Mike Babcock is coming around on Nazem Kadri.

The Toronto Maple Leafs head coach had nothing but praise for his young forward after Kadri scored the overtime winner to beat the Anaheim Ducks, capping off a four-point night Thursday.

Babcock especially appreciated Kadri's efforts against Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf.

"I thought he was real good (against him)," Babcock said postgame, according to The Canadian Press.

"Naz is a brave guy. He's nasty to play against. He competes hard. He wants to do it right ... And he doesn't back up to anybody. I think a big part of playing against good players is being mean enough to do it and compete hard enough to do it and he does that."

Babcock, who wanted Kadri to improve facets of his game beyond offense, says the 25-year-old has taken his message to heart.

"I think he has a chance to be a real good player," Babcock said. "He's done whatever I asked and competed hard."

Kadri leads the team with 41 points in 71 games, but he's welcomed his new role as a two-way center.

"This is definitely something different," Kadri said. "But I embraced it, I took it as a challenge, and I do understand that good defense leads to good offense."

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It might seem like the NHL's wild-card races are providing the only real drama down the stretch, but there's still plenty of uncertainty in the Eastern Conference.

Six teams are separated by only four points, from the fourth-ranked Tampa Bay Lightning to the Detroit Red Wings, who are trying to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time in 25 years.

(Courtesy: NHL.com)

The Pittsburgh Penguins' six-game win streak vaulted them into the top three in the Metropolitan Division, while the Boston Bruins' five-game losing skid put the Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers within striking distance of third in the Atlantic.

The Bruins are at a disadvantage, having played more games than any of the other teams in the postseason hunt.

The Flyers, who've won seven of their last 10, are peaking at the perfect time and still have games in hand on many of their rivals.

If tiebreakers are necessary, the Lightning should be in good shape with a comfortable edge in the regulation-or-overtime-wins department.

While the battle for the final playoff spot is the most compelling storyline in the East, the actual matchups are still up in the air.

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Philadelphia Flyers captain Claude Giroux scored the come-from-behind, game-winning goal Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche, and Sam Gagner thanked him with a, uh, low five.

Gagner apologized in jest on Twitter after the game: "My bad."

Giroux was having none of it.

"Always making it impossible to celly," he tweeted.

Jakub Voracek got into it with his captain in the handshake line, too.

"Suck it (Giroux)," Voracek aptly tweeted.

Yeah, the Flyers are having a good time right now, as they battle for a playoff spot in the ultra-tight Eastern Conference.

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The Vancouver Canucks made the trip out to Nashville on Thursday evening having failed to score in three consecutive contests.

By the time Bo Horvat found the back of the net early in the first period, the team's goalless drought reached 234 minutes and 52 seconds - the longest such streak in club history and the fourth-longest in NHL history.

Once the dam broke, the Canucks quickly developed a taste for scoring the puck, and were right back on the hunt for a goal when Shea Weber earned a tripping penalty later in the period.

On the ensuing power play, the puck worked its way to Henrik Sedin in his office behind the net. That's when the fun started, as Alex Burrows and Daniel Sedin made their way toward the blue ice.

By the time Henrik came out from behind the net, Burrows (14) had established position between Predators defenseman Roman Josi (59) and Daniel (22), who readied himself to receive the puck.

Here's a look at the situation in front of Pekka Rinne as Burrows blocked Josi from the spot Daniel fired his one-timer:

Burrows' positioning rendered Josi unable to make a play on the puck, freeing Henrik and Daniel for an easy pass-and-shoot for the power-play tally, as Daniel's one-timer bulged the twine beyond Rinne's right shoulder.

The goal was Daniel's 27th of the season. With the assist, Henrik passed Maurice "Rocket" Richard for 88th on the all-time points list (966).

(Images courtesy: NHL)

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