Avalanche defenseman Jordan Leopold to have wrist surgery, miss 2 months
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER -- Colorado Avalanche defenseman Jordan Leopold will have wrist surgery and be sidelined about two months.
The team said Friday that Leopold was hurt in the third period of Colorado's 4-2 victory over the Oilers in Edmonton on Tuesday night.
He fractured his wrist in February, his third significant injury last season. He missed the first 25 games of the season recovering from offseason hernia surgery and another 17 games because of a groin injury.
Saturday's key NHL matchup notes
Philadelphia Flyers at Boston Bruins
The Bruins now go up against a Flyers squad that is 0-2 on an eight-game road trip. Philadelphia (6-3-0) started the season 6-1 and entered the trip on a five-game winning streak, but has been outscored 9-5 over the last two contests.
San Jose Sharks at Columbus Blue Jackets
The Sharks are 17-6-1 all-time against the Blue Jackets, but they're just 6-6-0 all-time in Columbus, where they've lost three of their last four. San Jose, though, outscored Columbus 11-5 in winning three of the teams' four meetings last season.
Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils
After opening the season with a nine-game road trip, New Jersey (3-5-1) will be playing at the new, $380 million Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. for the first time. The construction schedule forced the Devils to play the first three weeks of the season on the road.
Carolina Hurricanes at New York Islanders
Carolina went 2-1-1 in the season series against New York in 2006-07, but lost both games at Nassau Coliseum - one in overtime. Before last season, though, the Hurricanes had won five of their previous seven games there.
Toronto Maple Leafs at New York Rangers
The Rangers (3-5-1) have managed an NHL-low 15 goals this season and have scored one or no goals in five of their nine games, including consecutive 1-0 defeats to close out an 0-2-1 road trip Tuesday.
Montreal Canadiens at Pittsburgh Penguins
After scoring 14 goals to start the season with a 2-2-2 record, Montreal has outscored its opponents 17-7 during a three-game winning streak.
Buffalo Sabres at Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning look to open a season with six straight home wins for the first time in franchise history on Saturday, as they also try to avoid losing their fifth straight home game to the Sabres.
Florida Panthers at Nashville Predators
Tomas Vokoun posted 94 of his franchise record 161 wins at the Sommet Center over eight seasons with the Nashville Predators. Vokoun likely will be in net for his new team, the Florida Panthers, on Saturday night in his first trip to Nashville since being traded in June as the teams meet for the first time since 2005.
Atlanta Thrashers at Chicago Blackhawks
Nikolai Khabibulin saw his goals-against average rise from 2.32 to 2.88 after the last two games as his record dropped to 3-5-0. He has allowed three or more goals in four straight starts.
Washington Capitals at St. Louis Blues
Washington is playing its first game in St. Louis since 2003 and will try to avoid a seventh straight loss there dating to a 6-4 victory on Oct. 26, 1996.
Dallas Stars at Phoenix Coyotes
Dallas will face a Phoenix (3-5-0) team it has beaten five straight times on the road since a 6-2 loss on March 2, 2006. The Stars went 7-1-0 overall against the Coyotes last season, and are 7-1-0 in Phoenix since a 3-2 loss on Feb. 14, 2004.
Edmonton Oilers at Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles has won three straight and four of five after struggling at the start of the new season, which began with a split of a two-game series against defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim in London. The Kings have outscored their opponents 12-3 during their winning streak, including a 2-1 victory over Pacific Division rival Dallas on Thursday.
Hockey today - Saturday, October 27
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SCOREBOARD Friday, Oct. 27
Ottawa at New Jersey (7 p.m. EDT). The Devils play their home opener at their new arena in Newark, N.J.
STARS Thursday
-Nigel Dawes and Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers. Dawes scored twice and Lundqvist made 22 saves for his second shutout in three games, helping New York to a 2-0 victory over New Jersey.
-Pascal Leclaire stopped 36 shots to lead Columbus to a 3-0 victory over St. Louis.
-Brad Richards, Lightning, had two goals in a 5-2 victory over Philadelphia.
-Jiri Tlusty, Maple Leafs, scored two goals 35 seconds apart in a 5-2 win at Pittsburgh.
-Dan Ellis, Predators, stopped 20 shots for his first career shutout in Nashville's 3-0 victory over Atlanta.
-Ales Hemsky, Oilers, scored twice in regulation and added the shootout winner to lift Edmonton to a 5-4 win over Minnesota.
LIGHTNING START
Brad Richards had two goals to lead Tampa Bay past the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2, on Thursday night. The Lightning tied a franchise record set in 2002 by starting the season 5-0 at home. Tampa Bay is also 12-1 against the Flyers since the start of the 2003-04 season.
DUCK HUNT
Phoenix's 1-0 victory over Anaheim on Thursday night ended the Coyotes' 10-game losing streak against the Ducks in Anaheim dating to the 2003-2004 season. They also beat Anaheim goalie Ilya Bryzgalov for just the second time in his nine games against them.
IT'S GOOD TO BE A KING
Alexander Frolov scored the go-ahead goal and Jason LaBarbera made 29 saves Thursday night, leading the Los Angeles Kings to a 2-1 victory over Dallas, snapping a nine-game losing streak to the Stars. The win was their first over Dallas since April 1, 2006, a 1-0 victory at Staples Center. The Kings, coming off victories over Vancouver and Nashville, have won three straight for the first time since a five-game streak Feb. 11-March 7, 2006.
STREAKING
Rick Nash scored a goal in his fifth straight game on a shot between his legs and Columbus beat the Blues 3-0 on Thursday night. It was his sixth goal in his five-game goal streak and raised his season total to eight.
SNAPPED
Nigel Dawes broke New York out of its scoring slump with two goals Thursday night to lift the Rangers to a 2-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils. Dawes struck just 57 seconds in, snapping the Rangers' drought at 126 minutes, dating to last Thursday's 5-3 loss at Atlanta. It was also their first tally at even strength in 182:06, stretching to a 3-1 home loss against Ottawa on Oct. 13 that kicked off the skid. ... Dan Ellis stopped 20 shots for his first career shutout, helping the Predators snap a six-game losing streak and beat the Thrashers 3-0 Thursday night.
SIGNED
The Minnesota Wild signed defenseman Brent Burns to a four-year contract extension Thursday. Burns, 22, has 15 goals and 36 assists in 194 career NHL games over four seasons with Minnesota.
SPEAKING
''The NHL was my dream, now I've played in my first game and in my first game I scored my first two goals. It's great.'' - Toronto Rookie Jiri Tlusty after scoring twice in the Maple Leafs' 5-2 victory over the Penguins on Thursday night.