u Tricolore Vincent Damphousse.
TORONTO (AP) - The Edmonton Oilers have won the NHL's draft lottery, and own the No. 1 selection for the third straight year.Edmonton had an 18.8 percent chance of winning the first overall pick in the lottery held on Tuesday night.After choosing center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins last year, and fellow forward Taylor Hall No. 1 in 2010, the Oilers will now be in line to take Sarnia Sting forward Nail Yakupov, unless they trade the pick.The Columbus Blue Jackets, who had the best chance to win the lottery after a league-worst 29-46-7 mark,Nike Free Run 3.0 V4 Mens Blue Grey, will choose second,Nike Free 5.0 Womens Black White, followed by the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs on June 22 in Pittsburgh.
PLYMOUTH, Mich. - The Plymouth Whalers scored four goals in the third period and held on to defeat the Kitchener Rangers 4-3 Tuesday night in Game 3 of their Ontario Hockey League Western Conference semifinal series.The Whalers now lead the series 2-1 with Game 4 set for Wednesday in Kitchener, Ont.Tom Wilson, Dario Trutmann, Austin Levi and Alex Aleardi scored for Plymouth,Nike Free Run 3.0 V4 Womens Black University Blue Pure Platinum, while Rickard Rakell added three assists and Scott Wedgewood finished with 27 saves in goal.Kitchener captain Michael Catenacci, the OHL playoffs points leader, had a hat trick in the loss and Tobias Rieder assisted on all three goals.John Gibson, announced earlier today as the Canadian Hockey League's goaltender of the week, made 37 saves.
It's the most wonderful time of the year.Sixteen teams begin a pursuit of the most prestigious trophy in all of sports this week, as the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs get under way with three games Wednesday night.The postseason begins with one of the fiercest rivalries in the sport, as the Pittsburgh Penguins host the Philadelphia Flyers at the Consol Energy Center. A healthy Sidney Crosby (37 points in 22 regular-season games) leads the Pens, who have home-ice advantage as the No. 4 seed after finishing five points ahead of the Flyers in the standings.Crosby missed 60 games during the regular season due to post-concussion syndrome. However, No. 87 returned to action on March 15 and recorded at least a point in 10 of 14 games to help Pittsburgh secure fourth place in the Eastern Conference.The puck is set to drop in Pittsburgh at 7:30 p.m. ET and can be seen on NBC Sports Network in the United States and both TSN and RDS in Canada.Nashville, picked by some experts to go all the way to the Stanley Cup Final this year, begin their first-round series with the always-dangerous Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night. The teams split six regular-season showdowns in 2011-12, but it's the Predators who have home-ice advantage in what should be an intense seven-game series.Bridgestone Arena -- one of the loudest facilities in the League -- will surely be rocking for the opening faceoff,Nike Free Trainer 5.0 Mens Court Purple Volt Reflective Silver, which is slated for 8 p.m. ET and can be seen on CNBC in the U.S. and both CBC and RDS2 in Canada.In Wednesday's final matchup, the Vancouver Canucks,Nike Free 3.0 V5 Mens Black Metallic Silver Anthracite, who needed the final day of the regular season to clinch the Presidents' Trophy, will host the Los Angeles