There's always a Winner and a Loser in the NHL, and this is a new nightly look at some of the winners and losers in the biggest games and biggest situations across the league.
Winners
Nashville Predators: The Nashville Predators have had to face the Detroit Red Wings in the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs twice in franchise history, losing both times. The two division rivals are on a collision course to meet in the first round yet again this season, and it's looking like the Predators are going to have a real chance to come out on the winning side. And if there really is such a thing as a "statement game," Nashville certainly had one on Friday night with a 4-1 win in Detroit.
Alexander Radulov added two more points, including his second goal since re-joining the team earlier this month, and Pekka Rinne continued his marvelous season by turning aside 31 of the 32 shots the Red Wings sent his way, including 15 of the 16 scoring chances Detroit was able to register.
The Predators look like they could be dangerous in the Western Conference playoffs, and with the win were able to move ahead of the Red Wings for the No. 4 seed which would give them home-ice advantage in a potential opening round matchup, which could be a huge advantage given the Red Wings struggles away from Joe Louis Arena this season.
With the win, Nashville also improves its record to 16-4-3 against the rest of the Central Division, which is pretty impressive given that three of the four teams they have to compete with (St. Louis, Detroit, Chicago) are among the best teams in the NHL.
Also of note: the win was the 500th in the career of Predators head coach Barry Trotz, the only coach the franchise has ever known.
[Related: Predators 4, Red Wings 1 -- Playoff Picture]
Pittsburgh Penguins: Brent Johnson was back in the Penguins lineup on Friday night in Buffalo, a building that's seen him play some of the worst hockey of his career. In his five previous appearances in Buffalo he had recorded a save percentage of just .811, which is, obviously, pretty bad.
Things didn't get off to a great start for him on Friday as he allowed a couple of ugly goals early in the first period, but he was able to shake off his early struggles and make some huge saves down the stretch as the Penguins picked up a 5-3 win in what was a pretty entertaining, back-and-forth game.
For the Penguins, it snapped what had been a two-game losing streak, with both losses coming against the New York Islanders.
Sidney Crosby finished with a four-point night, scoring a goal and assisting on three goals, while Evgeni Malkin scored his 48th goal of the season, surpassing his previous career high of 47 which he set during the 2008-09 season, the year he won the Art Ross Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy.
[Related: Penguins 5, Sabres 3]
Losers
Florida Panthers: The Florida Panthers are doing their part to leave the door wide open for the Washington Capitals to come marching on through and take the Southeast Division (assuming anybody actually wants to win that division).
After losing in overtime to Minnesota on Thursday night, the Panthers followed that performance up on Friday by going into Columbus and dropping a 4-1 decision to the Blue Jackets.
This was the game in hand the Panthers had on the Capitals, and with the loss, are now just four points ahead of Washington. The Capitals play Montreal on Saturday, and the two teams still meet each other one more time this season.
It never should have come to this, of course. Over their past six games the Panthers have faced six teams out of the playoffs, many of them among the worst teams in the league: Carolina, Edmonton, Montreal, New York Islanders, Minnesota and Columbus. They've won one of the games, a shootout win against the Canadiens.
That is a stretch that might come back to bite them.
[Related: Blue Jackets 4, Panthers 1]
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