Sunday Morning NHL Papers (Eastern Conference): Red Fisher on Alexander Ovechkin, Len Barrie denies report and will the Sabres’ highly paid forwards turn it on?

Atlantic Division

• Brian Rolston and Patrik Elias demonstrated some great chemistry yesterday afternoon, as the Devils easily defeated the Islanders 6-1, writes Rich Chere.  The good news was the Devils won, the bad news was the team lost David Clarkson for 4-6 weeks an ankle fracture.
• So much for carrying momentum from one day to the next, as the Islanders got dominated by Jersey after beating the Penguins on Friday.  In injury news, Frans Nielsen left Saturday’s game with an upper-body injury.  Overall, Dwayne Roloson has been one of the bright spots this season for the Isles.
• The Rangers didn’t exactly respond to John Tortorella’s criticism last night with a terrible performance against Pittsburgh.  Ryan Callahan thought the Rangers played hard, just not very well.
• The Flyers’ dominance of the Atlanta Thrashers ended last night, as both high-scoring teams played to an uncharacteristic 1-0 final.
• Any talk of Sidney Crosby slumping this season was put to bed last night by “The Kid’s” performance against the Rangers.  Marc-Andre Fleury wasn’t half bad either.

Northeast Division

• In his weekly Hockey Notes column, Kevin Paul Dupont touches on many a topic.  Mark Recchi is a veteran of the game and his play indicates just that, explains Brendan Hall.  Claude Julien was proud of Tim Thomas after he bounced back last night in the the Bruins’ victory over Ottawa.
• In his Inside the NHL column, Bucky Gleason takes note of the poor play of the Sabres’ high-paid forwards amongst other things.  The Sabres took advantage of the Hurricanes’ fragile psyche, and dominated the third period to post a 5-1 victory.  Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta has been suspended two games for his hit on the Flyers’ Jared Ross.
• Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette says that Alexander Ovechkin demonstrated, once again, last night why he is one of the few players worth the price of admission.  If the Habs want to start winning games, they have to stop taking bad penalties.  Here is Pat Hickey’s recap of last night’s loss to Washington in the shootout.
• Included in Bruce Garrioch’s weekly rumor column: Bob Hartley possibly being in line for the Blues job if Andy Murray gets fired, Mats Sundin possibly becoming an executive and the Hurricanes.  Both Mike Fisher and Erik Karlsson played last night in Boston.

Southeast Division

• “This was a big game for us, not only to get the points, but a mental break against a team we’ve been struggling against,” said last night’s star Johan Hedberg after Atlanta’s win over Philadelphia.  In bad news, Thrashers prospect Angelo Esposito tore his ACL and is out for the season.
• The Panthers were beat by the Predators last night, writes George Richards (login required).
• The Bolts found a way to comeback against Dallas last night but they need to start winning these types of games, said coach Rick Tocchet.  “I know (Stamkos is) on the radar … and he should be, too,” said the legendary Scotty Bowman about Steven Stamkos and talk about the Canadian Olympic team.  On the ownership front, Len Barrie is denying that he isn’t still an active owner of the Bolts.
• Tarik El-Bashir recaps the Capitals’ comeback win over the Habs at the Bell Centre.

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