Another week, another ugly headshot

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The NHL has finally laid down the law when it comes to head checking.

After both Dany Heatley and Brad Marchand were suspended for two games each for illegal hits, Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke got banned for the rest of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs for a head check. This is the second time this year Cooke has been suspended, and the fifth of his career. The NHL is trying to eliminate head checks and the stern punishment they handed out to Cooke is the most extreme of the penalties they have given this year.

The NHL playoff races are heating up in both conferences and games are getting close. In the East, the Buffalo Sabres are still holding onto the eighth position; however, Carolina, Toronto and New Jersey are hot on their trail. In the West, the Calgary Flames are looking to get into the playoffs and are sitting two points out. The Flames will need to battle hard as the West is so tight and will have a great finish to the season.

With all the playoff races going on, the Vancouver Canucks were able to clinch the Northwest division, guaranteeing home ice through the first round of the playoffs. In the East, the Philadelphia Flyers have clinched a spot in the playoffs and are still currently leading the Eastern conference.

The third star this week is from the Montreal Canadiens, P.K. Subban. The Habs defenceman had four goals and two assists that included a hat-trick against the Minnesota Wild — the first hat trick by a Montreal rookie defenceman in 10 years. The second star is from the Anaheim Ducks, Ray Emery, who finally broke back into the NHL. Emery was two and zero with a 0.99 GAA. The first star was from the San Jose Sharks, Joel Pavelski. Pavelski had a league high 11 points, which included three goals and eight assists.

There are lots of big games this week in the NHL, including the Buffalo Sabres battling the Toronto Maple Leafs. The winner of that game will almost certainly ensure their playoff spot. Both teams will battle hard at it, so it should be a low-scoring affair.