Morning Player Notes (Nov 9)

The Arizona Coyotes were on the fence about dressing Alex Goligoski in last night's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, due to a lower-body injury, listed as a game-time decision ahead of the match. The veteran defenseman took the spin around the ice for warm-ups, determined he was good to go, but only lasted a couple of shifts on the ice, before heading back to the dressing room for the night, thus hindering the team for the entire game, leaving them with only five defensemen.  We'll list him as day-to-day for now, until the team otherwise says so.

From the back end, Goligoski has been pretty good for Wes' side, picking up 7 points in 14 games played... okay, 13 and a little bit.  Wes' team has seen some good gains already this week, up to 11th place after 13 points this week, but I'm sure he would appreciated a full game from his defender.

Yesterday, the New York Rangers hit the road on a 2-game road trip, but they have left forward Mats Zuccarello behind, as he is nursing a groin injury and will get this weekend off.  He's off to a decent start this season, picking up 3 goals and 10 points in the first 15 games of the season, but it hasn't been off-the-charts and that may be injury-related.  A couple of days off to rest may do him a whole lot of good.

Even without the prospect of having Zuccarello in the lineup this weekend, John P. is heading into the weekend with the lead in the Mover & Shaker race with 19 points through Thursday night's action.  I'm sure he's hoping his team can keep up the pace without the Norwegian active through today and tomorrow.

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland was granted a leave of absence from the team earlier in the week to attend to a family matter back at home, so he was unable to play both Tuesday and Thursday night, but it sounds like he is returning to the team here soon and should be good to go for the weekend.

Ryan's team hasn't been missing him too badly this week, having already posted 15 points through Thursday night, only 4 points off the pace for the Mover & Shaker and he will likely get his defenseman back for the weekend.  There's a chance his team could be in the conversation, when it is all said and done.