Here are the morning papers for Wednesday the 11th of March:
- The Ducks have to start taking advantage of teams that have lost to the Kings in Los Angeles a day or two before facing off in Anaheim.
- In a battle of bottom-feeders, the Thrashers shutout the Avalanche 3-0 on Tuesday.
- Tim Thomas let in only one goal, wearing Manny Fernandez’s mask no less, and the Bruins still lost 2-0 at Columbus last night, writes Fluto Shinzawa. It appears P.J. Axelsson is back to the fourth line energy role for the Bruins, at least for the time being. “Maybe it’s not so much the compete level as it is the commitment to staying with it the whole game,” said coach Claude Julien after last night’s game.
- The third period was an ugly showing for the Sabres against the Flyers, writes John Vogl.
- The Flames’ performance at New Jersey was an improvement over the team’s previous two outings, but still not enough, writes Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun. The Flames power play is not only struggling, but it’s getting scored on. With Gary Roberts retiring this week, Eric Francis writes about the memories of 1989 Flames Cup team. The Flames don’t have time to feel bad for themselves, as they face the Wings tomorrow night.
- Dwight Helminen of the Hurricanes talks about being in the Albany River Rats bus that crashed on the highway last month.
- The Blackhawks are a great home team, so the fact that the team’s lead on the Canucks for home-ice advantage is now only five points has to be concerning.
- The Avalanche had a closed door meeting after yesterday’s embarassing 3-0 loss at home to Atlanta.
- In one of the biggest games of the season, the Blue Jackets got 35 stops from Steve Mason and defeated the Eastern Conference leading Bruins 2-0. Raffi Torres talks about his game-winning goal from last night.
- “It wasn’t my night,” said Stars netminder Marty Turco, after surrendering three goals on only eight shots. The Stars organization has really taken a liking to checking line center Brian Sutherby. Reunion Arena, the site of many great Stars memories, is close to being demolished.
- The Wings reverted to usual form in a 3-2 victory over the visiting Coyotes on Tuesday. “I thought we did a lot of really good things tonight,” said Wings coach Mike Babcock. A concussion to Andreas Lilja has opened the door for youngster Jonathan Ericsson.
- The Oilers thought they should have registered two points in Montreal last night, but they had to settle for only one. Shawn Horcoff thinks the Oilers played too passively in the third period.
- Similar to the Oilers, the Panthers were disappointed that they blew a third period lead and only earned one point versus the streaking Penguins. With Bryan McCabe injured, newcomer Steve Eminger has replaced him on the power play. Injuries are coming at a pretty bad time for the Cats right now.
- The Wild came back, once again, down three goals to the Sharks, but this time the squad couldn’t complete the comeback, writes Kent Youngblood. An update on the Marian Gaborik injury status.
- The Habs won Bob Gainey’s debut last night, but Pat Hickey says the performance wasn’t anything to write home about. Carey Price will have to play better than he did yesterday if the Habs are to make any noise, writes Red Fisher.
- Dan Ellis hadn’t played for the Predators in a few weeks, but that didn’t seem to matter as he turned aside 42 shots in the Predators’ 2-1 overtime loss to Washington. Would the Predators welcome back Alexander Radulov?
- Any worries about Martin Brodeur’s last game can be put to rest after his performance against the Flames last night. Last night’s win puts him two games behind Patrick Roy for the all-time wins record.
- “I thought we should have won that game,” said Islanders defenseman Mark Streit after his team’s blown 2-1 lead against the Maple Leafs.
- If the Rangers want to make the playoffs, they’d better bring their A-game on the road, opines Steve Zipay of Newsday. Larry Brooks says the referees need to stop targetting Sean Avery. In other Rangers news, the team will be given the 17th pick of the second round of this summer’s draft as compensation for the death of propsect Alexei Cherepanov. (Writer’s note: Terrible to have to write that, as Cherepanov was so young and was apparently destined for a great career.)
- Chris Neil could return to the Senators lineup for tomorrow’s game against Boston. The Senators are still not very happy at Ron Wilson’s claim that Jason Spezza had an illegal stick. Here is a preview of the Senators/Lightning game tonight.
- The Jeff Carter line is back to its mid-season ways again, as that line tallied three third period goals to help the Flyers defeat Buffalo. Daniel Briere wanted to play last night, but John Stevens took the cautious approach. Rookie Claude Giroux is darn good, writes John Smallwood.
- Last night’s comeback win makes it seven victories in a row for the high-flying Penguins. Petr Sykora (shoulder) did not suit up for Tuesday’s tilt. It appears that Miroslav Satan’s agent is working to make his client a free agent.
- The Sharks almost managed to blow it against Minnesota again on Tuesday, but fortunately an overtime marker by Christian Ehrhoff allowed them to escape the land of 10,000 lakes with a victory. If you weren’t aware, Ehrhoff was a healthy scratch for the Sharks’ last game.
- So much for the Blues’ struggles in first periods, as they came out flying and basically defeated the Stars before the 20 minute mark. Blues season ticket prices will go up 10% next year for subscribers who haven’t renewed by April 10.
- Gary Roberts comments on his mid-season retirement. It was impossible not to respect Gary Roberts.
- Mikhail Grabovski broke out of his prolonged slump in a big way last night, writes Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. An update on some of the players the Leafs acquired at the deadline. Jonas Frogren could be out for the season.
- The Sedins and the Canucks remain far apart in contract talks.
- It wasn’t the prettiest victory, but it was a victory nonetheless, as the Capitals defeated the Predators 2-1 in overtime, writes Corey Masisak.