Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Mar 3)

Before their match-up against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Anaheim Ducks announced that forward Ryan Getzlaf was going to be a late scratch, due to being under the weather.  Getzlaf is currently listed as out day-to-day and will likely be questionable to probable, when the Ducks start thinking about Sunday afternoon's game with the Blackhawks in town.

Eric's team started the night in the Mover & Shaker mix for the week and when the dust settled on Friday night, his team only sits 4 points out of the top spot in weekly scoring.  Eric's team has moved up into the top 20 with this good week, so here's hoping he can keep it going, despite Getzlaf's illness.

We're awaiting news on the extent of the injury that Buffalo Sabres defenseman Marco Scandella suffered on Friday night against the Florida Panthers.  Reports came out in the middle of the game, that the 28-year old wouldn't return to the game due to injury, but that was the best amount of detail that we saw.  The Sabres have been trying to go through the motions without much harm to their lineup, as their playoff hopes are long gone and now they play for their own pride.  We'll consider Scandella out day-to-day, until otherwise noted by the team.

Wes' team is starting to really pull away in the PIM department and fortunately, Scandella hasn't exactly been a huge contributor in that statistical category, having only 22 minutes in penalties this season. 

Another injury we're awaiting more details on at the moment... Alexander Wennberg of the Columbus Blue Jackets was held out of action on Friday night, when the Jackets played the Ducks, due to an upper-body injury.  It popped up out of nowhere last night, but there he was as a scratch in the evening.  He's currently listed as out day-to-day with the injury, but that's all we have these days.  The Jackets are right in the thick of the playoff race, so injury news is going to be even more difficult to get out of teams these days.

The pack of teams that are vying for 4th place is five teams deep, all separated by 4 points and Brenda & Seward see their team in the midst of that pack.  Missing out on a Wennberg game didn't help them leap frog any teams, as they are one of the teams 4 points back of Grant's team, being in 7th currently.

A lower-body injury against the Islanders forced Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty from Friday night's game, after having Chris Wagner fall on him early in the 3rd period.  Pacioretty didn't return to the game and the team didn't have any updates on him right away after the game.  Montreal has a quick turnaround, playing tonight in Boston, assuming they can make it, due to weather, so we'll know before too long, as to whether or not Pacioretty can play or not.

Mike's team finished the night in 14th place in the standings, tied with Brian in points, but losing the first tie-breaker in goals at the moment.  Mike's best finishing position in the hockey pool was his first season participating, finishing 10th in the 2014 season and his team is currently 24 points out of the top 10 and I bet he wishes that Pacioretty was traded at the deadline for a chance at that mark.

The Nashville Predators are so confident in their current run of play, that they are now affording themselves the luxury of resting players on back-to-back nights, like Friday night in Vancouver.  The Predators opted to rest a number of players, including pool players Craig Smith and Roman Josi, listing them as healthy scratches for the purpose of some rest.  It didn't seem to hurt the Predators at all, as they came out 4-3 overtime winners on the night.

Of course, Nashville doesn't care who they're hurting in the hockey pool and on the night, it was Dale C. and Kristy & Don missing out skater games.  Neither of them are really in the money hunt, but that's not the point.  How can we have fun watching our players when they are not playing?

On Friday night, the New York Islanders played the Montreal Canadiens and they did so without forward Jordan Eberle, who was held out of the contest with an undisclosed injury. There are reports out there that Eberle wasn't able to finish up practice on Thursday, but there is no more, in terms of details out there, but he's currently listed as out day-to-day for now.

Clayton's team dropped down to 5th place, after a poor showing on Friday night, but still remains in the hunt for 4th place, as Grant's team is only 2 points ahead after last night's play.  If the Eberle injury is significant, that could be bad news for Clayton's 4th place hopes.