I found it interesting that the Oilers lost 8-2, yet Taylor Hall played a ton of minutes (20:49) and was a plus-1. Pretty promising if you ask me.

How many more games will Khabibulin start? That’s 14 goals in his last two starts and he is 1-5-0 in his last six. Dubnyk is still undefeated (yes, overtime losses… but it sounds better the way I say it). Quietly pick up Dubnyk, stash him on your bench, and wait for this to unfold. My hunch is – Dub steals this job at some point in the next month or two.

Shawn Horcoff scored in his return to the lineup.

Derek Stepan snapped his slump with a pair of assists.

Marian Gaborik has found his timing – four points and he was a plus-5, dragging his linemates (Frolov and Christensen) along with him. Christensen becomes a good roto-league rental again.

With Bryan Little in the lineup again, the Thrashers slapped a line together with him, Evander Kane and Anthony Stewart. Bergfors, Ladd and Peverley remained intact.

Ryan Suter returned and it sucked up all of Cody Franson’s PP time. That didn’t stop Franson from popping in a goal. Martin Erat was also back in.

How the Flyers got Jeff Carter to sign for such a small cap hit is beyond me. But also – when are teams going to stop with the stupid 7-plus years lengths? (Carter’s was 11 years, but to me anything over seven is stupid) So on one hand, the Flyers are brilliant. On the other hand, they’re dumb.

If the cap goes up $1 million next season, the Flyers would have about $3 million in cap space to replace Leino, Zherdev, Carcillo and one other forward. They’ll probably go on the cheap with that, rather than solve the problem via trade. How do I know that? Easy – teams hardly ever solve the issue via trade. Even when they are painted into a corner and every expert in the world figures a trade has to happen, it never does. Boston, New Jersey…still no trades from them…

Antti Niemi finally played a solid game for the Sharks, but he’ll need a couple more before any sort of contraversy arises with Niitty.

Jonas Hiller left yesterday’s practice and was taken to the hospital after getting hit (knocking his mask off). McElhinney may get the next start. A Hiller update will come later I’m sure.

Mike Comrie was a healthy scratch again for the Penguins.

Cam Ward has given up eight goals in his last two starts and has been pulled from each of them about halfway through. His numbers have gone from 2.75 and .920 to 3.12 and .909. He has started 10 of the last 11 games, so perhaps Justin Peters will get another shot. Peters has been pretty bad in his four appearances so far this year.

With four points last night, Tomas Plekanec has eight in his last four games.

Andrei Markov injured his right leg again late in the game last night, possibly – and probably – re-injuring his knee. In the seven games that he played since his return, PK Subban had just one point. Obviously I think Subban will pick up the production again now.

In his last five games, Jack Skille has four points, nine PIM, 14 shots on goal and is a plus-3.

First impression of the night – bail on Brent Johnson. Party is over. The golden boy is back. It doesn’t matter if he’s played well or not, and it doesn’t matter if the Pens outshot the opponent 107-2 in the last two games – the bottom line is, Marc-Andre Fleury has back-to-back wins. Done deal, we won’t see Johnson win (or even start?) two more games until January. Trust me. If you picked him up and rode him for three or four weeks, as I did, drop him now.

Mikhail Grabovski broke his massive scoring drought and do you know what I thought? Here come the points. For two weeks. At least. He has five points in his last four games. Some guys you just know. They are streaky and when a puck finally goes in, the floodgates open. Angus mentioned Wolski yesterday. There’s another example.

Braydon Holtby got the start for Washington and lost in overtime. His numbers: 2-0-1, 0.911, 2.22. With Varlamov back soon, he’ll be in the minors for most of the year, but he is a great own in keeper leagues. By the middle or late next year, one of Neuvirth and Varly will be dealt and Holtby will muscle his way onto the scene.

Andrei Kostitsyn, to a lesser extent, is another streaky player. With two last night, he has three in two games so another run is underway.

To those who pestered me throughout the summer “Why do you have Carey Price ranked so high?” That’s why. He is tied for the league lead in wins and his other key numbers are Top 10. And he’s young, so the best is still to come.

When are we going to admit that Claude Giroux is the best offensive forward on the Flyers? He has 13 points in his last nine games. And he’s awesome.

Vancouver prospect Sergei Shirokov has 11 points in his last 10 AHL games, indicating that he is getting a grasp of North American pro hockey.

Montreal prospect David Desharnais’ AHL points streak continues. He has points in all 13 contests this year.

Pittsburgh prospect goaltender Brad Thiessen’s AHL numbers so far: 7-0-0, 1.84 and 0.935

Ray Whitney had five points last night> Nothing hauls you out of a slump better than that.

Dave Bolland returned to action and he lined up with Hossa and Kane. He was pointless in 17 minutes of action.

So Marian Hossa starts off with 11 points in seven games… and has zero points in seven games after that. Hossa owners who fended off all trade offers at that time, thinking the Hossa of old was back, are kicking themselves now.

I’ll come back at you with more ramblings after lunch (ET). Shaking off last night’s beer