The Kings have extended Jon Quick for three years. Bernier may be in a platoon situation next year (best case for him), but Quick is the man for the Kings for at least three years.

Some goalie stuff today. Craig Anderson IS starting tonight. There was speculation that Budaj was going to play, but the Avalanche coaches came to their senses. Budaj actually has the flu, but my comment stands. He is a brutal goalie. Weiman has great AHL numbers and should be backing up Anderson.

Jose Theodore is the likely starter for the Capitals tomorrow. If I am a betting man, I expect Theo to be the full-time starter in Washington by game 30 or so.

PENNER! PENNER! PENNER! If you expected Edmonton fans to be saluting Penner with a  standing ovation, please email Dobber as we could use you writing around here! Penner had a game for the ages last night: two goals, three assists, 11 shots on goal (Ovechkin, who?), and a few standing ovations. Everyone expected Pat Quinn to get through to a few Oilers – Penner definitely is one of them.

Sticking with the Oilers, the line of Penner-Gagner-Hemsky combined for 13 points. Gagner is the long-term solution on the top line. He is incredibly talented offensively, and Penner opens up a ton of space for him to operate. Shawn Horcoff is better suited to the second line. I think Gagner hits 60-65 this year (I had him pegged at 62 before the season started). Chalk one up for the good guys (well, me, and it is still early).

Congrats to former Giant James Wright for scoring his first goal. He skated on a line with Lecavalier and St. Louis most of the night. He'll be potting a few more in short order if that continues. Wright always impressed me – I remember him coming in as a lanky 16-year-old to Giants camp and showing flashes of offensive dominance. Don Hay churns out great players (Meszaros, Kane, Blum, Lucic, soon-to-be Franson, and Brule, if not for poor pro development).

It looks like someone read my article on the AHL from Wednesday! Alexandre Giroux was recalled and scored a goal for the Capitals. The bad news is that he saw barely over five minutes of ice time.

I posted a dandy clip at the end of the ramblings from last night – Ondrej Pavelec does his best Vesa Toskala impression by allowing a goal from the opposing goal line. Pavelec was awful against the Capitals, but the Thrashers don't exactly have options (Hedberg is below average on his best nights these days), so he will probably get a chance to rebound from this one.

Carey Price owners – time to panic! Jaroslav Halak played great for the second straight night.

In case you missed it, here is Dobber's Puck Daddy article from yesterday. Puck Daddy is an awesome blog in every way possible.

Boston update: Marchand played over 16 minutes, while Sobotka played under 10. Both were pointless, but it looks like the Bruins favor Marchand in a scoring role.

If it wasn't obvious enough in Tampa, John Tortorella rides his top players hard. Prospal and Gaborik both saw over 24 minutes of ice time, and Del Zotto saw close to 20, a big leap from his usual 14 or 15. The Rangers lost, but their top guys will continue to log a ton of minutes. Hey look, I made a comment about Gaborik without mentioning his health!

Maxim Afinogenov has played himself onto Atlanta's top line, for now. He had two points and three shots on goal. Little was demoted and he skated with his old linemates White and Kozlov. Atlanta is an incredibly scary team for both good and bad reasons. They are a playoff club if they can get any sort of consistent goaltending.

The rumor – Ilya Kovalchuk signing a massive extension worth close to $11 million per season (cap hit). Way to take a discount! A necessary move for the Thrashers, but that is a gigantic (rumored) cap hit.

The Islanders are a fantasy wasteland – why the heck were JT and Okposo split up? Get them and Moulson back together, and hope they can combine for two or three a game. Oh, and hope Rick DiPietro's bionic knee works as well as the kid's arm in "Rookie of the Year."

Marc-Andre Bergeron had a good game, scoring a goal and adding an assist in 16 minutes of ice time. He has a booming shot and shows great movement on the PP, but I would hesitate to make any long-term commitment to him. You know he has some issues when he went unsigned ALL summer after coming off a 14-goal season. As a defenseman. On Minnesota.

The Nashville Predators goalies appear to be trying to out-duel each other for worst performance. After Dan Ellis let in three goals on three shots a few games ago, Pekka Rinne let in five against Ottawa. Luckily Nashville players decided use all of their goals for the next week in one game!

JP Dumont had five points against the Sens. The Preds are a patchwork team up front, but Dumont is still money for 60-70 points.

Jason Spezza owners were probably happy to see him get three points, after multiple goose-eggs this season.

Sticking with the Sens… Jonathan Cheechoo is done. Injuries have killed his career as an offensive player. Still has the shot but can't skate at all and never was a good defensive player. Great salary dump by the Sharks, and I wouldn't at all be surprised to see Ottawa buy him out after this season.

Runner up to Penner for beast of the night: Shea Weber. Weber had two goals (one being the OT winner), 26 minutes of ice time, and seven shots on goal – massive numbers for a defenseman. Weber may never reach his potential until the Preds can get some talent up front, but he is good enough to get 15 goals and 45 points in any situation.

Dave Scatchard had an assist, which is nice to see. Zero fantasy significance, but he has battled back after some serious injuries, and before this season hadn't played a pro game in a few years.

Cody Franson scored a goal in limited ice time. He will/should see lots of PP minutes, with limited five-on-five opportunities. The Preds have enough defensive depth to shelter him.

Seen Stamkos? How about Seen Lecavalier? Stamkos continues to show why he is the future of the Bolts, with a strong two-goal performance. His strength on the puck is a night-and-day difference from last season. As a Stamkos owner, I just want to say: thanks, Gary Roberts!

In the last two or three weeks, by far the most common thread title on the forums is: Neal or Benn? Benn or Neal? I have the secret answer: both! They are both fantastic players and should be big-time producers for a long time. I have really, really been high on Neal for the past season or so, and Benn looks to have adjusted to the NHL game seamlessly.

Move over, Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Getzlaf, and other superstars. Anze has arrived!

Detroit lost a heartbreaker to the feisty Coyotes in overtime. Zetterberg and Datsyuk both had two assists, but the team really misses Johan Franzen's big body and his shot.