Keith Yandle was the best player on the ice in the PHX/BOS game today. I am not surprised, but quite a few people in the hockey world are. He is going to be a star very soon. His defensive game has improved quite considerably over the past season.

Chicago has recalled Brandon Pirri, who will play tonight. Patrick Sharp will miss the game (no reason given yet).

Jordan Schroeder had three assists for the Manitoba Moose yesterday. Cody Hodgson was pointless.

Ekman-Larsson looks really, really good today.

Jack Hillen is a healthy scratch tonight, per Chris Botta. The Islanders are relatively deep on the back end and I’d expect to see three or four defensemen rotate in and out each game.

Peter Chiarelli is taking care of business. Today he locked up Zdeno Chara to a massive $45.5-million, seven-year contract extension. $6.5 million per season, which is a million less per than he currently makes.

Jeff Tambellini has been recalled by the Canucks. No word on if he is playing tonight… but he could be a good short-term sleeper if he slots in on the second offensive unit with Raymond and Kesler.

Per Nick Kypreos – Ondrej Pavelec is conscious and has all of his vitals in check. Great news.

It will take a while to get used to seeing Modano in a Wings sweater.

As I wrote back in August, Henrik Sedin will officially be named captain of the Canucks before tonight's game.

Antti Niemi has more points than Crosby and Malkin combined so far this season.

Jeff Skinner assited on the lone Carolina goal in regulation, and he finished the game off in the shootout. I am glad Skinner is paying immediate dividends – I didn't manage to land him in either of my keeper leagues that have farm squads, but I am glad I was able to get more than a few people on his bandwagon. He is going to be a 45+ goal scorer at the NHL level for a long time.

Detroit/Anaheim game (the one I watched)… thoughts:

Datsyuk and Zetterberg both looked absolutely filthy. Pavel is going to return to the 90+ point mark. Zetterberg probably won't play enough to keep up with him, but he should be close to or above the point-per-game mark.

Anaheim is going to allow a lot of goals this season. Jonas Hiller owners get ready for some ugly nights.

New Jersey defenseman Matt Taormina made his NHL debut yesterday. He had 10 goals and 50 points with Lowell last season. He played close to 22 minutes, including a few shifts with the man advantage. After Greene, he is the only puck mover on New Jersey's back end.

Speaking of Greene, he had an assist but saw zero time on the power play. Taormina played 1:09 – the Devils went with four forwards and Taormina on their first unit.

Brandon Sutter was 1-for-18 in the faceoff circle yesterday…

Michael Leighton is out for 6-8 weeks, as Dobber reported on here yesterday. Huge opportunity for Bobrovsky. I know absolutely nothing about him, and I bet many are in the same boat. Huge risk for a potential Cup contender to go with a rookie between the pipes, but the options are limited.

Jussi Jokinen had an assist and now has three points in the first two games. He fits Carolina's system so well because they utilize his strengths – puck poise, vision, and ability to make plays off of the half-wall on the power play. I don't think 60+ points last season was a fluke.

Carolina PP update:

Corvo and Pitkanen both over five minutes. McBain less than three. Am I concerned as a McBain owner? Not really. Over the course of a full season, he will emerge as the best threat. Pitkanen is too valuable defensively and at even strength to play five or more minutes each night on the PP.

O'Sullivan saw less than 10 minutes of ice time.

Both Cam Ward and Nik Backstrom had very strong games. Minnesota and Carolina are only going to go as far as their goaltenders take them this season (in Minnesota's case, it won't be far out of the Western Conference basement).

Anton Stralman had an assist and played over seven minutes on the PP. Columbus is a great situation for him – his competition for PP time consists of Fedor Tyutin and Mike Commodore.

The Neal-Richards-Eriksson line hasn't skipped a beat. The trio combined for six points, a plus-6 rating, and 6 shots on goal.