Thurday Morning NHL Papers: Western Conference

Central Division

• Great news in Chicago, as Jonathan Toews was back on the ice on Wednesday.  Staying with injuries, Ben Eager won’t return from his concussion tonight but may return tomorrow.
• “We played a very good game against a very good team,” said Rick Nash even after his team’s loss to San Jose in a shootout.  Nikita Filatov played a season-high eleven minutes last night.
• Daniel Cleary has struggled to score this season but his next goal will be his 100th of his career.  Jim Devellano doesn’t like the Wings’ chances for home-ice advantage.  Jonathan Ericsson and Brian Rafalski feel better after having the flu and are expected to play tonight.
• Jason Arnott checks back into the Predators lineup tonight and J.P. Dumont checks out with an upper-body injury.
• With an injury to Andy McDonald, the Blues surprisingly called up Lars Eller from the AHL.

Northwest Division

• Curtis McElhinney was a surprise starter and played a terrific game leading the Flames to a 3-2 overtime win at Dallas.  Here are last night’s three stars.  The Flames got a lot of flack for taking the H1N1 shots, but not every player opted to take the shot.  An Alberta official was actually fired over the Flames flu shot controversy.
• The Avalanche had only 11,012 fans at the Pepsi Center to see their first place team handle the Coyotes 4-1.  Joe Sacco wants his team to improve on the power play.  Sparking the visor discussion, Adrian Dater says the players should make their own choices.
• With Shawn Horcoff injured, Pat Quinn has named Sam Gagner the team’s number one center.  The Oilers will unveil some new lines against the Rangers tonight.  Apparently Sheldon Souray is improving from his concussion.  In better news, Steve Staios is returning to the linuep and so is Mike Comrie.
• Todd Richards has confidence in bruising Wild forward Derek Boogaard.
• Canucks defenseman Shane O’Brien has been suspended for one-game for sticking Sean Avery from his bench.

Pacific Divison

• The Ducks will be looking for only their second win in their last eight games tonight.
• Sure the referees made a bad call against Dallas in overtime, but the fact is, the Stars blew the game before that, writes Mike Heika.  In positive news, Mike Modano returned to the Stars lineup last night.
• Current Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi says he has nothing but respect for his former team.  Jim Fox, one of the guests on the IC Radio Show last night, gives you his opinion on a number of topics involving the Kings’ hot start.
• “We’ve got to bury those chances,” said Matthew Lombardi after his team’s loss to Colorado.  If the Coyotes are to succeed in Phoenix they simply need to win.
• “We probably didn’t play as well as we’d like to, but we came away with the win,” said Sharks coach Todd McLellan.  The Sharks have been terrific in the face-off circle and that is partly a product of work ethic.