NHL Morning Papers (Sunday Edition)

Here are the Eastern Conference morning papers:

• The Thrashers are getting close to must-win territory right now, which is why Saturday's shootout loss to the Bruins hurts that much more. Todd White missed yesterday's game to the Bruins with an elbow injury.
• Bruins netminder Tim Thomas was not going to allow Ilya Kovalchuk to beat him on two penalty shots yesterday, as he turned aside the sniper in the shootout to capture a 3-2 win. Meanwhile, Fluto Shinwaza tells us that Phil Kessel is a dominant shootout force. Kevin Paul Dupont's usual Sunday column in the Boston Globe takes a look at the Marian Hossa trade and the risks that come along with it.
• Expect Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller to play every game the rest of the way, writes Mike Harrington. Miller will be facing off against former Sabres netminder Dominik Hasek tonight as the Red Wings come to town.
• After leading the Hurricanes to a 5-1 victory over Tampa, it is fair to say that Sergei Samsonov has been nothing short of a revelation in Carolina, writes Luke Decock of the News Observer. On the injury front, the Hurricanes were happy to have Tim Gleason back in the lineup last night, after he finally passed the post-concussion test.
• Henrik Lundqvist will be starting in net versus the Flyers this afternoon, even though backup Steve Valiquette has had great success against him. In his Sunday Slap Shots column, Larry Brooks of the NY Post opines that the NHL should lead the fight against drugs in professional sports.
• Mike Knuble's mistake turned into a goal last night, leading the Flyers to a 4-1 victory at Long Island.
• Sergei Gonchar took a bad penalty yesterday afternoon and it cost the Penguins against the Senators as they lost 5-4 in Kanata. In positive injury news for the Pens, Marc-Andre Fleury will start today against the Thrashers.
• The Capitals were "outworked" by the visiting Maple Leafs last night, writes Tarik El-Bashir. George Solomon of the Washington Post takes a look at the Capitals overcrowded goaltending situation.
• The Leafs continued to ride the strong play of Mats Sundin last night, as the team's captain led the Leafs to a 3-2 road victory at Washington. It is apparent by their comments that the other Leafs really look up to Mats Sundin.
• The Lightning were not impressed with the amount of diving that was part of the Hurricanes' game last night, writes Erik Erlendsson. In other Tampa news, Brad Richards holds no ill will towards his former organization.
• The Senators took care of the Penguins at home on Saturday, in what was an encouraging win before the team heads out on its west-coast road trip. Here are more news and notes from yesterday's contest. Bruce Garrioch provides you with rumors and more rumors.
• Mike Knuble's short-handed goal was the turning point in the Islanders/Flyers game, writes Greg Logan of Newsday.
• Apparently the Devils didn't have a beat writer in Montreal last night, so here is the AP story.
• Carey Price took on Martin Brodeur last night and got the victory, writes Pat Hickey. Meanwhile, Josh Gorges has really become comfortable with the Habs, writes Kevin Mio.
• If the Panthers are to have a shot at making the playoffs they have to continue the strong March play that they have displayed the past two seasons.

For the third time in two months, Microsoft Vista has cost me the Western Conference morning papers. For some reason the autosave function on Blogger also hasn't been working. The regular format will return tomorrow morning.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Richard Pollock.

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