The word is out, and it's no secret that
Sidney Crosby, arguably the greatest player in the game today, will be reinstituted into the Penguins' line-up tonight against the New York Islanders after a 10 month absence from the game recovering from a nasty concussion. The media has been abuzz with Crosby-related stories and rumors even during the summer when his return was far from near, so they did not disappoint anyone by immediately jumping on the story after the team announced his return yesterday. Number 87's story has captivated the NHL's headlines for the day, rightfully so, but this evening contains many other storylines worth mentioning that make tonight
the most interesting night of regular season hockey in November the NHL has ever seen.
Not only will Sidney Crosby be back in a Penguins uniform tonight, but the club will also be gaining the services of golden, shot-blocking, defensive defenseman
Zbynek Michalek. The Penguins have been plagued by injuries throughout 2011, but with the additions of Crosby and Michalek, who missed 10 games with a broken finger, back into their roster, Pittsburgh will have their first completely healthy roster since January 5, 2011. You may recognize that date as the same day Crosby suffered the concussion that caused all of this madness to begin with.
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Montréal leads this series all-time,
345-259-103-6 in 713 games. |
Elsewhere
outside of Pittsburgh, one of the oldest and most intense rivalries in the game hook-up tonight as the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins take on the Montréal Canadiens in the Bell Centre. Both teams surprisingly struggled early in the year, but have turned their fortunes around as of late. The Bruins are the hottest team in hockey, currently on an eight-game winning streak and undefeated in the month of November. During this streak, Boston has put up a staggering
42 goals for in eight games. Montréal began the year with a very disappointing start, but have gone 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. The Canadiens still sit at the bottom of the Northeast Division as a result of their lackluster start, but look to continue turning their season around at home tonight as they meet up with their bitter rivals.
Dallas Stars' defenseman
Sheldon Souray will have the opportunity to sweeten some of his sour grapes tonight in Big D, as he takes on his estranged, former employer. The Edmonton Oilers gave Souray a much inflated contract when they signed him in the summer of 2007, and Souray never really lived up to it. After only playing 26 games in 2007-08 due to injury and 37 games in 2009-10 between injury and the Oilers scratching him on various night, Edmonton buried him and his contract in the minors for the
entire 2010-11 season. Much to Souray and the Oilers' relief, his contract ran out over the summer. Still believing he could still be effective in the NHL, Souray signed a
one-year, $1,650,000 contract with the Dallas Stars, and he has exceeded expectations. Souray is 15th in the league among defensemen in points, and tied for 3rd among defesemen in goals. Souray will duke it out with his former team as the Stars (who led the NHL in points a little over a week ago) look to snap a five-game losing streak.
When
Peter DeBoer was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Florida Panthers late last season, the was more speculation over whether or not Theo Fleury would attempt a second comeback with the Phoenix Coyotes than where DeBoer would be hired next, (in case you couldn't detect the sarcasm, Theo Fleury was never going to attempt a second comeback.) But low and behold, Pete DeBoer was hired as the head coach of the New Jersey Devils, a team with a pedigree of winning. Despite New Jersey's struggles last season and DeBoer's career sub-.500 record as an NHL coach, analysts praised the decision calling it, "the perfect fit for what [The Devils] need right now," even though many of those same analysts also admitted they didn't see it coming. The Devils have gotten off to a decent start this season, posting a 10-7-1 record and going 6-4-0 in their last 10 games, but Florida has been off to an unexpected start with 23 points, a total good enough to have them currently in first place of the Southwest Division. Tonight, DeBoer will return back to the sunshine state to duke it out with the team that gave him his chance as a head coach in the NHL, but never delivered them a playoff berth.
Other note-worthy games to be played this evening:
- The Washington Capitals are in desperate need of a win, going 3-6-1 in their last 10. They hope to end their recent skid at home against the Phoenix Coyotes, a team who is 6-2-1 on the road so far this season. The Caps' sniper and notorious lack-of-work horse, Alexander Semin, is a healthy scratch for tonight's game.
- The Carolina Hurricanes are fresh off of a big win against Toronto yesterday, but now have to travel to the conference-leading Philadelphia Flyers' barn for a game tonight. Carolina has been off to a surprisingly slow start, and have lost many games where they have arguably outplayed their opponent. Can the Hurricanes take the momentum they earned yesterday to continue to turn their season around early, or will the Broadstreet Bullies set them back a step on the road to recovery?
- The Columbus Blue Jackets, the league's lowliest team at this point with only 10 points, just won their fourth game of the season in their most recent contest, a game in which Jeff Carter finally scored his first goal as a Jacket. Tonight they host the Calgary Flames at Nationwide Arena. This may not be a high marquee game that you'd flip to on the remote, but it is definitely a game you will want to keep track of the score at the bottom of your TV screen or on your laptop to see if Columbus can string together two wins in a row... or at least an OT loss. They need all the points they can get.
