Gary Roberts has a sore knee and will likely not be in the lineup tonight. He took a shot by Crosby off of it. Nils Ekman may draw back into the lineup. They should probably give Roberts a rest anyway – they need him for the playoffs.
 

The Blues have failed to lock in rearguard Erik Johnson in time to have him play the end of this year, but they still hope to bring him in for the fall. That being said, the No. 22 fantasy prospect on my list, Patrick Berglund, is in St. Louis and is practicing with the team. Berglund is just getting a taste of NHL life and will still be playing in Sweden next season. The Blues are quite high on him though.

Travis Zajac has an eight game point streak. He has 10 points in that span.

Niklas Backstrom, the Wild goalie who leads the league in GAA and SV%, will be a UFA this summer. Just wanted to remind you of that.

Chris Osgood will get the start tonight, while Hasek will be between the pipes tomorrow night for Detroit.

Henrik Zetterberg is practicing, but still not taking all the drills.  

Derek Armstrong should return to the Los Angeles lineup tonight after missing the last nine contests with a knee injury.

Jack Johnson will make his NHL debut tonight. I won the bidding for him in the ICE experts league – when I want a player, I never lose. I can finally put in a solid lineup for the last week of the season – Pronger and Hemsky are both healthy, while Johnson will also step in. Time for a last minute charge!

By the way, Johnson will play with his childhood hero – Rob Blake.

Dan Paille and Ales Kotalik returned to the Buffalo lineup last night and each of them scored.

Peter Budaj will be back in net as the starter for the Avs tonight. There is talk in the Colorado media that Jose Theodore will be bought out this summer.

Eric Belanger returned to action for Atlanta last night.

Eric Lindros is hoping to be ready for the playoffs. He will start practicing again next week. He is suffering from a groin injury and it has cost him the last 10 games.

Chuck Kobasew was not a healthy scratch last night. It turns out that he sustained a minor concussion on Sunday.

Ales Kotalik will return to the Buffalo lineup tonight.

Contrary to an earlier report by The Sports Network, DiPietro has not been diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome and was not ruled out of last night's game because he failed to pass the neuro-psychological exam that was administered. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, DiPietro's status is based simply on the fact that he reported experiencing headache following the Islanders' 2-1 overtime loss to the Rangers Sunday at Nassau Coliseum. He could play on Friday.

Kimmo Timonen is not expected to miss any time from that upper body injury sustained last night.

Petteri Nummelin has been sidelined from the Wild lineup with a groin injury.

Patrick Sharp lined up with Havlat and Bourque on the first line in practice. Sharp has seven goals in his last nine contests.

Chuck Kobasew in Boston is not looking so great. He was a healthy scratch.

Hemsky was back in the Edmonton lineup last night. It was the second time in 11 games that the Oilers scored more than two goals. Hemsky played in both those games, but not the other nine.

Alexander Radulov is now clicking with Forsberg. He has two goals and two assists in his last three games.

Kimmo Timonen left last night's contest with an upper body injury.

Kyle Wellwood left the Leafs game in the second period.

Jeff O'Neill was a healthy scratch for the Leafs again.

Patrick Eaves took a shot off the ankle last night and left the game.

Wade Redden missed last night's contest with a lower body injury. Lawrence Nycholat drew in for his first game as a Senator.

Bill Guerin has eight goals in his last eight games.

Joe Thornton was shut out last night while The Kid picked up another deuce. The gap is now nine.

Mike Ribeiro has nine points in his last five contests.

Patrick Elias was back in the Devils lineup last night after sitting out with a groin injury.

The Capitals are negotiating to bring Swedish center Nicklas Backstrom, their No. 1 draft choice in 2006, to the NHL next season. Glen Hanlon jokingly expected the Hart, Art Ross, and Calder trophies out of him for next season when he was asked about the youngster.