NHL Morning Papers (Thursday Edition): Bob Gainey and Sergei Kostitsyn have a little talk, Jonathan Toews gets steamrolled and the Leafs could play way off Hockey Night in Canada

• “We didn’t start playing until the third period. That’s not acceptable in this league,” said Ryan Getzlaf after his team’s home loss to Dallas.
• “I have some things in mind that I’m definitely going to implement,” said coach Randy Carlyle about possible changes in Anaheim.
• Will Justin Pogge ever be an NHL netminder.
• The Chicago Wolves of the AHL, the Thrashers’ minor league affiliate, have hired Don Lever as team head coach.
• Ron Hainsey has become a vocal leader in the Atlanta dressing room, writes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• Patrice Bergeron stepped up last night and played one of his best games in a while, leading the Bruins to a 3-2 victory over lowly Nashville.

With Marc Savard injured, the Bruins need Patrice Bergeron to step up. (Picture courtesy of fanatique.ca)

• You cannot really understate the loss of Marc Savard to the Bruins lineup.
• Meanwhile, Tim Thomas will be a big factor in keeping the team’s collective head above water.
• “I would characterize him as a good defensive forward with upside,” said Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli about Daniel Paille.
• The Sabres came out hot last night and it led to an easy victory over Florida.
• With another win, the Flames would be tied for the franchise record when it comes to best starts to a season.
• If the Flames want to continue to play well, they have to cut down on penalties.
• The Hurricanes continued their road struggles with a loss to the previously winless Islanders on Wednesday.
• The Blackhawks may have lost the game, but more imporantly they lost Jonathan Toews to injury last night.
• The Avalanche would love to have won in Minnesota, but the team still returns home after recording ten points in seven road games.
• The Blue Jackets have scored more short handed goals than they have allowed power play goals, writes Aaron Portzline.
• Blue Jackets fans may not recognize Gilbert Brule if he plays in tonight’s game in Edmonton (he has the flu) because the former team prospect is scoring at a point-per-game pace so far this season.
• The Stars dominated the Ducks for two periods and held on in the third for an impressive victory.
• The Red Wings are about to embark on a five game, eleven day road trip.
• The Wings are hoping to have Pavel Datsyuk back in the lineup tonight versus Phoenix.
• Pat Quinn says he wants his team to improve in the defensive zone.
• Here are the new lines in Oilersland.
• The Panthers fell behind very early in last night game against Buffalo, and changed up their lines in the second period but it wasn’t enough.
• Dmitry Kulikov is making it hard for the Panthers to not keep him up with the big club.
• Marc Crawford faces his former L.A. Kings squad tonight as coach of the Stars.

Marc Crawford coaches against his old squad tonight. (Picture courtesy of cbc.ca)

• Mikko Koivu proved to Todd Richards and the Wild fans why he was selected as team captain, with a terrific performance over Colorado.
• Meanwhile, the Wild is hoping to have Cal Clutterbuck in the lineup by next week.
• Jacques Martin has promoted Maxim Lapierre to the team’s second line left wing spot.
• Bob Gainey showed Sergei Kostitsyn who is boss in Montreal.
• The officials got in the Predators’ way last night, but not with their calls, explains John Glennon of the Tennessean.
• The Predators didn’t win but Colin Wilson scored in Boston, a dream spot for his first NHL goal.
• Travis Zajac was still kept off the team’s top line on Wednesday.
• Wouldn’t it be sweet for Martin Brodeur to tie the all-time shutout record at MSG.
• It was only fitting that John Tavares scored the shootout winner in the Isles’ first win of the season.
• Mark Messier still says Mike Richter was the reason Team USA won the World Cup in 1996.
• It looks like Jason Spezza may miss a few games with an unknown injury.
• The Flyers are hoping that Danny Syvret and Ole-Kristian Tollefsen can take some slack off the team’s top four defenders.
• Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer is paging the Philadelphia Flyers in fear that the team is missing because of the absurd NHL schedule.
• Speaking of the schedule, Dave Tippett doesn’t really understand it either.
• Here is the latest on Sergei Gonchar’s injury in Pittsburgh.
• With so much depth, Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review thinks the Penguins can excel without Gonchar.
• Jason Demers has done a good job replacing Christian Ehrhoff in San Jose.
• “For whatever reason, we don’t seem to be collectively ready at the start of games. Whether it be mental, physical … I don’t know what it is,” said Blues President John Davidson.
• It is official, Vincent Lecavalier knows how many games he’s played without a goal.
• With a visit from former Bolts standout Dan Boyle, it should be a special night in Tampa Bay.
• Are the Leafs victims to the sophomore slump?
• If the Leafs continue to play poorly, they could find themselves off of HNIC.
• If the Canucks play all the time like they did on Wednesday night in Chicago, the team has nothing to worry about.
• This also played a big factor in the team victory: