Marcus here:

Semin was not on the bench for the 3rd period and the reports have him as day to day. 

Barry Melrose has been fired. For my reaction on the move, CLICK HERE . 

Tarik El-Bashir reports in his blog that Michal Nylander will be a healthy scratch tonight. Let the Chicago trade rumors heat up! 

There is another player added as the Band-Aid Boy Trainee: Kevin Bieksa. He has a broken foot and will be out for two weeks. Sami Salo has played very well lately, but that may be related to Bieksa being in the lineup. Not that it matters – Salo is out (again) with a bruised shoulder. He may or may not play next game.

Perhaps that's why the Canucks sent Michel Ouellet back down – he was the one who took the shot that broke Bieksa's foot. So to recap Ouellet's last 18 months: a top offensive team in Pittsburgh would not re-sign him to a qualifying offer; Tampa Bay does; he quickly falls down the depth chart in TB; TB cuts him; he clears waivers because no team wants him; he gets traded to Vancouver as a throw-in; he clears re-entry waivers, indicating that no team wants him for even half the salary; He gets no points in several stints on the top line; He breaks the foot of Vancouver's best defenseman; He gets sent down again.

A couple of weeks ago I said that I had a hunch that Jason Williams was on the outs in Atlanta. His ice time was declining and he was slipping down on the depth chart. Well he has clicked again in another try on the top line and has six points in four games. As Kovalchuk goes, so goes he… so it's a good thing for Williams' owners that Kovalchuk "goes" a lot. As long as the Thrashers keep winning (that statement made me laugh out loud, but seriously), coach John Anderson will not mess with his lines. If healthy, I think Williams will get 50-60 points. If healthy. His career high is 58

Get used to this statement: Martin Havlat missed practice yesterday with a sore groin. Hey – as long as you hear no news on his shoulder, then it's good news. Havlat owners need to take things one day at a time – you know he's going to go down, you just don't know when.

Andrei Kostitsyn is having an Alexander Semin-like year. Unfortunately, the year was last year not this one. No, he's not hurt again, but I think he came back too quickly from his concussin and I don't think he's playing like himself. I can see him having an off-year of 40 points or so, and then bouncing back with a career season next year. Translation: now is the time to go after him in keeper leagues.

Ryan Shannon was recalled by the Sens and he played 13 minutes. He didn't see a lot of ice time and he was held pointless. I'm not sure why they chose to call him up over Ilya Zubov, who is having a fantastic season in the AHL, other than the fact that Shannon is a winger.

Josh Bailey played 13 minutes and got his first NHL point for the Isles. I don't think he'll play his 10th NHL game this season. Especially considering Mike Comrie was out of the lineup with a hip injury. (Comrie is day to day)

Steven Stamkos played under 10 minutes again last night. He was pointless and a minus-1.

Owen Nolan and Brent Burns were back in the lineup last night. Marek Zidlicky had three points, Nolan had two and Burns saw most of the game at forward.

Give Matt Stajan another three points. The former junior star has responded to his healthy scratch as well as anyone I can ever remember – 16 points in the 14 games since he was scratched. I have always felt that Stajan's upside was limited to 65 points and I'm sticking to that… but if he remains on the top line getting 18 minutes a game and top PP duty I may have to re-evaluate. It's his fifth NHL season, so a breakout would happen this year or not at all.

Ian White has five points in six games as a winger/defenseman. With this kind of production, he deserves a few games in the lineup to see how long it lasts. I'm not Ron Wilson, though. White is also a plus-4.

Jeff Deslauriers got the start last night and he got shelled. I'm sure this will mean that Garon or Roloson will get the next start.

Another game for Erik Ersberg and another win – another nail in LaBarbera's starting-job coffin.
As expected, Fabian Brunnstrom was the one to fall with the signing of Parrish and the return of Lehtinen. Brunnstrom was a healthy scratch.

A signal that the tide may starting to turn in San Jose on the blue line: Dan Boyle saw a few seconds more ice time than ME Vlasic, a few seconds more PP time, and he had three points to Vlasic's zero. Another game like that and Vlasic will no longer lead this team in ice time or PP time – Boyle will. That would slow the kid's production down, no question.

Scott Clemmensen will get the start for the Devils tonight – this is wide open people. All it takes is a couple of good games and you have yourself a cheap starter for the next four months. Clemmensen or Weekes. Desperate for goaltending? Take one of those. Even if the Devils only go .500 while Brodeur is out, one of those two will eventually step up and start most of the games. If you pick the right one, you win! If you want my best guess – I would say Clemmensen. Just a hunch, really.