Bangin' away at work for the moment (hence the "phoning it in" atmosphere), but what a contest last night. Are we to get acclimated to this "winning" thing? A scary and frightening prospect, to be sure...but man is it sweet. Tomas Vokoun is back.

DIVISIONALLY SPEAKING

YESTERDAY IN THE SOUTHEAST

• The Hurricanes did the Panthers no favors by downing host Tampa Bay in a come-from-behind 3-2 victory, but we can all agree that the Bolts are quite probably officially cooked as far as the postseason is concerned. Heard any good Vinny rumors lately?
• The Isles built a quick four-goal lead over the Thrashers and held on to win 5-4. Talk about shaky leads. Atlanta's playoff hopes are beginning to exhibit indications of, well, sucking.

TONIGHT IN THE SOUTHEAST

• Philadelphia @ Tampa Bay (again?), 7:30p. Don't know why I'm not recycling old previews yet, but in the spirit of keeping the poop fresh, the Bolts host Philadelphia... in a classic...1990s Wales conference ...thing ...gotta get ...through this ...the Lightning has been hot lately, surprising more than a few clubs and collecting points that wouldn't have been garnered six weeks ago.

Other than that - which actually should turn into quite a contest - nothing of note is to be had here. Not to worry: the Eastern conference playoff candidates roll on:

• Pittsburgh @ New Jersey, 7p. Pens in Barry Melrose's favorite town for a pretty sweet matchup of Patrick Division foes. The still-Brodeur-less Devils shocked Boston on Thursday, increasing their division lead over the Rangahs and moving into second place in the East, while Pittsburgh hangs in there with 52 points.

LITTER BOX LINERS

• Miami Herald: Cats' confidence grows with another win
• Sun-Sentinel:  Bouwmeester & Weiss use PP to lift Cats, Blog: Playoffs?
• Palm Beach Post:  Cats rout Habs to close strong month
• Montreal Gazette: Panthers maul Canadiens 5-1
• Le Journal de Montreal: Les Panthers dévorent le Canadien 5-1
• AP via NHL.com: game recap/stats/video
• NHL.com's Frozen Moment: hopefully it's still there
• Panthers website
• Canadiens website

 FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE

• Cat Scratch (FLA)
• Panthers on the Prowl (FLA)
• Eyes on the Prize (MTL) an SBNation blog
• Four Habs Fans (MTL)

NEXT UP FOR THE CATS