NHL Morning Papers (Sunday Edition)

Here the Sunday rumor columns:

• Here is Larry Brooks' Slap Shots column from this morning's NY Post.
• Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun provides you with more rumors than you could possibly imagine in this morning's paper.

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Rangers got off to a great start against the Sabres yesterday, and cruised to a 5-1 victory at MSG, writes Larry Brooks of the NY Post. The best player on the ice yesterday for the Rangers was youngster Brandon Dubinsky, writes John Dellapina of the NY Daily News.
• The Bruins thoroughly outplayed the Leafs in the first period last night, but only came away with a 1-1 tie after twenty minutes and it was downhill from there as they were defeated 4-3 in overtime. Here are some news and notes about the Bruins roster.
• The Thrashers were outshot but a ridiculous 49-10 margin last night, as the Islanders defeated Atlanta 4-1. Thrashers defenseman Alexei Zhitnik was scratched last night with the flu.
• The Sabres got off to a horrible start at MSG yesterday, on their way to their first game in their last eleven without recording a point. Both Jaroslav Spacek and Brian Campbell were victimized last night by the Rangers forwards.
• Even with all their injuries and and the recent Cory Stillman trade, the Canes continue to be a resilient bunch as they defeated the Panthers 5-4 on Saturday night. On the injury front, Carolina got a big boost last night with the return of Matt Cullen to the line-up.
• The Flyers lost their sixth game in a row last night, but they weren't unhappy with the way they played, writes Tim Pannaccio of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Pannaccio also tells readers that everyone who thinks Danny Briere is a bust, should take a deep breath.
• Ron Musselman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an interesting article about how kids from the Pennsylvania area can make the NHL. On the ice, superstar Sidney Crosby returned to full practice yesterday.
• The Capitals can thank veteran Olie Kolzig for last night's 3-2 victory over the Lightning, writes Tarik-El Bashir of the Washington Post.
• Darcy Tucker continues to increase his trade value, as the feisty winger recorded two goals and an assist in last night's 4-3 overtime win over Boston. Apparently Cliff Fletcher spent the entire second period of last night's game meeting with Stars GM Les Jackson behind closed doors.
• "It's pretty devastating," said Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle after last night's loss to the Capitals. John Tortorella says his top stars need to be better.
• The Senators turned in another poor performance last night, losing to the Devils 3-2.
• The Islanders have taken coach Ted Nolan's instructions to shoot the puck more to heart, as they outshot the Thrashers 49-10 last night in their 4-1 victory. Meanwhile, Islanders winger Trent Hunter is trying to not let his ongoing contract talks bother him.
• The Devils got off to a good start against the Senators, and that was probably the difference as they went on to a 3-2 road victory.
• Carey Price recorded his first NHL shutout last night in the Habs 1-0 hard-fought victory over the Flyers.
• The Panthers blew a late-game two period lead to the Hurricanes and let first place fall out of their grasp by losing 5-4, writes Steve Gorten of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Here are the Western Conference morning papers:

• The Ducks are continuing their in-house search for a suitable second-line center, writes Curtis Zupke of the Orange County Register.
• Flames coach Mike Keenan says he’s never seen such a veteran group of NHL’ers be as inconsistent as the Flames have been this season.
• Blackhawks super-rookie Patrick Kane understands that he has to get bigger and stronger this off-season to be able to compete better at the NHL level.
• The Avalanche have the second worst power play in the NHL and need to improve on their efficiency if they hope to make the playoffs, writes Terry Frei of the Denver Post.
• Jimmy Howard will get first start in three years today for the Red Wings as they take on the Stars. On the trading front, apparently the Wings have been scouting Brad Stuart.
• Coach Craig MacTavish was disappointed his team lost 4-2 to the Canucks last night, but happy that they stuck together, writes Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal. MacTavish would have loved to have seen the Oilers play like that two months ago, writes Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun.
• Dallas coach Dave Tippett says his team needs to maintain its focus this afternoon if it wants to beat the Red Wings.
• Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch weighs the pros and cons of the Jackets trading before the deadline. Here are the Jackets’ lines for today’s game against the Blues.
• Wild GM Doug Risebrough wants his team to simplify their power play, writes Kent Youngblood of the Star Tribune. Youngblood’s colleague Michael Russo talks about the trade deadline in his Sunday Insider.
• The Predators were a lot better in their 2-1 overtime win over St. Louis last night than they were earlier in the week against the Blackhawks.
• Jeremy Roenick is not looking forward to playing at MSG because it brings back bad memories of his jaw injury, writes David Pollak of the San Jose Mercury News.
• Manny Legace was the only reason that the Blues were able to record a point last night in their 2-1 overtime loss to the Predators.
• Radim Vrbata bailed out the Coyotes last night by scoring the game-winning goal after his team blew a two-goal lead.
• Henrik Sedin called yesterday’s win over the Oilers a “great team win.”

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

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