Around the NHL: Good News For Caps

The Capitals got good news in their hopes (among most fans) to avoid the Rangers in the first round of the playoffs tonight, as the results of two separate games had an impact on their potential matchup with Washington.
In one of the games, the Sabres knocked off the Rangers inside HSBC Arena by a final score of 1-0. Tim Connolly scored the only goal on the power play in the second period, and Jhonas Enroth made 23 saves for a shutout.  It is worth noting that the Rangers had a goal waved off in the first period when it was ruled that Ryan Callahan interfered with Enroth, negating a tally by Artem Anisimov.  The win pulls the Sabres into seventh in the conference, and bumps the Rangers down to eighth.
In the other game, the Hurricanes smacked the Canadiens 6-2 inside the RBC Center.  Jeff Skinner scored two goals in the first period and the Hurricanes jumped out to a 4-1 lead to chase Carey Price after 40 minutes.  Cam Ward made 38 saves in the Carolina nets, his second outstanding performance in a row, and the Hurricanes kept pace with the Sabres and Rangers for the final spot in the East.  Montreal's loss also pushed the Canadiens to the brink of falling out of contention; their loss puts them only two points up on the Rangers and Sabres, and both of those teams hold a game in hand.