Articles by Doug Stolhand

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins held a players-only meeting following their fourth consecutive home loss, a 5-2 defeat to the Boston Bruins that exposed the many differences between them and the Eastern Conference leaders.

BOSTON – Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron, who hasn’t played since suffering a concussion Dec. 20, was placed on injured reserve Wednesday and will miss at least another week.

DAVOS, Switzerland – Czech forward Peter Cajanek scored a hat trick and Moscow Dynamo hung on for a 5-3 win over Canada on Wednesday in the final of the Spengler Cup.

The Chicago Blackhawks may be a rising power in the NHL, but the defending Stanley Cup champions put them in their place.Ty Conklin made 36 saves for his seventh NHL shutout, and Johan Franzen scored twice to lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-0 win that snapped the Blackhawks’ team-record, nine-game winning streak.

EDMONTON – Desperate to end a massive road losing streak, the Ottawa Senators decided to approach their regular-season match with the Edmonton Oilers with the intensity of a playoff game.

Jeff Carter scored his league-leading 27th goal Tuesday as the Philadelphia Flyers continued their domination of the Canucks in Vancouver with a 3-2 victory.

Movements in the world of hockey Tuesday:National Hockey LeagueANAHEIM DUCKS-Signed LW Matt McCue to a three-year contract.CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS-Activated TW Adam Burish from injured reserve.

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Philadelphia Flyers forward Simon Gagne sustained an upper body injury in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night and did not return.

WINNIPEG – Junior Lessard, Jeff Hamilton and Riley Holzapfel each had a goal and an assist as the Chicago Wolves cruised to a 6-2 win over the Manitoba Moose in AHL action Tuesday night.

HAMILTON – Marc Denis made 21 saves as the Hamilton Bulldogs shutout the Toronto Marlies 4-0 in AHL action Tuesday night.Kyle Chipchura, Mathieu Carle, Max Pacioretty and Ryan Russell each scored and Dan Jancevski had three assists as Hamilton improved to 20-11-2-0.

TORONTO – Bryan Little has been making big strides for the Atlanta Thrashers lately.The second-year forward has seven goals in his last four games, including one in the Thrashers’ 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.

PITTSBURGH – Marc Savard scored a power-play goal, then set up Boston’s next two goals with excellent playmaking, and the streaking Bruins ran their longest winning streak in nearly 26 years to nine games by beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 Tuesday night.

VANCOUVER, B.C. – The Vancouver Canucks added some goaltending insurance Tuesday, acquiring Jason Labarbera from the Los Angeles Kings for a seventh-round pick in the 2009 NHL entry draft.

ST. LOUIS – Zach Parise scored twice and the New Jersey Devils earned their fifth win in seven games by beating the St. Louis Blues 4-3 on Tuesday night.

TAMPA, Fla. – Maxim Lapierre scored the winning shootout goal, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 on Tuesday night.The Canadiens won the shootout 2-1 to complete a two-game, two-day sweep in the Sunshine State.

OTTAWA – The United States coasted into the world junior hockey championship playoffs with a 12-0 rout of Kazakhstan on Tuesday.
The U.S. will play Canada in a match of 3-0-0 teams Wednesday with top spot in Group A on the line.

DETROIT – Ty Conklin made 36 saves for his seventh NHL shutout, and Johan Franzen scored twice to lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-0 win that snapped the Chicago Blackhawks’ team-record, nine-game winning streak.

TORONTO – Curtis Joseph made 29 saves to earn his first win of the season and finally bag the 450th victory of his career as the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied to beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-3 in overtime Tuesday night.

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and assist, and Jose Theodore made 31 saves to help the surging Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 on Tuesday night.

OTTAWA - Canada’s team was still a mystery after three games at the world junior hockey championship.
The question still lingered as to how Canada (3-0) would perform when tested to its limits, because it hadn’t happened yet.