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It's a good story. It could have a fairy-tale ending.

The New York Islanders, thought for dead multiple times this season - most recently and especially after John Tavares was hurt a week ago, in a 2-1 win over New Jersey - are somehow still standing in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. And they have Jaroslav Halak, their once-banished goalie, to thank.

Recalled from the AHL on March 23, Halak's won four straight, allowing only four goals during the streak, and if the Islanders do get into the playoffs - still a very slim possibility - it will be on the 31-year-old's back.

Now owning a higher save percentage than New York's starting goalie, Thomas Greiss, albeit in half as many games, it can easily be argued that Halak's earned the team's most important start. Check out the difference in where the Islanders are allowing shots from when Halak's in net compared to Greiss:

Halak

Greiss

(Images courtesy: Hockey Viz)

The Islanders aren't exactly helping Halak out back there.

Two games to glory

New York's got two games left, a back-to-back over the season's final two days. Put simply, the Islanders need to win both. And head coach Doug Weight ain't thinking about anything but Saturday night.

"The plan is Jaro's starting," Weight said about Saturday's game in Newark, according to Newsday's Arthur Staple. "That's the extent of it."

Greiss, with 25 wins in 48 starts, will watch from the bench with the season on the line. Signed to a three-year extension in late January, the 'tender appears to be the goalie of choice in New York moving forward (Halak still has a season left on his deal), though he's also 31. Problem is, he's stunk in the second half.

Greiss posted an .891 save percentage in February, followed by an .895 in March. Halak had a .925 save percentage in the minors, and has only lost one game since being recalled. And, hell, for what it's worth, he beat the Devils in his only start against them this season, stopping 26 of 27 in the game that Tavares was injured. Right now, you're damned right the small sample size matters.

New Jersey put three goals past Greiss on only 21 shots on Feb. 18.

Greiss has the better 5-on-5 save percentage, but has been poor on the penalty kill compared to Halak.

The numbers are the numbers, but this couldn't have been a hard decision for Weight. Halak's the guy. He has to be.

Halak's redemption story continues. The Islanders are hoping the next chapter's written in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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The Ottawa Senators want to make sure Erik Karlsson is as healthy as possible for the postseason.

The Norris Trophy candidate is not expected to suit up for the team's final two regular-season games, after missing Thursday's playoff-clinching win over Boston with a foot injury.

"Most likely Erik will not play until the end of the regular season," Senators general manager Dorion said Friday, per NHL.com. "(But) if tomorrow was Game 1 of the playoffs … he would be playing."

The Senators sit second in the Atlantic Division and remain in a fight for home-ice advantage in the opening round.

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University of Denver defenseman Will Butcher has been named the 2017 winner of the Hobey Baker Award as the top NCAA men's hockey player.

The 22-year-old captain of the Pioneers recorded seven goals and 30 assists in 42 games this season, while also displaying a rock-solid defensive game and leading his team to the NCAA men's hockey championship game to be played against Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday.

Butcher beat out fellow finalists Mike Vecchione (Union College) and Zack Aston-Reese (Northeastern).

Butcher, a fifth-round pick of the Colorado Avalancahe back in 2013, is the sixth defenseman to take home the honor in the 37-year history of the award.

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Keep the octopus on ice, not the playing surface.

That's the message PETA is sending to the Detroit Red Wings and their fans with two final games to be played at Joe Louis Arena, a building wherein many a cephalopod mollusc has been thrown from the stands over the years.

In a letter to team president and CEO Chris Ilitch, PETA suggests a $5,000 fine against anyone who brings an octopus into the arena, as well as a permanent ban from all future Wings games.

More from the letter, via Kukla's Korner:

Octopuses are extraordinarily intelligent and self-aware and have 10,000 more genes than humans do. Like other sea animals - including fish - they use tools, communicate with one another, and form social bonds. They've even been observed using coconut shells as shelter and wielding the poisonous tentacles of Portuguese men-of-war like swords. They can navigate mazes, solve puzzles, and open childproof jars ... They are sentient beings, capable of feeling pain. It's no more acceptable to kill them for a decades-old tradition than it is to harm any other living beings. Please, won't you prohibit fans from engaging in such insensitive acts?

PETA further encouraged the organization to encourage fans to bring stuffed octopi to the rink in lieu of the real thing.

Time will tell whether the message wraps its tentacles around the Wings and their fans in time to avoid such an incident.

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Anaheim Ducks forward Nick Ritchie has been suspended two games for roughing Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival, the NHL has announced.

As the video shows, Ritchie was assessed a match penalty for punching Rozsival during Thursday's game in Anaheim. The incident occurred after Rozsival delivered a cross-check to Corey Perry, and another to Ritchie after being confronted for his actions.

The league, however, deemed Ritchie's punch on a unsuspecting Rozsival to be inexcusable and disproportionate, especially in light of the officials being in the process of penalizing the defenseman.

The Ducks have only one game remaining in the regular season, meaning Ritchie - who has recorded 14 goals and 28 points in 77 games - will miss the opening game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

(Video courtesy: NHL.com)

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A former member of the Vancouver Canucks does not think highly of current team president Trevor Linden.

Speaking on TSN 1040 on Friday, Williams - who played five seasons with the Canucks in the early 1980s - said anyone but Linden would be a better choice to lead the club into the future.

"You know, Linden was loved by all the fans in the Lower Mainland and in British Columbia, but he's the worst guy you could have running the Vancouver Canucks," Williams said, per TSN. "He's had no experience, and to throw him into that job that was a bad decision by the ownership group and it's still a bad decision.

"If the ownership group, if they don't know what they're doing either, they're hiring the wrong people, then you've really got an issue. And I think they've really got an issue."

Williams then lauded head coach Willie Desjardins as a winner, adding the team's failures over the past few seasons boil down to Linden's inexperience and ownership's decision to put him in charge.

The Canucks currently sit 29th in the NHL after finishing 28th a year ago, while Linden - who played 16 seasons with the Canucks - has served as president of hockey operations since April of 2014.

Williams appeared in 962 career NHL games with the Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, and the Hartford Whalers.

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Former Tucson Roadrunners forward Craig Cunningham was named the recipient of the Fred T. Hunt Memorial Award on Friday, recognizing the AHL player who best exemplifies sportsmanship, determination, and dedication to hockey.

The Roadrunners then-captain suffered an on-ice medical emergency prior to a Nov. 19 game. He was rushed to a Tucson, Ariz., hospital where the expert care of the medical team saved his life. Cunningham suffered acute cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation.

The 26-year-old Cunningham lost part of his left leg as a result of the cardiac arrest. While his playing days are over, Cunningham returned to the ice in late March, skating with a prosthetic foot while continuing his rehabilitation.

When the Arizona Coyotes, the parent club of the AHL Roadrunners, close out their season Saturday against the Minnesota Wild, Cunningham will be on hand to drop the puck in a ceremonial faceoff.

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Montreal Canadiens head coach Claude Julien is picking his spots as the club heads toward the playoffs.

Ahead of Friday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Julien laid out plans for his goaltender and a number of players who are dealing with various injuries:

• Carey Price will get the start against the Lightning on Friday, but will rest in the team's final game against the Detroit Red Wings.

• Shea Weber - who has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury - and Jordie Benn will both be ready for the playoffs, via TSN's John Lu. However, Weber will miss the next two games, while Benn's status for Saturday is not yet known, according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels.
• Further to Weber, he will practice with the team on Monday.
• Alexei Emelin - who suffered a lower-body injury against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday - will miss the remaining two games and will be re-evaluated next week.

The Canadiens have already clinched the Atlantic Division, so the results of their next two games will have no impact on their playoff seeding.

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Bob Murray is less than impressed.

The Anaheim Ducks general manager isn't too happy with Calgary Flames blue-liner Mark Giordano after his knee-on-knee hit to Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler.

The play occurred in the third period of Tuesday's contest. Giordano was not whistled following the incident, but that didn't negate a response from the Ducks' Josh Manson, who dropped the gloves with the Flames captain.

"It was dismissed very quickly by the people in charge. That's their job. So I guess that's the standard. If that's the standard, that's the standard," Murray told Greg Beacham of the Associated Press. "The big thing in hockey today is concussions, but I still, as an old player, have no use for knee-on-knee hits, especially if I think they are somewhat intentional."

Murray did not elaborate if he believes the hit had an intent to injure.

"I hear how Gio is a good guy, and he's this and he's that," Murray added. "Well, he's done this before. I have no respect for people who go after knees. I'm sorry, but knees, they wreck your careers real quick. I don't like it."

Related - Carlyle: It's a 'travesty' Giordano wasn't penalized for Fowler hit

On Thursday, Anaheim announced Fowler will miss the next two-to-six weeks as a result of the injury. Depending on his return, that timeframe could keep him off the ice for part of the postseason.

It's a devastating loss for the Ducks, as Fowler leads all Anaheim blue-liners with 39 points. He's also first on the team in time on ice, averaging just under 25 minutes a night.

Tuesday's contest was the second in a home-and-home series between Calgary and Anaheim. The Ducks came away with the victory in both games, but tempers boiled over in the closing frame of the second game, as the two sides combined for 106 penalty minutes in the third period alone.

The Ducks took four of five regular-season meetings with the Flames this season, and the possibility remains the two sides could meet again in a playoff series.

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Cam Talbot's record-breaking win on Thursday night didn't go unnoticed.

The Edmonton Oilers netminder recorded his 41st win of the season, setting a new franchise record. The 29-year-old surpassed Grant Fuhr's previous mark of 40, and on Friday the Hall of Famer offered his congrats and best wishes for Talbot heading into the postseason.

Talbot still has a long way to go if he is to surpass the franchise record for all-time wins, though. Fuhr leads all Oilers goalies with 226 wins in 423 games - 164 more than Talbot.

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