Fridays NHL Morning Papers (Western Conference)

(hat tip to the boys of Illegal Curve. Thanks to their amazing class and their blessing to take over this feature here at NHL Hot Stove. We hope you enjoy the latest daily series.)

Central

• GM Stan Bowman believes the Hawks goaltending will stand up to a cup run.  ”I’m not worried about the goaltending. It has been our strength really all year. I know we play a good team defense as well, (but) without solid goaltending we wouldn’t be where we’re at. Internally we’re comfortable.”  I guess they will stick with Cristobal Huet and Antti Niemi down the stretch.
• The Blue Jackets came from behind to defeat Boston 3-2.  The team received an extra boost with 18 of their fathers in the stands.
• Chris McCosky of The Detroit News wonders where the Wings would be without Drew Miller, Jimmy Howard, Patrick Eaves and Darren Helm.  ”We wouldn’t have any wins if it weren’t for those guys,” coach Mike Babcock said. “It’s not like our big guys have been scoring like crazy.”  Looks like the Wings feature a new wave of younger, scrappy grinders.
• The Predators fell to Phoenix 4-2 with the help of their former player and draftee Scottie Upshall.  In just his second career game against the team who drafted him Upshall scored a hat trick, essentially defeating them single handedly.
• The Blues dug their own grave allowing three powerplay goals to the Senators.  They came in to Ottawa with the best penalty kill on the road.

Northwest

• With last night’s loss the Flames now dropped six in a row. George Johnson of The Calgary Herald believes the Hawks play in a league of their own.
• Cody McLeod scored 15 goals last season but fails to find his scoring touch.  Coach Joe Sacco believes his player still plays his role effectively.  ”It’s tough, because that’s not his responsibility,” Sacco said. “He’s doing a lot of other things very well for us. He’s been very physical, and he’s a guy his teammates can count on to show up and play hard every game. He’s actually been very good on the penalty kill too.
• Jim Matheson of The Edmonton Journal looks at the bright side of Sam Gagner and his slow development curve.
• The Minnesota Wild come from behind to win seemingly every game.  Fresh off a concussion Brent Burns returned to the team to help the Wild attempt a fifteenth come-from-behind victory.
• The Canucks played without Sami Salo, Willie Mitchell and Kevin Bieksa but still got the W against the Stars.  As Roberto Luongo said: “It happens every year.“

Pacific

• Even with their improved place in the standings, the Ducks still cannot solve the Sharks.  Ryan Getzlaf thinks the powerplay made the difference.  ”Our power play has got to be a little bit better than that,”  Getzlaf said.
• Alex Auld allowed a shorthanded goal when he misplayed the puck and gave it to Alex Burrows.  ”It’s tough when you give up one like that. You have to learn from these things and move on,” Auld said.
• Rich Hammond of LAKings.com muses over Dustin Brown and Jon Quick defeating their Olympic teammate Ryan Miller.
• The Coyotes received valiant efforts from their leading scorer Scottie Upshall and backbone Ilya Bryzgalov to defeat the Predators 4-2.  ”It’s a game that means so much,” Upshall said. “This game for us was a big momentum builder, and it said a lot for the way this week has gone, and the questions you guys have been asking about what’s going on.
• Rob Blake and Marc-Edouard Vlasic both scored goals with Dan Boyle out.  ”They were partners until tonight,” coach Todd McLellan said. “Then we broke them up and they both scored goals.”

Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS Editor
amonaghan@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @NHLHotStove