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Hockey Today - April 20
Fri, Apr 20, 2007
By Associated Press

SCOREBOARD

Friday, April 20

Tampa Bay at New Jersey (7 p.m. EDT). The Devils tied the series with an overtime win on Wednesday night.

STARS

Thursday

-Brendan Morrow, Stars, scored at 6:22 of overtime to give Dallas a 1-0 win at Vancouver.

-Daymond Langkow, Flames, scored twice to lead Calgary past Detroit 3-2.

FEELING DUCKY

Anaheim advanced to the Western Conference semifinals by beating Minnesota 4-1 in Game 5 on Thursday night. The Ducks must await the outcome of other Western Conference series to find their next opponent.

EXTRA, EXTRA, EXTRA

Dallas won the third overtime game of its quarterfinal series with Vancouver, 1-0 on Thursday night. The Stars avoided elimination and head back to Dallas for Game 6 on Saturday night.

PRE-GAME EXCITEMENT

Anaheim and Minnesota had a brief pushing match during warmups, with no officials on the ice prior to Game 5 of the quarterfinals on Thursday night. The Wild's Derek Boogaard and the Ducks' George Parros, their team's enforcers, exchanged words, then players from both sides crowded to center ice. There was some yelling and pushing, but no punches thrown. Shortly later, Anaheim's Teemu Selanne was struck in the head by a puck and fell to the ice. He had the cut closed with about a half-dozen stitches and started the game. It wasn't immediately known who shot the puck.

ALL TIED UP

Calgary tied its quarterfinal playoff series with Detroit after a 3-2 win over the Red Wings on Thursday night. The home team has won each of the first four games of the series, which continues Saturday in Detroit.

SHUT DOWN

Ottawa held Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby scoreless for the second straight game and won 3-0 on Thursday night to win that quarterfinal series four games to one. Crosby, who turns 20 on Aug. 7, had three goals and two assists through the first three games of the series after becoming the league's youngest scoring champion ever with 120 points during the regular season.

NO JACKET REQUIRED

Columbus fired president and general manager Doug MacLean on Thursday. Mike Priest will take over as president, and assistant general manager Jim Clark will be elevated to interim GM. MacLean was the architect of a team that had gone 172-258-62 since joining the league in 2000 with no playoff appearances.

WELCOME BACK

Dallas forward Eric Lindros returned for Game 5 at Vancouver on Thursday night after missing six weeks with a groin injury. Lindros hasn't played since March 8, missing the final 16 regular-season games and the first four of the playoffs.

IN THE FOLD

Defenseman Erik Johnson, the first overall pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, signed with St. Louis on Thursday. The 19-year-old Johnson decided to go pro after his freshman season at Minnesota, where he totaled four goals and 20 assists in 41 games. The Blues envision Johnson as one of their top six defensemen next season.

SPEAKING

''To win this series we have to win one in their barn and we want it to be next game.'' - Calgary's Jarome Iginla after the Flames tied their quarterfinal series with Detroit with a 3-2 win on Thursday night. The home team has won all four games in the series, which shifts back to Detroit on Saturday.