Thanks to newper on the message boards for bringing this to my attention – Hossa is not playing tomorrow, but is aiming to return on Wednesday. I had read a report a few days ago that said he was playing tomorrow, but that isn’t the case.

Vancouver lines for tomorrow: Burrows with the twins, Raymond with Kesler and Samuelsson. Time to buy low on Burrows – playing hurt plus not with the twins hurt his production quite a bit. He should be close to 22-25 goals when the season is all said and done.

Minnesota has claimed Andrew Ebbett off of waivers.

Nathan Horton has 13 points in his past 11 games. He does have a lot of upside, I just personally have never been a fan. I am not sure Florida is the place he will break out, but I can’t see the Panthers moving up unless they get a scoring forward back.

The Leafs are in a tough spot – Wilson and Burke are great friends, but I don’t think Wilson is a good fit for this team. He is a great motivation coach and can get a lot out of his players, but he has this Leafs team playing way too wide open for a team with such little skill. What they need is a really sound tactical/defensive coach to build a foundation and a system until more talent comes along.

Yann “the man” Danis is getting the start tonight for the Devils.

Orpik is playing tonight. Gonchar is as well, but he is experiencing some pain in his wrist after logging heavy minutes against the Sens. He probably came back early, so hopefully it is more of an issue of just being sore instead of another injury.

Daniel Sedin is playing on Sunday. These may not be the lines for Sunday night… but expect to see Burrows with the twins, and Samuelsson with Kesler and Raymond. Things get cloudy when Grabner (mid-December) and Demitra (January) are ready to return.

Sounds like Hossa is going to make his return on Sunday night as well. Hossa, Kane, Toews, Campbell, Keith? Scary.

Neuvirth has been returned to Hershey, Varlamov is starting tonight. I assume this means Theodore is back with the team.

Florida has recalled both Shawn Matthias and Michal Repik for today’s game. Repik has 12 points in 13 games with Rochester, and Matthias has six in 12.

Nikita Filatov’s first game in Russia was a three-point effort in a win for CSKA. Thanks to Dmitry Chesnokov for the update.

Vesa Toskala is getting the start tonight for the Leafs.

Drew Stafford left the Sabres/Bruins game with an injury and is doubtful for tonight.

John Carlson had a strong debut for the Caps – the way he skates and the fact that he shoots right… I mixed him up with Green a few times. He’ll see more ice time now that Tom Poti is hurt as well… no update on Poti’s status yet.

Comeback player of the year… how about Tomas Plekanec? 69 points in 2007-08, only 47 last year, and currently on pace for a team-leading 71. (Check that, he is on pace for 78, ESPN is always late to update their projections page.)

Rene Bourque left Thursday's game after being rocked by Chicago defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, and didn't travel with the team. He was placed on the IR and is out at least a week.

Eric Fehr showed exactly why I am high on him in keeper formats. He let go with an absolutely lethal wrister to beat Price for the first goal of the game. He isn't seeing a lot of ice time, but looked great skating on a line with equally impressive Mathieu Perreault and Brooks Laich.

Perreault was dominant at times with his speed and tenacity. He isn't big but plays a big man's game, similar to Claude Giroux. I'd think about adding him/trading for him in keeper league formats – after Backstrom, the Caps have no long-term offensive prospects down the middle.

Mike Green had two helpers in the loss, and is on fire offensively. He has three straight two-assist games (and four in the last five). In his last five games he has nine points. He is on pace for only 11 goals, but 75 points is right where many had him pegged in the pre-season. I'm sorry I ever doubted you Mike!

Christian "Bobby Hoff' Ehrhoff had an unforgettable game. Roberto Luongo gave him the nickname after the 5-2 win, in a reference to Bobby Orr (Bobby Hoff is also the name of a famous poker player, so maybe Luongo is being more clever than I think…). Anyway, Ehrhoff was a post away from recording a hattrick, and he could have had four or five points. He ended the night with two goals and a beauty assist. Many (including me) expected his offense to sag a bit coming to the Canucks, but he has been far and away the best and most consistent d-man for the team. His +11 leads the team and the second best defenseman is Willie Mitchell at +3.

As Hyperscythe posted over on the message boards – Daniel Briere is officially a Flyer! Briere got in to a fight with Marc-Edouard Vlasic… Now I haven't seen the fight but I can only imagine how it looked…

Alex Burrows looked great after a few days of rest. As I said yesterday he's been battling hip and groin issues for close to a month now. His production should pick up with Daniel returning now.

Dany Heatley now has 17 goals in 24 games after the hatty last night – on pace for around 60… don't be surprised if he hits it. Heatley had a goal on the PP, on the PK, and at even strength. Him and Thornton seem to be clicking…

Carey Price is playing absolutely awesome right now. Kudos for those who were patient with him – he has the swagger back.

Travis Moen was promoted to the top line, and had a goal in 20 minutes of ice time. While Gionta is up he makes for a great fill-in, especially considering that he will probably be good for a scrap or two.

Michal Neuvirth looked pretty good for the Caps, stopping 19 of 22 shots. He didn't give up any weak goals and kept Washington in the game, they just couldn't solve Price. Spacek did a great job shutting Ovechkin down as well, as he was limited to "only" five shots on goal.

Florida's top line combined for five points in overtime win over the Wings. Frolik, Weiss, and Horton all will pick up the pace. Horton is frustrating because with his skill set and size he should be dominant, but he takes so many nights off. Frolik is the long-term gem to own on that team, and Weiss is a pretty steady center who should settle in to 50-60 points per season. Like I mentioned a few days ago, Florida really spreads out the ice time. None of these three saw more than 18 minutes of ice time, which is strange for a top line (once again Dvorak led Panther forwards in ice time).

Scott Clemmensen hasn't played in a while but earned another start or two with a fabulous performance, stopping 39 of 40 shots. I dropped him in one of my keepers in the pre-season, but if you have the roster space and are desperate for goalie points, think about him. This was a huge statement game for him. Florida will be more comfortable handing the reigns to him when Vokoun decides to have another one of his off nights.

Cory Stillman will be out for a while after suffering a knee injury. He was on the receiving end of a big hit from Brad Stuart. Stillman was in the midst of a solid offensive stretch with 10 points in his last eight games. As if Florida wasn't having enough problems offensively…

Brent Burns missed the game last night – not sure why, but I'd speculate he sat out with the flu. He has no reported injury and is way beyond being a healthy scratch.

Scott Gomez left the Caps/Habs game and didn't return. I'll update this one tomorrow. Not sure what he has/how serious it may be.

LOOOOOOOCH scored a goal in his second game back from injury. He still saw limited minutes (under 14).

Tuukka Rask had a great game, as Thomas missed his second straight with a minor injury. Rask is probably good enough to be a starter somewhere in the league, but he won't get that chance unless Thomas is out for a while, or the Bruins trade him.

John Scott, the behemoth defenseman on the Wild, was a –2 in only five minutes of ice time. Ouch.

Jack Hillen is logging a TON of minutes. I don't watch the Isles all that much, but I can speculate that he is playing very well at both ends of the ice. He led the Isles in ice time last night, playing more than Mark Streit. (Only 20 seconds more… but hey I'll take it!)

Craig Anderson does not like playing Vancouver. He got shelled again and now has a career 1-7-1 record against them. He was strong through two periods, but the Canucks pumped four goals passed him in the final frame.

David Jones skated on the top unit with Stastny and Wolski. He has great hands, and he displayed them on a great deflection for the first goal of the game.

Liles only played 16 minutes in his return, but he made his offensive presence felt with two assists. He is a steady offensive defenseman who should be good for .5 points-per-game.

Dan Boyle had another great game, scoring a goal and playing close to 30 minutes. You can bet Team Canada is watching…

Claude Giroux had three points, and how has six in his last three games. He's gone from a 45 point pace to a 60 point pace in about a week. Maybe my 70 point prediction wasn't too far off?

Saturday should be a dandy, with 13 games on the tube. I love how the NHL is really stacking up the Saturday nights this season!