Here are the morning papers for Wednesday the 25th of February:
- Todd Marchant may have upped his trade value last night in his hometown of Buffalo, as he got on the scoresheet on the Ducks’ way to a 3-2 road victory.
- Atlanta popped two short-handed goals on Tuesday in defeating the Avalanche at Philips Arena. In contract news, the Thrashers really want to re-sign Kari Lehtonen.
- The rest of the league may not know Byron Bitz, but they will very soon, as he scored two goals last night in the Bruins’ 6-1 win over Florida. Bitz has immediately become a fan favorite. Michael Ryder’s return sure paid dividends.
- Patrick Lalime’s start didn’t begin very well. Buffalo native Todd Marchant always likes to come play back at home.
- Randy Sportak tells readers it was only a matter of time before Jarome Iginla broke out. Eric Francis says there was never anything wrong with Iginla. Flames enforcer Andre Roy thinks helmets should be kept on during fights.
- The Hurricanes outshot the Senators by a wide margin, but they still left Ottawa with a loss.
- “We didn’t play well in the first and third periods,” said Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville after his team’s 5-3 loss at Nashville. For some reason Brian Campbell really lights it up on the road.
- The Avalanche’s power play cost them the game last night in Atlanta. The fans in Colorado truly love Ian Lapperiere. After coming back last night, Paul Stastny knows he is a little rusty. Is J.M. Liles close to returning to the lineup?
- The Blue Jackets were beat by the Flames’ best players last night, writes Aaron Portzline. For once, the Blue Jackets are going to be buyers at the deadline.
- With a broken bone in his foot, the Stars have lost Toby Petersen for a month.
- Chris Chelios and Tomas Kopecky will find themselves on the outside looking in for tonight’s big game against San Jose. Tonight’s game is a measuring stick for both teams, writes Dave Dye.
- The Oilers won a game they had to have last night versus Tampa Bay, writes Robert Tychkowski. The game wasn’t as easy as it maybe could have been, writes Joanne Ireland. Amazingly, Oilers trainer Ken Lowe worked his 1500th NHL game last night. Lowe loves the game as much or more than anybody else.
- “It was ugly,” said Panthers coach Peter DeBoer about his team’s bad loss at Boston. Apparently Jacques Martin wants immediate help in a trade for Jay Bouwmeester.
- Don’t look now, but the Kings defeated the Wild last night and continue to hang around the playoff hunt.
- The Wild lost in a shootout last night at home, but were happy to at least pick up one important point. Wild backup Josh Harding has earned the trust of his coach Jacques Lemaire. Imagine if Marian Gaborik was healthy this season?
- There is a battle for the number one spot in Montreal and goaltender Jaroslav Halak took the lead in that race with a tremendous performance in the Habs’ 3-0 win over Vancouver yesterday. Robert Lang wants the Habs to just make the playoffs, and he’ll do his best to return to the lineup.
- John Glennon isn’t sure where the offensive boost came from, but the Predators were happy it did, as they came back and defeated the Blackhawks 5-3. Joel Ward redeemed himself last night. It looks like a Canadian business may buy a stake in the Predators.
- Devils coach Brent Sutter isn’t saying when Martin Brodeur will return between the pipes for New Jersey.
- Islanders owner is pushing for a new arena, and now says that his options are open.
- John Tortorella wants his new players to relax. Former Lightning GM Jay Feaster tells New York fans what to expect from Tortorella. The Rangers’ horses better get ready to play big minutes.
- The Senators can thank Alex Auld for last night’s win over Carolina. That said, the Sens will take a victory to begin this important homestand. Should Ottawa deal Jason Spezza?
- Jeff Carter was happy with his team’s effort last night, as he led the way to a 4-2 road victory over Washington. More impressively, the team beat the Capitals without Kimmo Timonen who was sitting out with the flu. The Flyers appear content with what they have between the pipes.
- The controversy over who is currently paying the Coyotes’ bills continues in Phoenix.
- Sidney Crosby’s groin is sore, which is probably the main reason he skipped out on answering the media’s questions on Tuesday. Sergei Gonchar’s return to the Penguins lineup has been a huge help. For some reason, the Penguins have had trouble beating bad teams this season.
- Both the Sharks and Wings are pumped up for tonight’s tilt at the Joe Louis Arena. The obligatory Claude Lemieux returns to Detroit article.
- The Blues finally got on the scoreboard, twice at that, and that was enough to record a victory over visiting Phoenix, writes Jeremy Rutherford. Andy McDonald’s return to the lineup has given the team extra depth up front.
- After the first period, the Bolts played a good game at Edmonton, unfortunately it wasn’t enough, as they lost 5-3. Vincent Lecavalier is looking forward to not hearing anymore rumors about being traded.
- In shocking news, the Leafs have hiked ticket prices for 2009/2010. In player news, Tomas Kaberle hopes to return to the Leafs lineup on Saturday. Here are 10 reasons to keep watching the Maple Leafs play.
- “Our goaltender has done that many times to other teams, [Tuesday] we got that done to us, ” said Canucks coach Alain Vigneault about Jaroslav Halak’s performance against his squad. Even with last night’s loss, it was a successful Eastern Canadian road trip for Vancouver.
- The Capitals didn’t capitalize on their scoring chances last night and it cost them, writes Tarik El-Bashir. Even though they couldn’t score on some of their chances, the game was there to be had at the end.