Hockey today - October 10
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SCOREBOARD
Wednesday, Oct 9
Ottawa at Atlanta (7 p.m. EDT).
The Senators have opened the season with four straight wins.
IN GOOD COMPANY
Mats Sundin had assist in Toronto's 7-1 loss to Carolina on Tuesday night for his 916th point as a Maple Leaf, tying him with Darryl Sittler for the club record. Sundin remained tied with Sittler at 389 for the club's goals record. His assist tied him with Sittler at 527 for second place in team history. Borje Salming owns the record with 620.
POWERING UP
Carolina scored four power-play goals during Tuesday night's 7-1 rout of Toronto.
BERARD'S BACK
Defenseman Bryan Berard signed a one-year, $725,000 deal with the New York Islanders on Tuesday after an impressive tryout during the preseason. Berard began his NHL career with the Islanders a decade ago and earned rookie of the year honors in the 1996-97 season after being acquired by New York from Ottawa for fellow defenseman Wade Redden. A roster spot opened up when Freddy Meyer was claimed off waivers by Phoenix on Monday.
PLAYING WITH PAIN
Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby practiced Tuesday and plans to play against Montreal on Wednesday night despite a bruised right foot.
BACKUP PLAN
Dallas recalled goalie Tobias Stephan from Iowa of the AHL on Tuesday. He will replace backup goalie Mike Smith, who bruised his arm in practice Tuesday.
SPEAKING
''I haven't been myself, just for the fact of what's been going on. Now that I know everything is going to be fine, I can move on and yeah, I'm ready to go.'' - Toronto's Jason Blake on his battle with leukemia.
Wednesday's key NHL matchup notes
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York Rangers at New York Islanders
The Rangers lost their first four games against the Islanders last season before going 3-0-1 in the final four. The Islanders were 2-1-1 at the Nassau Coliseum versus the Rangers in 2006-07.
Ottawa Senators at Atlanta Thrashers
The Senators will look to end their struggles against Atlanta, which won both meetings at Philips Arena and three of four overall last season. Gerber is 3-4-0 with a 3.50 GAA in nine games against the Thrashers, including 0-2-0 with a 4.11 GAA in four appearances in Atlanta.
Phoenix Coyotes at Columbus Blue Jackets
Phoenix will play its first road game Wednesday. The Coyotes were 13-26-2 on the road in 2006-07 and are looking to avoid an eighth straight loss away from home.
Montreal Canadiens at Pittsburgh Penguins
Canadiens goaltender Cristobal Huet has played well in the first two games this season, and is 3-0-0 with a 1.46 GAA and one shutout lifetime against Pittsburgh.
Florida Panthers at Tampa Bay Lightning
Florida might have a good chance to get its first victory of the year as the Panthers went 5-2-1 in last season's series.
They outscored Tampa Bay 33-24 in those games, including 18-6 in the teams' final three meetings of the year - all Florida victories.
Calgary Flames at Detroit Red Wings
The Flames and Red Wings split their four games in 2006-07, with each team winning twice on its own ice.
Edmonton Oilers at Minnesota Wild
Minnesota wing Marian Gaborik, who doesn't have a point yet this year, had seven goals and four assists in seven games against Edmonton in 2006-07.
San Jose Sharks at Chicago Blackhawks
Evgeni Nabokov was nearly impenetrable against Chicago in 2006-07, defeating the Blackhawks three times while allowing just two goals on 69 shots.
Nashville Predators at St. Louis Blues
Chris Mason was named the NHL's third star of the week Monday, having stopped 63 of 64 shots against Colorado and Dallas to give him a 0.50 goals-against average. He is 10-1-0 with a 1.84 GAA in 13 games against the Blues.
Los Angeles Kings at Dallas Stars
Marty Turco went 5-0-0 with a 1.77 goals-against average against the Kings last season after going 2-3-1 with a 3.88 GAA against them in 2005-06. In his career against them, he's 11-8-1 with two ties and a 2.58 GAA.
Boston Bruins at Anaheim Ducks
Boston (1-1-0), which is playing the third game of a season-opening five-game road trip, is looking to defeat Anaheim for the third straight time. The Bruins have beaten the Ducks by identical 4-3 scores following a loss in October 2002.
Philadelphia Flyers at Vancouver Canucks
Roberto Luongo, second in the NHL last season with 75 starts, will likely be facing the Flyers for the first time with the Canucks. He went 2-5-2 with one tie and a 3.30 goals-against average in 10 starts against them with Florida.
Despite injury, Crosby plans to face Habs
Posted: October 9, 2007
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby practiced Tuesday and plans to play against Montreal on Wednesday night despite a bruised right foot.
Crosby did not practice Monday, two days after a shot by Anaheim defenseman Francois Beauchemin deflected off his skate during the first period of Pittsburgh's 5-4 victory. Crosby was in considerable pain, but returned to the game within a few minutes.
"The swelling has gone down and I felt pretty good," said Crosby, who does not plan to wear any protective padding in his skate.
Crosby, the NHL's leading scorer and most valuable player last season, has one point in two games.
Blues' defenseman day to day with fractured foot
October 10, 2007
ST. LOUIS (AP) -St. Louis Blues rookie defenseman Erik Johnson is day to day with a hairline fracture of his right foot, the team said Wednesday.
Johnson, the first overall pick of the 2006 draft, was evaluated by team physician Dr. Rick Wright on Tuesday. The Blues recalled defenseman Micki DuPont from Peoria, Ill., of the American Hockey League.
DuPont, 27, played in two preseason games for St. Louis. He had been assigned to Peoria on Monday, returning because of the Johnson injury.
Johnson is one of three top defenseman out for the Blues. Eric Brewer is out two to three weeks with a shoulder injury and Jay McKee is out four to six weeks with a broken foot.
The following goalies have been confirmed by a source:
Ilya Bryzgalov, Anaheim Ducks - Bryzgalov is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Bruins, reports the Boston Globe blog. Tread with caution though as Jean-Sebastien Giguere's return from hernia surgery is imminent and there's a solid chance that Giguere will be activated for tonight's game.
Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins - Fleury is the probable starter for Wednesday's game the Canadiens, reports the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Martin Biron, Philadelphia Flyers - Biron is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Canucks, reports the Philly Burbs.
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks - Luongo is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Flyers, reports the Vancouver Sun.
Craig Anderson, Florida Panthers - Anderson is now the probable starter for Wednesday's game the Lightning, reports the St. Petersburg Times. Tomas Vokoun will probably start tomorrow.
Johan Holmqvist, Tampa Bay Lightning - Holmqvist is the probable starter for Wednesday's game Panthers, reports the Tampa Tribune. The Tampa Tribune beat writer didn't get a chance to ask John Tortorella if Marc Denis is due for a start soon, but chances are the answer is no.
Dwayne Roloson, Edmonton Oilers - Roloson is now the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Wild, reports the Edmonton Journal.
Jason LaBarbera, Los Angeles Kings - LaBarbera is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Stars, reports the Dallas Morning News.
Marty Turco, Dallas Stars - Turco is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Kings, reports the Dallas Morning News.
Manny Legace, St. Louis Blues - Legace is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Predators, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Nikolai Khabibulin, Chicago Blackhawks - Khabibulin is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Sharks, reports the Chicago Tribune.
Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks - Nabokov is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Blackhawks, reports the Chicago Tribune.
Chris Osgood, Detroit Red Wings - Osgood is the probable starter for Wednesday's game Flames, reports the Detroit Free Press. Dominik Hasek may sit out due to a knee injury.
David Aebischer, Phoenix Coyotes - Aebischer is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Blue Jackets, reports the Arizona Republic.
Pascal Leclaire, Columbus Blue Jackets - Leclaire is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Coyotes, reports the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Martin Gerber, Ottawa Senators - Gerber is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Thrashers, reports TSN. If he continues to play like he has so far this season, there will be a goalie controversy in Ottawa when Ray Emery returns.
Corey Price, Montreal Canadiens - Price is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Penguins, reports TSN. Cristobal Huet has been average so far this year which has consequently opened the door for the rookie Price.
The following goalies have not been confirmed by any sources:
Chris Mason, Nashville Predators - Mason is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Blues.
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers - Lundqvist is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Islanders.
Rick DiPietro, New York Islanders - DiPietro is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Rangers.
Kari Lehtonen, Atlanta Thrashers - Lehtonen is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Senators.
Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames - Kiprusoff is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Red Wings.
Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild - Backstrom is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Oilers.
Mathieu Garon, Edmonton Oilers - Garon is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Wild.
Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins - Thomas is the probable starter for Wednesday's game against the Ducks. Coach Claude Julien said he won't name his starting goalie for the rest of the season until the morning skate. Great.
Blue Jackets activate Peca
October 10th, 2007
Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - The Columbus Blue Jackets activated center Michael Peca off injured reserve Wednesday.
Peca has missed Columbus' first two games of the season with a groin strain he suffered in training camp.
The 33-year-old Peca, who signed with the Blue Jackets as a free agent in the offseason, missed the final four months of last year with a broken leg as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In 728 career games, the Toronto, Ontario native has tallied 164 goals and 245 assists. Peca has also captured the Frank J. Selke award as the league's top defensive forward twice, once in 1996-97 as a member of the Buffalo Sabres and in 2001-02 with the New York Islanders.
Stars activate Ribeiro from IR
October 10th, 2007
Frisco, TX (Sports Network) - The Dallas Stars have activated center Mike Ribeiro from the injured reserve list and placed goaltender Mike Smith on injured reserve, the team announced on Wednesday.
Ribeiro, 27, missed the entire preseason and the first three games of the regular season with an ankle injury.
He led the Stars last season with 59 points, notching 18 goals and adding 41 assists in 81 games.
Smith suffered a bruised arm in practice on Tuesday and will miss at least three games. In his only appearance this season, he allowed four goals on 21 shots during a 5-1 loss at Nashville on October 6.