Here are the morning papers for Wednesday the 5th of November:
- The Capitals played a solid defensive game and got good goaltending from Brent Johnson but just couldn’t get their offense in gear last night in Ottawa, writes Tarik El-Bashir. In roster news, Alexander Ovechkin returned to the Capitals line-up.
- Toronto fell behind 4-1 on Tuesday night but fought all the way back only to lose in overtime to Carolina. Leafs coach Ron Wilson wants his team to get back to focusing on defense, writes Terry Koshan. The Leafs do not have any forwards on the Eastern Conference All-Star ballot.
- The Lightning will have to make a roster move once they activate Radim Vrbata off the injured list. Meanwhile, Evgeny Artyukhin has become a force for the Lightning.
- Blues coach Andy Murray expects his team to go through many ups and downs this season, writes Jeremy Rutherford. Injured netminder Manny Legace is joining his teammates on their west coast road trip.
- The Sharks remained perfect at home on Tuesday with a 3-1 victory over the Wild, writes David Pollak. The Wild management knew Todd McLellan would move up the coaching ranks quickly.
- Sidney Crosby says he is better off keeping his opinion about Alexander’s Semin’s comments to himself. In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dave Molinari examines whether Jordan Staal could end up as trade bait for the Penguins.
- Sure the Flyers are averaging the most goals-per-game in the NHL, but coach John Stevens wants his team to get back to focusing on defense. The Flyers are one of six teams that is in the race to sign Brendan Shanahan.
- Not only could the Rangers not score on the power play on Tuesday, but they allowed two short-handed goals in a 2-1 home loss to the Islanders. Tom Renney didn’t like hearing the news that Martin Brodeur was out for 3-4 months, writes Larry Brooks.
- The Islanders were outplayed last night but they scored two third period markers and came away with a road victory at MSG, writes Greg Logan.
- Mark Everson provides readers with the details of the Martin Brodeur injury.
- The Wild stuck with the Sharks for two periods last night, writes Michael Russo, but they gave the game away in the third period.
- Erik Ersberg played well for the Kings last night in their 1-0 overtime loss to Anaheim, but that doesn’t mean there is a goalie controversy in Los Angeles. Kings coach Terry Murray wants greater production from his top line.
- If the Florida veterans don’t play better, they could be traded, says GM Jacques Martin. In injury news, Cory Stillman will miss at least the next three games with a concussion.
- Chris Chelios continued his streak of not voting in presidential elections.
- The Stars’ agitators are certainly causing distractions, writes Mike Heika.
- Steve Mason was recalled by the Blue Jackets from Syracuse of the AHL on Tuesday. Here are the Jackets’ projected lines for tonight’s game versus Edmonton.
- The Hurricanes blew a big lead last night in Toronto, but they didn’t blow the game, writes Chip Alexander.
- The Sabres have four players on the All-Star ballot.
- Former Bruins winger Glen Murray is claiming he was injured when the Bruins bought him out and now he wants full pay from his 2008/09 contract. The Bruins have sent Vladimir Sobotka to the minors with the intention of recalling him on Sunday.
- Kyle Wellwood was more popular in Vancouver last night than Barack Obama, writes Iain MacIntyre. In roster news, the Canucks have called up Michel Ouellet and demoted Jason Krog to Manitoba.
- Mike Fisher broke out of his early season slump on Tuesday by registering his first goal and his first assist of the season in the Senators’ 2-1 home victory over Washington. Old friend Ray Emery is back in Ottawa during a long break in the KHL schedule.
- In Montreal, Habs coach Guy Carbonneau is as willing to change his lines as he is to keep them the same.
- The Oilers have the worst penalty killing grades in the NHL so far this season, writes Robert Tychkowski. Jim Matheson wonders if the Devils might have interest in Dwayne Roloson.
- The Flames need to pick up their all-around game, as they were defeated 4-2 by Phoenix last night. The Coyotes received offensive production from their defense but Miikka Kiprusoff wasn’t at his sharpest on Tuesday. Eric Francis wants the Flames organization to raise Theo Fleury’s number 14 to the rafters.
For Illegal Curve, I’m Richard Pollock.