Evgeni Malkin will not play tonight due to his sore foot. The Pens feel no pressure to rush him, their spot is fairly solid.

Mikael Samuelsson will be lost 2-3 weeks with a shoulder injury. The Canucks have recalled Michal Grabner. He really proved himself NHL ready last time, prior to getting hurt, whereas Sergei Shirokov did not. That and the fact that Shirokov has just four points in his last 16 AHL contests. I still really like Shirokov (I own him in one league and wouldn’t trade him for Grabner) and think in the long run finishing the year in the ‘A’ is best.

Columbus has signed Matt Calvert to an ELC. Calvert’s stock has risen steadily after a fantastic junior season. He is just off my fantasy prospects list.

With Ryan Malone out 1-2 weeks with a knee injury, my note on Purcell below is moot. Although, PUrcell seemed to be more productive when Malone was on his line as well. So I guess he will have a longer look, but a tougher hill to climb.

Given the big win that the Stars posted, Kari Lehtonen hardly needed to make 43 saves, but he did – winning his first game in the new uniform.

Brandon Segal, a scrappy winger who is a fringe NHL player, posted his third two-point game in five contests last night. As long as he plays with Ribeiro and Morrow, he is worth picking up.

Dany Heatley has 63 points in his last 65 games.

Stellar Dallas numbers: Brenden Morrow – four points, plus-3, two PIM, five shots. Mike Ribeiro – four points, plus-4, five shots.

In an 8-2 win, I bet Jeff Woywitka is pretty embarrassed to finish minus-1.

Jamie McBain had his first NHL assist and point in his first NHL game. He played nearly 20 minutes and was a minus-1.

Jussi Jokinen is now pointless in three, finally coming down to Earth. Last time he was pointless in three was early January.

Erik Cole’s two goals were his first since he had three on December 5.

David Krejci has six points in four games and seems to be flourishing with the added ice time during Marc Savard’s absence. The last two times that Savard was hurt, Krejci didn’t do Jack, nor Squat. Third time’s the charm, I guess.

Give Jaroslav Halak six wins in a row.

Another golden game from Sean Avery, who has been on fire since being scratched. A goal, plus-1, four shots and the topper: 17 PIM.

The Teddy Purcell experiment could be over soon in Tampa. Though he has four points in seven games (not too bad), he is also a minus-4. Bubble players can’t walk the line like this for very long.

Ilya Bryzgalov has won five starts in a row and has given up just five goals in that span. Top 4 in GAA and Wins, and Top 9 in SP.

I can understand Brooks Laich flourishing with Ovechkin out, but Brendan Morrison? Three points for each of them.

By the way, Laich now has 14 in his last 11.

John Carlson is now a plus-10 in 14 games for the Caps and has an assist in each of his last three contests. With 13 games to go, he has proven he belongs. Look for another five points and at least a plus-4.

Did anyone see this coming? I mean, Mueller owners hoped for a decent turnaround in Coloardo…but 11 points in seven games to start? Another three last night gives him 28 on the season. I thought a few days ago that he could salvage a 35-point season, but to hell with that – he could salvage 40. He needs 12 in 13.

Chris Stewart has 49 points in his last 45 games. Easily my most surprising player of the season. Remarkable. It’s shocking me as much as Todd Bertuzzi did some 10-odd years ago when he broke out.

The Wild have signed goalie prospect Matt Hackett to an ELC. You’ll have to wait several years for him, but he’s very promising.

Andrew Ebbett has four points in his last four games, notching two last night. His ice time is right up there now that Belanger is gone.

Guess who’s awake? John Tavares. Welcome back! Four points in the first two periods alone. All he needed was a weak goaltender. Wait a minute… was that Roberto Luongo? Impressive to snap a cold streak against a goaltender like that.

Jordan Schroeder is considering turning pro. The Vancouver prospect will make the decision this weekend. If he does, I would imagine he plays for Manitoba, as I can’t see him being any more ready than Michael Grabner or Sergei Shirokov. Thanks to Stone for the Vancouver Sun link in the forum.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day folks! Enjoy the green beer!

Now, four days before the event, I have TWO!!! tickets left to this amazing DobberHockey event. Details are outlined neatly (including some new ones) HERE. As you can see, now that the details have fallen into place, that this will be quite a fun event for Dobber Nation. You can buy a ticket right here – just two left.

Don’t forget to pick up my Fantasy Baseball Guide – spring training is well underway!