Back by popular demand, here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.
• St. Louis Cardinals pitching hero Chris Carpenter practiced with the St. Louis Blues today (video here). Via Lou Korac: "Apparently Roman Polak didn't know who Chris Carpenter was when he walked into the Blues' locker room today, as told by Carlo Colaiacovo: 'He came into the room and introduced himself to some of the guys and Roman came up to me and he goes, 'Who is that guy over there?' 'I said, 'He's trying out to be our new tough guy.' He goes, 'Really? He just comes and introduces himself as Chris.' I said, 'That's Carpenter, man! He was just in the World Series!' Roman's something else." [More from STLToday.com]
Preview: New Jersey Devils at Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m. Johan Hedberg gets the start after Marty Brodeur's befuddled performance against the Leafs last night. Sergei Bobrovsky goes for the Flyers, who will get Danny Briere back from injury — a player who has 23 points in 41 career games against the Devils.
Preview: Anaheim Ducks at New York Rangers, 7 p.m. These teams previously met in Sweden, where the Ducks won in a shootout despite Henrik Lundqvist being in beast mode. Jonas Hiller will try and rebound from a terrible outing in Washington, and we'll see if the Ducks heed the words of Obi-Wan Selanne: "There's no room for passengers right now. Especially when the team is struggling. Everybody has to play their best and the effort has to be there every night. If not, it's bad news."
Preview: Chicago Blackhawks at Florida Panthers, 7:30 p.m. The Blackhawks are 7-2-2 and leading the Central, scoring 10 goals in their last two games. Duncan Keith is out with a hand injury, so expect a little more ice time from Steve Montador. Brian Campbell and Kris Versteeg face Chicago for the first time as Panthers. "I don't think you ever forget who your friends are from the past," said Campbell. So can you forget who your friends are from the future? Did we just create a temporal paradox?
Preview: Calgary Flames at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m. The Wings are on a 0-4-1 slide, and haven't lost six straight games since Feb. 7-17, 2008. All they did that year was win the Stanley Cup. Again. Jokinen plays with Iginla tonight, and Kiprusoff starts. Adam Proteau believes it's time for Iggy and Kipper to leave Calgary so the team can properly rebuild.
Preview: Vancouver Canucks at Minnesota Wild, 8 p.m. Josh Harding gets another start for the Wild, as he's 2-0-0 on the season. Cory Schneider goes for the Canucks, because dominating Minnesota appears to be a bit of a hobby for him. According to The Province, David Booth "has just two assists in four games" after being acquired from the Florida Panthers. "Just" two points. In four games. Welcome to Vancouver.
Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins at San Jose Sharks, 10:30 p.m. This should be a fun one. The Sharks have won 11 of their last 13 games against the Penguins and are 8-0 at home against them since 1997. (Including one tie. Remember those?) Sidney Crosby isn't playing. But that doesn't mean you still can't build a column around him.
Check out previews and updated scores for all of today's games on the Y! Sports NHL scores and scheds page. For tonight's starting goalies, check out Left Wing Lock.
Evening Reading
• Andy Strickland with the latest on the Blues' ownership change. [True Hockey]
• Katie Baker's NHL column for Grantland covers Alex Ovechkin and a great many other things. [Grantland]
• The 10 top brother combos in NHL history. [The Province, via Chris Richards]
• Tobias Enstrom is out for a month with a broken collarbone. [Arctic Ice Hockey]
• Jonathan Lessard of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar was suspended 15 games by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Thursday for a knee-on-knee hit that ended the season of the Quebec Remparts' Nick Sorensen. [Y! Sports]
Puck Buddy Comment of the Day: From The Stro on Pekka Rinne:
Nashville has never had a STRONG goalie between the pipes. One could argue Vokoun, but he struggled plenty before this season. Signing the leagues premier goalie to a long term deal, and having Lindback as a back up and several replacements in the Admirals shows that we WANT to have the best play here.
Weber's stock may have dropped due to the negotiations last year, but I would still argue that the fans here want him back just as much as they want Pekka locked up. Hopefully Weber can see we are committed and give us some sort of "hometown discount" to stick around.
Suter, while an amazing and tremendous player, I think we could easily slide Ellis in that spot form the Admirals and he'd be just as good, if not better. Add in Fisher, Kostitsyn, and Smith on the front line, and that is a front line that teams will have to worry about.
Nashville Rises.
Bold Prediction: Rick Nash scores the game-winner against the Leafs.