No. 1 Star: Craig Anderson, Ottawa Senators

Anderson appears to have re-found his game. The Senators netminder was fully on top of it in his club's 2-0 win over the New Jersey Devils, making 33 saves for his third shutout of the season. Here's his best save:

No. 2 Star: Alex Chiasson, Dallas Stars

The Stars won their fourth straight, 5-2 over the Nashville Predators. The rookie Chiasson led the way with a two-goal performance. He now has 5 goals in 5 NHL games, which is pretty all right. Vernon Fiddler and Ray Whitney also had two-point nights.

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.

Preview: Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils, 7 p.m. ET

Still no Ilya Kovalchuk for the Devils, who have only missed the postseason once since 1996. If they don't stop this eight-game losing streak, it'll be twice. They're now four points back of eighth. Ottawa isn't comfortable yet either. They sit sixth coming into this one, but they've got just one win this month and they run the risk of falling out.

Preview: St. Louis Blues at Columbus Blue Jackets, 7 p.m. ET

The Blues have won six straight, and a seventh here will give them the sweep of their season series with Columbus. The Blue Jackets could finish the night as high as ninth if they can prevent that from happening.

Preview: Dallas Stars at Nashville Predators, 8 p.m. ET

The Stars have won 3 straight and now, incredibly, with a win over Nashville and a Detroit loss, they'll take control of their own playoff destiny. You have to like their chances, what with Nashville in a tailspin. They've dropped four in a row.

This mom had the right idea at first. After the Los Angeles Kings' edged the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 in a shootout, she took her son down to the glass in the off-chance that Mike Richards might toss him a game-used stick. She even held propped her son up against the glass on the lip, giving him a better chance to reach the falling stick first. Very sweet.

But then the lumber went up, and she forgot all about her son, going after the souvenir with both hands. The stick never even hit the ground. Her son, on the other hand, took a spill.

Let this be a lesson to you, kid. Your mom is a hockey fan first.

But let's not be too hard on this mother. Sure, she nearly broke her son in pursuit of a piece of wood, but it's not her fault. Nothing makes fans crazier than a stick in the crowd.

Really, this is just another example of the dangers of stick giveaways. Long before this one turned mother against son, a Scott Niedermayer stick toss sparked a brawl in the Honda Centre:

Ilya Bryzgalov typically has a lot of fun with the media. He laughs, he jokes, he says hilarious, nonsensical things. It's a whale of a time.

But Bryz wasn't laughing Thursday night after the Flyers' 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. Not after napgate, when the controversy surrounded a report that Bryzgalov was benched for falling asleep in a team meeting. Asked pointedly about it in the locker room, a frustrated Bryzgalov admonished the 'not professional journalists' that ran what he called an 'embarrassing' report.

Oh, how the tables have turned. For quite some time now, the media has blasted Bryzgalov for not being good enough. Now it's Bryz's turn, and he let those not professional journalists have it:

"You know, guys... I don't know where you get this information, but, be honest, did you read yourself what you're writing, guys? That's embarrassing, guys. You've gotta... I don't know, to prove your sources. That was never happening. You know, like, you became... like a not professional journalist. It's embarrassing, guys, seriously. You've gotta do your job better. I'm only point at guys who was, like, involved in this, because it's really embarrassing. And you've gotta be better. Step up, guys. Prove your information... find reliable sources."

I think Bryzgalov thinks it was embarrassing.

Thing we learned today: Bryzgalov is great as chastising people. He could have just ranted. Instead, he calmly offered constructive criticism, so the people with whom he was upset could improve. Read what you write. Do your job better. Step up. Find better sources. These are all very helpful tips. I was surprised it didn't end with him saying, "Now, let's go get some ice cream."

Bryzgalov wasn't the only one to call into doubt the report that he was catching some zeds (yes, zeds, because Canada forever). On Thursday afternoon, his teammates rose to his defence. From CSN Philly:

“Not unless they’re narcoleptic,” Knuble said, laughing. “You hardly even sat down. I don’t think your [butt] made your spot on the bench warm enough. That’s silly, that’s asinine. You’re sitting in a bright room, in the middle of the day. It’s not like you’re locked into a film session for 45 minutes. Then I might see it. But not for half a cup of coffee meeting. Not even that.”

Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who is the longest-tenured member of the team’s leadership group, emphatically denied it, as well.

“That’s not true and I’ll tell you that on the record,” Timonen said. “And that’s it. If you want to ask more, ask Lavy (Peter Laviolette). That’s not my business to tell you what happened and didn’t happen. He wasn’t sleeping. What a scoop! Have you ever seen anyone sleeping in a meeting? In the NHL, have you ever heard of anyone sleeping during a meeting? There’s a scoop.”

Someone needs to re-explain the concept of a scoop to Timonen, but aside from that, this is a pretty strong denial.

Is it horrible to want Bryzgalov to remain in Philadelphia forever? I would like that very much.

The You Can Play Project has made some tremendous strides towards breaking down the institutional homophobia in sports -- most notably hockey, where founder Patrick Burke plies his trade as a scout. On Thursday, they made another leap forward, announcing a new partnership with the NHL and NHLPA to further their effort towards inclusion for LGBT athletes.

Through the work they've already done with YCP, the NHL has staked their claim as one of the most progressive, inclusive sports leagues, and this partnership will allow them to continuing blazing that trail.

It also sets a standard for other leagues to follow. The NHL just became the first of the four major sports leagues to partner with an LGBT advocacy group. One assumes the other three commissioners would prefer that their league isn't the last.

Speaking of commissioners, here's what Gary Bettman had to say:

"Our motto is 'Hockey Is For Everyone,' and our partnership with You Can Play certifies that position in a clear and unequivocal way," he said in the NHL's release. "While we believe that our actions in the past have shown our support for the LGBT community, we are delighted to reaffirm through this joint venture with the NHL Players' Association that the official policy of the NHL is one of inclusion on the ice, in our locker rooms and in the stands."

Bettman can be a divisive figure, but his leadership on this issue is one area where I've been glad to see him running the good ship NHL.

Anton Volchenkov was given a five-minute major and tossed from the Wednesday night's game versus the Boston Bruins after delivering a nasty elbow to the head of Brad Marchand, and on Thursday, the Shanaban-hammer came down on the Devils' defenceman with the force of Mjölnir.

For his actions, Volchenkov has been suspended an additional four games. Here's Brendan Shanahan explaining why, if "he elbowed a guy in the head" doesn't explain it quite thoroughly enough for you.

"Rather than make a full body check, Volchenkov extends his left elbow, making significant contact to the side of Marchand's head."

Yeah, you can't do that.

But it's worse for Volchenkov than just delivering an illegal elbow. As Shanahan explains, Marchand stops and turns away from the hit in an effort to avoid contact. Then he gives us the part that best explains why Volchenkov got four for this:

"If anything," he says, "Marchand's actions prior to contact force Volchenkov to extend his elbow even further."

If there's one thing that's going to get you dinged by the DOPS Cops, it's being caught making the extra effort to dirty up your hit, and that's what Shanahan and co. saw here. Add that damning interpretation of the hit to the fact that Marchand left the game with an injury and four games sounds about right.

It could have been worse, too. Shanahan points out at the end of the video that, despite a 2011 suspension, Volchenkov is not classified as a repeat offender under the new CBA. Had he been, this suspension may have been preceded by an in-person hearing.

Officiating is an inexact science, which is understandable considering it's a job done by humans, and human vision is only okay, relative to other creatures. That said, I'm still trying to figure out how the zebras managed to miss the nasty two-handed slash Taylor Hall delivered to Zbynek Michalek in the third period of the Oilers' 3-1 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes.

Slashes go unnoticed. It happens. But what really gets me is that Hall has the stick raised above his head for a good second before he perpetrates this one. You'd think someone would have spotted the moment he lifted his stick like it was axe pulled from a scabbard, especially since there were two officials behind him at the blueline that could have seen it. But no one did. No call.

Granted, the makeup call quickly followed, as Nail Yakupov was whistled for a penalty shortly thereafter.

But Hall skated away from the incident discipline-free, and I have to wonder if the DOPS might decide to correct that. I don't know if this calls for a suspension, but I could see a fine, especially since Hall has already been suspended once this season for hanging the knee on Cal Clutterbuck. His repeat offender status could be enough to push this into supplemental discipline territory.

It should, in my opinion. You can understand why Hall is frustrated. It's been a rough year. The Oilers needed two points Wednesday night and they didn't get it. Plus, defenders play him very, very aggressively -- infuriatingly so, I would imagine -- and pushing back is important. But this is the second time this year that Hall has utilized a dirty play to do it, and that's the sort of pattern that needs to be snuffed out immediately.

Photo of the night, courtesy the great Bruce Bennett.

No. 1 Star: Gregory Campbell, Boston Bruins

Campbell doubled his goal total on the season, scoring twice in the first period of the Bruins' 5-4 win over the New Jersey Devils. His first goal was the product of some fabulous work by Jaromir Jagr, who fended off four Devils to get a shot on goal before Campbell shovelled home the rebound:

No. 2 Star: Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks

Pressed into action after Cory Schneider came down with the flu (or a poisoning from a frustrated Italian netminder looking to get a rare start), Luongo reminded the Canucks that he's still pretty good, making 40 saves in a 4-1 win over the Calgary Flames. Thank goodness he played well. Pulling him wasn't really an option, with university student Dustin Butler on an emergency contract on the bench.