Rich Chere

Here are the morning papers for Saturday the 7th of February: J.S. Giguere is starting to regain his old form for the Ducks, writes Dan Wood. The Thrashers continued their struggles on the power play on Friday, as they allowed two short-handed goals and lost to New Jersey 5-1 at home. At least the Leafs have allowed more goals against this season than Atlanta has. Milan Lucic's foot is not broken and he expects to play this afternoon versus Philadelphia. Sure they have been playing well, but the Bruins want to get back to scoring goals off line rushes. The Sabres defeated Montreal on Friday, to make it five wins in a row at home. Daniel Paille was a healthy scratch last night for the Sabres. The roster move actually worked out quite well. Bucky Gleason tells the Sabres to not trade Tim Connolly. The Flames are going to win the division, writes Randy Sportak. With the Ducks next on the schedule, Curtis Glencross reminisces about his first NHL goal scored with Anaheim. The Flames are regrouping right now. Just a reminder, today's tilt is in the afternoon. Eric Staal thinks he'll be in the lineup tonight when the Hurricanes visit the Coyotes. The Blackhawks are playing well right now and their focus is staying in the fourth seed far ahead of the fifth through eighth seeds in the Western Conference. Peter Budaj hasn't been very good this season for Colorado. Speaking of Budaj, he is starting tonight but Adam Foote will not dress. The Blue Jackets clearly missed Steve Mason last night in Pittsburgh, as they fell 4-1 to the Penguins. When the Jackets fall behind, they are a different team, and not in a good way. Here are the Jackets' projected lines for tonight's game versus San Jose. The Stars dominated the Rangers yesterday with a 10-2 victory. With Tobias Stephan down in the AHL, the Stars have a new backup netminder. Mike Ribiero looked the Mike Ribiero of last season on Friday. Chris Osgood sure shoulders a lot of pressure in Detroit, writes Drew Sharp. In injury news, Tomas Holmstrom will be out for 3-5 weeks after undergoing sports hernia surgery. If Shawn Horcoff doesn't play today, which seems likely, Kyle Brodziak will take his place on the top line. Don't expect Tom Gilbert (back) to play today either. The Panthers' playoff hopes will probably come down to the team's upcoming 12-game stretch. Not surprisingly, the Panthers cannot get over Richard Zednik's goal from the other night. The Wild lost 2-0 to the Predators at the Xcel Center last night and Jacques Lemaire says that is because the team didn't follow the game plan. Carey Price said that Ryan Miller played better than he did on Friday, and that's why the Sabres beat the Habs 3-2. Mathieu Dandenault is champing at the bit to get back in the Habs lineup. Pictures of Grabovski and Kostitsyn heading into tonight's Habs/Leafs game. After last night's win, the Predators sit only two points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Predators have been riding Pekka Rinne but they gave Dan Ellis the start on Friday and he rewarded them with a shutout. Kevin Weekes backstopped the Devils to a 5-1 road victory at Atlanta, but the team lost Colin White to injury, writes Rich Chere. Jamie Langenbrunner's fight with Dainius Zubrus during training camp was somewhat calculated. Chris Campoli has done a good job filling in for Mark Streit on the Islanders' blueline. The Rangers got it handed to them last night in Dallas. It looks like Sean Avery is headed to Hartford if the Stars waive him. Larry Brooks supports any move to bring Sean Avery back. Apparently Mike Richter, Brian Leetch, Adam Graves and Mark Messier would like to get back into hockey at some point. To succeed in the shootout, Jason Spezza thinks you need a couple of shootout moves that you need to change up once in a while. Who should the Senators trade? The Ottawa Sun writers give their take. Mike Knuble doesn't generate the headlines, but he has become an invaluable part of the Flyers roster. The Coyotes have to start playing with a chip on their shoulder. The Penguins are starting to get back into the groove at home, as they defeated Columbus 4-1. Three points out of the playoffs, every game is important for Pittsburgh right now. Jody Shelley talks about being a fighter. Reaction from the Blues placing Manny Legace on waivers. Mike Smith won't talk about his injury in Tampa. The Bolts have to string a long streak together if they want to make the playoffs. Damien Cox thinks the criticism of Vesa Toskala is justified. Ron Wilson took the opportunity to criticize Toskala yesterday. Jeremy WIlliams will be a healthy scratch for tonight's game. The Capitals have the talent to be the real deal, writes Thomas Boswell. Brent Johnson is slated to be out of the Capitals lineup for 6-8 weeks.

NHL Morning Papers (Saturday Edition): Avery looks to be headed to Hartford, Toskala gets called out and Holmstrom has surgery

NHL Morning Papers (Tuesday Edition): Andy Murray doesn’t back down from his comments, Ryan Malone returns to Pittsburgh and a lasting friendship between Gretzky and Granato

On the Beat: Gomez returns tonight and third jersey talk

NHL Morning Papers: A busy Sunday