Morning Player Notes (Dec 21)

The flu bug continued to run amok in the league, although I don't think it's nearly as bad as some years previous.  Thursday night, the bug bit Nashville defenseman Mattias Ekholm and he was held out of the game against the Flyers, listed as out day-to-day.  Usually these bugs aren't very serious and these players are usually back in the lineup for their team's next game, which in this case would be Saturday afternoon in Boston. 

This is the second illness on Dale C.'s team this week, as he hasn't had Jason Spezza in the Dallas lineup for the last two games, which is one of those cases where a player does miss more than one game, but it is somewhat rare.  Dale's team continues to make gains this week, up another spot to 17th with 13 points this week, hoping for a big weekend.

New Jersey Devils forward Marcus Johansson left Thursday night's game against the Blue Jackets in the 2nd period with an undisclosed injury. There are some reports suggesting that he was favouring his left side, but there were no other details to speak of after the game.  The Devils play again tonight, at home against the Senators, so there should be an update on this condition rather soon.  If it is anything significant, we'll update the blog.

Wilton's team takes a hit with this injury, which certainly doesn't come at a great time, since his team hasn't been on the scoresheet much this week, having only 8 points through Thursday's action. His team has benefited from a team not being as good as his this week, so his team has even moved up a spot, up to 12th, despite his slow week.

On Thursday in Calgary, the Lightning decided to scratch defenseman Mikhail Sergachev for a night and looking at his last three games, his ice-time has taken a downturn and it looks like he may have lost a little faith from his coaches and he got the night off.  With only 2 assists in his last five games, there might be more of an expectation from his coaches to contribute more, but that's between him and the bench.  We'll see if he gets back into the lineup on Saturday night in Edmonton.

This was a bit of a surprise to Stuart's team, I'm sure, but it is a lost skater game nevertheless.  Stuart's team managed just fine without him, staying in 2nd place and his team is now up to 20 points this week, so there can't be too many complaints.  Maybe the night off will act as a good kick in the pants for the Russian defender.