Hockey Today - Tuesday, October 23
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SCOREBOARD Tuesday, Oct. 23
N.Y. Rangers at Pittsburgh (7 p.m. EDT). The Rangers have scored an NHL-low 13 goals and are winless on the road this season.
Oddsmakers list the Penguins as -160 favorites in the game. The total is set at 6.
STARS Monday
-Milan Michalek, Sharks, scored twice, including a short-handed goal, lifting San Jose to a 4-1 victory over Calgary.
-Ray Whitney, Hurricanes, had a goal and an assist as Carolina defeated Vancouver 3-1 to snap a two-game skid.
-Cristobal Huet, Canadiens, made 31 saves as Montreal routed Boston 6-1.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Carolina, which last season ranked near the bottom of the NHL with the man advantage - are third-best in the league in that category, converting on nearly 26 percent of their chances. They've scored at least one power-play goal in every game but one, including Monday night's 3-1 victory over Vancouver.
LONGEVITY
Montreal's Bryan Smolinski and Calgary's Owen Nolan played their 1,000th NHL games Monday night, while Canadiens forward Alexei Kovalev appeared in his 999th.
SIDELINED
Toronto forward Darcy Tucker is out of the lineup indefinitely with ligament damage in his right knee. Tucker had one goal and four assists in nine games.
SITTING OUT
Philadelphia forward Jesse Boulerice was ruled ineligible to play in the American Hockey League until Dec. 16 after the NHL suspended him 25 games earlier this month for striking Vancouver's Ryan Kesler across the face with his stick, the longest single-season ban in league history.
SPEAKING
''It cost us the first two goals, so it kind of changed the momentum of the game and then I guess we were backpedaling the rest of the game. If anything, we lost our composure.'' - Boston coach Claude Julien on faceoff losses in a 6-1 loss to Montreal on Monday night.
Tuesday's key NHL matchup notes
ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins
Tuesday's game will mark the first career meeting between brothers Jordan Staal, the Penguins' 19-year-old center, and Marc Staal, the Rangers' 20-year-old rookie defenseman. Jordan Staal scored his first goal of season Saturday.
Pittsburgh won last season's series 5-1-2, going 3-0-1 at Mellon Arena.
Atlanta Thrashers at Toronto Maple Leafs
Hedberg has allowed two goals in each of his last three starts versus the Maple Leafs, and is 5-4-0 with a 2.80 GAA in nine career appearances against them.
Atlanta is off to its worst start since going winless in its first 10 games of the 2002-03 season.
The Leafs had won eight straight against the Thrashers before going 0-2-1 in the final three meetings last season. Toronto is 6-2-1 with one tie in its last 10 home games against Atlanta.
Columbus Blue Jackets at Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus has yielded 15 goals in its four losses, but has shut out its opponents in its three wins.
Pascal Leclaire, who has been in goal for the three shutouts, stopped just 15-of-18 shots on Sunday. He is 1-2-0 with a 3.63 GAA lifetime against the Blackhawks.
Left wing Rick Nash scored his team-leading fifth goal on Sunday, and had three goals and five assists against Chicago in 2006-07. Nash has 13 goals and 14 assists in 24 career games against the Blackhawks, career highs against any opponent.
Anaheim Ducks at St. Louis Blues
Paul Kariya, the Blues' leading scorer with seven points, was held without a point Saturday for the first time this season. He has seven points in 10 career games against Anaheim, the team for which he starred from 1994-2003.
Anaheim is 6-1-0 against the Blues (4-2-0) - including three straight wins at the Scottrade Center - since a 3-2 loss at St. Louis on Oct. 19, 2005.
Colorado Avalanche at Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton is one of the league's worst offensive teams with 18 goals in eight games, scoring once on 33 power-play chances. No other team has fewer than four power-play goals.
Dwayne Roloson has struggled lately against the Avalanche, going 2-4-0 with a 5.33 GAA in his last six starts.
The Avalanche went 4-3-1 against the Oilers last season, including 3-0-1 at Edmonton. Colorado has at least one point in eight of its last 10 visits (7-2-1) to Rexall Place.
Nashville Predators at Los Angeles Kings
Kings forward Michael Cammalleri, the team's leading scorer in 2006-07, scored Friday's go-ahead goal on the power play. He has six goals and three assists in 13 career games versus the Predators, including three goals and one assist in his last two games against them.
The Kings lost three of four meetings to Nashville last season, including both matchups at Staples Center.
Tucker out of Leafs' lineup indefinitely with right knee injury
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TORONTO -- Darcy Tucker is out of the Toronto Maple Leafs' lineup indefinitely with ligament damage in his right knee.
The veteran right-winger said on Monday that he hurt the knee during the summer, but it was feeling better until he collided with a Chicago Blackhawk early in the third period of Toronto's 6-4 home loss Saturday.
He said an MRI exam on Sunday revealed ''slight damage to some ligaments.'' He doesn't expect he'll need surgery.
''We don't know how extensive it is or how long is will take time-wise,'' he said after receiving treatment from team training staff Monday. ''As of now, it's indefinite. Hopefully, I'll get a brace made and we'll see how it progresses from there.''
Surgery is not expected, he said.
Tucker had one goal and four assists in the team's nine games.
Canucks' Pyatt suffers eye injury
October 22nd, 2007
Raleigh, NC (Sports Network) - Vancouver Canucks forward Taylor Pyatt left in the first period of his team's game against the Carolina Hurricanes Monday with a left eye injury.
Pyatt, who has two goals on the season, was hit by a high stick from teammate Mason Raymond in a scrum for a loose puck midway through the first period and never returned.
The Canucks went on to lose the game 3-1 to the 'Canes.
Hurricanes: Walker out with rib injury
The Hurricanes placed Scott Walker on injured reserve, meaning he will miss at least the next week of action.
Avalanche: Hejduk out again with sore back
After missing Tuesday's game with a sore back, Milan Hejduk returned to play about 13 minutes on Friday. However, he was unable to take part in Sunday's game due to the injury, according to the Denver Post.
Hurricanes: Ladd aggravates his ankle injury
Andrew Ladd re-injured his ankle on Thursday, according to the Raleigh News & Observer.
Hurricanes: Rib injury leaves Walker hurting
Scott Walker remained in considerable pain Saturday after leaving Friday's game, though X-rays and a CT scan on his chest revealed no damage. "It's his rib area, but we couldn't find anything so we suspect it's cartilage or something like that," GM Jim Rutherford said, according to the Raleigh News & Observer.
Hurricanes: Soccer leaves Cole with foot injury
Erik Cole was a late scratch Saturday due to a foot injury. He sustained the injury while playing in a pick-up soccer game, according to the Raleigh News & Observer. He's not going to be able to play Monday and is doubtful for the rest of next week.
Ducks: Bertuzzi free of concussion symptoms
Todd Bertuzzi hasn't had any concussion symptoms for the past three days. "We need four or five days where it's symptom-free, which is the normal procedure," coach Randy Carlyle told the LA Times. "It's a very good sign."
Isles' Berard out with groin injury
October 23rd, 2007
Uniondale, NY (Sports Network) - New York Islanders defenseman Bryan Berard will miss 2-to-4 weeks due to a groin injury.
The injury happened on Saturday, in the second period of a 4-3 overtime win versus the New Jersey Devils.
The 30-year-old Berard signed a one-year contract earlier in October, and has become a fixture on the Isles' power play, which is ranked first in the NHL.
Of Berard's two goals and two assists this season, both goals have come on the power play.
"Bryan has been a big part of our success this season," Islanders head coach Ted Nolan said. "I'm confident Bryan will do everything in his power to get healthy and back in the lineup soon."