On the Beat: An update on David Booth, Jason Spezza, Justin Williams and Joe Pavelski

What team beat writers are saying this afternoon:

• After being shutout 1-0 by the Rangers, Bruins coach Claude Julien has put together some new lines.  There is clearly a lack of offensive punch without Savard and Lucic, but come on, those two top lines should be producing far more than they have been.  Paging David Krejci…
• Patrick Kaleta should be back in the lineup for Buffalo against the Islanders on Wednesday.  I’m sure the Islanders players are ecstatic that they’ll have to play against a pest like Kaleta.
• Craig Anderson has been named the NHL’s first star of the month.  Hardly a surprise, as he is the main reason that team has been so successful to start the season.
• When you are a Columbus fan, negative is a good thing this morning.  The Blue Jackets need to clamp down defensively.  Again, the loss of Hejda is not getting enough press.
• “It’s too early to really be testing him on anything. With any kind of concussion like that, the first thing to do is to get rid of all the symptoms. Once he’s symptom free you can start trying some different things and we’re not to that stage yet,” said Pete DeBoer about David Booth.  David Booth has been one of my favorite NHL players for a while now, but I would be shocked if he returned before February at the earliest.
• Justin Williams is slated to return to the Kings lineup tonight.  Reunited on the top line with Smyth and Kopitar; let’s see if they can pick up where they left off.
• Sean Gordon discusses why Andrei Kostitsyn gets more power play time than Guillaume Latendresse.  I really enjoy Gordon’s work and agree with his assessment in this case.  If you are a Habs fan, that draft pick looks terrible in hindsight.
• No timetable for Jason Spezza’s return to the Senators lineup.  Doesn’t seem serious.
• It doesn’t appear Joe Pavelski will return for the Sharks’ next game against Columbus.  He’s getting closer though.
• The Canucks have recalled Matt Pettinger from the AHL.  Man, it seems every year that the Canucks are calling up Moose player, after Moose player.