Madison Square Garden

Word from the beat writers: With first place in the Southeast on the line in tonight's contest against the Capitals, Thrashers head coach John Anderson has tweeked the 2nd line. The Boston Bruins have called up forward Guillaume Lefebvre from Providence and he will be available for the game against the Flyers tonight. Buffalo's Ryan Miller is one of the league's top goalies right now and the Sabres are getting pretty even point distribution from its forwards. David Staples of the Edmonton Journal describes the current economic chaos in the KHL, with Lada Togliatti on the ropes. Some of the Red Wings have packed heavy (Draper) while others (Williams) have packed light for their 11-day, five-game road trip that begins today in Phoenix. The Florida Panthers are re-doing the team's Den of Honor and are looking for suggestions for what the team can add to this feature. Terry Murray talked today about positioning players on the power play, particularly about having the Kings forwards on the point on the power play. Jaroslav Halak will be back in goal Thursday night for the Canadiens when they face the New York Islanders at the Bell Centre. A report has surfaced on TSN that a fight between Scott Gomez and Sergei Kostitsyn during the preseason was a motivating factor that contributed to the younger Kostitsyn being assigned to the AHL's Hamilton Bulldogs. Devills coach Jacques Lemaire enjoys coaching at Madison Square Garden, but he's glad he doesn't have to play there. Islanders captain Doug Weight, who did not feel well yesterday but played, did not make the trip because he's still feeling under the weather. For the first time in NHL history, fans will have the opportunity to pick the 3 stars of the Flyers/Bruins game courtesy of Anthony Sanfilippo of the Delaware County Times who will be making the selection at tonight's game. Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wonders who is going to step up for the Penguins and replace Sergei Gonchar. After 4 days of "extended training camp," Tampa Bay Lightning coach Rick Tocchet issues a warning to the troops that he will shorten the bench is the players don't pick things up. Damien Cox of the Toronto Star tries to find answers for Toronto Maple Leaf fans in his Thursday mail bag column. With Alexander Semin "touch and go" with an illness and Boyd Gordon out with a sore back, the Caps have recalled forwards Keith Aucoin and Alexandre Giroux from Hershey writes Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post.

On the Beat: Fans get to pick 3 stars for first time in NHL history, more economic chaos in the KHL, Rick Tocchet issues a warning to his players, Who is going to step up for Pens and replace Gonchar?