Roberto Luongo skated with goaltender coach Ian Clark on Monday morning and coach Alain Vigneault hinted that the Vancouver Canucks starter may be close to recovering from a hairline fracture of a rib on his left side.

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Roberto Luongo

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Luongo suffered the ailment absorbing a Niklas Hagman sharp-angle shot against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 24.

The Canucks leave Wednesday for a five-game road trip and Luongo could see some action at some point.

"Anybody that comes on that trip is going to be someone who has a chance to play and I think Louie might have a chance somewhere on the trip," said Vigneault. "Roberto was here (Monday) and skated this morning for about 30 minutes with Ian and we'll see how it goes in the next couple of days."

Wisniewski gets two-game penalty

The National Hockey League has suspended Anaheim Ducks defenceman James Wisniewski for two games for delivering a forearm blow to the head of Phoenix Coyotes forward Shane Doan on Saturday night.

No penalty was assessed on the first-period incident.

Wisniewski will forfeit $28,497 US in salary with the money going to the players' emergency assistance fund.

Wisniewski will miss Anaheim's game against Pittsburgh on Tuesday and against Nashville Thursday. He will be eligible to return Saturday against Phoenix.

Sens receive some good news

The MRI scan on the injured right elbow of Ottawa defenceman Anton Volchenkov was "very positive," Senators coach Cory Clouston said Monday.

There is some ligament damage, but the Senators hope Volchenkov will be back in action in a week to 10 days, though two weeks is also a possibility. He's already riding an exercise bike.

Centre Jason Spezza (upper body) has seen a little bit of improvement, but he's doubtful for Thursday's game against Tampa. He's already missed two games.

However, forward Jesse Winchester is getting closer to completing his two-week conditioning stint with Binghamton. He has one more American Hockey League game to play on Wednesday night in Albany, N.Y.

Kovalev needs to bury those chances

Ottawa Senators winger Alex Kovalev is always going to attract attention, especially when he's not piling up points, but head coach Cory Clouston said that Kovalev's luck, just like Jonathan Cheechoo's, had been terrible lately.

"With any luck, he probably could have had six assists in the last three or four games," Clouston said.

Saturday's loss to the Atlanta Thrashers was a perfect example, Clouston said. Kovalev both created and had some excellent chances, but couldn't convert.

"We need him to contribute a little bit more offensively," Clouston said. "He should be familiar with our systems and his linemates and what we're expecting of him, so now it's time for him to not just make those plays, he's got to bury them, as well."

Time for Habs to move up

Mike Cammalleri says this week offers the Montreal Canadiens an opportunity to "make hay."

"We're .500 now, and it is what it is, but we feel we're a better team than that," Cammalleri said. "We feel we could be in a better spot right now and it's time to bear down. This is a good stretch in the schedule for us."

The Canadiens have three games this week against teams that are below them in the standings, although all three teams have games in hand that would allow them to leapfrog over Montreal.

Two of the games (Tuesday night against Atlanta and Saturday against Tampa Bay) are at home, and two of the games are against teams that are dealing with major injuries - Atlanta and the Boston Bruins, who play host to the Canadiens on Thursday.

Little offence from Little

Atlanta Thrashers forward Bryan Little had a breakthrough season last year, scoring 31 goals, but he's still looking for his first goal this campaign.

Thrashers coach John Anderson wants him to shoot more as Little has only 16 shots on goal, an average of 1.6 per game.

Thrashers' Nik Antropov is also looking for his first goal after scoring 28 with the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers last season.

Other notable players who have yet to find the back of the net include Ottawa's Jonathan Cheechoo (12 games) and Jason Spezza (10 games), and former Montreal Canadien Christopher Higgins, who has fired 26 blanks in 14 games with the Rangers.

Kessel smart enough for Leafs?

Phil Kessel still has to pass a variety of tests before he gets clearance to make his Toronto Maple Leafs debut against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

And according to head coach Ron Wilson, the 21-year-old has been studying hard.

"It's an I.Q. test to see if he's smart enough to play for the Leafs," joked Wilson. "Well, I saw him practising with crayons there, so I don't know."

Kessel must pass strength and agility tests to ensure that his recently operated shoulder can handle the rigours of an NHL game. If he passes, the former 36-goal scorer is expected to play on a forward line with centre Matt Stajan and winger Jason Blake.

"In looking at our centres, I think Stajan is the best guy right now to play with him," said Wilson. "Stajan is more of a disher . . . John Mitchell likes to carry the puck and (Mikhail Grabovski) likes to carry the puck. And we've got to have somebody who's going to feed Phil.

"This will be a big experiment. Since he is a pure goal-scorer, all of our centres will want a shot to play with him to prove that they can set him up somehow. So we'll go game to game and shift to shift."

Booth progressing with 'baby steps'

Florida Panthers winger David Booth is expected to hit the ice soon, but there is no timetable for his return to the lineup.

Booth has been out since receiving a concussion on a controversial hit by Philadelphia Flyers captain Mike Richards on Oct. 24.

"It's going to be baby steps here as we go forward," Panthers head coach Peter DeBoer told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "It's too early to really be testing him on anything. With any kind of concussion like that, the first thing to do is to get rid of all the symptoms. Once he's symptom-free you can start trying some different things and we're not to that stage yet."

Hawks won't rush Toews

The Chicago Blackhawks aren't going to rush captain Jonathan Toews back into the lineup.

The centre was hurt on a hit by Vancouver Canucks defenceman Willie Mitchell on Oct. 21 and he's yet to skate since.

"We're hopeful he's going to be back soon," general manger Stan Bowman told the Chicago media Monday. "It's a day-to-day thing. These things can turn around quickly, so certainly if it lingers for a long time you'd be worried, but right now we are not too concerned."

He said it:

"It's a chance to impress the bosses we work for and the people who are going to rate us as hockey players. I think we're pretty excited." - Binghampton Senators head coach Don Nachbaur on the American Hockey League team playing regular-season games in Montreal and Ottawa on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

Ice chips:

Nine of Ottawa's next 11 games are at Scotiabank Place, theoretically an advantage, but, after losing three of the past four games, Senators coach Cory Clouston said home advantage was hardly one of his concerns. "Wherever they're played, we've just got to get back on track," he said. . . . New Jersey Devils centre Patrik Elias told reporters he's hoping to make his season debut as soon as this weekend. A groin injury has kept him out of the lineup so far this season. . . . Philadelphia Flyers winger Simon Gagne will miss six to eight weeks due to abdominal and hip surgery scheduled for Tuesday.