to send the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-2 victory over Dallas on Thursday night, dealing another blow to the Stars' playoff chances. Hartnell set up to the left of Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen, and Jeff Carter's shot deflected off Hartnell, off the goal post, and over the goal line at 7:55. Simon Gagne and Mike Richards had a goal and an assist each for the Flyers, who won on the road for the first time in five games.  

Anaheim Ducks defenceman James Wisniewski felt the heavy hand of the NHL's justice department Thursday, receiving an eight-game suspension for his hit on Brent Seabrook of the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Wisniewski, who was only giving a minor for charging on the play, had a disciplinary hearing via conference call with NHL vice-president Colin Campbell. "Mr. Wisniewski delivered a retaliatory hit to the head of an opponent who never had possession of the puck," Campbell said in a news rele

Mr. Wisniewski delivered a retaliatory hit to the head of an opponent who never had possession of the puck   -Colin Campbell

 

"It's a game of inches right now. There are probably five or six shifts tonight that we'd like to have back," said Stars coach Marc Crawford. "We have to continue to try to execute almost as well as you possibly can. You can never avoid making a mistake in a game, but it's how you respond from them that matters the most. That's where we've got to strive to improve." A couple Dallas mistakes and bounce that didn't go the Stars' way led to two Flyers goals that helped Philadelphia rally from a 2-1 deficit

Carter got a shot from up there, and I kind of lost it. It hit somebody and went in, kind of a lucky bounce for them   -Kari Lehtonen

 

Paul Kariya scored his 400th NHL goal to snap a third-period tie and the St. Louis Blues took advantage of uncharacteristically shaky Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist and beat New York 4-3 on Thursday night. St. Louis scored four times on its first 14 shots and handed the ninth-place Rangers a key loss in their pursuit of an Eastern Conference playoff spot. New York is three points behind Boston with 11 games left.  

Scott Hartnell picked up the winner early in the third period, and Brian Boucher stopped 27 shots, as Philadelphia clipped Dallas, 3-2, at American Airlines Center. Simon Gagne and Mike Richards also scored for the Flyers, who snapped a two- game slide and pulled into a tie with Ottawa for fifth place in the Eastern Conference. "We battled for 60 minutes," Hartnell said.

It says a lot on the road. I don't think we've won here [in Dallas] 13 years. It was a big W for us to get that monkey off our back.   -Scott Hartnell

 

Marc-Andre Fleury needed to make just 17 saves to post his first shutout of the season as Pittsburgh blanked Boston, 3-0, at TD Garden. Tyler Kennedy, Alexei Ponikarovsky and Michael Rupp each scored once for the Penguins, who had lost three of four coming in. Pittsburgh moved one point of New Jersey for first place in the Atlantic Division, after the Devils lost in a shootout in Toronto.