Articles by Doug Stolhand

TORONTO – You’ll have to forgive Steve Sullivan if he’s a little excited about his latest NHL point. After all, it has been nearly two full years since his last one.

TORONTO – Four losses in a row. Five losses in six games. Eight losses in 10 games.The Toronto Maple Leafs are officially slumping.Toronto fell 2-0 to the visiting Nashville Predators on Tuesday night, and have managed just five goals during their current four-game losing skid.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Kristian Huselius and the Blue Jackets feel they’re now a team that can win games in the third period.Huselius had a goal and two assists and the Columbus Blue Jackets scored three times in the final period to beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-3 on Tuesday night for their third straight win.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Marc-Andre Bergeron had to convince his coach before the game he was ready to return from a knee injury.He needed less than a minute to prove it on Tuesday night.

TORONTO – Steve Sullivan had his first NHL point in almost two years to help the Nashville Predators blank the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-0 on Tuesday.

OTTAWA – Dany Heatley and Antoine Vermette each had a goal and an assist and Brian Elliot made 23 saves as the Ottawa Senators defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 on Tuesday night.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Kristian Huselius had a goal and two assists and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat Colorado 4-3 on Tuesday night for their third straight win.

PHILADELPHIA – Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal each scored goals, and Sidney Crosby had a pair of assists that sparked the sputtering Pittsburgh Penguins to a needed 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.

BOSTON – Zdeno Chara scored a pair of power-play goals, and Tim Thomas stopped 34 shots to lead the Boston Bruins to a 3-1 victory over the surging Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Chris Drury and Nigel Dawes scored 1:56 apart in the second period for the New York Rangers, who rallied for a 2-1 victory Tuesday night and sent the rival New York Islanders to their fifth straight loss.

WASHINGTON – Erik Cole had three goals, Gilbert Brule added a goal and an assist, and the Edmonton Oilers beat Washington 5-2 Tuesday night, handing the Capitals their third consecutive loss.

BOSTON – Boston Bruins forward Marco Sturm is out for the season.Sturm, who led the Bruins with 27 goals last season, had surgery Tuesday on his left knee.

PITTSBURGH – Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin are two of the world’s best hockey players, fellow Russians who became millionaires by their early 20s, former Olympic team roommates and the NHL’s top two scorers last season.

TORONTO – The Maple Leafs called up forward Jiri Tlusty on Tuesday from their AHL affiliate Toronto Marlies.Tlusty is third in Marlies’ team scoring this season with 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in 32 AHL games.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. – The New York Islanders acquired right-winger Junior Lessard from the Atlanta Thrashers for defenceman Brett Skinner on Tuesday.

BY NATE GOSSE
Since its inception into the NHL’s Eastern Conference in 1998, the Southeast Division has struggled mightily. It has struggled to attract fans, struggled to dispel “non-traditional hockey market” stigmas, struggled to post winning records and struggled to send teams to the playoffs.

VANCOUVER – Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo returned to practice on Monday and declared he is "back to 100 percent" after missing most of the last two months with a groin injury.

PHILADELPHIA – Flyers centre Daniel Briere will play two games this week for Philadelphia’s AHL affiliate, his first action in more than a month because of a groin strain.

Detailed summaries from Monday’s games:Red Wings 4 at Stars 5 (OT)First Period1. Detroit, Rafalski 6 (Holmstrom, Lebda) 10:492. Detroit, Holmstrom 13 (Datsyuk, Osgood) 12:393.

LOS ANGELES – After scoring the game’s first goal, Evgeny Artyukhin put a hit on Drew Doughty that put the Los Angeles Kings’ rookie defenceman out for the rest of the game – ending the first showdown between the league’s top two draft picks.