Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Dec 29)

The Tampa Bay Lightning were without defenseman Anton Stralman last night for the their tilt against the Montreal Canadiens, due to a lower-body injury. All the team had mentioned leading up to the game was that the veteran defender was dealing with the injury and that he was day-to-day.  Stralman's scoring numbers have been somewhat underwhelming on the potent Lightning this season, 11 points in 35 games, but he has been a plus/minus monster, accumulating a rating of +24 this season.

It's hard to say whether or not Stralman would have been an offensive factor last night, but I'm sure Dale C. would have appreciated it, if the 31-year old Swede was in the lineup.  Dale's team only has 6 points through two nights this week, which is among the bottom rung thus far, but also came into the week in 3rd for the plus/minus total and it was a good showing by Tampa over Montreal last night.

In San Jose last night, Calgary Flames forward Michael Frolik left the game against the Sharks in the 2nd period, after getting in the way of a Brent Burns shot.  The word about the injury was vague, as there was no indication about whereabouts he took the shot, but we can say he left the game and didn't return with an undisclosed injury.  The 29-year old is scoring at less than last year's pace, which has to be somewhat disappointing, but he does have 15 points in 37 games, so it isn't a complete wash for him yet.  He is usually quite the durable player, so it will be interesting to see if he misses any time.

Steve's team has been riddled with injuries for a good portion of this season already, so if Frolik goes down for any length of time, staying just outside of last place will get increasingly difficult.  The gap between his and Scott's team in 25th has shrunk to 19 points this week, Scott having already gained 3 points through the first two nights.