Brett Sterling finally got into the Atlanta lineup and wouldn't you know it – he scored a goal. Imagine that, an offensive player helping a team that needs offense by scoring a goal. Who would have thought it possible? Hopefully Anderson leaves him in the lineup and gives him opportunity. He played 11 minutes last night and minimal PP time.

Marty Reasoner took a shot off the side of the knee and is probably going to miss a week of action for Atlanta.

Doughty, O'Sullivan, Brown and Stoll were all plus-3 last night.

Playing in his third game for the Kings, Kyle Quincey picked up his second point. He is seeing time on the second PP unit. His arrival and subsequent success has made Peter Harrold obsolete. I don't expect Harrold to get into games unless there is an injury. Quincey, on the other hand, may be worth a pick up if you need a depth rearguard who will get you some points – at least early on.

Pittsburgh sent Bill Thomas down to Wilkes-Barre of the AHL.

Matt Cooke will be back in the lineup today.

Manny Legace suffered a hip injury when he tripped over the red carpet in the puck drop ceremony. He played the first period, but then took himself out of the game. If you took a flyer on Ben Bishop last week, as I had hinted could be a good move, you just might see a few games out of him.

Mathieu Schneider has two points and is a minus-6 in seven games for Atlanta.

In practice, Robert Nilsson has reportedly replaced Cole on the Horcoff/ Hemsky line. This will pay dividends for Nilsson owners.

"The Master" Shawn Bates has signed to tryout in SM-Liiga (the Finnish League)

Daniel Briere has a torn muscle in his abdomen and will be out for about four weeks. His absence should ensure that Andreas Nodl will remain with the big club for at least his nine-game trial.

Can someone tell me when Barry Trotz switched teams to coach the Blue Jackets? Nikita Filatov played 2:54 last night – a total of four shifts – yet he still managed to be a plus-1. You have to play these players until they make a mistake, then I can see benching them for the game. But this not playing the rookie crap has to stop.

In keeping with the above, you may not have noticed because both Voracek and Brassard are putting up points (six in seven games), but they are only getting 11-14 minutes per game.

Columbus rookie Derek Dorsett leads the NHL with 39 penalty minutes.

Ryan Getzlaf finaly scored his first goal of the season. We're still waiting on Corey Perry.

Anaheim's leading goal scorers after eight games:
Beauchemin         3
R. Niedermayer        2
Sami Pahlsson        2
Brian Sutherby        2
Todd Marchant        2
George Parros        2
Nobody else has more than one goal.

The Hurricanes are apparently happy with the play of Sergei Samsonov, and attribute his pointless start to a slump and bad luck. When he does score, expect the flood gates to open. If he takes too long though, the 'Canes will run out of patience.

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