Several trades are made as deadline nears
Tight playoff races, an earlier deadline and a new salary cap were supposed to slow down the wheeling and dealing in the NHL.
Not so on the eve of the trading cutoff.
The Montreal Canadiens traded former MVP Jose Theodore to the Colorado Avalanche for fellow goalie David Aebischer on Wednesday.
The New York Islanders and Los Angeles Kings pulled off a four-player swap that sent forward Mark Parrish and defenseman Brent Sopel to the West Coast for defenseman Denis Grebeshkov and left winger Jeff Tambellini.
Twenty-three of the league’s 30 teams were within seven points of a playoff spot and not too many clubs were ready to give up the fight before today’s 3 p.m. EST deadline.
Also, Edmonton acquired goalie Dwayne Roloson from the Minnesota Wild.
In other deals, the San Jose Sharks acquired left winger Ville Nieminen from the New York Rangers for a third-round pick and Columbus shipped veteran defenseman Luke Richardson to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a conditional pick. That enabled the Maple Leafs to then send defenseman Ken Klee, who can be a free agent after the season, to New Jersey for minor league forward Aleksander Suglobov.
On the ice
Flyers 3, Hurricanes 2: Simon Gagne scored in a sudden-death shootout after Freddy Meyer tied it with 0.2 seconds left in regulation, leading host Philadelphia over league-leading Carolina.
Capitals 6, Penguins 3: Alex Ovechkin got his 42nd goal of the season and added two assists to help host Washington win the final matchup of the season against Pittsburgh.
Thrashers 3, Rangers 2 (SO): Marian Hossa scored in the shootout as host Atlanta defeated New York for its third straight win in extra time.
Panthers 6, Senators 2: Jozef Stumpel and Nathan Horton scored two goals apiece and Florida snapped an eight-game home losing streak to Ottawa.