Watch Minnesota Wild vs Washington Capitals Live Online

Watch Minnesota Wild vs Washington Capitals Live Online

It's not yet Thanksgiving in the nation's capital and the Capitals stand poised to run away with the Southeast Division unless something changes soon. And considering that not even the absence of Alex Ovechkin has stalled their engines, it's hard to figure what might. Washington even survived a shaky goaltending effort from Jose Theodore on Wednesday and beat the Islanders in a shootout behind the relief effort of young Semyon Varlamov.

What would have been a season-high third straight win was within Minnesota's grasp on Thursday night, as the Wild held a two-goal lead in Tampa Bay heading to the third period. But the Lightning scored twice to force overtime -- including the tying goal from Ryan Malone with the goalie pulled and 14.7 seconds remaining -- and eventually won in a shootout.

It was a wild night at the Verizon Center on Wednesday as Alexander Semin got Washington on the board just eight seconds into the game, the Capitals still managed to fall behind 3-1 after the first seven minutes, they rallied to take a 4-3 lead, gave up the game-tying, power-play goal late in the third and then finally pulled out the victory on a Chris Clark goal in the 11th round of a shootout. Phew! It improved the Caps to 3-1 since Ovechkin came out of the lineup with an upper-body injury.

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Watch New York Islanders vs Carolina Hurricanes Live Online

Watch New York Islanders vs Carolina Hurricanes Live Online

The Hurricanes are trying not to make history. A loss to the Islanders would give them a 14-game losing streak (12 regulation losses), matching the longest victory drought in franchise history (they went 0-8-6 as the Hartford Whalers in 1992). The 'Canes are coming off a 5-2 home loss to Los Angeles on Wednesday and come into this game without their No. 1 center, Eric Staal, and their starting goaltender, Ward, both of whom are out with injuries.

Game 2 of their seven-game trip can't be any wilder than the first one, a 5-4 shootout loss at Washington that saw the Islanders give up a goal just eight seconds into the game, score three times and KO goaltender Jose Theodore before the first TV timeout, fall behind 4-3, tie the game on Trent Hunter's late power-play goal and, finally, lose an 11-round shootout, the longest in team history.

With Ward gone for at least three weeks with a lacerated leg, the Hurricanes brought in Manny Legace to team with Michael Leighton. Legace got the start on Wednesday and stopped 26 of 30 shots in his first NHL appearance since January.

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Watch Anaheim Ducks vs Columbus Blue Jackets Live Online

Watch Anaheim Ducks vs Columbus Blue Jackets Live Online

It might be Friday the 13th, but Wednesday was Fright Night for the Blue Jackets, who got hammered at Nationwide Arena, 9-1, by Detroit. The Ducks fared no better in New Jersey, losing 3-1. A 3-1 road loss you can stomach, but getting blasted by eight goals at home is pretty hard to take. It'll be very interesting to see how the Jackets respond in a gut-check moment of the season.

Anaheim went 0-for-7 on the power play Wednesday and has scored just three times over its last 27 power plays spanning five games. The Ducks are 2-2-1. The good news is they might be able to find a cure in Ohio's capital city. Columbus has been below average on the PK all season and is a shade below 78 percent after giving up a pair of power-play goals to Detroit on Wednesday.

Coach Ken Hitchcock said the Jackets have been making the same mistakes in the last three games, but they got away with them in wins over Atlanta and Carolina. They obviously did not get away with them against the Red Wings. On Thursday, Hitchcock put them through a purposeful practice complete with a video session right on the bench. He believes their forecheck was miserable against the Red Wings and they have shown little to no fight or want to as of late. He said they are not checking.

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Watch Calgary Flames vs Buffalo Sabres Live Online

Watch Calgary Flames vs Buffalo Sabres Live Online

Flames vs. Sabres -- might not sound like a marquee matchup, but what we have here is a meeting between two teams in the top five of their respective conferences with a combined 96 goals for and 77 goals against. Also, Calgary has one of the best road records in the League and Buffalo has lost only two in regulation in nine games at HSBC Arena. Lastly, how about two Olympic-candidate All-Star goaltenders in Ryan Miller and Miikka Kiprusoff? This should be a fun contest.

This is the second game in a three-game road trip, which began with a 1-0 win at Montreal on Tuesday. Kiprusoff made 25 saves for his first shutout of the season and Jarome Iginla scored for the fourth straight game. Calgary now has a four-game win streak.

This is the second game in a two-game homestand that began with a 3-1 victory against Edmonton on Wednesday, snapping a two-game losing streak. Buffalo is near the top of the League in shots per game (34.3) and has a .889 winning percentage when scoring the first goal. However, its 2.80 goals per game is only 16th-best in the NHL. Miller is making the scoring stand-up with his near-perfect play. He has appeared in 13 of 15 games.

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Watch Los Angeles Kings vs Atlanta Thrashers Live Online

Watch Los Angeles Kings vs Atlanta Thrashers Live Online

We're still waiting on Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin to return from their injuries, but one Russian superstar made his comeback Thursday night in a big way. Kovalchuk returned to the Thrashers' lineup after missing six games with a broken bone in his right foot and had a goal and two assists in a win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Kopitar has tied Ovechkin for the League lead in goal scoring with 14, and his 30 points are six more than the Rangers' Marian Gaborik. Los Angeles hit a recent bump in the road with consecutive regulation losses to Nashville and Chicago, but the Kings got well again at the expense of hapless Carolina on Wednesday, extending the Hurricanes' losing streak to 13 straight games with a 5-2 win.

It's been an up-and-down season for Atlanta so far, and the Thrashers seem to have it going again after coming from behind for a shootout win over St. Louis and picking up two points in New York. Kovalchuk and the unheralded Rich Peverley both enjoyed three-point nights, and Evander Kane continued to place his name among the top rookies from the 2009 class by scoring his fourth goal of the season in the 5-2 win.

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Watch Toronto Maple Leafs vs Chicago Blackhawks Live Online

Watch Toronto Maple Leafs vs Chicago Blackhawks Live Online

Following a rough home loss to Minnesota, the Leafs attempt to continue their march back to playoff contention against the Hawks, who are looking for their third straight win. This will be the only meeting of the season for the Hawks and Leafs. Chicago won the lone matchup last year, a 5-4 overtime affair at the Air Canada Centre on Nov. 22, 2008.

After a start to the season that was about as difficult as it was long, Toronto has suddenly begun to climb up the standings. The Leafs still sit seven points out of the East's top eight, but before their loss to Minnesota on Tuesday the Leafs had collected points in seven straight games. With more than three-fourths of the season yet to be played, Toronto has more than enough time to make its disastrous start a distant memory.

Coming off three straight losses on the road, Chicago is happy to be home -- and it shows. The Hawks are coming off impressive wins over Los Angeles and Northwest division-leading Colorado. It is likely no coincidence that these wins coincided with the return of captain Jonathan Toews. The Winnipeg native has a point in both games since missing more than two weeks with a concussion.

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