Sport-scan daily brief

“I thought Tlusty played real well in exhibition,’’ Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “I know Eric real well, he’s a good player, and then you add Semin into the mix. He’s a world-class talent. He can pass the puck and shoot the puck, big body. It’s a good group.’’

Here are the Red Wings' lines and defense pairings for tonight:

Henrik Zetterberg-Pavel Datsyuk-Justin Abdelkader

Johan Franzen-Stephen Weiss-Daniel Alfredsson

Daniel Cleary-Joakim Andersson-Todd Bertuzzi

Drew Miller-Cory Emmerton-Mikael Samuelsson

Tomas Tatar is a healthy scratch. Jordin Tootoo and Darren Helm (both on injured reserve) also skated.

Niklas Kronwall-Jonathan Ericsson

Danny DeKeyser-Jakub Kindl

Kyle Quincey-Brendan Smith

Brian Lashoff (scratched)

Jimmy Howard (starting)

Petr Mrazek

Here is Carolina's anticipated lineup:

Jiri Tlusty-Eric Staal-Alexander Semin

Nathan Gerbe-Jordan Staal-Patrick Dwyer

Jeff Skinner-Riley Nash-Radek Dvorak

Drayson Bowman-Brett Sutter-Elias Lindholm

Andrej Sekera-Justin Faulk

Jay Harrison-Ryan Murphy

Ron Hainsey-Brett Bellmore

Cam Ward (starting)

Anton Khudobin

Michigan Live LOADED: 10.05.2013

719528 Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk underrated, Niklas Kronwall among dirtiest players in ESPN poll

Brendan Savage

on October 04, 2013 at 6:30 AM, updated October 04, 2013 at 6:35 AM

Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk is one of the most underrated players in the NHL and defenseman Niklas Kronwall is one of the dirtiest, according to an ESPN The Magazine poll of 30 "star" players who were allowed to remain anonymous.

Datsyuk tied for second in voting for the most underrated player behind Alexander Steen of the St. Louis Blues. Steen got 13.3 percent of the vote while Datsyuk and Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals both got 10 percent.

Kronwall tied for second behind Minnesota's Matt Cooke in voting for the dirtiest player. Cook was an easy winner with 30 percent of the vote while Kronwall and Winnipeg's Dustin Byfuglien got seven percent apiece.

The Red Wings' Mike Babcock tied for second in voting for the smartest coach. Dan Blysma of Pittsburgh was first with 26.7 percent of the vote while Babcock and Chicago's Joel Quenneville had 20 percent each.

Dion Phaneuf of Toronto was voted the most overrated player followed by New York Rangers teammates Henrik Lundqvist and Carl Hagelin.

Perhaps the most interesting category involving the Red Wings was the one that asked which team will benefit the most and the least from four-division realignment. The Red Wings were No. 1 in both categories.

Figure that one out.

The Red Wings got 13.3 percent of the vote when it came to teams that will be helped by realignment while Columbus, Philadelphia and Winnipeg were all a distant second with 3.3 percent apiece.

As far as being hurt by realignment, the Red Wings again were No. 1 with 20.8 percent of the vote. Winnipeg again finished in a second-place tie but this time the Jet were dead even with all of the Eastern Conference teams at 16.7 percent.

Again, figure that one out.

Eighty percent of players think teammates are not taking performance enhancing drugs, 60 percent think the instigator rule should be abolished, 56.7 percent would like to see expansion, 56.6 percent said they would not play in the KHL, 88 percent think NHL players in the Olympics should show support for gay rights while in Russia, 63.3 percent like the current size of goalie pads, and Seattle finished No. 1 with 37 percent of the vote when it comes to cities deserving an NHL expansion team.

Michigan Live LOADED: 10.05.2013

719529 Detroit Red Wings

Some Red Wings believe fighting has place in game, as debate about banning fisticuffs heats up

Ansar Khan

on October 03, 2013 at 6:01 PM, updated October 03, 2013 at 6:07 PM

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings have fought less than any team in the NHL over the past dozen years, but many players feel fisticuffs have a place in the game.

The age-old debate about whether the league should ban fighting is heating up again, just two days into the season. It was sparked by a scary incident Tuesday, when Montreal Canadiens enforcer George Parros hit his head on the ice during a fight with Toronto's Colton Orr. Parros suffered a concussion and had to be carried off on a stretcher.

Incidents like that prompted Tampa Bay Lightning general manager and former long-time Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman to declare that game misconducts should be issued for fighting -- he even supported a ban on fighting altogether.

Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said “for sure'' he envisions a day when the NHL will ban fighting.

Players on the Red Wings, some who scrap and some who don't, can't picture that happening.

“If you did a study over the last few years of how many guys have been hurt really badly from fighting, I don't know if it's that many,'' defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “But there's always going to be incidents. The one that happened with George Parros is just bad luck.

“I think fighting has a place in hockey. Can you do something with the rules? Game misconduct or something like that? That might be an option.''

Jordin Tootoo, who led the Red Wings with eight fighting majors last season, sees many advantages to keeping fisticuffs in the game.

“Fighting has been a part of the game since Day 1,'' Tootoo said. “It's about having respect for each other and … what's called changing momentum of a game. It's a difference-maker, but at the same time you're not going out to intentionally hurt the guy.

“Fighting has been a part of the game since Day 1. It's about having respect for each other.'' -- Jordin Tootoo

“For me, I play a pretty rambunctious style of hockey that allows other teams to have a hate on me and I got to be able to back it up. I do, and I feel comfortable in doing that.''

Justin Abdelkader sees no problem with fights that occur in the heat of battle.

“I think there's still a place for fighting,'' Abdelkader said. “I think what they're trying to do is take out the staged part of the fighting, but I think it's still part of the game, part of the history.''

Drew Miller believes enforcers play an important role, but he acknowledged safety concerns, particularly to a player's life after hockey.

“You have to respect the guys that do it on a night-to-night basis,'' Miller said. “I think it does create a spark when needed, momentum shifts, but I don’t know where you draw the line where that’s more beneficial than someone’s health.

“If it was all gone it would be different and weird. But with a transition period maybe it would become normal eventually.''

Babcock called what happened in the Canadiens-Maple Leafs game “a farce.''

“We’re talking about taking all of the head shots out of the NHL and that stuff’s going on?'' Babcock said.

“So everyone will tell you that (fighting) has a place in the game. There’s lots and lots of hard games (other sports) that don’t allow fighting. I don’t have all the answers, I just know the way we’ve made it now, some guys with visors and some don’t and they’re taking them off, and not taking them off. To me that’s not two guys mad fighting, that’s something else.''

The NHL has taken measures to reduce head shots, doling out stiffer suspensions for illegal hits.

“When your league is this much against head shots and the penalties are so severe -- fighting is a head shot, isn’t it?'' Babcock said. “I don’t know where the fine line is there. I don’t know how you take head shots out of the game and allow scrapping.''

Michigan Live LOADED: 10.05.2013

719530 Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers coach Dallas Eakins focussing on win, not retribution, in game against Vancouver Canucks

October 4, 2013. 5:03 pm

Joanne Ireland

There have been some uncomfortable adjustments that Sam Gagner has had to make since Zack Kassian swung his stick into his face, knocking out four teeth and fracturing the jaw.

He’s had the surgery and he can get out onto the ice to keep his conditioning but he is still struggling with his limited food options. Chewing down on a steak is just not an option right now.

“I’m getting a little tired of fish and soup,” he said Friday.

As for the idea the the Oilers will be looking retribution in Vancouver, not only for Kassian’s blow but also for the head shot Dale Weise laid on Taylor Hall, don’t bank on it.

Kassian is still serving an eight suspension (he is eligible to return Oct. 12) and as far as Oilers coach Dallas Eakins is concerned, the league dealt with Weise as well by making him sit for the remainder of the pre-season.

“I don’t know if we even think about that,” said Eakins. “We’ve instructed our guys to play hard every night and every shift but we’re not going to look for guys who have made dumb plays. The league handled it and we’re good with it.”

Gagner will be able to return – with a full faceshield – when the fracture has healed to the point where the plate won’t move under pressure.

“The biggest thing is that when my jaw is ready, I’ll be ready to play,” he said. “With a lot of injuries it’s a long process to get back. I had a week off the ice and a week off from working out and you can lose a lot just in a week so it’s nice to just get back on the ice.”

Gagner lost almost 10 pounds but is back up to 198 pounds, which is about four pounds under his playing weight.

Meanwhile, defenceman Denis Grebeshkov, who has been out of the lineup with a groin injury, is hopeful he’ll be able to start practicing next week. He did some work on another sheet of ice on Friday, along with Gagner, while the team readied itself for its game against the Canucks.

“I’m doing everything I can to get back,” said Grebeshkov, who has spent the last three seasons in the KHL. Fellow Russian Anton Belov, who is an NHL rookie, played in the opener and will play with Nick Schultz again Saturday against the Canucks.

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 10.05.2013

719531 Edmonton Oilers

Oilers should keep Taylor Hall at centre even with The Nuge returning

October 4, 2013. 1:16 pm

Jim Matheson

Centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will return to the Edmonton Oilers lineup on Monday, Oct. 7, 2013, against the New Jersey Devils. Nugent-Hopkins has been out of the lineup since the spring; he had shoulder surgery on April 23.

I know Taylor Hall at centre was the Edmonton Oilers’ lab experiment from the not-so-mad scientist Dallas Eakins because Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was going to miss all of pre-season and maybe all of the first month of regular-season.

But now that RNH is coming back Monday against New Jersey, why can’t they keep Hall where he is, at least until Sam Gagner’s busted jaw heals and he returns in a month?

Haven’t we all wanted to see how a tag-team of RNH and Hall would be at centre, giving them a little more beef in the middle? Kind of like Gretzky and Messier in the bygone days.

Nothing against the natural centre Gagner, who is 195 pounds, but couldn’t he play the wing? He works the boards well and he’s got lots of ice savvy. A lot more centres move to the wing than the other way around. Keep the Hall experiment going for awhile longer.

It’s no secret the Oilers are much deeper on the wing than at centre. They’ve got Jordan Eberle and Ales Hemsky on right-wing ,and David Perron, Nail Yakupov (who can play either side) and Ryan Smyth on LW on the first two two lines, with Finn Jesse Joensuu stepping up big-time as a top-nine winger, too.

Keeping Hall at centre would screw things up for Mark Arcobello, mind you. Boyd Gordon is the perfect third-line centre, who took 26 face-offs on opening night against Winnipeg; he looks a lot like the new Shawn Horcoff with the multitude of draws. Will Acton did a nice job as the fourth-line centre between Mike Brown and Luke Gazdic against the Jets.

Hall prefers left-wing, getting his speed going against defencemen. He should have been a second-team NHL all-star there but for a screwed up vote from the hockey writers. But he also seems to have embraced the move to the middle.

I say keep him there and see how a Nuge-Hall tag-team looks.

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 10.05.2013

719532 Edmonton Oilers

Nugent-Hopkins set to return to Oilers lineup on Monday

By Joanne Ireland, Edmonton Journal October 4, 2013

LEDUC — After his last practice as an auxiliary part, a routine Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has endured for a couple of weeks, Edmonton Oilers teammate Ryan Smyth delivered a couple of sprightly checks.

The star centre will return to the lineup on Monday when the Oilers host the New Jersey Devils at Rexall Place.

“Yeah, a couple of guys were giving it to me, just to see how it felt,” said Nugent-Hopkins, who was the centre of attention on Friday.

He travelled with the Oilers to Vancouver, where he is expected to take part in the warm-up just to get back into the routine, then he’ll prepare for the Devils’ game.

The Oilers are 0-1 after an opening-day 5-4 loss to the Winnipeg Jets. The Canucks are also 0-1.

Nugent-Hopkins last played on April 19, then had surgery four days later to repair his left shoulder. The long-range return date was Nov. 1, but he has been taking part in practices for a couple of weeks and passed the required medical inspections.

He even flew into Cleveland to see his surgeon earlier this week.

“It’s definitely a little earlier than first thought because they say five to six months, and then it’s usually closer to six. The last month is about getting your strength back and it’s there now,” said the Oilers’ 2011 No. 1 draft pick, who signed a seven-year, $42-million contract extension last month.

“It’s awesome that I only have to miss a couple of games. The biggest thing is that I’m confident with it right now. I wouldn’t come back if I wasn’t.”

Nugent-Hopkins said again on Friday that he wasn’t fast-tracking his return because Sam Gagner was knocked out of the lineup after getting hit in the face by Canucks forward Zack Kassian’s stick during a pre-season game on Sept. 21. Nugent-Hopkins said he had reported to training camp hopeful he’d be back soon.

Kassian is still serving a suspension for his careless act against Gagner and will not play against the Oilers on Saturday. Gagner, who suffered a broken jaw on the play, has started skating but will not return to practice until the fracture has set.

“It was tough seeing Gags get hurt like that and, obviously, it was a big hit to the team, but as far as I was concerned, I had to make sure I was 100 per cent ready, no matter what,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “It’s definitely a bonus I am coming back early.

“Coming into camp, I wasn’t quite sure when I’d be back because I hadn’t talked to the doctors much. And at the start of camp, my strength wasn’t quite there, so I knew I had to work on that. I got it to where it needed to be.”

Head coach Dallas Eakins has not ruled out the possibility of keeping Taylor Hall at centre, although that debate will continue through the weekend.

Hall will play between Ryan Smyth and Ales Hemsky against the Canucks while Mark Acobello centres David Perron and Nail Yakupov.

Jordan Eberle, who skated with Perron and Arcobello against the Jets, is playing with Boyd Gordon and Jesse Joensuu.

“It’s something we started talking about this morning,” Eakins said. “I’m on the tightrope either way, (but) suddenly, it’s a nice problem to have. Arcobello, I thought, had a pretty good game against Winnipeg, so it’s nice to have options when you’re missing such an important piece of your team in Sam Gagner.”

Nugent-Hopkins said last week that he didn’t want to use his injured shoulder as an excuse, but that he wasn’t playing with confidence last season and could have been much better than he was. He scored four goals and 20 assists in 40 games.

He has set the bar much higher for this campaign.

“I definitely want to make a big jump from last year,” he said. “I made some steps in my defensive game, but I definitely thought, offensively, I could have produced more.

“I’m just going to try to get involved physically (on Monday), get a shot on net ... I need to get involved in the game right away. I’ve been working on the faceoffs pretty much every day and it feels strong. That’s a good indicator right there.”

Edmonton Journal: LOADED: 10.05.2013

719533 Edmonton Oilers

Edmonton Oilers' Ryan Nugent-Hopkins coming back early after shoulder surgery

Max Maudie and Derek Van Diest, Edmonton Sun

First posted: Friday, October 04, 2013 12:47 PM MDT | Updated: Friday, October 04, 2013 04:24 PM MDT

Edmonton Oilers Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is returning to regular play early, suiting up on Monday against the New Jersey Devils.

"It's very exciting, I can't wait to get playing on Monday. It's been a long recovery, definitely well worth it, feeling really good," Nugent-Hopkins said at practice in Leduc Friday, where he took the ice.

Edmonton Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins announced the surprise move after practice.

Nugent-Hopkins had once been scheduled to return Nov. 1.

"It's definitely a little bit earlier than I thought, because they said five or six months and it's usually closer to six," said Nugent-Hopkins. "It's definitely a positive thing and I'm definitely excited to get back.

The 20-year-old spent all of last season playing with the bad shoulder. He tallied four goals and twenty assists in 40 games.

"I just got my strength up, the healing is done, my strength is up where it needs to be," said Nugent-Hopkins. "Obviously I need to get some contact in, I've had a couple of weeks of that and everything has felt really good. Once I got the strength up, it was just a matter of when I was able to go.

The 0-1 Oilers visit the Vancouver Canucks Saturday. The puck drops at 8 p.m. Edmonton time. The Copper and Blue lost their opener 5-4 after a late surge by the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

The Canucks are also 0-1 after losing to 4-1 to San Jose on Thursday.

Edmonton Sun: LOADED: 10.05.2013

719534 Florida Panthers

With goal, Florida Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov makes mark in first game

By George Richards

Posted on Sat, Oct. 05, 2013

The Panthers made a little NHL history on Thursday night when rookie center Aleksander Barkov became the youngest player to score in almost 70 years.

Barkov was the second overall pick of the Panthers in the 2013 NHL Draft and made his debut on Thursday. Barkov’s goal was big at the time, as it came with 9:28 left in the third period and tied the score at 2.

Marcel Goc scored two more after Barkov’s goal to help Florida win its season opener 4-2 over the host Dallas Stars.

Ted Kennedy was four days younger than Barkov when he scored a goal for the Maple Leafs on Jan. 8, 1944. Barkov was 18 years and 31 days old at the time of his goal.

“Isn’t that a great stat? That’s something to be incredibly proud of,” coach Kevin Dineen said. “There are a lot of stats out there, but that’s a pretty neat one. He didn’t look out of place. He went out there and established himself and played his best game in a Panthers uniform.”

Barkov has spent the past two years playing professionally in Finland and said he didn’t feel any nerves in playing in his first NHL game.

“I was just excited,” Barkov said. “I had a lot of fun.”

As is custom, the Panthers collected the puck he scored his first goal on and will have it — along with the lineup card from his first game — framed.

Barkov’s goal came on his third shot of the night; last season, Jonathan Huberdeau scored a goal on his first shot in his first NHL game. Barkov is the eighth-youngest player in NHL history to score his first NHL goal, according to research from Elias Sports Bureau.

Other Florida players to score in their first game include Stephen Weiss and Shawn Matthias.

“I’m not thinking about that; I’m just trying to concentrate on the next game,” said Barkov, who played 15:34 off 21 shifts in his opener. “I was just trying to put the puck on the net. Sometimes it goes through.”

Blockade

Dineen was extremely happy with the teamwork the Panthers showed Thursday as Florida had 24 blocked shots.

“That is our overall identity,” Dineen said. “It’s something we acknowledged with our players and is something we take pride in.”

Defenseman Erik Gudbranson made the biggest block of the game when he dove to the ice and got in front of a hard slap shot from Dallas’ Brenden Dillon.

The score was tied 2-2 at the time and had that puck gone in, the Panthers could be 0-1 going into Saturday’s game in St. Louis instead of the other way around. Marcel Goc scored the first of his two goals 25 seconds after Gudbranson’s huge block.

Gudbranson, who said he took the shot in the midsection, briefly left Thursday’s game but finished it by playing on four shifts in the final seven minutes.

“I’m fine,” Gudbranson said after participating in Friday’s practice.

“Guys made the sacrifices,” Panthers goalie Tim Thomas said after the game. “If Gudbranson doesn’t block that shot, we don’t win the game.”

• Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was ejected from Thursday’s game along with Dallas’ Ryan Garbutt for starting a fight while another fight was going on.

Kulikov said Friday he didn’t know that teammate Mike Weaver was already battling Antoine Roussel at the time.

“As soon as [Thomas] got the puck, I started pulling [Garbutt] away, and I didn’t know what was going on with Weaver and the other guy,” Kulikov said. “I thought it would be a 10-minute misconduct. I didn’t know it would be the game. I felt bad leaving five [defensemen] out there.”

Miami Herald LOADED: 10.05.2013

719535 Florida Panthers

BLOCKAGE: Erik Gudbranson and Panthers Get Down and Dirty to Beat Stars in Opener

Posted by George Richards at 06:09 PM

ST. LOUIS -- Coach Kevin Dineen was extremely happy with the teamwork the Panthers showed on Thursday as Florida had 24 blocked shots.

"That is our overall identity,'' Dineen said. "It's something we acknowledged with our players and is something we take pride in.''

Defenseman Erik Gudbranson made the biggest block of the game when he dove to the ice and got in front of a hard slap shot from Dallas' Brenden Dillon.

The score was tied 2-2 at the time and had that puck gone in, the Panthers could be 0-1 going into Saturday's game in St. Louis instead of the other way around. Marcel Goc scored the first of his two goals 25 seconds after Gudbranson's huge block.

Gudbranson, who said he took the shot in the midsection, briefly left Thursday's game but finished it by playing on four shifts in the final seven minutes.

"I'm fine,'' Gudbranson said after participating in Friday's practice.

"Guys made the sacrifices,'' Panthers goalie Tim Thomas said after the game. "If Gudbranson doesn't block that shot, we don't win the game.''

-- Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was ejected from Thursday's game along with Dallas' Ryan Garbutt for starting a fight while another fight was going on.

Kulikov said on Friday that he didn't know that teammate Mike Weaver was already battling Antoine Roussel at the time.

"As soon as [Thomas] got the puck I started pulling [Garbutt] away and I didn't know what was going on with Weaver and the other guy,'' Kulikov said.

"I thought it would be a 10-minute misconduct. I didn't know it would be the game. I felt bad leaving five D out there.''

SATURDAY: PANTHERS AT BLUES

When, Where: 8:30 p.m.; Scottrade Center, St. Louis