December 8, 2009

Breaking news from Philly.com: Ray Emery has an abdominal tear and will be out for 4-6 weeks. It’s Boucher’s baby for the next 15 games or so. The Flyers should be a winning team, so I would think that Boucher will get some W’s. Whenever their slump ends, that is.

 

TSN is reporting that Cody Hodgson will not be ready for the WJC – still back problems.

 

Alex Goligoski is reported in the Pittsburgh Gazette as “close”.

 

Peter Mueller returned to the lineup and picked up an assist, but played just 10:24. He needs to earn his way back into the coach’s favor. Perhaps he is still battling his UBI.

 

Congrats to Marty Brodeur for shutout No. 103 – ties an NHL All-Time record.

 

Bryzgalov’s 17th win and fourth shutout puts him second and first in the NHL respectively. His GAA just dropped to 1.99. That’s just sick.

 

I keep clicking the MTL/PHI link to look at the box score and it keeps telling me that they had 28 shots – combined. Is this real? Did anyone see this game? How do two teams combine for just 28 shots? FIVE combined shots in the first period?

 

Brian Boucher was “peppered” with 13 shots. He allowed three goals. The ball is in Ray Emery’s court again, I’m sure.

 

Brett Carson was recalled by the Canes, he played 17:26 and was a plus-1. No points though, but he saw a lot of PP time. He has the chance to leapfrog Rodney on the depth chart and could be a decent dark horse while Corvo is out.

 

Sergei Samsonov played just eight minutes last night. Not certain why…

 

Dallas has recalled prospect rearguard Ivan Vishnevsky.

 

James Neal was back on the Richards line in practice.

 

Give Chris Stewart another three points last night. He’s up to 13 in his last nine games. White hot right now. He played with Wolski and Stastny – not bad linemates.

 

Peter Budaj has allowed just four goals in the three games that he has covered off Craig Anderson. He gets into his zones and he’s in one now. Anderson went back to Denver for further evaluation, so you may see Budaj for awhile yet…

 

Oscar Moller played just under seven minutes last night in what will be just a cup of coffee in the NHL for now.

 

Semyon Varlamov has a 12-1-2 record. That can’t be ignored. This every other day crap will stop soon. His .924 SP ain’t too shabby either.

 

Andrei Kostitsyn has seven points in his last seven games.

 

Ian White is on pace for 42 points and with a plus-3 last night is now at plus-9 on the year. Despite this, the Leafs are still giving Beauchemin top PP time. If the latter ever gets hurt, White will flourish.

 

Can I start to doubt Rich Peverley now? Three points in his last 10 games. He is mortal after all. His 23 points in 17 games to start the year was damn impressive.

 

I noticed Pavel Kubina was minus-3 last night so I checked his stats: he’s PLUS-13 on the season. Wow – still that high even