Paul Kariya has left the team and flown back to St. Louis. He will undergo an MRI and will miss tonight's contest with his lower body injury. David Koci will take his spot in the lineup, but more ice time will be given to Andy McDonald (double shifting).

Ben Bishop will get the start tonight for St. Louis.  

Joe Sakic is having back problems and it may cause him to miss tonight's game. The Avs have recalled TJ Hensick, who currently sits ninth in AHL scoring.

While I was researching the above, it is interesting to see Nathan Gerbe sitting 6th in scoring and another diminutive Buffalo prospect Tim Kennedy sitting 5th.

Columbus has waived Alexandre Picard in an attempt to push him down to Syracuse. 

Here's a strange one – Tim Connolly missed practice. This injury is a groin injury. He is questionable for tomorrow. Shocking.

Paul Kariya left last night's contest in the second period. He suffered a lower body injury after getting hit by a shot. He had X-rays but no info has been released.

Manny Legace is hoping to return Saturday. 

Pittsburgh line combos for tonight's contest: Malkin with Sykora and Dupuis; Crosby with Satan and Talbot.

Janne Niskala has cleared waivers and TB has allowed him to return to play in Finland.

Jeff Halpern update: he is back doing no-contact practice and is still hoping to be back before Christmas, which is ahead of schedule.

Alex Auld will get the start tonight and Gerber will start tomorrow for the Sens. Auld has proven year after year that he is a monster No.2 goalie. It's just that whenever he is officially made No.1 he starts to stumble. So expect a rotation for the next while because Gerber is pretty much the same way.

Dustin Boyd played the end of a game last week with Iginla and Cammalleri. Mike Keenan kept that combination together in practice yesterday. You may see Boyd's production shoot upwards for the next little while, assuming this works.

Remember all the buzz after six games about Ryan Getzlaf's slow start? He's now tied for the NHL lead in scoring.

Rostislav Olesz has a sore shoulder and may not play tonight for the Panthers.

Steve Mason got the start for the Jackets last night and had a strong first period, though things fell apart after that as he allowed four goals. He still picked up the win. Fredrik Norrena has a mild groin strain, so Mason could start more games this week.

With another goal last night, RJ Umberger now has four in his last three games.

Chris Mason is 0-4-0 this season for St. Louis. It looks as though he lost his mojo last year and he couldn't find it again in St. Louis.

Edmonton rearguard Tom Gilbert has five assists in his last two games.

There is much ado about who is and who is not on the recently announced All-Star ballot, but people still fail to realize that the ballots are determined in September. So Tim Thomas being off and Rod Brind'Amour being on, for example, is understandable given that nobody foresaw the kind of October that they would have. But JP Dumont is a no-brainer even then. Terrible omission. Interesting fact: since January 1, 2008 the top three scorers in the NHL are: Evgeni Malkin (81 points), Alexander Ovechkin (69 points) and Dumont (60 points).

Kari Lehtonen is expected back in practice today. He has been out with the flu and a stiff back.
Peter Budaj will get another start today against the Wild.

Brent Johnson will get the start for the Caps again the 'Canes. 

Tom Reed of the Dispatch is reporting that Columbus GM Scott Howson has stated that the team has NO intention of sending Filatov to Junior. They want him to continue playing pro hockey. He can change his mind a day, a week, or three months down the road if he wants – but it looks like Filatov is in the AHL to stay. Unless he gets called up to Columbus. Which will happen, mark my words.