Morning Player Notes in the Draft (Mar 31)

It was quite the set of events for the Avalanche on Friday night, in and around their game against the Blackhawks.  Both of their top two goalies, Semyon Varlamov and Jonathan Bernier were set to return, Varlamov starting, from injury and coming out was defenseman Erik Johnson, day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.  Then in game, Varlamov couldn't finish the game, after colliding with a Blackhawks player in the 3rd period, so Bernier had to come in to finish the game off.  So, Varlamov returned and left the game with another injury and worst of all, he was working on a shutout at the time.

With the shutout being preserved, it was split, so no extra points are handed out, thanks to the stats and how they play out.  That means Stacey C. doesn't get 4 points, just the 2 points for having the goalie of record.  Scott does see his goalie come back and with Stacey's injury, it could mean more starts.  Johnson's injury though, that'll be a concern for Grant's team, which still safely sits in 9th.

A cause for concern for the Washington Capitals, as T.J. Oshie wasn't able to complete last night's game against the Hurricanes, thanks to a lower-body injury.  The team wasn't going to go into specifics, but some research out there has suggested that the injury may have occurred late in the game, so it may have floated under the radar a bit.  With a little over a week to go in the regular season, the Capitals won't be taking any chances, as they desperately need some playoff success this year.

Steve's team was, at one point, running away with the plus/minus title, but that has since fallen away, but any hope of coming back would have been aided by Oshie and his plus rating.  His team is 18 points back of 24th and does appear doomed to finish last in the overall standings.

Friday night was also a really good night for player returns and not just Colorado goaltenders! 

Dale B. had a couple of returns on the list, Trevor Lewis of the Kings was back in the lineup (although he could have returned much sooner and it flew right past me) and Thomas Greiss of the Islanders was healthy enough to be backup on Friday.  Those will be two players to help with his money placement defense.

Justin Faulk of the Hurricanes came back for Eric, the Islanders also saw the return of their top two defenders, Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk, offering hope to Wilton and Brenda & Seward, while Henrik Lundqvist was able to backup for the Rangers last night, Brad Hunt drew back into the Vegas lineup and Philipp Grubauer was backing up again for Washington.  Brian, Derek B. and Grant all celebrating those last three.