Here are the morning papers for Friday the 6th of February:
- The Ducks lost again last night in Nashville, and as Dan Wood tells us, they wouldn’t be as high in the standings if they hadn’t played more games than the other teams.
- The Little-Kozlov-White line has hit a cold streak in Atlanta.
- P.J. Axelsson did not even play a good game on Thursday, but he scored the shootout winner at Ottawa. Milan Lucic (foot) didn’t play last night. Here are the some questions about the trade deadline from Bruins fans.
- The Sabres will have both Jaroslav Spacek and Jochen Hecht in the lineup tonight when they face the Habs.
- Mike Keenan’s stick-breaking incident on Thursday morning wasn’t enough to motivate his troops, as they lost 5-2 at home to Chicago. “Personally, I was terrible,” said Jarome Iginla about his performance last night. Basically every trick in the book was used to get the Flames motivated for last night.
- Without Rod Brind’Amour for the entire game, without Eric Staal for the third period and with Michael Leighton between the pipes, the Hurricanes somehow came back to defeat the Sharks 4-3 at the Shark Tank.
- With last night’s win in Chicago, the Hawks remain perfect against Canadian teams this season. Patrick Kane knows he is just going to have to deal with the pain in his foot.
- Cody McLeod made it a sweet ending to a poor homestand for the Avalanche, writes Adrian Dater. With 10 of the team’s next 12 games on the road, their season may come down to these upcoming road trips. Peter Forsberg didn’t have a very satisfying return to the ice in Sweden.
- For some reason the Blue Jackets have dominated the Eastern Conference this season. Jackets center R.J. Umberger is public enemy number one in Pittsburgh. Here are the Jackets’ projected lines for tonight’s game.
- “We expect a lot more than that,” said coach Dave Tippett after his team’s 3-2 loss at Colorado. It looks like Sean Avery is close to returning to the NHL, but that won’t be with Dallas.
- “Chris isn’t playing nearly as well as he did last year,” said Wings GM Ken Holland about Chris Osgood. Concern or not, the Wings are still Vegas’s pick to win the Cup.
- The Oilers can thank Dwayne Roloson for the W last night in St. Louis. Dustin Penner’s time of the fourth line didn’t exactly last long.
- Richard Zednik scored one of the nicest goals of the season on Thursday and it turned out to be the game-winner, as the Cats defeated the Islanders. The Panthers haven’t been blowing third period leads like they did last season, writes George Richards.
- Niklas Backstrom has terrific numbers after the All-Star break. It’s been a long time since he was injured in San Jose, but Kurtis Foster is finally close to returning. No Owen Nolan in the lineup tonight for Minnesota.
- Mikhail Grabovski and Sergei Kostitsyn just plain don’t like each other.
- The Predators won for the third consecutive time on Thursday and still remain four points back of a playoff spot, writes Jessica Bliss.
- The Devils do not dive, writes Mark Everson.
- The Islanders four-game win streak fell by the wayside on Thursday. Mark Streit missed lastnight’s game with a shoulder injury.
- The Rangers know what they have to do to return to form. Apparently the Rangers are on the verge of bringing Sean Avery back into the fold.
- Brian Elliot was great in the shootout, but it wasn’t enough, as the Senators lost to Boston 4-3. Nick Foligno was impressive on Thursday.
- The Flyers’ power play has hit a wall, writes Sam Carchidi. The Flyers want to make a point of taking less penalties.
- Dave Molinari wonders if the Penguins’ win over Tampa Bay will be the turnaround point of the season? Gary Roberts calls out Matt Cooke.
- Mistakes were the reason the Sharks blew the lead a couple times at home to Carolina, writes David Pollak. Meanwhile Joe Thornton is looking forward to his return to Boston.
- Coach Andy Murray wasn’t happy with the way that Edmonton got its only goal. Since being traded from Toronto, Carlo Colaiacovo has played in every game and is leading all Blues defensemen in points.
- Mark Recchi doesn’t look his age in Tampa. Meantime, Jussi Jokinen cleared waivers and is headed to the AHL.
- Almost every Maple Leafs players has heard his name in a trade rumor or two. The Leafs paid the price for a poor Wednesday performance. Happy 75th birthday Don Cherry!
- Apparently Bobby Clarke knew what he was doing when he signed Ryan Kesler to an offer-sheet. The Canucks need to improve on the penalty-kill.
- The Capitals “ran out of time,” last night, says defenseman Mike Green.
