NHL Morning Papers (Friday Edition): Khabibulin still number one in Chicago, Bertuzzi really struggling in Calgary and why Mats Sundin is a good fit in Vancouver

Here are the morning papers for Friday the 12th of December:

• After last night’s 2-0 loss to San Jose, coach Randy Carlyle says he wants his team to play “harder.”
• Slava Kozlov is having trouble producing consistently in Atlanta this season, writes Mike Knobler.
• The Bruins are looking to get some extra production from their second line, writes Fluto Shinzawa.  The Bruins will look to get back on track tonight when they begin a home-and-home with the Thrashers.
• If the Sabres score twice tonight versus the Maple Leafs, that will be 1000 10,000 goals for the Buffalo franchise.
• What else can you say?  The Hurricanes just flat out collapsed in the third period last night, writes Chip Alexander.
• With Joe Sakic out of the line-up for the next three months, the Avalanche will look to players like Paul Stastny to lead the way.  Adam Foote (back and neck) will return to the line-up tonight versus Chicago.
• It wasn’t exciting, but the Blue Jackets only care that they got the W last night, writes Aaron Portzline.  Mike Commodore was due for a goal.  Here’s an edition of five questions with Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin.
• Coming into tonight’s game versus Detroit, it is evident that the Stars look a lot different than they did in last season’s Western Conference finals.  Here’s what the Stars have done wrong since then.
• Looks like it will be new lines for Detroit again tonight, writes Helene St. James.  Coach Mike Babcock thinks Daniel Cleary has been his team’s best player over the past few games.
• Sure Todd Bertuzzi is currently riding a four-game point streak, but he hasn’t scored a goal in 17 games and is -14 on the season.  Big Bert knows he is struggling, so he’s just going to keep battling through it.
• The Oilers battled last night, but they just couldn’t score on Craig Anderson, writes Robert Tychkowski.  Edmonton outshot Florida 41-16 but Sheldon Souray didn’t think many of those were good scoring chances.
• Nikolai Khabibulin is healthy again for the Hawks and coach Joel Queneville says he’s still the number one guy.
• Craig Anderson was the story on Thursday for Edmonton, as he improved the Panthers’ record to 2-0 on their current road trip.  In injury news, Nathan Horton has a small fracture around his heal.
• Playing on a new line last night, Dustin Brown scored his first career hat trick, as his Kings blew out the Blues 6-2.
• The Wild has lost three straight games and now sit tied for eighth in the Western Conference standings.  Interestingly, practice is getting heated for the Wild, as players are battling each other and not holding back.
• Habs coach Guy Carbonneau knew which two players could take over last night’s game for the Lightning, and they did just that.  Red Fisher opines that the fans knew Thursday’s tilt was going to be a tough one from the outset.
• The Predators got tired near the end of last night’s game in Columbus and it showed, writes John Glennon.  In positive news, Steve Sullivan is working towards partaking in a full Predators practice in the near future.
• Brent Sutter just hates losing to the Rangers, so the Devils will definitely be geared up for tonight’s tilt.
• Greg Logan thinks the Islanders looked like the worst team in the NHL last night.  In roster news, forward Jon Sim cleared waivers.
• Wade Redden is a calming force on the Senators’ blue line.  He may be poised, but Redden hasn’t impressed Larry Brooks with his on-ice play.
• The Senators face a big challenge tonight when they march into Washington to play the Capitals.  The Sens worked on their power play all of practice on Thursday.
• Last night’s comeback versus the Hurricanes was one of the greatest in franchise history, writes Sam Carchidi.  It has been great to see the resurgence of Simon Gagne up front for Philadelphia.
• Ilya Brygalov was terrific on Thursday, as he helped the Coyotes end their long slump versus the Wild.
• It was a hat trick party in Pittsburgh yesterday.  On the injury front, Ryan Whitney is hoping to return to the line-up within the next two weeks.
• The Sharks defeated Anaheim 2-0 in a game that had a playoff-like feel, explains David Pollak.  Veteran Jeremy Roenick wasn’t happy with the officiating last night.
• Blues netminder Manny Legace will miss at least four games with a concussion.
• The Bolts ended a nine-game losing streak with an impressive 3-1 road victory at the Bell Centre.  What a great article about Zenon Konopka’s call up to the NHL the other day.
• The Leafs could be calling up Justin Pogge sooner rather than later.  In injury news, Mike Van Ryn returns to the line-up tonight.
• The time is right for Mats Sundin to join Vancouver, writes Ed Willes.  Meanwhile, Jim Jamieson of the Vancouver Province profiles Jason Jaffray.  The Canucks leave for Edmonton today where they will face-off against the Oilers tomorrow night on HNIC.
• Both Sergei Fedorov and Mike Green are close to returning to the Capitals line-up.  If you didn’t know, Brooks Laich is loud, really loud.

For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.