Bad weather helps Thrashers

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Ilya Kovalchuk of the Atlanta Thrashers is watched by Anton Volchenkov of the Ottawa Senators during second period action at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, October 10, 2009.

Photograph by : Ottawa Citizen

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How do you top this one? Seems that Ilya Kovalchuk was certain to miss a seventh consecutive game on Thursday recovering from a broken foot. The day before, he felt pain during an Atlanta practice and decided to visit his doctor. Weather delayed the team's flight to New York for five hours, and when an X-ray came back clean, Kovalchuk took off with his teammates. He had a goal and two assists in the Thrashers' 5-3 victory.

Preds show grit against Kings

I can't imagine any of the Canadiens going onto Nashville ice tonight envisioning a walk in the park.

If any of them do, perhaps they should read Los Angeles Kings head coach Tom Murray's assessment of the Predators following his team's 3-1 loss. "They came into the building with some players out who are important for them, but they came in with an attitude and a game plan that was based on hard work and grit," Murray said. "They beat us from the dots to the boards in every area of the ice. It's about hard work and digging in for 60 minutes. It doesn't matter who you're going to play."

Holmgren has reason to smile

Philadelphia general manager Paul Holmgren must be wearing a smile that won't go away these days for his offseason trade that brought Chris Pronger to the Flyers. Thus far, the former Anaheim defenceman has been delivering numbers GMs dream about. He is second in team scoring with 16 points in 15 games. He has a plus-12 rating and paces the Flyers in blocked shots (42), while logging an NHL-high 27:37 of ice time. Pretty impressive, wouldn't you say?

Bruins' offence takes a beating

In their last eight games, the Boston Bruins have allowed only nine goals. So how do you explain last season's Eastern Conference leaders posting only a modest 3-3-2 record during that period? Obviously, the reason is that they've scored only 11 times, four against Buffalo in one of the games. They've also been shut out three times in the last six games, including Thursday's 1-0 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers. Go figure ... but there are better days ahead. The Bruins have been playing without Marc Savard and Milan Lucic since mid- October, but the latter hopes to return to the lineup on Thursday when the team starts a four-game road trip.

Toews delivers for Blackhawks

If there was ever any doubt about what Jonathan Toews means to the Blackhawks, the young Chicago captain eliminated it on his return to the lineup this week. Without him, the Blackhawks lost three of six games, but the biggest impact his presence brought was on the power play. The Blackhawks hadn't scored more than one goal with the man advantage since the second game of the season. On Monday, with Toews leading the way, he scored the second of two with the man advantage for his team's 4-1 victory over the Kings. "His presence, the way he plays the game, the way he competes every shift, that's why he's the captain," veteran John Madden said. "He's not very vocal. He just leads by the way he plays, by example. It's contagious."

Team comes first with Morrow

Here's one reason why Dallas's Brenden Morrow is one of the better captains in the NHL. He was recently assessed an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty for firing the puck into the Minnesota Wild's empty net after referees whistled him for diving. Morrow's explanation: "I think you have to be emotional, and you have to get into the game. We were a little flat to start the game, so we needed something. But that said, you can't do things that will hurt your team."

Blackhawks, Avs need extra time

The Blackhawks and Colorado Avalanche already have met three times this season and won't tangle again until April 9 - which may be too soon in the view of both teams. The reason: they've gone to a shootout each time they've met. The latest was on Wednesday, a 3-2 victory by the Blackhawks, and this time it didn't go beyond three rounds. Their first meeting went nine rounds - the longest in Chicago history. The second went eight rounds. Both were decided by 4-3 scores, the Blackhawks winning the first on Oct. 10 and the Avalanche the second last Friday. And, by the way, don't include Colorado goaltender Craig Anderson among those who like the shootout. "It's individuals in charge of a team game," Anderson said. "If you want to be individuals, go play tennis or golf."

Dreadful start for Komisarek

Canadiens fans who booed Mike Komisarek every time he was on the ice when the Toronto Maple Leafs visited the Bell Centre now have something more to cheer about. He's gone for three weeks because of a quadriceps injury. How bad has his season been thus far? In 16 games, Komisarek has no points, 31 penalty minutes and is a minus-9. He signed a $22.5-million U.S., five-year deal with Toronto in the offseason.

Sharks, Devils on hot streaks

The San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 in a shootout on Thursday, but still can lay claim to being the NHL's hottest team for these reasons: the best record, best goal differential, best faceoff winning percentage, second in goals-against average, second in save percentage, second in power-play success, fourth in scoring. New Jersey hasn't been too shabby, either, with a 13-2 record in its last 15 games. The Devils' 9-0 road record starting the season is only one short of tying the all-time mark held by Buffalo.

Another player in 1,000th game

Did you notice that enforcer Donald Brashear played in his 1,000th NHL game on Thursday? I have one word for it: amazing!

And finally ...

I see where the NHL has reinstated Henry Samueli as owner of the Anaheim Ducks after he was suspended indefinitely from any involvement with the team on June 24, 2008. Multiple sources tell me he's now being measured for a Hockey Hall of Fame blazer.