Sorry for the delay (and the missed weeks). Without further ado...

Colorado (4) vs Edmonton (2)
Two goals and an assist by Av's Matt Cooke paced Colorado to a 4-2 win over the Oilers at Rexall Center in Edmonton. Colorado led 3-1 after 40 minutes. Edmonton would cut the lead to one on a Ray Whitney powerplay goal at the 5:23 mark of the third. Matt Cooke's second of the game restored the Av's two goal lead and helped move Colorado within two points of San Jose for 1st in the Western Conference. Francois Beauchemin and Patrick Sharp both added (1-1-2) and Michael Cammalleri had two helpers for the Avs, while Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 34 shots for his 25th win. Yannik Riendeau scored Edmonton's other marker while defenseman Jordan Leopold assisted on both goals.

Nashville (4) vs Columbus (7)
The Predators hit a sour note as they were thoroughly beat by Columbus. A three goal first period powered the Blue Jackets to the win, led by Dean McAmmond's hat-trick and Michael Handzus' one goal and three assists the game was never in question for Columbus. Marcel Goc tossed in three helpers and Johan Hedberg made 17 saves for the win. Jiri Hudler had a pair, Glen Metropolit and Zach Bogosian had the other goals for Nashville.

Calgary (4) vs San Jose (1)
San Jose's losing streak has reached a season high four games with this most recent loss to the Flames. Calgary scored all four of their goals on the powerplay, the Sharks seemed to be a step behind Calgary all night as most of their penalties (14) were for hooking and holding. Four different players scored for the Flames, while Joe Corvo and Steven Stamkos had two asists each. Calgary's Jonas Hiller made 21 saves for the win, his 13th. Zach Parise scored on the Sharks first shot on net at the 0:21 mark of the first, Jamie McBain destroyed Trevor Daley, leaving him leaking all over the ice, in a fight just five seconds later during a line brawl which seemed to light a fire under the Flames as they didn't look back. McBain was ejected for intent to injure.

St. Louis (5) vs Dallas (2)
Steve Mason stopped 27 Star's shots as he backstopped the Blues to a 5-2 win over the talented Stars. Jarred Smithson had two goals and an assist, while Thomas Vanek had three assists to power the Blues. David Krejci (1-1-2) and Alex Ovechkin (0-2-2) were the offense for Dallas. Roberto Luongo took over for John Grahame in Star's net after the latter yielded four goals on 20 shots. Despite the loss the Stars played in front of a sold out house of 21,500 and continue to be one of the better draws in the league, averaging almost 21,000 fans. With the loss Dass failed to make up any ground on Colorado for second in the West.

Pittsburgh (3) vs Philly (7)
The Pens travelled down the turnpike to Philly and had hoped to build on a two game win streak including a 5-1 win the last time these two teams met just four nights ago. The Flyers returned the favor as they would score four in the second period with Philly up just 2-1 and add two more in the third to ground the flightless birds. Jeff Carter led the charge with a hat-trick including his team leading 24th on the powerplay early in the third period to put the game out of reach before the Pens added two late goals to make the score a bit more respectful. Jason Pominville also scored a pair for the Flyers who are 9-1 in their last ten games at Wells Fargo Center, with the win Philly stretched their lead ver the Pens by five points. For the Pens, Alex Semin had a goal and an assist while Andrei Markov had two helpers.

Anaheim (2) vs Phoenix (1)
Vesa Toskala stopped 27 shots for Phoenix but the offense in front of him dried up as the desert dogs dropped the tenth game of their last twelve. Anaheim got goals from Rick Nash and Mike Ribeiro,while Hugh Jeesiman tallied for the Coyotes. With the win Anaheim moved within one point of Edmonton for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. Only just over 7,000 fans came out of the heat in Glendale to watch the Coyotes drop their 25th game.

Atlanta (3) vs NJ (4) OT
Daniel Sedin scored a hat-trick, his third on the powerplay in the third to send the game into OT, but the Devil's Brook Laich spoiled the effort as he scored his 17th of the season 1:10 into the extra frame and sent the Devil faithful home happy. Henrik Sedin assisted on two of his brothers goals and Martin Brodeur stopped 17 shots in suffering his 8th loss this season. Devil's Dwayne Roloson stopped 19 and won for his 19th time this season. Laich added an assist for a two point night, Tomas Kaberle and Vincent Lecavalier both registered a pair of assists for the winners.

LA (2) vs Vancouver (4)
Vancouver would score twice in the first and would be up 3-0 by the 3:38 mark of the second before LA showed any push back. LA would score the next two goals to come within one of the Canucks but Alexei Ponikarovsky would score his second of the night into an empty net with just twenty seconds remaining to put game away. Vancouver won for the second night in a row and kept within 5 points of 5th place Calgary. Steve Ott led the Canucks with (1-2-3) while Marc-Andre Bergeron had (1-1-2). Miikka Kiprusoff won his 20th of the season while stopping 25 shots. Paul Stastny led LA (1-1-2), Ryan Miller lost his 18th of the season in net for LA.

Reporting for WCHL Network...
Peter Pucker