Part 1 of a two-part set – Dobber tells you who to watch for in the WJC. Article here at thn.com

Marcus here:

Two early games on the schedule today.

Manny Fernandez made 32 saves and is 10-1-1 in his last 12 games. Look for Julien to ride Manny as long as he wins after Thomas allowed 5 goals against in his last game. Kessel extended his point streak to 17 games with a assist (14G 12A), while Krejci had a goal to give him 24 pts in his last 14 games.

With Biron out with the flu, Nittymaki made his 3rd straight start and it might have been the best of his career. He made 47 saves with 25 of them coming in the 1st. Nittymaki should be rewarded with a 4th straight start. After keeping his team in the game, the Flyers exploded offensively with the line of Carter, Lupul and Hartnell combining for 12 pts.

As reported in the forum last night – Teemu Selanne cut his thigh with his own skate and was taken off the ice. He will return to Anaheim today for an MRI and will not play in Monday's contest.

Sergei Zubov is out for the season. He will have hip surgery in a couple of weeks and will be on the shelf for 4-6 months.

The Zubov injury is an opportunity for Trevor Daley to continue putting up the numbers. He has 11 points in 31 games to go with 24 PIMs. Daley left the last game early with a lower body injury, but was with the team on their trip to Ottawa and will be a game time decision, so it is not serious. Apparently.

Andy Greene was back in the NJ lineup last night and played 14 minutes. He was pointless and a plus-1 and did not see any PP time. Paul Martin and Mike Mottau saw all the PP time, but hopefully for Greene owners he will take over for the latter next game.

Brassard's injury is indeed a dislocated shoulder. The Dispatch reports that he will have an MRI Sunday to determine the extent of the damage, but at best it will be "a matter of weeks".

Ryan Whitney will still play a game for Wilkes-Barre, so he will not be with Pittsburgh against the Leafs tonight. He will join the NHL squad for Tuesday's contest for sure.

Pascal Dupuis has an undisclosed injury. He left last game early and did not practice yesterday acording to the Post-Gazette.

The Tennessean is reporting that Martin Erat's slump (three points in 11 games) has moved him to play with Fiddler and Peverley next game.

MA Bergeron suffered a LBI last night and did not travel with the team to St. Louis for today's game.

The Sens scratched Zubov and Winchester last night. The latter with a shoulder injury and the former for "personal reasons" (didn't have the paperwork to get into the USA)

Kyle Okposo was back in the NYI lineup and played 18:01. That's the second most this season. He was pointless and minus-2.

Kari Lehtonen will get the start today for Atlanta. Pavelec has been sent down.

Fredrik Norrena has signed with Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL.

The Flyers have returned Andreas Nodl to the Phantoms of the AHL. It was done to get him some ice time, and he is expected back up soon.

Randy Jones could be back in the Flyers lineup tomorrow.

The Caps sent down Semen Varlamov (I'm still childishly calling him that, though I know he changed his handle in North America) because Jose Theodore was ready to go. Varlamov was 2-0-0 and .953 SP and looks to be  the starter for this team possibly as early as next year.

Mike Green practiced yesterday according to Tarik El-Bashir's Blog. Alexander Semin did not.

Michael Ryder has 11 points in his last nine contests. Six of them goals.