Weird situation with Pacioretty – we are told he is fine, then out long term, then out for three games, and then he ends up playing last night. He is battling a wrist issue right now but it didn’t stop him from scoring two goals (how many of you had him on the bench assuming he was hurt, though?).

Sean Couturier led Flyer forwards in PK time by a whopping margin. He’ll likely play a role like Ryan O’Reilly did a few years ago with the Avalanche.

Yannick Weber scored a goal and trailed only PK Subban for ice time among Canadien defensemen.

David Desharnais had a strong game, winning nine faceoffs and recording two helpers. He’s quite clearly better than Gomez for the second line at this point (although that isn’t saying a whole lot).

Gabriel Landeskog had a helper and led Colorado with seven shots on goal. The Avalanche were once again without Peter Mueller. They really, really need to add another offensive forward.

Speaking of offensive forwards available for trade, Rene Bourque had two goals for Calgary against Colorado.

Rookie Roman Horak scored his first NHL goal and added an assist. He saw minimal PP time but played almost 16 minutes at even strength.

Anton Babchuk had a helper last night but he was the only Flame skater to play less than 10 minutes.

Alex Steen scored twice for the Blues last night and now has eight points in nine games. For the most part, he has skated on a line at even strength with Arnott and D’Agostini this season.

I made it to the finalists for the contest the Province Vancouver is having to replace the Kurtenbloggers. How the contest works – each weekend, the 15 finalists will have open space to blog away, and the links will be posted on the Province website and in the paper. Each day of the week (Monday through Friday), five bloggers will get a chance to have their own day. I don't know mine yet, but I will pass it along when I do.

The topics, of course, will likely focus on the Canucks. I have some fun stuff planned. My first piece this weekend – the worst 10 Canucks of the past decade. My criteria – must have played at least one game with the team, starting in 2001-02. I'm giving away an autographed 8×10 of Alex Edler to the person who most accurately guesses my list.

If you have any ideas for Canuck-related articles, let me know.

Early season surprise of the year as to be Nik Khabibulin, no? He was fantastic against the Canucks on Tuesday, and his numbers are ridiculous.

I'm taking ideas/thoughts/suggestions for my November edition of the 15 Points to Consider. Post them below.

Jonas Hiller with a hilarious moustache-themed mask for "Movember." I have never stuck it out for a full month (mostly due to the fact that I end up looking like a creeper), but I may take part this year.

The Kings need to get more offense from Mike Richards. How do they accomplish that? Slide around the second line a bit? Call up Loktionov and move him to wing?

Ottawa made the right move sending Zibanejad back to Sweden. The talent, drive, and tenacity is there, but he clearly isn't ready for the grind that is a full NHL season. I think he's further ahead than many had originally thought. He'll be compared for the rest of his career with Mark Scheifele and Sean Couturier, and I think all three are going to be very, very good NHLers.

Was at the Canucks game/snooze fest with Paul Nielsen last night, aka one half of the Hockey Pool Geek. My thoughts:

Brian Elliott wasn't really tested, but looked sharp.

Shattenkirk made a few great plays offensively. Sees the ice well, moves the puck really well.

Booth looks OK – great speed, good hands, but he's a bit uncomfortable in a new spot right now.

Like most teams in the league, the Canucks are a lot different when down 1-0 compared to up 1-0.

Cody Hodgson had arguably his worst game of the season. He saw some time with Kesler and Booth at the end of the game. He made a few decent passes but had trouble with the size of the Blues forwards and defensemen.

Vlad Sobotka skated with Backes and Stewart on the top line.

St. Louis really misses McDonald. They played a great road game but the creativity was lacking among their forwards.

Looking forward to seeing Eric Lindros in the alumni game at the Winter Classic this year. Sounds like they are trying to reunite the Legion of Doom line, along with John LeClair and Mikael Renberg.

Michael Sauer will play against Toronto tonight for the Rangers. An underrated but important defenseman for a team already missing Marc Staal.

Even with reports making the rounds that there have been up to six serious offers for Kyle Turris, Phoenix GM Don Maloney is standing by his words that Turris won't play for another NHL club this season if he doesn't come to term with the Coyotes. I may be forgetting someone, but the last time a player of so little significance held out was Peter Schaefer with the Canucks, no?

Justin Bourne breaks down the three different types of shootout shooters (and yes, I still hate the shootout).

With Drew Doughty coming back soon, the Kings will likely send down Slava Voynov. But should they? He led all LA blue liners in ice time on Tuesday night against the Devils. He's a lot like Doughty (and Johnson and Martinez, for that matter) – not big, but skilled offensively and pretty physical.

Jewels from the Crown takes a look at the potential options with Voynov.

"I can also see Rob Scuderi and Willie Mitchell working as the third pair, in a world in which (1) there is no Matt Greene, and (2) Doughty and Johnson have graduated to veteran status. That day has not arrived, though it might not be too far off.

The only other way it makes sense to keep Voynov with the big club is if Lombardi feels like he’s a better option than Martinez right now. I’m not sure about that. Voynov has more upside than Martinez, but Martinez has the experience. "

LIKE the Dobber Sports Facebook page. Why? Because on November 2nd – Wednesday – I will draw 12 names. The first name drawn from the list of “likes” will receive an EASTON Stealth RS hockey stick – this stick kicks ass, take it from me. The one I have is a left shot, so if you shoot right and your name is drawn I have a Synergy EQ50 I can send you instead. The second name drawn will receive – courtesy of forum buddy Sin Bin – an autographed Sergei Gonchar picture. The next 10 names drawn will recieve 10 free premium memberships at Pick’em First, which is a kick-ass fantasy tool that helps you find and read information on players of interest quickly and easily. The app itself is free, but the premium features are not – but I have 10 memberships I can give away. So get on it!

Horak’s first NHL goal – a good second effort: