Puck Previews: Toskala time for the Leafs in Chicago
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: Minnesota Wild at Washington Capitals, 7 p.m. EST. The Caps are 3-1-0 without Alex Ovechkin(notes), and they'll be without him against the Wild, who are on a little 4-1-1 streak. With Josh Harding(notes) starting, we are deprived of the Battle of the Backstroms. Watch The Game Live Via Hockey Night on Y!
Preview: Toronto Maple Leafs at Chicago Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m. EST. Vesa Toskala(notes) gets a start tonight, with Ron Wilson declaring: "He's not our backup goalie, he's the starting goalie tonight." But honestly: Why would you care about anything but Miss Illinois USA 2009 hitting her first hockey puck tonight?
Check out the Y! Sports scores and schedule page for previews of the other three games tonight.
Evening Reading
(Ed. Note: Some of you may have seen a post earlier on the Bernie Madoff auction and some hockey stuff. Turns out contrary to other reports, the hockey stuff falls outside of his auction lots. We've taken the post down. Apologies for the confusion.)
• Sad news: Mike Murphy(notes), the NHL's vice-president of operations and a former coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, is battling Hodgkin's lymphoma. [Sportsnet]
• Hey, go figure: A Russian team isn't keen on Michael Nylander(notes) leaving in the middle of the season for yet another team. [Capitals Insider]
• T.J Oshie's father is blogging on St. Louis Game Time. Cool. [SLGT]
• Luc Robitaille's appearance on Jay Leno's show that no one watches. [Kings Insider]
• Remember: All-Decade fun continues this weekend.
• Custance on the deepest front offices in the NHL. [Sporting News]
Puck Buddy Comment of the Day: On the awful "Beanpot Trot" rap video, it's Andrew --
"Apparently white, catholic hockey players have no rhythm?"
Who knew?
Bold Prediction: Kovalchuk outscores Kopitar in Atlanta.
