NHL Morning Papers (Thursday Edition): It is getting ugly in Nashville, Johan Franzen wants to return for Olympics and a call for the Coyotes to abandon the White Out

• The Ducks began a six-game homestand last night with a one-goal victory over the visiting Wild.
• Corey Perry got it going early last night and just missed out on a hat trick.
• Meanwhile, James Wisniewski is optimistic that he can return to the Ducks lineup by Wednesday.
• Bruins coach Claude Julien has switched up his top two lines an effort to turn his team’s fortunes around.
• Marc Savard wants his team to focus on getting more shots on net.
• Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News has an interesting profile of a rejuvenated Henrik Tallinder.
• So much for Thomas Vanek being out of the lineup for weeks, he may be back by this weekend.
• Theoren Fleury is considering filing a criminal complaint regarding Graham James.
• The Flames have to stop playing a counter-attack game and, instead, attack all game long, writes Randy Sportak.
• Flames coach Brent Sutter says his responsibilities in Calgary are almost the opposite of what they were in New Jersey.
• The Flames are at the bottom of the NHL in a lot of statistical categories.
• “It’s a game to build on,” said Hurricanes winger Ray Whitney after his team’s 3-2 shootout loss to Pittsburgh.
• In Nikolai Khabibulin’s return to the Windy City, Joel Quenneville was very happy with his team’s all-around performance.
• The Avalanche got lucky on Wednesday with the news that John-Michael Liles is only out of the lineup for two weeks.

The Avalanche lucked out when J-M Liles found out his injury wasn't that serious. (Picture courtesy of espn.com)

• “It’s a big blow, because Jan is a player we obviously rely on in a lot of different situations,” said Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock about the Jan Hedja loss.
• “We have no plans to send him to Syracuse,” said Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson about Nikita Filatov.
• Wins don’t get much easier than the Stars’ victory over the Predators last night, writes Mike Heika.
• Meanwhile, Heika profiles Stars off-season acquisition Karlis Skrastins.
• Pavel Datysuk is day-to-day in Detroit with an upper-body injury.
• Speaking of injuries, Johan Franzen is hoping to be back by the Winter Olympics.
• The Oilers allowed 38 shots against last night in Chicago, the second time on their current road trip that the team has allowed 35+ shots against.
• Former Blackhawk Ethan Moreau was happy to play in a rejuvenated United Center last night.
• Dominic Moore’s paperwork took forever to arrive, but he is finally cleared to practice with his new Panthers teammates.
• Moore’s arrival may allow coach Pete DeBoer to change up his struggling lines.
• “There’s a lot of things you take out of this,” said Kings coach Terry Murray after his team’s well-played 4-2 loss at Madison Square Garden last night.
• The Wild lost the game and Martin Havlat to a groin injury last night in Anaheim, reports Michael Russo.
• Guy Carbonneau still wants to coach in the NHL and feels like broadcasting for CBC keeps him closer to the game.

Guy Carbonneau wants back behind a National Hockey League bench. (Picture courtesy of bleacher report)

• Becoming captain of the Montreal Canadiens still carries significance and if you don’t believe me, read some stories from the legendary Red Fisher.
• What can the Predators build on after a horrible loss to the Stars on Wednesday?
• The line combinations were different last night and it still didn’t matter for Nashville.  (Writer’s note: This team has needed scoring for a while now.  They couldn’t score last season, so there was no reason to think they could suddenly score this season with a very similar roster.)
• Martin Brodeur may get a night off from one of the team’s next two games, writes Dan Martin.
• Here are the new line combinations from Devils practice yesterday.
• The Rangers were the second best team on the ice last night, but they’ll take two points anyway they can get ‘em.
• Larry Brooks of the NY Post loves Marian Gaborik’s game.
• As Chris Stevenson so aptly puts it, the Senators are last in the NHL in power play percentage but probably first in the league in time spent practicing the man advantage.
• Quietly, Simon Gagne has yet to score a goal for the Flyers this season, writes Sam Carchidi.
• The Coyotes haven’t scored much so far this season, but the team’s record is 3-2 and coach Dave Tippett is confident the team will turn their scoring fortunes around.
• In roster news, the Coyotes have demoted Mikkel Boedker to the AHL.
• Dan Bickely of the Arizona Republic wants the Coyotes to abandon the White Out.

Dan Bickely doesn't want to see the White Out anymore. (Picture courtesy of yahoo.com)

• Even though Chris Kunitz hasn’t scored a goal this season, he did score the shootout winner last night and his teammates sure aren’t worried about him.
• Oddly, the Penguins and Hurricanes have been the two most penalized teams in the NHL so far this season.
• What’s the latest on the Sergei Gonchar contract negotiations?
• Impressive youngster Marc-Edouard Vlasic is wise above his years, writes Mark Emmons.
• The Blues’ lines may look like this tonight in Phoenix.
• If the Lightning is to improve, the team’s needs scoring from the currenty goallessVincent Lecavalier.
• Martin St. Louis is the heart and soul of the Lightning team and his primary motivation is proving people wrong.
• Here are some problems and solutions for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
• Brian Burke has patience, but he won’t be too patient if things continue to turn the wrong way for Toronto.
• Michael Grabner is not only up with the big club in Vancouver, but he’s on the team’s top line too.
• Brendan Morrison is getting a chance to center a line with Alexander Ovechkin in Washington.
• Howard Bloom of sportsbusinessnews.com is bullish on the NHL returning to Winnipeg, writes Paul Friesen.