Here are the morning papers for Thursday the 27th of November:
- Chicago lost to San Jose in overtime last night and also lost Nikolai Khabibulin and Aaron Johnson to injuries. Even with their ascent up the standing, the Blackhawks are not becoming overconfident, writes Chris Kuc.
- Joanne Ireland says Oilers fans need to stop concerning themselves with the team’s three-headed goaltending problem and instead they should be worried about the team’s lackluster offense. One of the problems for the Oilers right now is the lack of energy and jump they receive from their third and fourth lines.
- Michael Russo recaps a very odd game in Minnesota last night where the Wild really should have come away with two points. In other Wild news, it’s great to see Kurtis Foster back on the ice with his teammates.
- The Canadiens brought their “A” game last night in Detroit, and left Motown with a 3-1 victory, writes Pat Hickey. People in Detroit still love their hockey, the problem is they just cannot afford to attend games.
- The members of the Pizza Line are setting a good example for their teammates in Ottawa. Meanwhile, Mike Fisher was expected to be out for a few weeks but apparently he may play tonight against Toronto.
- John Glennon of the Tennessean tells us that Shea Weber is one of the best defensemen in the NHL.
- The Canucks are looking forward to renewing their rivalry with the Flames with back-to-back games coming up. Canucks forward Ryan Johnson will be out of the line-up for the next 3-5 weeks.
- The Ducks have had to do a salary cap dance with J.S. Giguere returning home to take care of some non-hockey related issues.
- Atlanta was clearly a step behind in Washington last night, writes Mike Knobler of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- The Bruins weren’t bad last night, writes Kevin Paul Dupont, but they weren’t good enough either. Boston may have lost by two goals last night had the referees got it right. Young defenseman Matt Hunwick has been terrific for the Bruins as of late.
- After being healthy scratches for two straight games, both Henrik Tallinder and Maxim Afinogenov were back in the Buffalo line-up last night.
- Just because Roberto Luongo isn’t betweent he pipes, does not mean the Flames are going to take the Canucks lightly, explains Randy Sportak. Here are three things to watch for in tonight’s game.
- The Hurricanes didn’t win last night versus Philadelphia but they were given a wake-up call by coach Peter Laviolette.
- Paul Stastny’s team beat brother Yan’s team 3-1 at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday night. The Avs finally got Joe Sakic back in the line-up for Wednesday’s game.
- If you didn’t know better, you’d think Wayne Gretzky had been hyponotized by Ken Hitchcock when you read his comments about defensive hockey. The Blue Jackets just couldn’t bury any of their scoring chances last night against Phoenix.
- The Stars finally got the monkey off their back last night in Minnesota, with a 4-3 comeback victory, writes Mike Heika. Here is a nice Thanksgiving Day article by Heika.
- The Wings looked like a team that was playing its first game after a road trip last night versus Monteal and it showed on the scoreboard. The Wings don’t know why they are so much more dominant on the road than they are at home.
- Peter DeBoer has reunited the Horton-Weiss-Booth line in South Florida. The Cats lost in overtime on Wednesday to New Jersey but they did pull off a late comeback to register at least one point.
- They sure made it interesting, but the Devils extended their win streak to five games last night with a win at Florida.
- The Islanders just couldn’t handle Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the same line and collapsed in the third period as a result. At least the Islanders finally have all of the team’s top-six defensemen healthy again.
- Chris Drury doesn’t mind switching over to the wing from center. The Rangers will be sad to see the Lightning go as they finished off their season series with the Bolts by going 4-0. If you aren’t aware, Henrik Lundqvist is dominant in the shoout.
- Simon Gagne continued his terrific play in 2008/09 with three points last night to lead the Flyers to victory over Carolina.
- Sure they are loaded with talent, but that doesn’t mean the Coyotes couldn’t use Blake Wheeler right now.
- Michel Therrien’s decision to reunite Crosby and Malkin on the same line turned out pretty darn well. The Penguins have only lost once in regulation during the past ten games.
- The Sharks continued their dominance over the Blackhawks yesterday, but it wasn’t easy. Brian Campbell was booed in his return to San Jose.
- For some reason, the Bolts just can’t win a shootout, writes Erik Erlendsson. Coach Rick Tocchet wants his team to get tougher.
- The Leafs need to get tougher so they’ve called up some reinforcements from the AHL. Who needs reinforcements? The Leafs were going at each other in practice on Wednesday.
- Alexander Ovechkin stole Karl Alzner’s spotlight on Wednesday with a hat trick and an assist in his team’s 5-3 win over Atlanta.
For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.