I apologize for the site issues today. Site was down for six hours. Currently, the forum is down. Please stand by. Wish I could give an ETA, but the forum is very unstable right now.

I found this article on Matt Read very interesting. Apparently, his slowdown was do to some minor injuries and now he feels very healthy over these past 10 days or so. He got his college degree in “Exercise Science” and would be a personal trainer if he didn’t make it in hockey. Very rigorous about his health, his eating habits and his exercise. My opinion of his future just crept up a little higher.

Mikko Koivu will miss the next two weeks with his shoulder injury, and probably longer.

Sean Bergenheim has 12 points in his last 14 games and his ice time is creeping upwards.

So is there a typo here? Or did Columbus throw 33 hits on the Red Wings… and the Wings threw TWO hits on the Blue Jackets? Has to be a mistake.

Jack Johnson! Welcome to Columbus! Zero points, minus-3. So two games in and he's minus-4 with zero points. Just a snapshot of some of the tough games to come there, I'm sure. LOL Johnson is looking around, wondering who is going to save this team and notices that everyone else is looking at HIM. It's going to be a rough couple of years…

Joey MacDonald is trying to Brian Elliott his way into some extra starts! 7-1-1, 1.70, 0.934

Niklas Kronwall tallied three points in a game in which Nicklas Lidstrom missed with an ankle injury. Sign of things to come if Lidstrom retires?

The Kings are starting to win games…starting to score just a little more. Jeff Carter isn't a part of that right now. I think you are shooting for the moon if you think he gets back to 80 points next season. Even 70 is too high. Under this coach, only one player will top that mark, and his name rhymes with Shmopitar.

The lowdown on Wild defensemen PP time last night:

Foster 3:05

Gilbert 3:18

Spurgeon 2:42

Spurgeon had points in five of his last six and should be leaned on the most, but that's not happening after one game. Exactly like the Matt Taormina situation in New Jersey. I would bench Spurgeon and hope that Yeo catches on and rights this wrong quickly.

Erik Christensen has zero points and is minus-11 in 12 games with his new team the Wild.

Blake Geoffrion played 14:22 in his Habs debut. Lars Eller played 15:09, actually seeing his ice time go down after the Kostitsyn trade.

The mighty Mike Smith won his 10^th game in a row. Included in that run are two shutouts and five one-goal games including last night's. Three OT wins and a shootout win.

Ray Whitney saw 23:48 of ice time. Nice way to save up his energy for the playoffs!

Zack Kassian saw 12:27 of ice time, with one shot and two PIM. Gragnani did not get into the lineup, the team put in Chris Tanev instead. They scored just one goal, so I think he'll get his shot soon enough. I still believe he stands to see the biggest production boost of the deadline traded players.

Nashville line combos: Fisher, with Erat and S. Kostitsyn; Legwand with Hornqvist and A. Kostitsyn; Spaling with Tootoo and Wilson; Smith with Halischuk and Bourque.

Eric Staal has 34 points in his last 25 games and is on a nine-game points streak.

I think Robin Lehner is pissed off about the Ben Bishop deal and is taking it personally – and reacting by kicking ass and taking names. Since the deal he has two wins and has stopped 60 of 62 shots. At this rate, Bishop will be left out in the cold again.

Wojtek Wolski now has two points in three games with the Panthers. Still hovering around 15 minutes of ice time and not seeing the prime linemates. This, despite Kris Versteeg missing the game.

Interesting piece on Puck Daddy about the asking price for Rick Nash. Dubinsky, JT Miller, Christian Thomas, Tim Erixon and a first rounder were offered and turned down.

Jamie Benn will be back in the lineup tonight to face the Penguins.

Teddy Purcell was to have missed last night's contest with the flu, but played – and picked up an assist.

Logan Couture missed last night's contest with a lower body injury.

San Jose line combos: Pavelski, with Marleau and Winnik; Thornton, with Clowe and Wingels; Handzus with Galiardi and Mitchell; Also – Galiardi saw some time in place of Winnik, which makes more sense.

With Jack Johnson gone, look to Slava Voynov – he saw nearly 18 minutes, plus some PP time, and picked up an assist last night.

Mathieu Perreault has 14 points in his last 19 games. Not the greatest, but still pretty good – and he's been steady in that 15-16 minute range.

Jonathan Toews has missed five games now and the prevailing theory out there right now is concussion.

Alexei Emelin hits Ryan Malone big time. Later, Malone jumps him and starts pounding: