Atlantic Division

• Original recipe served the Penguins well on Sunday. Winger Matt Cooke‘s deflection off a point-shot by defenseman Sergei Gonchar provided the Penguins a second power-play goal and a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Wachovia Center.
• The Flyers’ nationally televised 2-1 loss to the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins Sunday can be explained in two words: special teams. The Flyers were just 1 for 9 on the power play, while Pittsburgh was 2 for 6, including Matt Cooke’s winning goal with 1:47 left. With the loss, the Flyers are 3-1 on the six-game homestand, which also has meetings with Atlanta and the Islanders.
• Sweep away the tumbleweed; Nassau Coliseum isn’t wasteland anymore. It finally is fertile ground again, a space where careers can blossom. Not to get hasty or anything. The Islanders still are not guaranteed a spot in the playoffs and they still have not won a postseason series since 1993. But they have succeeded in allowing players at least to get a foothold.
• The Rangers have 30 games to go in the season and there is a total disconnect within the team itself and between the players and the coaching staff. There is no better way to explain what became yet another blowout and yet another shutout, last night in an embarrassing 6-0 defeat to the Canadiens in which the Rangers competed only sporadically for one another and for head coach John Tortorella.
• Nothing is set in stone, but there is a possibility that the Devils could have center Dainius Zubrus back when they face the Ottawa Senators Tuesday night at Scotiabank Place. Zubrus said he will find out Monday, when his right knee is examined and he speaks with general manager Lou Lamoriello.

Northeast Division

• Despite web traffic that had him getting named as a substitute for the Russian Olympic team, winger Nikolai Kulemin had not heard anything as of Saturday. Tomas Kaberle (Czech Republic), Jonas Gustavsson (Sweden), Niklas Hagman (Finland), Mike Komisarek, (USA) and Phil Kessel (USA) are going. Mikhail Grabovski (Belarus) might not play due to a wrist injury.
• There are benefits to playing against — and losing to — the top team in the NHL. “Yeah, it shows we’ve got to learn,” Buffalo Sabres defenseman Toni Lydman said. The Sabres practiced in Vancouver on Sunday and tried to shake off Saturday’s 5-2 loss to San Jose. Buffalo held down the league’s best for long stretches while dictating play. It didn’t matter. The Sabres made several costly mistakes while the Sharks committed only one.
• Once again Saturday, the Ottawa Senators received the magic touch from the return of a long lost player. This time it was Jason Spezza who stepped off the injury list and into the starring role, scoring the winning goal as the Senators extended their winning streak to six games — their longest since December 2007 — in a sound 2-1 victory over the slumping Boston Bruins.
• The Canadiens appear to have grown tired of waiting for some of their young forwards to turn their season around and took action on Sunday. Early in the day, the team announced that Max Pacioretty had been assigned to the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League. The team also assigned Matt D’Agostini on a conditioning assignment.
• If it turns out that yesterday’s game was not rock-bottom for the Bruins this season, it’s frightening to imagine what a worse performance might look like. Facing the last-place team in the NHL entering the game, the B’s accomplished little offensively and were even worse on the defensive side, absorbing a 5-1 thumping at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Southeast Division

• All Brandon Sutter could do was smile, shake his head and say, “Wow.” Sutter was on the bench, admiring a replay of a nifty move by Ray Whitney that set him up for a goal, but he could just as well have been talking about the Carolina Hurricanes’ play Sunday against the Boston Bruins.
• There’s a clear presumption of excellence, immediate or otherwise, attached to being a first-round pick, and that has been Eric Fehr‘s burden since the Washington Capitals selected him 18th overall in the 2003 draft. From virtually the first time the right wing began skating with the club, Fehr has fielded questions about when he would fulfill that promise and when Washington would be able to look to him as confidently as it does some of its more established players.
• Slava Kozlov‘s franchise record for consecutive games played ended Saturday. It was not a health issue that snapped the Thrashers veteran forward’s streak at 251. Kozlov was a healthy scratch against Tampa Bay.
• Speaking of Tampa Bay, Mike Smith will at least be on the bench Wednesday against the Canadiens after the Lightning on Sunday sent Dustin Tokarksi back to AHL Norfolk. Tokarski backed up Antero Niittymaki while Smith recovered from a neck strain that kept him out of six games. “I’m getting close,” Smith said. “The goal is to be ready for Wednesday.”
• It was the goal Kenndal McArdle had waited for since the Panthers drafted him five years ago. Gregory Campbell grabbed the puck after a Toronto turnover near center ice, streaked toward the net with it on a 3-on-1 rush and slid it over to McArdle, who fired a shot from the inner edge of the right circle into the top right corner. McArdle scored his first NHL goal with 6:55 left in Saturday’s 2-0 win against the Maple Leafs, and he did so against his hometown team.

Hat tip to the now defunct Illegal Curve for their permission in taking over this daily series.

Anthony Curatolo
NHLHS Senior Writer
acuratolo@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @HockeyGuy_AC