Thursday Night's Scratches

Call it the flu, call it a healthy scratch. Maxim Afinogenov was out of the line-up on Thursday night against the Hurricanes. The Sabres didn't miss him in their line-up, as they rallied to score five goals in a win. The Sabres have now been eliminated from the playoffs, so don't consider them on your Playoff Pool sheet.

The Flames have run into a bit of an injury problem, as both Robyn Regehr and Cory Sarich each hit the injured reserve. Regehr has gone down with a sprained MCL in his knee and he'll be out of the line-up through the first round of the playoffs. Sarich is out indefinitely after breaking a bone in his foot. Both players are key to the defensive structure of the team and will be missed.

It was a return to the press box for Frank Kaberle of the Hurricanes. Kaberle has been the extra defenseman for the better part of the season this year, which has made him into a poor fantasy player. Kaberle has not been included on the Playoff Pool sheet this year, which just makes sense.

It was a grand entrance back into the line-up for Marty Turco, as he sat and watched Matt Climie got the shootout win over the Avalanche. Turco's return to the active line-up saw Tobias Stephan head up to the press box, as a healthy scratch. Climie was sent back to the ECHL on Friday, which means that Turco should be back in the net for the Stars.

The Flyers have joined the club of NHL teams who are having troubles with injuries and the salary cap. Ryan Parent suffered a groin injury and now the Flyers have signed defenseman, David Sloane, to an amateur tryout contract, so he wouldn't count against the cap and fill in Parent's spot.

The Coyotes dressed a more experienced line-up for their last game against the Sharks. Thursday night saw the scratching of Nigel Dawes, Daniel Winnik, Kyle Turris and Mikael Boedker. The removal of those four players seemed to do some good for the line-up, as they managed to beat San Jose, 4-1.

In and out. In and out. Craig Adams was again out of the line-up for the Penguins on Thursday. Adams will not be on the Playoff Pool sheet this Spring. He was really only inserted on the Regular Season sheet, because there wasn't a lot of pre-season depth to the Chicago Blackhawks. Also joining Adams in the press box on Thursday night was Maxime Talbot and Hal Gill. Both players are likely being rested for the playoff run.

The Sharks didn't dress Jonathan Cheechoo on Thursday night, because of a maintenance day. Cheechoo wasn't said to have an injury, but that is a likely scenario. He could very well be resting for the playoffs, which begins in less than a week. Cheechoo hasn't had much success this year, having only 29 points in 67 games.

The Lightning will not have Ryan Malone in their line-up for the remaining games of the year, due to a broken hand. The injury comes at an alright time, as the Lightning are already out of the playoff picture and Malone will be back and ready to go at the start of next season.

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