Pre-Game Notes on Thursday (Feb 10)

The Penguins will be without forward Chris Kunitz for a couple of games (at the very least), as he is dealing with an undisclosed injury at the moment.  Kunitz will likely be missing out on a back-to-back situation, tonight at home to Los Angeles and Friday night on Long Island.  The Penguins offense is getting stretched awfully thin these days and the loss of Kunitz will only make things worse.

If Kunitz is out for any longer than these two games, an update will be posted.  For now, he's considered to be day-to-day.

The Lightning have lost the services of Ryan Malone again, not long after returning from a torso injury, his first game back, actually.  Malone suffered another abdominal injury and now the team is seeking more medical opinions on his actual injury, but some reports are suggesting that Malone could be out of the line-up for up to two months.  The team will not release any official word on Malone until they have all the evidence presented to them.

We'll still consider him, much like anyone else, day-to-day with an abdominal/torso injury.

The Maple Leafs have now sent down John Mitchell to the Marlies of the AHL in the wake of some roster movement already made through the trade market.  Mitchell will make way for defenseman Keith Aulie, while Joffrey Lupul will take the roster spot that was taken by Francois Beauchemin, who were dealt for each other.  It'll all make sense when the team takes to the ice tonight against the Devils at home.

I don't think we'll be expecting Mitchell back in the Leafs' line-up until there is another injury or another bit of movement in the roster.

Everyone is still awaiting news on the condition of Canucks defenseman Dan Hamhuis on Thursday, as he had left Wednesday night's game against the Ducks with an undisclosed injury.  Hamhuis was hit awkwardly into the boards by the Ducks' Ryan Getzlaf and had to be helped off the ice.  An update to his condition isn't expected until Friday morning, possibly as late as Saturday morning.

The early indication is that the injury is minor, but that's very preliminary.  If there is any significant time to be missed, an update will be posted.

Link to the Injury/News Page