Lightning and Oilers Make It In, Mario Rumoured to be Moving

The final day of meaningful actions was a doozy last night in CLUTCH with a combination of high drama in both conferences and unrelenting rumours that Mario Lemieux had been traded immediately following the Devils last game.

The Lightning and Oilers both went on improbable streaks down the stretch that vaulted them both into the playoffs while the Kings and Devils hopes were crushed.

Lightning 9 - Flyers 4

Devils 3 - Capitals 3

The Lightning showed the poise and determination that brought them to the Stanley Cup last season as they took their destiny into their own hands by virutally ending the game halfway through the first period. The Lightning swarmed the Flyers and scored 7 goals on 14 shots in the first to all but gaurantee a playoffs spot. The Flyers's goaltending looked terrible and their team sluggish - perhaps because they had nothing to play for. Milan Hejduk notched 5 points and young Kyle Calder amassed 4 in what was a surprisingly easy victory.

The Devils played their hearts out against the Capitals - a team to whom they had lost the last two games but could not win for the third try. The game was a wide open affair but back up Peter Skudra beat the man who was supposed to be the saviour of New Jersey in Nikolai Khabibulin. Several Devils were in tears after the game but Mario Lemieux did not meet with the media. A despondent Ben Clymer wailed as the game ended and was given hugs of reassurance by several disheartened team mates.

Oilers 2 Predators 2
Blues 6 Kings 2

In what turned out to be a playoff preview the Oilers faced off against the Predators and played their guts out. The Oil outplayed the Predators in every period and outshot them 36-27. With the Blues victory on the scoreboard and down 2-1 in the third Paul Kariya blocked a shot at his own blueline and broke away from defenceman Filip Kuba with incredible speed. He made a move that will be shown on highlight reels for years to come as he flipped the puck into the air, knocked it back down with his forehead and wacked it out of the air with his stick - all while travelling at full speed. The bench went berzerk and the team held on for the tie and the playoffs spot.

Martin Biron of the Los Angeles Kings wore the goat horns last night as he let in 5 goals on only 20 shots. Several of the goals were of the questionable variety and he was eventually pulled in favour of Jason Labarberra. The Blues put themselves in with a win over the Kings. The play was closer than the score indicated as both teams hamered at each other in a very physical contest. The Kings couldn't beat the always excellent Brodeur and their season was history.

And Where is Mario?

And after all the smoke had cleared rumours began to fly that Mario Lemieux was on his way out of Jersey. The fact that he didn't meet with the media after the game fueled intense speculation that he could be headed to the Rangers. No official trade has been posted to the league as of yet but reliable sources in New Jersey have reported that Lemieux requested a trade to a contender immediately following the game and that the Rangers came calling.

All was quiet in New York...perhaps too quiet. The office didn't return calls but the airwaves were abuzz in speculation that the Rangers had pulled the trigger on the deal.

"I heard through my cousin who's and usher at the Garden that they'd moved Rick Nash!" screamed a caller on a local sports show. "They better not have the bastards! Mario is done and Nash is our franchise player for the next 20 years!"

Another caller had an interesting rumour. "They should move Dvorak. He's a talented player but he's not getting a lot of ice time in here. I heard he requested to get out a few weeks ago."

A strange one came from a caller who refused to identify himself as anything but "The Mole" said "It's Bure. Sure he finished 3rd in goals with 44 but he's a one dimensional player and the Rangers want someone of Mario's calibre to lead them to the final."

All these are pure speculation of course but the amount of buzz generated in the two cities leads us to believe something is up.