Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Heading Into Tuesday's Action

The Oilers will take on the Senators at home tonight and they will do it without their most dynamic forward, Ales Hemsky. Hemsky suffered a nose injury in the Oilers' game against the Predators. This will be a hit to Peter's performance tonight in the Draft, as Hemsky was one of his better forwards this season. Hemsky has 35 points in 34 games for Edmonton, which ranks him fairly high this season. The injury isn't thought to be severe, so he could be back for the team's next game in Calgary on Wednesday night.

It looks like Colin White, a Box 30 defenseman, will be missing from action for the next couple of games for New Jersey. White suffered an upper body injury on the weekend and has also been experiencing a few vision problems, according to the coaching staff, so that will be enough to give him a couple nights off. The injury does not seem to be severe and shouldn't keep him out of the line-up beyond that. In his stead, Bryce Salvador will be coming off the shelf tonight, as he's also been out with an upper body injury.

Another step towards a healthy blueline should continue tonight for the Penguins as they will likely see the return of Box 28 defender, Hal Gill. Gill has been out for almost a month with a shoulder injury. Gill will look to give a little more defensive depth to the Penguins, so they can feel a little more confident making those crazy offensive plays and not get caught terribly out of position defensively. In the offensive end, Gill only has 2 assists in 23 games... so there is no value there at all.

It looks like it's not all doom & gloom in the Blues infirmary this week, as T.J. Oshie, a Box 9 forward, is set to return to the line-up tonight, after missing quite a few games with an ankle injury. Oshie was one of the pre-season favourites to be in the Calder Trophy race this season, but all of his injuries really set him back.

Click here to see an updated injury page.

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