It turns out that Scott Hartnell plays for the Flyers this season. Just in case you were wondering "whatever happened to Scott Hartnell?" He scored his first goal of the season last night and actually has two points and is a plus-2 in three games. This may be a sign of an awakening finally.

Kimmo Timonen picked up four points last night, giving him 10 on the season.

Cory Stillman's 22 points are good for ninth in scoring and second on Carolina.

The best fantasy goalie in the NHL, Roberto Luongo, is finally starting to show it. He has won three straight games and has stopped 89 of 95 shots.

Ryan Whitney returned after missing four games with a groin injury and he assisted on both PIT goals last night.

Marian Hossa has six points in his last four games.

Chris Clark will return to the Caps lineup Thursday. This may impact Fleischmann's recent offensive success and ice time. Alexander Semin will likely hold off for another 10 days – the Caps have learned their lesson with him and will wait until he is 100 percent.

Matt Carle was a healthy scratch for the Sharks last night.

Sandis Ozolinsh scored his first goal of the season. He has played over 20 minutes per contest in each of his five games so it is looking as if he is a safe player to activate and a dark horse to reach 40 points this season. While he plays, Carle or Ehrhoff get scratched.

Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom aggravated his groin yesterday in practice. It was minor, so he may still get the start today. Gaborik, meanwhile, skated hard in practice, but the team may hold him out one more game as a precaution.

Pavel Kubina suffered a knee injury last night and left the game in the third period. Consider him day to day.

Ryan Craig returned to the Tampa lineup and scored a power play goal. His presence could help the offense across the board. Not that he's a star – but he has a nice offensive touch for the third line which would help the other two. Michel Ouellet picked up another assist last night and played nearly 20 minutes. Give Ouellet six in his last five and nine in his last 12.

Freddy Meyer was plucked back off waivers by the Islanders yesterday. With Berard still battling groin problems and Aaron Johnson out with a knee injury, the Isles needed another body.

Peter Mueller's hot streak (another assist last night) is helping Steve Reinprecht hit the scoresheet with frequency. The veteran has seven points in three games for the 'Yotes.

I have been expecting a slowdown from Mike Richards but it hasn't been happening. He has 19 points in 16 games. He is not a 90-point player and never will be. In fact, I had him pegged as the type of player who might squeek past the 80-point mark once or twice in his career, but mostly just hover around 67-72 points. I'm going to stick with that opinion and project him to finish in that range this season.

Chris Mason has pushed his SV% from .870 to .893 and his GAA from 3.89 to 3.40 on the season in the last three games (2-0-1). The Preds will continue to throw him out there as he is finally playing with confidence. He had me worried there for a second.

Yanick Lehoux has signed with Khimik of the RSL.