Central Division
-The Predators are red hot. Pekka Rinne made 31 saves and led the Predators to a 4-2 defeat of the rival Blue Jackets.
Nashville has won six consecutive games and has moved into sixth place
in the Western Conference. Kristian Huselius led Columbus with two
assists.
-Nashville's Shea Weber had a pretty intense brawl with Plum's Columbus' R.J. Umberger:
-Columbus forward Antoine Vermette, acquired in a trade from Ottawa Wednesday, could not make his debut for Columbus due to a visa problem.
-The Blue Jackets activated defenseman Rostislav Klesla and forward Fredrik Modin from injured reserve.
-Established Red Wings veterans Kris Draper and Tomas Kopecky are feeling the heat for playing time from rookie call ups like Darren Helm and Ville Leino.
-The Blackhawks could potentially set a franchise record for team points this season.
Northwest Division
-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: So far so good in the
Olli Jokinen era in Calgary. In his first game with the Flames since
being acquire in a Wednesday trade with Phoenix, Jokinen had two goals
in a 5-1 win at Philadelphia.
Mike Cammalleri added a goal and an assist while teammate Craig Conroy
had a goal and an assist. Jarome Iginla recorded two assists while
Mikka Kiprusoff made 35 saves in the win. The Flyers are in fourth
place in the Eastern Conference with 78 points, four more than the
Penguins.
-Defenseman Jordan Leopold looked smooth in his first game back with the Flames.
-Mikko Koivu had two goals, including one in overtime, and gave the Wild a 4-3 win at San Jose.
Brent Burns and Kurtis Foster each had two assists for Minnesota. Joe
Pavelski had two goals for the Sharks while teammate Ryane Clowe
recorded a goal and an assist. The Sharks have lost four out of their
past five games.
-Wild defenseman Marek Zidlicky has a pretty wicked backhander:
-The Flames recalled forward Kris Chucko from Quad City of the AHL. Forward David Van der Gulik was demoted.
-Calgary forward Todd Bertuzzi underwent knee surgery which will keep him sidelined for approximately a month.
-New Oilers forward Ales Kotalik was shocked by the trade that sent him away from Buffalo.
-Kotalik is already familiar with new teammate Ales Hemsky.
-The Avalanche is a team that gets it. In the midst of its worst
season since moving from Quebec and the horrible economy, Colorado is slashing some ticket prices.
-Minnesota defenseman Kurtis Foster is a little closer to returning from a broken femur.
Pacific Division
-Ilya Bryzgalov made 25 saves and led the Coyotes to a 2-1 win at Boston. Scottie Upshall, acquired in a trade from Philadelphia Wednesday, scored in his first game with Phoenix.
-Michal Handzus had a three goals including one in overtime that gave the Kings a 5-4 win against the Stars.
Alexander Frolov and Anze Kopitar each had a goal and an assist for Los
Angeles while teammate Drew Doughty added two assists. Loui Eriksson,
Steve Ott and Mike Ribeiro each had a goal and an assist for the Stars.
-Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov (right) is dealing with a "lower-body" injury.
-San Jose recalled goaltender Thomas Greiss and forward Jamie McGinn from Worcester of the AHL.
-Captain Shane Doan is starting to get desperate in Phoenix.
-The Coyotes recalled forward Josh Tordjman from San Antonio of the AHL.
-Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger is happy he wasn't traded.
-Stars forward Jere Lehtninen is dealing with an "upper-body" injury.
-What if Dallas never traded then prospect Jarome Iginla to the Flames for established veteran Joe Nieuwendyk back in 1995?
Norris Division
-Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! has a good look at all the post-trade deadline jersey number switches.
-The broadcast schedule for the Stanley Cup final has been changed. Instead of Games 1 and 2 being on Versus, Games 3 and 4 will be on the cable channel. Games 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 will be on the Peacock. So the Cup could potentially awarded on Versus in front of dozens and dozens of viewers. We're not crazy about the idea.
-Michigan State will play at Michigan's "Big House" in 2010. No word yet if Michigan fans will be shocked to see the home team score on the field.
(Kudos to Illegal Curve for the find.)
(Photo: Tony Avelar/Associated Press)
Posted
Mar 06 2009, 07:31 AM
by
Seth Rorabaugh