Tuesday Night Scratchings

Well, it looks like Box 29 defenseman, Cory Murphy, is about ready to get back into the line-up for the Panthers. He spent the last little while in the minors getting conditioned and has now been called up to the big club to get some practices in before their next game on Friday night. Murphy has only played in 7 games for the Panthers this season, registering a single assist. The injury has sure dampened his fantasy value and he remains questionable for next season as well.

The Predators were without Box 7 forward, Jordin Tootoo, for their Tuesday night game against the Maple Leafs. He's sidelined day-to-day with an undisclosed injury. There are also reports suggesting that he may have been a healthy scratch as well, so I'm not sure what to believe here. If he's back for their next game on Thursday night in Montreal, we will consider it a scratching.

The goaltending woes of the Islanders continued last night in New York, as Joey MacDonald left the game against the Rangers after only five minutes, thanks to what the team is calling a groin strain. The Waiver Draft pick-up of Peter's has taken on the number one goalie duty for the Islanders, after Rick DiPietro has not fully recovered from a couple of lower body injuries, including his knee. The severity of the groin strain for MacDonald isn't fully known yet, but if it's long-term, there will be an update.

It looks like a consistent roundabout of scratching for Phillipe Boucher, Pittsburgh's Box 11 defenseman. Him and Alex Goligoski have been sharing time in the press box for the past couple of weeks and it was Boucher's turn to sit on Tuesday night, as the team faced off against the Flyers. I wonder how likely it will be that the Penguins will shop for another top six defenseman before Sergei Gonchar returns to the line-up. Gonchar still has about 10 weeks to go before he's scheduled to return, which goes well past the trading deadline in February.

Reports from Calgary say that Keith Tkachuk left Tuesday night's game against the Flames after he banged his head in a collision with Robyn Regehr. Tkachuk failed to return to the game after the hit, citing wooziness. If Tkachuk has suffered a concussion, which seems likely, his return won't be for a week and will likely be placed on the IR before too long. Tkachuk is a member of John B.'s Draft team this season and has 29 points (14G, 15A) in 42 games this season.

The Leafs called up Nikolai Kulemin over the weekend to help pop some offense back into the line-up, but the Box 25 forward had blocked a shot while playing for the Marlies in the AHL and has reportedly hurt his ankle doing so. This injury kept Kulemin out of the line-up for the Leafs' game against the Predators on Tuesday, but his status for their next game on Thursday in Carolina is unknown.

The Canucks saw the return of Taylor Pyatt to the line-up against the Devils on Tuesday night, which meant someone had to sit in the press box to make room. That job went to Box 9 forward, Jannik Hansen, who had played in a game after being recalled from the minors last week. Hansen, much like the rest of the team, has suffered from some inconsistencies, but Hansen is the easiest to scratch on any given day. It's unclear whether or not Pyatt's return will see Hansen will head back down to the minors or not yet.

The Capitals had Sergei Fedorov come back from the press box on Tuesday night, as he wasn't quite ready to go in back-to-back games. In his return, Eric Fehr was the odd man out and the Box 25 forward took his spot back in the press box on Tuesday night. Fehr has been a good utility man in these times of injury for the Capitals, scoring 3 goals and 6 assists in 26 games played this season. It may not be enough though, as the team has gotten healthy here lately and Fehr could be on his way to the minors here soon.

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