Check what I said earlier – now sounds like Cory Schneider is getting the start against Dallas tonight.

Jonas Gustvasson is getting the start tonight for the Leafs.

James Neal is out tonight with a groin pull. I’d speculate one of Brunnstrom/Ott gets promoted to the second line with Richards and Eriksson.

Alex Burrows has been playing through a lower body injury he sustained last week against the Kings. While he is still producing at a decent clip, he doesn’t have the same speed or agility on the ice.

The target return date for Daniel Sedin is November 20th against Colorado. The Canucks have a six day break before that game, and they want to maximize the healing time for his broken foot.

Ed Jovanovski left the Coyotes game after getting his leg jammed against the boards while receiving a hit. Angus MD says he has a sprained knee ligament, but I’ll play it safe and go with the “lower body injury.”

Jason Arnott returned to Nashville's lineup, but the Preds once again failed to produce offensively. They did pepper Jonas Hiller with 40 shots, but they were 0-5 on the PP.

Patric Hornqvist had 10 shots on goal (and attempted another 10 shots). He would be producing right now if he were on a team that could actually score.

Since Dan Bylsma took over in Pittsburgh, the Penguins are 30-6-4. That is a 120+ point season over 82 games.

I have no faith in Andrei Kostitsyn turning things around. His play has regressed in a big way since the 2007-08 season, and he was relegated to the fourth line tonight. He did record an assist but his play was (once again) completely lackadaisical.

Interesting start to the Kings/Pens game – both goalies allowed their first shots against. The best line in hockey (Kopitar centering Smyth and Williams) combined for a few goals. Anze might be the best player in hockey right now. Kings really poured in on in the third period with four goals.

Peter Mueller responded to his benching by potting a goal in a 3-1 win over Chicago. He only saw 10 minutes of ice time so its obvious he'll have to earn his way back into the top six. If teams don't show up to play Phoenix this year, they won't win. The Coyotes don't have a ton of talent but they will work a lot of teams right out of the building.

The Rangers responded very well tonight against the Oilers after being shut down in Vancouver on Tuesday. Gaborik continues to show why he is worth every penny of his massive contract – even with the health risks. There is no one in the entire league as dynamic as him on a nightly basis outside of Ovechkin.

Also, old bones Sather looks like he was on to something when he cut ties with Zherdev in favour of Kotalik (it wasn't a direct swap but a pretty obvious replacement). Kotalik has fit that team like a glove, and is on pace for a monster season (currently 15 points through 17 games).

Redden and Rozsival are the 5/6 defensemen on the Rangers depth chart. They saw bottom pairing minutes against the Oilers, and probably deserved it. It is too bad that 11+ million of valuable cap space is going to waste, especially with another talented defenseman (Sanguenetti) waiting in the wings. New York is a must-watch team for those with Center Ice.

Andrew Ebbett is not fitting in with the Hawks at all. He played eight minutes and was largely ineffective. I wonder if he is Europe-bound after this season?

After a hot start, the flu bug seems to have sapped any momentum the Oilers gained out of the gate. They are 1-6 in their past 7.

The anemic Boston offense managed to fire 43 shots at Carey Price, but only snuck one past him. Price was absolutely sensational and undoubtedly earned himself another start or two with this game – very encouraging for Price owners.

The Habs are now 7-0 in games that extend past regulation time. I'd say two or three games would be a small sample size in this case, but there is something to 7-0. Calm under fire, perhaps? They have a quick, skilled team, which fits well with the four-on-four game.

Eric Belanger left the Wild game with an undisclosed upper body injury. He is/was off to a great start with 12 points in 14 games.

Ho, hum – another Lightning game, another Stamkos goal. That makes 12 so far for him.

Antero Niittymaki had 26 saves in a losing effort last night, but he is playing much better than Smith so far this season. For whatever reason Tampa keeps going back to Smith, even after strong games from Nitty. Hopefully he has earned another start after a strong game here. Nittymakki boasts a 2.09 GAA, compared to Smith's 3.64 GAA.

Since Marc Savard went down (eight games ago), the Bruins have yet to score over three goals (a feat they have accomplished only three times in that span). They have been shut out twice and scored either one or two in the rest of them. Losing David Krejci will only add salt to the wounds of the B's. I'd be very hesitant to play any Bruin outside of Chara/Bergeron and the goalies until Savard returns.

I'm sure this will be discussed to death until firm news breaks, but Peter Forsberg is once again wanting to return to hockey. A story broke earlier today that had Forsberg signing with AK Bars Kazan of the KHL, but Bob McKenzie shot that one down as being premature. I don't see Foppa going to Russia, especially with all of the interest he will garner from this side of the pond. The "supposed" front-runners are Washington and Chicago. Semin/Forsberg/Ovechkin… or how about Hossa/Forsberg/Kane. Fun times ahead here…

James Mirtle is  reporting that the Canucks have six people in Finland watching Forsberg play. Check his article out here.

I'll use this one again. Louuuuu-who? Andrew Raycroft had another gem of a game, stopping 28 of 30 shots to earn his fourth win in five starts since replacing Luongo. Luongo is aiming to return next Tuesday against St. Louis, but Raycroft is a must start in the meantime (and should get the call again tomorrow night in Dallas). He has a .937 SV % and a GAA just above 1.50.

Sobotka/Marchand update – Sobotka saw over 18 minutes of ice time and had a very involved game. Marchand saw closer to 12 and didn't do all that much.

Wanted to give some props to Josh Gorges, as he doesn't get a ton of love because he isn't a fantasy star. He has really stepped his play up in Markov's absence. Tonight he had 23 minutes of ice time and managed to fire six shots on goal as well. Obviously he is prone to mistakes but he is probably the best defenseman on Montreal right now.

Logan Couture scored his first NHL goal in a shootout loss against the Wings. Both Nabokov and Osgood (35 and 33 saves, respectively) were terrific. Ozzie now has strung two very strong games back-to-back.

Sticking with the first NHL goal trend, Lars Eller potted the lone St. Louis goal tonight. Him and Oshie looked fantastic together – both seem to be puck magnets. Look for these two to continue to play together as the Blues try and find some way to get the offense going.

The Wild look completely lost so far this season. Backstrom was yanked after allowing four goals on 17 shots, and Martin Havlat appears to have developed an allergy to shooting the puck. After firing close to 250 last season on Chicago (in a fairly limited offensive role), Havlat has put just 29 pucks on the net through 13 games. No wonder he only has one goal so far…

Michael Russo’s take on the game here. He has some harsh words for an unnamed Wild player’s lack of accountability. I’ll throw a guess out there – Brent Burns?

The Blues have scored one total goal in their last three games. Ouch. Not really sure what the issue is – I think a combination of effort and execution is to blame. Now is probably a great time to buy low on some Blues (especially McDonald and Boyes – the proven talents).

Mason Raymond has quietly been racking up the goals lately. He sniped his sixth in the past eight games tonight on the power play. Once his head catches up to his legs (and he is showing signs of that this season), he should become a productive 55-65 point second line speedster.

Kevin Bieksa looked decent at right wing, but obviously wasn't completely comfortable. Once Hansen/Bernier return (not sure who will be first), expect him to slide back to defense.

Sweden's U20 team is in Ontario right now playing some of the university teams. They defeated Concordia 8-2 last night. The Swedes have a scary-good team headed into the World Juniors this winter.

Christian Ehrhoff played close to 27 minutes, recorded an assist, four penalty minutes, and fired two shots on goal. I have no idea how the Sharks were not able to get a good return for him – he has been far and away Vancouver's best defenseman this season.

Chris Neil absolutely smoked Viktor Hedman, knocking him out of the game (and out of this world). Neil then beat down Steve Downie after the fact. I'd speculate Hedman has some sort of concussion. The video clip is posted at the end of the ramblings.

Jason Spezza finally broke out with a three point game, including his first (yes, first) goal of the season.

Carolinas has recalled Zach Boychuk, as both Ruutu and Whitney were hurt on Wednesday against Florida. Boychuk has scored four goals through Albany's first 12 games. If given the right opportunity, he could easily bump one of the under performing vets down the depth chart. He is absolutely filthy around the net. Carolina is a team to watch – the "old guard" of Brind'Amour, Whitney, and so on is going to be making way pretty soon for Sutter, Boychuk, and Bowman up front.

Best PP teams so far: Philly (no surprise), Atlanta (I figured they would be near the top), Toronto (Kaberle), Vancouver (surprise), and San Jose (no surprise).

Best PK teams so far: Minnesota (at least they can do something right), Colorado (surprise across the board), Rangers, Flyers, and Blackhawks. Flyers are special team monsters so far.

Another interesting stat – it is early, but the Caps have a markedly higher winning percentage (.666 compared to .500) when they are trailing after the first compared to leading. Hockey is such a mental game and although players/coaches don't like to admit it, being up 1-0 makes you play differently, regardless of that being the strategy or not.

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Here is the clip of Neil's hit and the subsequent fight:

Here are two dandy saves made by Raycroft last night: