Articles by Doug Stolhand

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Mats Sundin knows the challenge he’s going to face joining the Vancouver Canucks midway through the NHL season and raising expectations of the city’s fans about contending for the Stanley Cup.

ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Blues have acquired Jonathan Filewich from Pittsburgh for a conditional sixth-round draft pick in 2010.The 24-year-old forward has two goals and two assists in 19 games this season with Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

ARLINGTON, Va. – Washington Capitals goalie Jose Theodore came off injured reserve Friday, and Simeon Varlamov was assigned back to AHL affiliate Hershey after winning his first two NHL starts.

Scoring summaries from Thursday’s NHL games:Maple Leafs 5 at Bruins 8First Period1. Boston, Sturm 7 (Kobasew, Bergeron) 0:362. Boston, Krejci 9 (Lucic, Kessel) 4:34 (pp)3.

DALLAS – Loui Eriksson’s hat trick got Dallas into overtime, and Brad Richards and Mike Ribeiro scored in the shootout to give the Stars a 6-5 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

Movements in the world of hockey Thursday:National Hockey LeagueCOLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS-Placed LW Jason Chimera on injured reserve. Recalled LW Alexandre Picard from Syracuse (AHL).

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Joakim Lindstrom told Phoenix Coyotes teammate Kyle Turris how to handle Nashville goalie Dan Ellis. The rookie then put that knowledge to good use.

TAMPA, Fla. – The struggling Tampa Bay Lightning can’t get a break.Milan Hejduk was awarded the lone goal in a shootout when Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith was penalized for throwing his stick, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Lightning 2-1 on Thursday night.

DETROIT – It took the top team in the NHL to bring out the best in the defending Stanley Cup champions.Ty Conklin made 24 saves for his sixth NHL shutout and Pavel Datsyuk had two goals and two assists to lift the Detroit Red Wings to a 6-0 win over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.

BOSTON – The Boston Bruins nearly blew a four-goal lead. And then they turned to their closer.Manny Fernandez – the fourth goalie to appear in the game – stopped all 13 shots he faced in the third period, and David Krejci had his first NHL hat trick as the Bruins held on to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 8-5 on Thursday night.

ATLANTA – NHL scoring leader Evgeni Malkin supplied goalie Marc-Andre Fleury with plenty of offensive support after his five-week absence caused by a groin strain.

RALEIGH, N.C. – After skating around one Florida player and faking out another, Joe Corvo lost count of how many Panthers he eluded.”I thought there’d be a goalie in there,” Corvo said.

WASHINGTON – Viktor Kozlov doesn’t possess Alexander Semin’s flash or Alex Ovechkin’s sizzle. Yet when the Washington Capitals’ heralded Russian shooters were struggling against the downtrodden St.

MONTREAL – The Montreal Canadiens brought out their best hockey to cool off one of the hottest teams in the NHL – the Philadelphia Flyers.Steve Begin and Sergei Kostitsyn each had a goal and an assist as the Canadiens stopped a three-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over Philadelphia on Thursday night.

TAMPA, Fla. – Lightning centre Jeff Halpern was in the Tampa Bay lineup Thursday night for the first time since reconstructive right knee surgery in June.

DALLAS – The Columbus Blue Jackets placed forward Jason Chimera on the injured list and recalled forward Alexandre Picard from Syracuse of the AHL before Thursday night’s game against the Dallas Stars.

Russ Courtnall’s road back to hockey was paved by a seven year old.The longtime NHLer quietly walked away from the game after the 1998-99 season and made the comfortable transition into life as a stay-at-home dad and family man.

It’s a confession that might surprise a lot of NHL players who honed their skills as kids battling cold and snow playing on outdoor hockey rinks.

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Mats Sundin has chosen the West Coast over the Big Apple.The free-agent centre signed with the Canucks on Thursday, ending months of speculation about where he would end up – or if he would even return to the NHL.

CHICAGO – Usually at Wrigley Field, it’s a big Zambrano (Carlos) that draws the attention, the six-foot-five, 255-pound ace of the Chicago Cubs’ pitching staff.