Around the rink ? Tuesday, October 26th

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7:00 pm

Florida @ Toronto

The Leafs are looking to right the ship after three losses in a row. Another loss and things might start getting nervous in Toronto, especially against the Panthers. That?s not to say the Panthers are bad, they?re perfectly average at 3-3-0, when in reality they?re a major pain in the butt to play against. If Toronto can?t get their offensive woes turned around, the panic button won?t be far behind.

7:30 pm

Buffalo @ Philadelphia

The Flyers come into the game after a stinker against Columbus last night that saw them lose 2-1. Sergei Bobrovsky will get the nod in goal against Buffalo who is riding high off their 6-1 demoralizing beatdown of the Devils. The Sabres are still trying to get their act together and perhaps that offensive breakout against New Jersey is the spark they needed. We?ll see if that?s the case tonight.

Phoenix @ Ottawa

The Coyotes come rolling into Canada?s capital city after a tough overtime loss in Montreal. Playing against the Senators might be the sort of thing that helps them shake that off. The Sens will be going without Jason Spezza yet again while Brian Elliott gets the start in goal. The Sens have just two wins so far this year and if Phoenix comes into town feeling down, they could turn the tables on them. Helping the Coyotes out will be the return of captain Shane Doan after his three-game suspension.

9:00 pm

Edmonton @ Calgary

It?s only been a few days since these two played each other, so it only makes sense that they get together yet again. Sneakily so, the Flames find themselves on top of the Northwest Division and they?re coming into this Battle of Alberta matchup high off a 4-0 shutout of San Jose. Meanwhile, the Oilers are struggling and scoring is their bugaboo as they?re currently 29th in the NHL in scoring, having just 15 goals in six games.

Anaheim @ Dallas

So the Stars aren?t undefeated anymore and they?re coming off a 1-0 loss to Nashville. They?re still playing pretty good hockey. The Ducks, on the other hand, are continuing to be inconsistent and are last in the league in goals against. The Ducks might be coming into this game with a chip on their shoulder, however. Their last game against Detroit ended with a late goal against and the Ducks snarling about Niklas Kronwall. Things might get feisty in Dallas.

10:00 pm

Colorado @ Vancouver

The Canucks were figuring on coming out and running rampant on the NHL this year. Things have started off a bit slowly and dealing with the frenetic Avalanche won?t make it easier to try and get consistent. To help things out for Vancouver, Peter Budaj gets the start in goal for Colorado. Some Canucks fans are hoping to see more of Cory Schneider in goal since he?s got two of Vancouver?s wins. Don?t expect there to be a goalie controversy there though, Roberto Luongo is kind of a big deal.

 

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Scott clemmensen starts for the panthers tonight.

J.s giguere will start against florida tuesday night.

 

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Renney sticks with veteran Khabibulin -- for now


Tom Renney thought about giving goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin the hook during Saturday night's game against the San Jose Sharks.

But the Edmonton Oilers head coach decided to stick with Khabibulin despite the Sharks' 5-1 lead with 15 minutes left in the game. He opted not to give backup goalie Jeff Deslauriers some mop-up work.

Khabibulin has played all six Oilers regular-season games, while Deslauriers and Devan Dubnyk, who have alternated as No. 2 guys, have been spectators.

"Absolutely, I thought of taking Khabby out, but he has to battle through it like everybody else. I want to see his mental toughness, too. He's a good leader," said Renney. "I could have protected him, but he hasn't played a lot. If it had been detrimental (to stay in) if we, say, had a game Sunday or one (today), I would have done something for sure.

"We have to get one of our other goalies in there. It hasn't been too tough on Khabby, but it will get tougher (with three games in four nights this week). We need to find out which of the other two is more capable," said Renney.

If Renney keeps his rotation, Dubnyk will back up Khabibulin against the Flames in Calgary on Tuesday, which might mean a start for Deslauriers in Columbus on Thursday, before a Friday game in Chicago.



Jacques still on the mend

J.F. Jacques skated with skating coach Steve Serdachny on Sunday while the rest of the Oilers had a video session.

Jacques looks fine, but he might still be another three weeks away from playing after undergoing surgery on his back this spring. There have been no strong battle drills in practice and he hasn't taken any wallops in the corners.

He doesn't have a no-contact jersey on, but he's still being cautious. His last game was on Feb. 10 against the Ducks in Anaheim, when he injured this back fighting George Parros.

"I still have a little tightness in my lower back that I want to get rid of. I'm staying here this week and I'll practise with the Oil Kings and I'll skate with Steve. I'll have treatment. Next road trip (five-game trek in early November) I'll hopefully go on it and maybe I can play by mid-November."

Jacques might need a conditioning stint with the American Hockey League's Oklahoma City Barons.

"With anybody who's been on the shelf as long as he's been, I have a protocol where I want to see if he's ready to play from a metabolic point of view, not to get too scientific. The next step for him is to get banged around and to have him banging, so he's torquing his body," said Renney.

Hall trying to score No. 1

First overall draft pick Taylor Hall is still looking for his first NHL goal and the story of his early-season battle came on a power play in the second period during Saturday's game when he was winding up for a slapper in the slot and his stick broke.

The blade went flying through the air.

"Yeah, that was the one (that emphasized how hard he's trying with no result)," said Renney. "He just wants to help out and young guys like Taylor figure the most recognizable way to help is on the scoresheet.

"He's good, but we just have to keep reminding there's rewards in other ways. There are other ways to gauge his performance outside of points. As the game wore on last night, as others' play dropped off, Taylor was able to sustain a level and he was dangerous."

If you're keeping track of the Taylor vs. Tyler debate, Tyler Seguin, the No. 2 overall pick in the June entry draft, has a goal and two assists with the Boston Bruins.

Hall has one assist, but he has lots of boosters.

"He reminds me of (Mark Messier) the way he skates, legs far apart, and powerful. You can almost hear it (skates digging into the ice)," said Bruins scout Tom McVie.

For the record, Steve Stamkos didn't score his first NHL goal until his ninth game with the Tampa Bay Lightning in his rookie season and had three goals in his first 41 games. He scored 51 goals last year and has eight in seven games this season.

Vandermeer struggling

Defenceman Jim Vandermeer has struggled the last couple of games. He was on for two even-strength goals against the Sharks, one where Logan Couture beat him along the back-boards, fed Jamie McGinn and eventually Couture scored.

Vandermeer also took an ill-time slashing penalty after San Jose's fourth goal and Joe Pavelski scored four seconds later to make it 5-1.

"He's had some difficulty, but as a group our back-end has had it," said Renney. "We're not making the right plays. Sometimes a play off the glass or a hard rim to get out of trouble is fine.

"That seems to be a collective problem, not just Jimmy," said Renney.

 

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Sabres recall Adam


Luke Adam was recalled from the Portland Pirates and will make his NHL debut tonight against the Flyers in Philadelphia, just as Tyler Ennis did last season.

Adam skated with the team this morning. He will wear No. 72. He is second on the Pirates in scoring with 10 points (five goals and five assists) in eight games. Mark Mancari has 11 points. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder was a second-round draft pick of the Sabres in 2008.

He will replace Rob Niedermayer, who stayed in Buffalo to be with his wife, who gave birth to a girl on Monday.

 

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Lehtonen to get eighth straight start Tuesday





Kari Lehtonen will be in goal Tuesday against Anaheim, his eighth straight start of the year. Andrew Raycroft has not played a game yet this year.

"We're playing the hot goalie," Crawford said of Lehtonen, who is 5-2-0 with a 2.38 GAA and .930 save percentage. "With the speed of the schedule and the complexity of the schedule in front of us, there is going to be lots of opportunity for (Raycroft) to contribute. But right now we've got the combination of Kari playing so well and our schedule not being taxing."

Lehtonen said he is feeling good. He takes a lot of days off from practice, has an extended stretching routine and also is swimming on off days.

``I feel really good right now,'' Lehtonen said. ``I'm getting plenty of rest and to have a day off is a good thing. So far, so good.''

Crawford said he is encouraging Raycroft to work hard in practice and said that the time will come for the veteran backup goalie.

``I really liked Razor's practice today,'' Crawford said. ``We've talked to him about making the practices like your game, and I was impressed with the fact he did that today. That's tough to do.''

Lines look the same as Saturday. Krys Barch was hit in the hand with a puck Saturday and he might come out of the lineup in favor of Brian Sutherby. However, Crawford said he liked Barch's practice on Monday and feels he still is an option for Tuesday. Crawford said he had not decided on whether Jeff Woywitka would stay in or whether Mark Fistric would return to the lineup.










Possible lines are:

James Neal-Brad Richards-Loui Eriksson
Brenden Morrow-Mike Ribeiro-Adam Burish
Steve Ott-Tom Wandell-Jamie Benn
Brian Sutherby/Krys Barch-Tony Petersen-Brandon Segal

 

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Backup plan works for Hiller


Curtis McElhinney's impressive 40-save performance in his first start last week against Philadelphia helped Ducks coach Randy Carlyle accomplish two things.

It allowed Carlyle to reward his backup goalie with a follow-up start Saturday against Detroit and it gave workhorse starter Jonas Hiller additional rest after a busy start to his season.
As is his policy, Carlyle never mentions who his starting goaltender will be for any particular game, but if Hiller goes in tonight's game against the Dallas Stars as expected, it will be five full days of rest since his last start against Columbus.

Hiller's numbers ? 2-4-1 record, 3.45 goals-against average, .911 save percentage ? are very pedestrian, but he has also been peppered with 257 shots that's second only to Atlanta's Chris Mason, who has faced 283 shots but has played in one more game.

"He's had a start where we felt he's played very well for our hockey club," Carlyle said. "We look at the calendar and you always have this preliminary rotation that you might do this or you might do that. The way we were playing, we were leaving Jonas hanging high and dry in a lot of situations.

"To some degree, we did that to Curtis, but Curtis won us a hockey game and played very, very well in Philadelphia. I thought he played well again the other night. He gave us a chance. They don't have to win us the hockey game. They just have to give us a chance."

Hiller said the break has allowed him to refresh mentally and that he "can definitely see that might be good to get a couple of games off right now."

"You always try to play rather than sitting out," he said. "Sometimes your body just needs some rest. Curtis was playing well so he definitely deserved to play. It's always good to know if your backup is playing well."

FOWLER REMAINS OUT

Defenseman Cam Fowler didn't take part in practice as his neck has been slow to improve after getting it jammed Oct. 17 as a result of Phoenix captain Shane Doan hitting him against the boards.

Fowler has missed the past three games and it's all but certain that he'll miss a fourth, but he said he's slowly improving and might be targeting a return this weekend, when the Ducks play New Jersey at home on Friday and at San Jose on Saturday.

"I want to be on the ice as much as I can so it's hard just sitting around right now," he said. "I'm hoping I'll get better the next couple of days and try and skate. If not tomorrow, then the next day. Just kind of go from there.

"When you get back, you've got to make sure you're 100 percent. Just got to be patient with it."

Fowler said that any concussion symptoms have been ruled out and that "it's just some stiffness." The problem is that he doesn't have his normal range of movement in his neck muscles and he doesn't want to think about that when he's on the ice.

"Now it's trying to get that normal feeling back," he said. "When you're neck tenses up sometimes, it can cause your whole body to be stiff. That's really all it is."


LOOKING FOR .500

The Ducks have spent the past two days going through hard skates and reviewing the errors that led to their come-from-ahead loss to the Red Wings, but they can salvage their four-game trip with a victory today against surprising Dallas.

"It's definitely big," winger George Parros said. "It's a big difference to go 2-2 than 1-3. It's important. You've got to win your fair share on the road and you can come out .500. It's not obviously ideal but if you can maintain that on the road and win at home, you'll be OK."



SEXTON SENT HOME

Dan Sexton flew home and is expected to get his broken nose re-examined. At that time, a timeline on how long he'll be out of the lineup might be announced.

Sexton had it broken Saturday when he took a shot from Detroit's Ruslan Salei in the face.

 

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Sergei Bobrovsky is expected to play against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night.


The Flyers could not generate much of anything in a 2-1 loss to Columbus on Monday and Brian Boucher was saddled with the loss as a result. After the game, Philadelphia head coach Peter Laviolette was highly critical of his players, so expect a much better effort from them versus Buffalo.

 

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