road swing

Here are the morning papers for Monday the 27th of October: Things are a lot rosier surrounding the Flames, as the team is in the midst of a three-game winning streak. Only Brandon Prust's first NHL goal can be as eventful as it was on Saturday night. The Blackhawks need to improve their collective performance in the shootout. The Oilers are not about to panic just because they have lost three games in a row. In an effort to get him on track, the Oilers have moved Sam Gagner to the team's first power play unit. Erik Cole felt a lot more comfortable playing on the right side than he did playing on the left, writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun. The Wild took the time yesterday to debate the merits of Bob Gainey's proposed shot-blocking rule. Bryan Murray isn't planning any major shake-ups, so the Senators have to work their way out of their struggles themselves. Not many GMs seem willing to talk anyways, says Murray. Guy Carbonneau was very impressed with Chris Higgins in his first game of the season on Saturday. The Ducks have finally gotten their cycle game going and that is probably the main reason they swept their three-game Eastern Canadian road swing. Claude Julien thinks that a trip out to Western Canada is exactly what his team needs. Milan Lucic is looking forward to Tuesday's game against Vancouver because that is his hometown. Teppo Numminen is back healthy and that is great news for everyone within the Sabres organization and around the hockey world, writes Bucky Gleason. The Hurricanes have lost Brandon Sutter to a concussion and Joni Pitkanen is now out of the line-up for 3-4 weeks with a knee injury. The Jackets are still pretty confused as to why Rick Nash's goal was called back on Saturday night. In roster news, the Blue Jackets have sent defenseman Kris Russell down to the AHL. The Stars are hoping Andy Moog can help get Marty Turco back on track. The Wings have lost Johan Franzen for 3-4 weeks with a knee injury. The Panthers are trying to get some rest because they have another road trip coming up after Thursday. The team's defense can especially use some rest. For a team that was supposed to hard pressed to score, the Predators are scoring a lot of goals, however, giving up a lot of goals too, writes John Glennon. The Wild players are making a point of trying to stay out of the penalty box. Rick DiPietro is going to be examined by the Islanders doctors for an undisclosed injury. The Rangers are six games over .500 and have yet to play their best hockey, writes Arthur Staple. Some of the Rangers players consider Long Island their second home. The Flyers organization is steaming over the smoke-bomb thrown onto the ice during Saturday's game versus the Devils at the Wachovia Center. The Penguins sorely miss Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar, writes Dave Molinari. Meanwhile, enforcer Eric Godard has helped the Penguins make up for the loss of Georges Laraque. The Lightning was put through a tough skating practice on Sunday as punishment for the team's poor play. It looks like the Leafs are going to keep Luke Schenn with the big club. "I think logic would suggest that the decision isn't going to be a difficult one," said Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher about the impending Schenn decision. Meantime, the Leafs are working hard and surprising many outside observers. For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock. *Check out Illegal Curve's weekly podcast where the crew discusses, amongst other things, Bob Gainey's new proposed shot-blocking rule, Sean Avery, the Marian Gaborik trade rumors and Rick Nash's disallowed goal over the weekend.**

NHL Morning Papers (Monday Edition): Schenn sticking in Toronto, Flyers organization angry at fan and Teppo Numminen is happy to be back playing hockey