Tomorrow’s THN article is on the St. Louis Blues and their sputtering offense – a player by player forecast.

Another thought on Ovechkin – he’s a prankster so he may have been kidding with Chesnokov and us fantasy junkies started frothing at the mouth. But I wonder why the Caps PR people started denying it so vehemently? If it was a joke…then why do they care? Just have him play on the weekend unexpectedly

Curtis Glencross has been suspended for his hit on Chris Drury – three games. He had been playing with Moss and Boyd on an effective third line. This will shuffle things up a bit and you could see a new linemate with Iginla or Jokinen – or both (unless Sutter has learned, for good, that those two do not work well together). It’s the domino effect. Once again I’m pulling to see Boyd play with one of those two. I won’t hold my breath though.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Washington brass had a conversation with Ovechkin. Two phone calls later and he likely had a “scripted” conversation with El Bashir and he says he could be back next week. This is to plant the seeds of doubt into the fans, media and of course the opposition. I’m still going with the Puck Daddy timetable. Prove me wrong, Alex! Prove me wrong!

Chesnokov’s interview with Ovechkin – who says he will be out 4-5 weeks. Also noted is the fact that the Caps “dispute” the validity of this interview. Let me say this – Chesnokov has yet to steer his readers wrong when it comes to Russian players. The Caps are like a guy standing in front of a burning building waving his hands and saying “nothing to see here, everything is okay”. It also sounds like the injury is to the hand.

Milan Hejduk missed yesterday’s contest with a sore back. He took the warmup though, so don’t expect him to be sidelined for long. Stastny played with Wolski and Jones, meaning Jones was the beneficiary. Jones scored, which makes a stronger case to keep him in the top six.

The word on Dubinsky – broken bone in his right hand. He’s done for about three weeks according to Newsday. Other sources have it at six weeks.

Cam Ward will be out for about four weeks with his lacerated leg injury. According to Darren Dreger, the ‘Canes will sign Manny Legace to replace him. Look for Manny to get thrown right in there. If he can steal a few W’s, he’ll steal the backup job from Michael Leighton.

The Canucks are claiming that Roberto Luongo has the flu, which is why he missed practice. Expecting him back before the weekend would be optimistic.

One player I missed in yesterday’s column as a “buy low” is Martin Havlat. I don’t normally recommend going after a Band-Aid Boy executive, but he has been healthy for 90 games now and his start of seven in 14 couldn’t possibly continue. It may be worth kicking some tires.

Ottawa, Philly, Buffalo and Atlanta have played 14 games. Vancouver, Colorado, San Jose and the Rangers have played 18.

The Sharks have sent down Couture and Ferriero. They have elected to hang onto Jamie McGinn.

Andy McDonald has returned from his head injury and he scored a goal, playing nearly 21 minutes. His return sparked David Perron, who ended a four-game pointless drought with a pair of points. All eight of Perron’s points have come in the last eight games, even though he was pointless for those four.

It’s looking as though the Blues are using Paul Kariya in more of a checking role. Even though his ice time is over 19 minutes, his PP time was 35 seconds yesterday. His PK was 3:41. It’s been McDonald and Boyes with either Perron or Oshie up front. Pietrangelo and EJ manned the point. Berglund, Backes and Lars Eller were on the second unit.

The Blues made Keith Tkachuk a healthy scratch. He was given a “day off”. He’s pointless in four, yet still leads the team in scoring. I remember when 37-year-old Tkachuk was one of he NHL’s youngest players…