FTS - 11/10/08

TOP STORY

SHARKS OUT OF WATER

(Photo Credit: Michael Chow - Arizona Republic)

Ilya Bryzgalov and Ed Jovanovski shut down Jeremy Roenick and the Sharks

Phoenix Coyotes (7-6-0) over the San Jose Sharks (13-3-0) 4-2

AP Link: http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008020211

Anytime a team has a hot streak going, it's bound to come to an end at some point. In the NHL, it tends to come from the hands of a division opponent, and last night was no different. The Phoenix Coyotes' ended the Sharks seven game winning streak and, in the process, got themselves over .500 for the first time this season.

C Olli Jokinen had two goals and an assist in the Coyotes come from behind win (they trailed by two goals halfway through the first period). Peter Mueller scored a goal on the power play and Viktor Tikhonov scored his first career NHL goal. Ilya Bryzgalov made 30 saves for his third win in five games for Phoenix.

The Sharks were without goalie Evgeni Nabokov and right wing Jonathan Cheechoo, both of whom are day-to-day. Nabokov sustained a lower-body injury Thursday, while Cheechoo missed his second straight game because of an upper-body injury. D Dan Boyle and winger Ryane Clowe both scored PP goals. G Brian Boucher made 26 saves in his first loss of the season.

The Sharks now head back home, where they remain unbeaten, to take on the Nasvhille Predators tomorrow night. The Phoenix Coyotes head on a two-game road trip that starts in Columbus on Wednesday night.

OTHER HEADLINES

-Flyers C Daniel Briere was back in the lineup against Tampa Bay on Saturday night, only two weeks after abdominal surgery. Briere had surgery on 10/25 to fix a torn abdominal muscle and doctors expected him to miss three to four weeks. Briere centered the first line with Mike Knuble and Simon Gagne against the Lightning. Briere has three goals and four assists this season. The 31-year-old forward had 31 goals and 41 assists last season during his first year with the Flyers.

RUMOR MILL

-This is one of the more comprehensive rumor reports I've seen in awhile. Scott Cullen does a great job for TSN.CA:

http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/scott_cullen/?id=255067&lid=sublink07&lpos=headlines_nhl

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

Atlanta Thrashers (6-7-2) over the Carolina Hurricanes (8-5-2) 5-2
-Marty Reasoner had his first two-goal game since 11/15/02 and that proved to be a factor in the win. Carolina lead 2-1 in the 2nd period but the Thrashers would score four unanswered goals (other goals scored by Hainsey, Williams and Kovalchuk). Rod Brind'Amour (is two points away from tieing Mike Bossy and Joe Nieuwendyk for 50th all-time in scoring with, 1,126 points) and Ray Whitney had the Carolina goals. Johan Hedberg made 35 saves in the win and it gives the Thrashers their fourth win in a row and second straight on the road.

Chicago Blackhawks (7-3-3) over the Calgary Flames (8-7-1) 6-1
-Patrick Kane and Martin Havlat each had a goal and two assists as Chicago won their 4th straight game after a 5 day break. Jonathan Toews and Kris Versteeg each added a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks, who are 6-0-2 at home. Aaron Johnson and Troy Brouwer also scored for Chicago, Cristobal Huet made 22 saves for the 'Hawks, and the lone Flames goal came from Dustin Boyd. Calgary lost its second straight game and fourth in its last five. Calgary C Matthew Lombardi missed his ninth game because of a shoulder injury.Chicago D Brent Sopel sat out the game because of an undisclosed injury.

Edmonton Oilers (7-6-1) over the New Jersey Devils (7-5-2) 2-1

-Edmonton G Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers made 37 saves in his first start since Oct. 17 and 2nd NHL start. Sheldon Souray and Ales Hemsky (PPG) would give the Oilers a 2-0 lead in the 2nd period and that would be all they needed. Zach Parise scored the lone Devils goal. Scott Clemmensen started for the Devils in net and made 26 saves in the loss and the Devils are 1-3 since Martin Brodeur went down with an elbow injury. RW Brian Gionta and D Bryce Salvador were scratched for New Jersey. Both players left after the 2nd period in Saturday night's game against Detroit.

Florida Panthers (5-8-1) over the Anaheim Ducks (9-7-1) 3-1
-Corey Perry would score for the Ducks about two minutes in to the first period. That would be the end of the night for Anaheim. Panthers RW David Booth scored a natural hat trick and G Craig Anderson made 44 saves in the road win for the Panthers. Jassen Cullimore and Stephen Weiss each had two assists for Florida. C Steve Montador faced the Panthers for the first time since signing with Ducks as free agent last summer. He played 196 games for Florida from 2005-08. Panthers D Nick Boynton was a healthy scratch for the first time this season.

AROUND THE BOARDS

-NHL Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell will review last nights Tom Kostopoulos hit on Toronto's Mike Van Ryn, however a hearing has not yet been scheduled for the Montreal Canadiens' forward. Van Ryn suffered a concussion, a gash on his forehead, a broken nose and a broken bone in his hand and early reports state he could be gone for a month. Kostopoulos was ejected from the game with a major penalty for boarding.

-The New York Rangers are seeking a compensatory draft pick because of the death of Alexei Cherepanov (courtesy NHL.com): http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=391319

-The Edmonton Oilers have assigned D Theo Peckham to the Springfield Falcons (AHL). They made this move to make room for D Denis Grebeshkov, who was coming off the IR.

-The Washington Capitals recalled DTyler Sloan from Hershey of the AHL. The Capitals needed an extra D after Shaone Morrisonn injured a groin in Thursday night's win over Carolina

-The Columbus Blue Jackets assigned forward Alexandre Picard to the Syracuse Crunch (AHL). Picard collected 22 penalty minutes in six games with the Blue Jackets this season.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

Tampa Bay Lightning (5-4-4) @ Washington Capitals (7-4-2) - 7PM
-It looks like there might be a new starting goalie in the nation's capital. Brent Johnson has started the past three games for the Caps and has gone 2-0-1. He's not officially the starter (at the time of this writing) but it would appear he'll get the go. Johnson is 3-1-2 with a 2.12 GAA in six games this season. The Caps are coming off a 3-1 win over the Rangers and are 5-0-1 at the Verizon Center. Tampa's coming off a 2-1 win in Philly on Saturday night. Mike Smith made 34 saves in the win. Washington was 6-2-0 against Tampa Bay last season.

Other Action:

Edmonton Oilers (7-6-1) @ NY Rangers (11-5-1) - 7PM

^ALL TIMES EASTERN

*My weekly power rankings, "PLUS/MINUS", comes out on tonight!
~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out Wednesday evenings
FEEL FREE TO COMMENT OR EMAIL ANYTIME HERE OR AT FROMTHESLOT@GMAIL.COM

FTS - 11/9/08

I apologize for there being no blog today. FTS will continue as normal on Monday 11/10 and PLUS/MINUS will come out as regularly scheduled.

FTS 11/8/08

TOP STORY

BIRTH OF A STAR

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Mike Modano, Sean Avery & Mark Parrish celebrate one of Parish's 3 goals

Dallas Stars (5-6-2) over the Anaheim Ducks (9-6-1) 5-2

AP Link: http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2008020195

Mark Parrish signed a one-year deal with the Stars on Wednesday. He celebrated with his sixth career hat trick (2 PPGs) in his first game as the Stars ended a three game winless streak. In the process, the Ducks lost in regulation for the first time since a 3-1 setback against Carolina on Oct. 19. Anaheim was 8-0-1 in its previous nine games.

Fabian Brunnstrom and Brad Richards also scored for the Stars. Mike Ribeiro added two assists while Marty Turco made 28 saves. It was just the second time Turco allowed two goals or less in eleven appearances this season. Brendan Morrison and Scott Nidermayer scored the two Anaheim goals and Jean-Sebastian Giguere allowed four or more goals for the 8th time this season in 14 appearances. Stars D Sergei Zubov played in his first game of the season after missing training camp and the first 12 games of the season recovering from hip surgery.

Ducks enforcer George Parros returned to the lineup after missing three games because of a eye abrasion. With his first-period assist on Morrison's goal, Teemu Selanne became Anaheim's franchise leader with 370 assists. Paul Kariya had 369 assists in 606 games for the Ducks. Anaheim will get a chance to bounce back tomorrow night when they host the Florida Panthers. Dallas continues it's five-game road trip against San Jose tonight.

OTHER HEADLINES

-The Philadelphia Flyers acquired defenseman Matt Carle and the San Jose Sharks' third round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Steve Eminger, Steve Downie and Tampa Bay's fourth round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Carle, 24, recorded a goal and an assist for two points and six penalty minutes in 12 games for the Lightning this season. He is second on the team in blocked shots (27) and third on the team in average time on ice (21:57 minutes per game). In 163 career NHL regular season games over the last four seasons (2005-06 through 2008-09), Carle has registered 17 goals and 48 assists for 65 points and 76 penalty minutes. Prior to joining the Lightning, Carle posted 63 points (16G,47A) and 70 penalty minutes in 151 games for the Sharks over three seasons (2005-06 through 2007-08). He has also appeared in 33 career NHL playoff games over the last three seasons, recording two goals and seven assists for nine points and eight penalty minutes.

-Goalie Evgeni Nabokov might not play against Dallas tonight after sustaining a lower body injury while making the final stop in their shootout victory over St. Louis on Thursday night. Nabokov has a league-leading 10 victories despite an .891 save percentage and 2.72 GAA. Backup Brian Boucher, who has posted shutouts in his only two starts this season will get the start against the Stars tongiht. San Jose recalled goalie Thomas Greiss and left wing Brad Staubitz from their AHL affiliate in Worcester on Friday, reassigning left wing Jamie McGinn to the minors.

-Sidney Crosby left practice early on Friday afternoon and his playing status for Saturday night's game against the New York Islanders is unknown. "A little sore today," Crosby said. "We'll see tomorrow." Crosby has been bothered by a lingering undisclosed injury that he suffered against the Phoenix Coyotes on Oct. 30. "It's been like this for a week," head coach Michel Therrien said. "We'll see how he feels tomorrow. So far he's felt good enough to play those games. He got hurt a little bit. We hope he's going to be there tomorrow."

RUMOR MILL

-Canadiens for sale? Team owners say No (credit TSN):

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=255052&lid=sublink05&lpos=headlines_nhl

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

Carolina Hurricanes (8-4-2) over the Carolina Hurricanes (6-6-2) 2-1

-Hurricanes HC Peter Laviolette become the winningest American-born coach in NHL history thanks to a late Joe Corvo goal in the 3rd period. Dennis Seidenberg had the other Carolina goal (which Corvo assisted on) and Mike Fisher scored for the Senators, who were denied their third straight win. 'Canes G Michael Leighton made 22 saves in his second straight start on home ice. Carolina C Matt Cullen missed his fourth straight game with a leg injury. Carolina C Rod Brind'Amour played with stitches on both sides of his nose. He was injured in the final seconds Thursday night at Washington. Ottawa LW Dany Heatley's five-game goal-scoring streak ended. He also had scored in his last five games against the Hurricanes.

Columbus Blue Jackets (6-6-2) over the Montreal Canadiens (8-1-2) 4-3 (SO)
-Talk about a start to a career. Blue Jackets' rookie goalie Steve Mason has two wins in his two career NHL starts despite allowing seven goals combined between the two outings. Derick Brassard scored Columbus' second goal in the shootout to give the Jackets the victory. R.J. Umberger, Marc Methot and Fredrik Modin scored goals for Columbus (Methot & Modin's goals coming 34 seconds apart in the third period for a 3-2 lead). Jan Hejda and Rick Nash each had two assists for the Blue Jackets, who have scored points in their last five games. Montreal's Sergei Kostitsyn scored on a pass from his brother Andrei to tie it with 40.9 seconds left in regulation. Alex Tanguay and Patrice Brisebois had power-play goals for the Canadiens, who lost for the first time on the road. Tomas Plekanec chipped in with two assists. Montreal, off since last Saturday, had won its last four road games and last three overall. Friday's loss was the first loss for the Canadiens in Ohio since a 2-1 setback against the Cleveland Barons on Nov. 23, 1977.

Atlanta Thrashers (5-7-2) over the Buffalo Sabres (8-2-3) 5-4 (OT)
-Jason Williams scored his second goal of the game 48 seconds into overtime and Bryan Little had two goals and an assist in the Atlanta victory. Todd White also scored for the Thrashers in their 2nd win over Buffalo this season. This is their first 3-game win streak since last season. The Thrashers are now 3-1 since G Kari Lehtonen left the lineup (G Johan Hedberg improved to 9-2-1 lifetime against Buffalo). Thomas Vanek scored his NHL-leading 12th goal, and Clarke MacArthur, Ales Kotalik and Maxim Afinogenov also scored for the Sabres. Atlanta D Mathieu Schneider missed his second game because of a hip flexor.

AROUND THE BOARDS

-The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled forward Michael Ryan from the Albany River Rats (AHL). To make room for Ryan on the roster, the Hurricanes placed center Brandon Sutter on IR. Ryan was signed by the Hurricanes on Oct. 31, and has played in two games with the River Rats, notching one goal and earning two assists.

-Hockey HOF unveils new exhibit to celebrate Canadiens (credit Canadian Press):

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=255086&lid=sublink04&lpos=headlines_nhl

GAME OF THE NIGHT

Buffalo Sabres (8-2-3) @ Boston Bruins (7-3-3) - 7PM

-In a division where 1st and 3rd are separated by two points, the 3rd place Bruins will host the Sabres in a chance to tie Buffalo for the Northeast Division lead. A big part of the Bruins success has been G Tim Thomas, who has a 1.85 GAA and a league-leading .944 Save Percentage. Boston is coming off a 5-2 win over Toronto on Thursday night. The Sabres are 4-0-2 on the road, making them and the Canadiens the only teams yet to lose in regulation away from home this season. Playing at home on Friday, though, Buffalo squandered three one-goal leads before falling 5-4 in overtime to Atlanta.

Other Action:
New Jersey (7-3-2) @ Detroit (8-2-2) - 7PM

Pittsburgh (7-4-2) @ NY Islanders (4-8-1) - 7PM

Tampa Bay (4-4-4) @ Philadelphia (4-5-3) - 7PM

Montreal (8-1-2) @ Toronto (5-5-4) - 7PM
NY Rangers (11-4-1) @ Washington (6-4-2) - 7PM

Calgary (8-5-1) @ Columbus (6-6-2) - 7PM
Nashville (6-6-1) @ Colorado (5-8-0) - 9PM

Florida (4-7-1) @ Phoenix (5-6-0) - 9PM
Dallas (5-6-2) @ San Jose (12-2-0) - 10PM

Minnesota (8-3-1) @ Vancouver (8-6-0) - 10PM
St. Louis (5-6-1) @ Los Angeles (4-6-2) - 10:30PM

^ALL TIMES EASTERN

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

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out Wednesday evenings

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

FTS - 11/7/08

TOP STORY

CARDIAC CAPS

(Photo Credit: Washington Times)

Semin Hurts The 'Canes Late

Washingon Capitals (6-4-2) over the Carolina Hurricanes (7-4-2) 3-2

AP Link: http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=200802018

-The Capitals and Hurricanes will meet five more times this season. If you're a hockey fan that lives outside of the Carolina or DC markets and you have NHL Center Ice, make it your business to watch when these two meet. I said it in previous blogs that these two teams will provide an exciting race for the Southeast Division title. Last night's game provided a good opening salvo.

Scott Walker opened the scoring for Carolina in the first period. C Sergei Fedorov would tie things up for Washington in the 2nd, but Tuomo Ruutu (who has a five game scoring streak) would give the Hurricanes back the lead heading in to the 3rd period. It would remain that way until just under 3 minutes remained when Alexander Semin would knot things up at 2. With 10 seconds left, Semin would score the game winner to complete the late come from behind victory. Alexander Ovechkin snapped out of his slump with three assists in the win. Brent Johnson made 32 saves in the win while Cam Ward stopped 30 in the loss.

Alexander Semin's longest goal-scoring drought thus far this season is two games. He had five of four or more games last season. The three goals were Washington's fewest this season in a win. Playing in his 300th NHL game, Washington's Shaone Morrisonn left after the first period with a groin injury. The Caps continue their three-game homestand on Saturday night when they host the East-leading New York Rangers. The Hurricanes host the Senators tonight (scroll down to see my Game of the Night)

OTHER HEADLINES

-New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur had surgery yesterday to repair his torn left biceps near the elbow. "According to the doctors, his surgery was 100 percent successful," Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello said in a statement. "The timetable for his return remains three to four months." Brodeur was injured Saturday against Atlanta making a second-period glove save on a shot that was going wide of the net.

RUMOR MILL

-The Florida Panthers may be dealing D Jay Bouwmeester soon. There's not a team in the league that couldn't use a quality rearguard like Bouwmeester. The teams that look like like they are in the running for him are Montreal (it seems like they are in the running for everyone), Toronto, Buffalo, Boston, and Philly. Philly would have the most options for Florida, as the Panthers need a Center and the Flyers are deep at that position. It'd be interesting to see him in Boston just on the chance that he'd get some shifts alongside Zdeno Chara.

LAST NIGHT'S RECAP

Boston Bruins (7-3-3) over the Toronto Maple Leafs (5-5-4) 5-2
-Sometimes, changing a team's logo or jersey sparks them to a better season. In rookie Blake Wheeler's case, changing his number from 42 to 26 meant his first career hat trick. Dennis Wideman and Zdeno Chara, playing his 700th NHL game, added goals for the Bruins in their fifth win in six games. Mikhail Grabovski and Alex Steen scored for Toronto, which has now lost three straight. Bruins G Tim Thomas made 34 saves in the win. Toronto center Nik Antropov left the game in the first period after injuring his foot blocking a shot, but it doesn't appear to be something that will keep Antropov out of the lineup. Toronto center John Mitchell injured his shoulder and spoke about it possibly being separated after the game. Boston scored a power-play goal for the ninth time in 13 games while Toronto has allowed two or more power-play goals in five games.

New York Rangers (11-4-1) over the Tampa Bay Lightning (4-4-3) 5-2
-The bio on Chris Drury is that he always comes up with the timely play or big goal. The Rangers were on a two game losing streak heading in to last night's game and Drury stepped it up with a hat trick (2 PPG, 1 SHG) to help the Rangers to their 11th win of the season. Ryan Callahan and Marc Staal scored the other two Ranger goals while Henrik Lundqvist pitched in with 36 saves. Ryan Malone (PPG) & Martin St. Louis scored the two Tampa goals. The game was chippy from beginning to end and included a fight between Rangers winger Aaron Voros and Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith. The Lightning lost in regulation for just the second time since their season-opening trip to Prague.

Pittsburgh Penguins (7-4-2) over the Edmonton Oilers (6-6-1) 5-4

-Sometimes a big lead early in the game can hurt you. The Penguins had a 5-0 lead midway through the 2nd period thanks to goals from Miroslav Satan (2 goals - one of them a ridiculous shot through his leg), Petr Sykora (2 goals - 1PPG), and Maxime Talbot (SHG). Edmonton would fight back with four goals (Pisani, Gilbert, Hemsky, Souray-PPG), but that's as close as they would get. Evgeni Malkin has a nine-game point streak and has scored in all but one game this season (he had 3 assists last night).

Ottawa Senators (6-5-2) over the Philadelphia Flyers (4-5-3) 4-1

-LW Dany Heatley (PPG) scored for the fifth straight game and Jesse Winchester had his first NHL goal in the Ottawa win. Anton Volchenkov and Chris Neil (Empty Net) potted the other two goals for the Senators. Aaron Asham scored the lone goal for Philly. Alex Auld made 17 saves and has been a backbone for Ottawa in their 5 game points streak (4-0-1). The Flyers have just three wins in their last 18 trips to Ottawa.

Atlanta Thrashers (4-7-2) over the New York Islanders (4-8-1) 4-3

-The Islanders certainly have a knack for blowing leads lately. Their two game winning streak was snapped after losing a 3-1 2nd period lead. Jon Sim, Frans Nielsen and Trent Hunter would score the three goals for the Isles, but their defense would break down again. This is the 3rd time in 4 games the Islanders have blown a lead, but they managed to escape with the win against Columbus. The Thrashers goals were scored by Slava Kozlov (2), Jason Williams (PPG) and Tobias Enstrom. Atlanta has scored 19 goals in four wins this season, including four Thursday, but have scored only 16 goals in nine losses (seven in regulation, two in OT). Islanders forward Doug Weight got an assist, leaving him 20 points shy of 1,000 for his career. He has a point in six of the last eight games.

Minnesota Wild (8-3-1) over the Colorado Avalanche (5-8-0) 3-1

-The Wild are on a three game winning streak thanks to goals from Andrew Brunette (who played in his 800th career game and his 465th straight game), Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Benoit Pouliot. Marek Zidlicky chipped in with two assists and NIcklas Backstrom made 35 saves. Backstrom has only lost once this season when he's made more than 30 saves. Darcy Tucker scored the lone Avs goal. Minnesota won despite Colorado winning the faceoff battle 37 to 15. The Avalanche have been a roller-coaster team this season, losing three in a row to open the year, then winning five straight, and have now lost five in a row (going 0 for 6 on the PP won't help you snap that streak).

Calgary Flames (8-5-1) over the Nashville Predators (6-6-1) 7-6

-The Flames were lucky that there wasn't a few extra minutes in the game last night. After jumping out to a 5-0 lead and then a 7-3 lead, the Preds almost crept back in to the game. Todd Bertuzzi had 3 assists, Craig Conroy had two goals and an assist, and Jarome Iginla had 2 goals (both PP) and 2 assists for Calgary. On the Nashville box score, Shea Weber had 2 goals and Martin Erat and David Legwand each had a goal and an assist. After allowing two or fewer goals in five of six games, Miika Kiprusoff has allowed 13 in his last three starts for the Flames.

Vancouver Canucks (8-6-0) over the Phoenix Coyotes (5-6-0) 1-0

-Kevin Bieksa would score for Vancouver about 12 minutes in to the 1st period (assisted by Ryan Kesler and Aleandre Burrows) and that would be all the Canucks would need. Roberto Luongo made 28 saves for his second straight shutout, his third shutout in five games and NHL-leading fourth overall. His biggest save came on an Ed Jovanovki's blast with 25.2 seconds left and the Phoenix net empty for an extra attacker. In between, the star goalie got a lot of help from a stingy defense that kept the Coyotes to the outside most of the night.

Los Angeles Kings (4-6-2) over the Florida Panthers (4-7-1) 3-2

-Brian Boyle, Tom Preissing (PPG) and Dustin Brown scored the three Kings goals in last night's win over the Panthers. G Erik Ersberg made his second straight start in goal for the Kings and made 13 saves after sitting behind Jason LaBarbera for the first 10 contests. Anthony Stewart had a goal and Nathan Horton added a short-handed tally for the Panthers in their fifth straight loss. Panthers D Bryan McCabe was back in the lineup after missing the previous 10 games because of a lower back strain. C Gregory Campbell was back in action for Florida after sitting out five games with an injured hip. Panthers LW Cory Stillman, who has five of Florida's 27 goals through their first 12 games, did not make the trip because of a concussion and a broken nose he sustained during Sunday's 5-3 loss in Atlanta.

San Jose Sharks (12-2-0) over the St. Louis Blues (5-6-1) 5-4 (SO)
-Ryane Clowe already had saved the San Jose Sharks twice with tying goals in the game, but would score the most important goal in the 4th round of the shootout to extend the Sharks winnning streak to six games. Clowe has 8 goals in 8 games and had to leave the game for a bit due to some cuts on his face. San Jose remains unbeaten at home at 8-0-0. Evgeni Nabokov made 25 saves and stopped three consecutive Blues to end the shootout, but the goalie left the ice gingerly after stretching to stop Patrik Berglund on the final shootout attempt. Rob Blake scored his first goal of the season for San Jose, and Joe Thornton also scored before Clowe took over. Lee Stempniak had a goal and two assists for the Blues, who lost for the sixth time in seven games despite never trailing in regulation. Keith Tkachuk got his ninth goal of the season and Blaine Bishop made 38 saves. LW Paul Kariya was out of the lineup with a lower-body injury.

AROUND THE BOARDS

-Minnesota Wild D Brent Burns is returning home early from the team's road trip due to an unspecified upper-body injury that has kept him out of action for the past week. Burns was hurt in pre-game warmups on Saturday at Phoenix and didn't dress for Tuesday's game at San Jose.
He'll miss games at Colorado Thursday and Vancouver Saturday. He has three goals and one assist in nine games this season.

-Atlanta D Mathieu Schneider missed last night's game against the New York Islanders on because of a hip flexor injury. GM Don Waddell said Schneider was injured in a light morning practice and isn't expected to join the team on a two-game road trip to Buffalo and Carolina. Also, Goalie Kari Lehtonen missed his third straight game because of a stiff back and flu symptoms, but is expected to return tonight against the Sabres.

-The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday placed D Denis Grebeshkov on injured reserve, retroactive to November 1. The fourth-year pro has missed the Oilers' last two games, in Philadelphia and Columbus, after suffering an undisclosed upper-body injury last Saturday against Carolina.
He has one goal and five points in 10 games this season. Edmonton recalled D Theo Peckham from Springfield (AHL) to fill the spot.

-The Colorado Avalanche recalled T.J. Hensick from the Lake Erie Monsters (AHL). It’s Hensick’s first call-up of the season. He leads the Monsters in scoring (6G 7A) and is tied for fifth among all AHL scorers.

GAME OF THE NIGHT

Ottawa Senators (6-5-2) Carolina Hurricanes (7-4-2) - 7PM

-The Carolina Hurricanes open up a stretch of 8 of 10 at home tonight. Only Edmonton (3) has played fewer home games than Carolina (4) which has played eight of its last 10 on the road. The Hurricanes are coming off a disappointing 3-2 loss to the Caps last night. On the flip side, Dany Heatley has goals in five straight games, helping Ottawa to a 4-0-1 record during that span.They are above .500 for the first time this season. The Senators' power play, meanwhile, is among the best in the league with a 23.7 conversion rate, scoring on 14 of 59 chances. They have scored a power-play goal in all but two games this season. Carolina's power play hasn't been nearly as effective, going 6 for 47 in the last 11 games. The Hurricanes have also allowed a power-play goal in six of their last nine contests. Ottawa is 7-3-0 in its last 10 meetings with the Hurricanes, scoring at least four goals in six of those wins.

Other Action:

Montreal (8-1-1) @ Columbus (5-6-2) - 7PM
Atlanta (4-7-2) @ Buffalo (8-2-2) - 7:30PM
Dallas (4-6-2) @ Anaheim (9-5-1) - 10PM

^ALL TIMES EASTERN

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

~Dropping the Gloves with Andrew Bogusch comes out Wednesday evenings

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