Columbus forward Andrew Murray will miss about four weeks with a shoulder injury, according to the Dispatch. This is of fantasy interest only because it pretty much ensures that for four weeks Nikita Filatov will probably not be scratched. He’ll still get eight minutes of ice time, but he won’t be scratched. Probably.

From the Dispatch: “The coach is happy with the progress of Nikita Filatov, who likely will play on the second line with Jake Voracek and Antoine Vermette. Filatov played his best back-to-back games. He played a season-high 9:51 on Sunday in Los Angeles.”

Preds probable lines: Wilson with Sullivan and Horny; Legwand with Dumont and Scatchard; Santorelli with Erat and Ward.

Jimmy Howard came on strong in relief last night after Osgood was yanked. Os gave up two goals on four shots. A couple more of these and you can give Howard 45 starts this year. But we need a couple more of these to happen first.

According to the Canadian Press, Edmonton’s Ladislav Smid has the H1N1 virus. Derek Armstrong has reportedly just recovered from said virus.

The Ducks have signed Kyle Calder to a two-way contract.

Sure enough, the Thrashers have recalled Jason Krog from the AHL to replace Kovalchuk.

The NHL has suspended Steve Ott for two games for the hit shown below on Carlo Colaiacovo.

Simon Gagne has two small hernias in one of his groins. If he has surgery, he is looking at missing the Olympics and possibly the regular season. If he doesn’t have surgery, you are still looking at weak production and sporadic missed games. With that one piece of news, I’ve concluded that 50 points is out of the question for him this year.

Petr Budaj has been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, according to the Denver Post.

If Joe Pavelski’s original timetable is to be believed, he will be back either Friday or Sunday from his foot injury. Nothing official from San Jose’s camp on that.

After missing two games with an illness, Alex Semin was back in the WAS lineup. The big line was reunited and it sparked Niklas Backstrom out of his slump (four points). You’ll hear lots on the Washington boys in Andrew Walker’s interview with Shaone Morrisonn in Dobber Nation. The show is delayed – until Friday now – thanks to silly and weird technical difficulties, many of which center around my move (which is today, incidentally – how’s this for dedication? Ramblings on moving day)

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The Senators have sent Erik Karlsson to the minors. His minus-4 was a team low. Proof positive that you cannot go strictly by a strong camp. A player may “look” good out there and dominate, but when the season starts it’s completely different. You can ask Viktor Stalberg and Sergei Shirokov for more details.

I’m still waiting for Wojtek Wolski to slow down…

Tomas Fleischmann has a point in two games in his AHL stint. Expect a re-call soon. I believe he’ll play this weekend.

Jiri Tlusty has 10 points in eight games for the Marlies. Good to see him find his groove. Now he just needs to translate that up a level.