Miroslav Satan made his Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton debut yesterday. He tallied FOUR points. It makes you wonder if he'll stay down there long.

Blake Comeau has nine points in his last seven games.

Michal Handzus has 15 points in his last 21 games.

I'm a lucky man – I enjoyed green beer on Saturday, again on Sunday…and I can't go St. Patrick's Day without enjoying green beer again, can I? Nothing beats celebrating the same event three times!

Alex Tanguay is a game-time decision tonight – he is suffering from the same virus that knocked Kovalev (who is now healthy) out for a couple. If Tanguay doesn't play, Latendresse will.

Mike Green is nursing a "minor injury" and Brian Pothier took his spot.

Simeon Varlamov saw action last night after Theodore got the hook. Varlamov stopped five of six, Theodore 15 of 19.

Anssi Salmela played his second game for the Thrashers, this time 21:50 and he scored his first NHL goal and was a plus-2. It's finally starting to look promising for the underrated Finn.

Brett Sterling saw his ice time cut to 14 minutes last night and it didn't help that he managed to be a minus-1 in a 5-1 victory. Back to the Wolves for him, I would bet.

The Thrashers recalled Spencer Machacek and he played seven minutes last night. It is somewhat telling that Brett Sterling saw more ice time, although there was more of a need for a left winger. Still, if he doesn't produce then nothing will stop him from falling back down the depth chart for good. Machacek, meanwhile, has a bright future and is a lock for a roster spot within two years. His upside is minimal – perhaps 70 points – but he brings the intangibles that NHL clubs love.

Tobias Enstrom has 10 points in his last 10 games. Mat Schneider left the club (via trade) about 12 games ago, and I am certain that this return to form for Enstrom is no coincidence.

Kari Lehtonen's 49 saves last night were a career high. Ovechkin and Semin combined for 17 of those shots.

Braydon Coburn was not suspended for his high stick Sunday, but Randy Jones has a hip injury and will not play. The team recalled offensive rearguard Danny Syvret, who has yet to really get a fair shake in the NHL. He was part of a prolific London Knights team that included Corey Perry, Dave Bolland, Rob Schremp, Brandon Prust, Dan Fritsche, Dan Girardi and Drew Larman.

Evgeni Malkin caught the flu bug. He will play tonight, but obviously won't be 100 percent.

Dan Bylsma took over as coach on February 15. In 14 games since then, here are Pittsburgh's top scorers. This will help you get a feel for who is responding the best under the new system:
Crosby 18 points (in 10 games)
Malkin 16
Kunitz 12 (in 9 games)
Staal 9
Gonchar 10
Guerin 8 (in 6 games)
Fedotenko 8
Kennedy 6
Cooke 6
Letang 5
Sykora 5 (in 11 games)