Articles by Doug Stolhand

It’s hard to blame Justin Williams for wondering how differently things might have turned out.After all, the Carolina Hurricanes winger had a lot of time to think about various scenarios while rehabbing a pair of serious injuries over the past 11 months.

MONTREAL – Josh Gorges takes special pleasure is proving his detractors wrong.The six-foot-one, 200-pound defenceman was considered two small for major junior hockey, let alone his current job – skating on the Montreal Canadiens top defence pair with the gifted Andrei Markov.

NEW YORK – The NHL has suspended Dallas Stars agitator Sean Avery for six games for making a crude comment deemed detrimental to the game.
The decision comes a day after Avery’s hearing in New York with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Sean Avery has been suspended six gams by the NHL for inappropriate comments to the media prior to Tuesday’s game against Calgary.
The suspension is retroactive to Tuesday’s game, meaning Avery will have to sit out four more games.

Movements in the world of hockey Thursday:National Hockey LeagueBUFFALO SABRES-Placed F Patrick Kaleta on injured reserve. Recalled D Mike Weber from Portland (AHL).

Scoring summaries from Thursday’s NHL games:Rangers 2 at Canadiens 6 First Period1. Montreal, A.Kostitsyn 6 (D’Agostini, Markov) 9:522. Montreal, Begin 4 (Lapierre, Laraque) 10:473.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Joe Thornton scored the go-ahead goal with 12:19 to play, and the NHL-leading San Jose Sharks shook off a terrible start to earn their ninth straight victory, 3-2 over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night.

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Martin Hanzal had his first three-goal game in the NHL, and Steven Reinprecht added a pair of third-period goals in the Phoenix Coyotes’ 6-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.

HAMILTON – Ryan Jones’ second goal of the game came broke a third-period tie as the Milwaukee Admirals beat the Hamilton Bulldogs 5-4 in American Hockey League action.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vernon Fiddler, Shea Weber and David Legwand scored first-period goals, and Pekka Rinne made 19 saves in the Nashville Predators’ 3-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night.

SUNRISE, Fla. – Craig Anderson made 45 saves, and Gregory Campbell and Keith Ballard scored 35 seconds apart in the second period in the Florida Panthers’ 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.

PHILADELPHIA – Patrik Elias scored the tying and winning goals in the New Jersey Devils’ 3-2 overtime victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

TAMPA, Fla. – David Krejci scored the tiebreaking short-handed goal in the third period to lead the Northeast Division-leading Boston Bruins past the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-1 on Thursday night.

DETROIT – Jiri Hudler and Dan Cleary each scored twice and the Detroit Red Wings broke a tie with a three-goal outburst early in the third period in a 6-5 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Blue Jackets left-wing Raffi Torres was set to have arthroscopic knee surgery Friday. He will be sidelined two to four weeks.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Petr Sykora scored two goals, Sidney Crosby had four assists and the Pittsburgh Penguins routed Carolina 5-2 Thursday night to spoil the start of Paul Maurice’s second stint coaching the slumping Hurricanes.

MONTREAL – Fourth liners Maxim Lapierre and Steve Begin each had a goal and an assist and enforcer Georges Laraque got his first two points as a Canadien as Montreal downed the listless New York Rangers 6-2 on Thursday night.

WASHINGTON – Desperate for firepower, the injury-laden Washington Capitals received an offensive boost from the unlikeliest source.Enforcer Donald Brashear scored his first goal of the season with 13:10 left to snap a tie, and the Capitals went on to beat the New York Islanders 5-2 Thursday night.

HOUSTON – Mark Cullen, Mark Derlago and Michael Grabner scored consecutive shootout goals to lead the Manitoba Moose to a 3-2 win over the Houston Aeros in a rare Thursday afternoon game in the AHL.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Justin Williams was activated by the Carolina Hurricanes before Thursday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.The Hurricanes placed defenceman Dennis Seidenberg on injured reserve with a leg injury.