Here are the morning papers for Friday the 31st of October:
- The Predators continued their domination of the Oilers on Thursday with a 3-1 victory. The combination of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter are becoming a dominant force on the Predators’ blue line.
- Zach Parise is becoming a star in New Jersey, writes Mark Everson.
- Ilya Bryzgalov was terrific last night, shutting down the Penguins en route to a 4-1 Coyotes victory. Ken Klee made his Coyotes debut on Thursday.
- Many of the Blues’ forwards didn’t bring their “A” game last night, said coach Andy Murray.
- Even though they lost in overtime, Islanders coach Scott Gordon was happy with the progress of his team. In injury news, the Islanders have placed Rick DiPietro on injured reserve. Youngster Jeff Tambellini was a healthy scratch last night.
- The Sharks played a physical game versus Detroit last night and it resulted in a 4-2 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings. You wouldn’t be wrong if you thought the Sharks now play like the Wings.
- The Blue Jackets turned around their fortunes in Colorado on Thursday with an uncharacteristic 4-2 victory at the Pepsi Center. Ken Hitchcock has come to understand the offensive limitations of his defensemen.
- Adam Foote had the chance to play against his former team from Columbus but unfortunately for him, he came out on the losing end. Andrew Raycroft wasn’t very sharp last night. Meantime, Paul Stastny isn’t worried about his team’s lack of scoring over the past three games.
- It wasn’t pretty in St. Louis last night, but the Hurricanes got a win nonetheless, writes Javier Serna. Here is the fifth article of the Erik Cole series by the News & Observer.
- The Kings have to decide whether to keep Oscar Moller with the big club or return him back to junior hockey. On the ice, the Kings fell 4-0 to Roberto Luongo and the Canucks on Thursday.
- Here is a very interesting article on GM turned Professor George McPhee.
- Fans worrying about Steve Stamkos need not worry anymore after his performance on Thursday against the Sabres.
- Atlanta was close last night in NY but still couldn’t find a way to beat the Rangers, writes Mike Knobler.
- The Bruins played a horrible second period at the Saddledome last night and it probably cost them the game, writes Kevin Paul Dupont. Meanwhile, new Bruins center Stephane Yelle is working on getting his face-off technique back into fine form.
- The Panthers just can’t score and that was apparent once again on Thursday in the team’s loss at home to the Senators. Alex Auld returned to his old home arena and only allowed one goal to get by him.
- The Penguins lost again last night and Jordan Staal thinks the team isn’t buying into the system they have to play. Not helping matters, Sidney Crosby left last night’s game with an undisclosed injury.
- The Leafs are scoring less than they were at this point last season, but it is their defensive play that has led to an improved record. If you were wondering, the Leafs don’t have any interest in Brendan Shanahan.
- Nikolai Zherdev is sure fitting in on Broadway, writes Larry Brooks. Zherdev was especially good in last night’s 3-2 win over lowly Atlanta.
- Martin Biron wore a great costume to his match up against the Islanders last night in anticipation of Halloween, writes Sam Carchidi.
- The Wild lost last night because the team went a shocking 0-for-10 on the man-advantage, writes Michael Russo. John Shiply of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press ponders the possibility of two Koivu’s on the same team.
- Dave Tippett won’t reveal who his starting goalie will be for the start of his team’s upcoming road trip.
- Mike Babcock thinks his team got outplayed in all aspects of the game last night. The Wings are a veteran group, and that may have been a factor in their lack of jump versus San Jose.
- The Habs can thank their penalty killing units for last night’s 2-1 victory at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Canadiens prospect Pavel Valentenko has left North America and signed in the KHL.
- The Flames are rolling right now, recording their fifth consecutive win on Thursday night over Boston. The Flames continues to get solid netminding from Miikka Kiprusoff. Former Flame Andrew Ference is admittedly a little “bitter” about how things went down in Calgary.
- Did you know Kris Versteeg is leading NHL rookies in scoring?
- The Oilers generated scoring chances last night but they couldn’t capitalize on them and lost their fifth straight game, writes Joanne Ireland.
- With the signing of Daniel Alfredsson, the Senators now have the core of their team under contract for the long haul. On the ice, Chris Kelly scored his first goal of the season and it proved to be the winner as the Senators defeated Florida in Sunrise.
- The Canucks’ best players were their best players last night, writes Gordon McIntyre.
For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.
