FTS - 10/27/08

TOP STORY

FRANZEN OUT A MONTH

(Photo Credit: Paul Beatty - AP)

-Red Wings forward Johan Franzen will be out for three to four weeks because of a sprained left knee, the team said Sunday. The Detroit left winger damaged the medial collateral ligament during the second period of Saturday night's 6-5 shootout win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Franzen was injured during a collision with Blackhawks defenseman Brent Sopel in the neutral zone. – CREDIT AP

OTHER HEADLINES

-Rick DiPietro will be questionable for Monday night’s game against the New York Rangers: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=253940&lid=sublink02&lpos=headlines_main

-Carolina Hurricanes Defenseman Joni Pitkanen will undergo surgery to repair a torn meniscus. The injury occurred during Saturday's victory over the New York Islanders, a game in which rookie forward Brandon Sutter was also injured. The 25-year old Pitkanen has a goal and three assists in seven games this season.

-Also in the Carolinas, Hurricanes center Brandon Sutter was discharged from a New York hospital on Sunday after sustaining a concussion a night earlier during a game against the New York Islanders. For Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford’s thoughts on the hit on Brandon Sutter, check this out (courtesy TSN-Canada): http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/bob_mckenzie/?id=253894&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_nhl

(All stories courtesy of the Canadian Press except for the TSN link)

RUMOR MILL

-Nothing to report today

LAST NIGHT’S RECAP

-NHL Had The Night Off Due to the World Series

AROUND THE BOARDS

--The Columbus Blue Jackets called up Dan LaCosta to the roster on emergency recall from the Syracuse Crunch (AHL) on Sunday, a day after losing goaltender Pascal Leclaire to injury. Leclaire suffered a sprained ankle in the second period of the Blue Jacket's 2-1 loss to the Wild on Saturday. He was replaced by backup Fredrik Norrena. The Blue Jackets also assigned defenceman Kris Russell to the Crunch on Sunday. Russell has recorded one point in five games for Columbus this season. LaCosta stopped 15-of-17 shots in 35 minutes in relief of Norrena at Nashville on Oct. 18 in his only action this season with the Blue Jackets. He has a 5-0-0 record with a 2.08 goals-against average and .929 save percentage in five games with the Crunch this season. The Blue Jackets return to action Monday when they host the Anaheim Ducks.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

Chicago Blackhawks (3-2-2) @ Minnesota Wild (5-0-1) – 8PM

The Wild are coming off a 2-1 rebound win over the Blue Jackets after losing their first game of the year in OT to Buffalo. Chicago is coming off a seesaw 6-5 SO loss to the Red Wings after winning 2 in a row. The Wild haven’t been as strong in their last couple of games as they were to start the season, and Chicago has been improving. The Wild will play G Nicklas Backstrom, whose 1.97 GAA is the 3rd best in the league right now. The Blackhawks are still shuffling Nikolai Khabibulin and Cristobal Huet around. This game will be nationally televised on Versus.

Other Action:
Ottawa (2-5-1) @ Buffalo (6-0-2) – 7PM
NY Rangers (8-2-1) @ NY Islanders (2-5-0) – 7PM
Anaheim (4-5-0) @ Columbus (3-5-0) – 7PM
Boston (3-2-3) @ Edmonton (4-3-0) – 8PM
Detroit (6-1-1) @ Los Angeles (3-4-0) - 10:30PM

^^All times Eastern**

My weekly power rankings, “Plus/Minus” comes out Monday Evenings.

FEEL FREE TO POST COMMENTS OR EMAIL ME DIRECTLY AT FROMTHESLOT@GMAIL.COM