FTS - 12/10/08

HEADLINES

-Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Hal Gill is out two to four weeks with a shoulder injury he suffered late in Saturday's loss at Ottawa. Gill was replaced Monday night by Ben Lovejoy, who was called up from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Gill is the fourth Penguins defenseman out with an injury, although Ryan Whitney could return as early as next week from offseason foot surgery. Sergei Gonchar is recovering from shoulder surgery and expected to return no sooner than late February. Phillippe Boucher is week to week with an undisclosed injury.

-Canucks' goaltender Roberto Luongo joined the team at practice on Tuesday for the second time since injuring his groin on November 22, but says there is still no timeline for his return. "It's day-by-day right now," Luongo told TSN in Nashville. "I don't really want to set a date because I don't want to disappoint myself if I'm not able to make that game." The 29-year-old also stressed the importance of making a full recovery before returning to action. "You want to make sure that once you come back, you don't have a recurring injury," Luongo said. "You want to make sure that once you're back, you're one hundred per cent, you feel comfortable and you're not really thinking about it." The Canucks' captain has been working out since last week and says his condition is getting better. Luongo is 11-5-2 with a 2.17 GAA and five shutouts this season.

-Sabres goalie Ryan Miller on Tuesday accused an NHL referee of using a profanity in response to a question the player asked during Buffalo's 4-3 win at Pittsburgh a night earlier. Miller told several reporters after practice that the exchange occurred during the second period Monday, after he said he respectfully asked a referee a question. Miller wouldn't say which of the two referees working the game (Tim Peel or Justin St. Pierre) had made the comment. He also didn't say what he had asked the official. "To be honest, I was respectful," Miller said. In an e-mail to The Associated Press, NHL spokesman Frank Brown said he was checking with the league's hockey operations department regarding Miller's complaint. The goalie raised the issue after he was asked what he discussed with coach Lindy Ruff at the end of practice. Miller said he joked with Ruff that the exchange with the official might have played a factor a few minutes later when the Sabres were issued a bench minor penalty for arguing an interference penalty against Thomas Vanek. Ruff wasn't available for comment because he had spoken to reporters before Miller.

Marian Gaborik could be returning to the lineup soon:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3758400

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

Philadelphia Flyers (14-7-6) over the New York Islanders (10-16-2) 4-3
TOP PERFORMER = Flyers LW Simon Gagne - 1 Goal (PP & GW)

The Islanders would jump out to a 2-0 lead in the 1st period thanks to goals from Andy Hilbert (PPG) and Doug Weight. Aaron Asham would cut the lead to one heading in to the intermission. In the 2nd period, Darroll Powe and Jeff Carter (his 20th of the season) put the Flyers up 3-2. In the 3rd period, Blake Comeau tied the game on a feed from Josh Bailey and Bill Guerin. 9 minutes later, Simon Gagne would give the Flyers the lead and the win on the power play. Martin Biron made 24 saves in his 9th straight win against the Isles while Yann Danis made 21 saves for New York as they gave Joey MacDonald a much needed rest. The Isles fell to 7-15-2 against Eastern Conference teams this season.

Montreal Canadiens (16-6-5) over the Calgary Flames (16-11-1) 4-1
TOP PERFORMER = Canadiens C Robert Lang - 2 Goals, 1 Assist
-Robert Lang put the Canadiens on the board early in the 1st period on a feed from Alexei Kovalev and Andre Markov. In the 2nd period, Matt D'Agostini continued on his mini-hot streak to put Montreal up 2-0. Dustin Boyd cut the lead down to one, but Robert Lang would answer back late in the 2nd period to regain a two goal lead. In the 3rd, Andrei Markov tallied the final goal of the game for the Canadiens. Alexei Kovalev and Alex Tanguay each had two assists and Jaroslav Halak made 32 saves for the win. Montreal improved to 9-2-3 at home this season. Calgary has scored a total of 11 goals in its last eight losses.

Vancouver Canucks (16-10-3) over the Nashville Predators (14-12-2) 3-1
TOP PERFORMER = Canucks D Alexander Edler - 1 Goal (PPG, GWG)
-Pavol Demitra opened the scoring for Vancouver on a feed from Kyle Wellwood in the 1st period. Radek Bonk would answer back three minutes later on the power play with his 2nd goal of the season. Alexander Edler netted a power play goal :24 seconds in to the 3rd period and Alexandre Burrows would add an empty net goal. Curtis Sanford made 20 saves in the win. Nashville right wing Jordin Tootoo was scratched from his first game this season with a lower body injury and is day-to-day.The Predators dropped to 3-2-0 in the second of back-to-back games.

Colorado Avalanche (14-13-1) over the Los Angeles Kings (11-12-4) 6-1
TOP PERFORMER = LW Cody McLeod - 2 Goals
-Marek Svatos, Milan Hejduk, and Cody McLeod each scored in the 1st period to make it a long night for Kings G Jason LaBarbera. In the 2nd period, Ryan Smith (PPG), McLeod and Chris Stewart (SH) would make it 6-0 before Oscar Moller (PPG) would break the shutout for Peter Budaj (29 saves). The Avalanche are now 3-0 against the Kings this season.

RUMOR MILL

-Nothing to report today

AROUND THE BOARDS

-The Vancouver Canucks acquired a conditional 2009 draft pick from the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday for defenceman James Sharrow. Vancouver acquired Sharrow from the Atlanta Thrashers in 2007 for forward Jesse Schultz. Sharrow, 23, never dressed for an NHL game with Vancouver. He had registered 28 points (six goals, 22 assists) in 61 games with the AHL's Manitoba Moose. Atlanta drafted Sharrow in the fourth round (110th overall) in the 2003 NHL entry draft.

-The Montreal Canadiens will be without the services Mathieu Dandenault indefinitely after the forward/defenceman suffered a broken left arm in Tuesday's 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames.
Dandenault left the game 14:58 into the second period with his arm dangling after he was hit into the corner from an odd angle by Flames forward Dustin Boy. The hit is what appeared to have caused the injury. Forward Christopher Higgins also suffered an ''upper body'' injury in the contest. He will have an MRI on Wednesday to asses the extent of the injury. Higgins left 15 minutes into the opening period with what looked like a shoulder injury after a hit into the boards.

-Here's a complete wrap-up of the 2008 NHL Board of Governor's Meetings in Florida:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=259070&lid=sublink04&lpos=headlines_nhl

GAME OF THE NIGHT
Boston Bruins (19-4-4) @ Washington Capitals (15-10-3) - 7PM
The Boston Bruins have won five in a row, 14 of 16 and have dropped just one game in regulation since Oct. 30. The Washington Capitals club are 10-1-1 at home. Talk about a clash of titans. Boston will be going for its third straight road win as the Caps try to bounce back from a tough division loss to the Hurricanes. Bruins G Tim Thomas, second in the NHL with a 1.90 goals-against average, is 8-1-1 with a 1.86 GAA since a 3-2 loss to Calgary on Oct. 30. Jose Theodore, who made 22 saves Sunday, hasn't faced Boston in more than three years. He went 2-0-0 with a 2.01 GAA against the Bruins in October 2005 while with Montreal. The Capitals won both home games versus Boston last season after losing the previous five in Washington. This one is going to be a classic, folks.

Other Action:
Tampa Bay (6-13-8) @ Buffalo (13-11-3) - 7PM
Pittsburgh (15-8-4) @ New Jersey (14-8-2) - 7PM
NY Rangers (18-10-2) @ Atlanta (9-14-3) - 7PM
Calgary (16-11-1) @ Detroit (18-4-4) - 7:30PM
Ottawa (10-10-5) @ Chicago (12-6-7) - 8:30PM
Phoenix (12-13-2) @ Dallas (10-12-4) - 8:30PM
St. Louis (12-11-3) @ Anaheim (15-10-3) - 10PM

^ALL TIMES EASTERN

*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out Monday evenings

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out tonight!

FEEL FREE TO COMMENT OR EMAIL ANYTIME HERE OR AT FROMTHESLOT@GMAIL.COM