Not only have the Wild played their way back into a playoff spot after a miserable midseason stretch that seemed to all but eliminate them, they are now in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference and are within four points of catching the Chicago Blackhawks for third place in the Central Division. A win Friday at Carolina (po sible), combined with a Chicago lo s in Edmonton (OK, maybe that won't happen) would close that gap even more. Minnesota needed a late third-period comeback to win Thursday at the Capitals. Pick: Wild 5, Hurricanes 2 Every week there seems to be a different team that Ray Knight Jersey was thought to be out of it that puts together a hot streak and manages to get back into the playoff race. Dallas. Philadelphia. And now we are seeing it with Ottawa. More often than not, as soon as that hot streak ends they fall back out of playoff contention. Can Ottawa keep it rolling Friday? The Senators enter their game against Buffalo having won seven of their past 10 games, while earning at least a point in the standings in nine of those games, and are back to within five points of a playoff spot. A win against Buffalo pulls them to within three of the Bruins. A lot of this recent succe s is due to the play of goalie , an undrafted player who has come out of nowhere to go 6-0-1 in his first seven starts this season. It still seems like a long shot for them to get in the playoffs, but they are at least making things interesting. Pick: Senators 4, Sabres 1 These two teams did a little overhaul to their defense at the trade deadline, including a player-for-player swap with each other when the Penguins and Ducks traded Simon Despres and . Both players will be on the ice against their former teams Friday night as the Penguins continue their western road trip. It started with a dud of a performance in Colorado on Wednesday night and the competition gets a little tougher Friday when they have to take on an Anaheim team that has the best record in the NHL. Pick: Penguins 3, Ducks 2 (shootout) at , 7 p.m. ET at , 7:30 p.m. ET at , 8:30 p.m. ET 1. Marian Ho sa, Chicago Blackhawks: He may be 36 years old but you would never know it watching him play. Still one of the best two-way players in the NHL, Ho sa has been in a bit of a goal-scoring slump lately with only one goal in his past eight games, but he is showing signs of breaking out of that scoring slump with 11 shots on goal over the past two games. That, combined with a game against the Oilers, is the perfect recipe for a big game.2. , Detroit Red Wings: Datsyuk enters Friday's game against Calgary riding a three-game point streak and has 17 points in 14 games. Like Ho sa, Datsyuk is another wonderful two-way player who refuses to let age slow him down. 3. , Ottawa Senators: Another big factor in Ottawa's recent surge, aside from the play of goalie Andrew Hammond, has been the spike in offense from Karl son with 14 points in 11 games. Ron Darling Jersey