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eduhatschek@globeandmail.com

Alex Ovechkin's projected return to the Washington lineup tomorrow night would come in the rematch of their stunning opening-round playoff victory over the Rangers last spring, when the Capitals roared back from a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate New York in seven games.

The Capitals have held their own during Ovechkin's six-game absence, with Tomas Fleischman picking up the scoring slack (seven goals in eight games since returning from a blood clot that kept him out a month).

Ovechkin's return also permits Slava Bykov, coach of Russia's men's Olympic team, to breathe easier. In a five-day span, all of his top Russian gunners will have returned from the IR, and the first two (Ilya Kovalchuk and Evgeni Malkin) did so with a bang.

Officially, one fourth of the 2009-10 NHL season will be in the books by Friday following the Boston Bruins' date with the Buffalo Sabres, meaning the quarterly reports will be spilling out everywhere next weekend.

A sneak peak at the early-season hardware favourites: Hart (for MVP) to Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles; Norris (for best defenceman) to Chris Pronger, Philadelphia; Vezina (for top goalie) to Ryan Miller, Buffalo; Calder (for top rookie) to John Tavares, New York Islanders; and Jack Adams (for best coach) to Joe Sacco, Colorado.

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By the numbers

9

Consecutive road wins by the New Jersey Devils to start the season, one off the record held by the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres. The Devils can tie the mark with a win tomorrow night over the Philadelphia Flyers.

896

Career games without a shorthanded goal for the New York Rangers' Vinny Prospal. The drought came to an end in Saturday's shootout win over the Ottawa Senators.

1

Wins in a row for the Carolina Hurricanes following a 5-4 shootout victory over the Minnesota Wild yesterday, snapping a franchise record of 14 consecutive losses, which dated back to Oct. 9.

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Pronger's departure, from the Ducks to the Flyers, demonstrates how much of a difference one high-end defenceman can make. Defensively, Anaheim is struggling to keep the puck out of their net without Pronger while Philadelphia came to rely heavily on him in short order. Leaguewide, Pronger is first in ice time (27:15) and second in plus-minus (plus 13). With 17 points in 16 games, he's also second on the Flyers in scoring.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly will board an early morning flight to Phoenix today to meet with officials from Glendale and discuss the problematic lease agreement that is helping to bleed the Coyotes franchise dry.

It will be the first face-to-face meeting between the two sides since the NHL purchased the team for $140-million (U.S.) last month to end a lengthy bankruptcy process. In an e-mail note, Daly suggested the get-together was scheduled "to compare notes and determine where we go from here." Ideally, the NHL wants to flip the team as soon as possible to a buyer intent on keeping the team in Phoenix, but ongoing attendance woes and tens of millions in annual losses puts the league in a strong bargaining position with the city.

If lease concessions are not forthcoming, the NHL may have to reverse position and explore relocation after all. Kansas City, here they come.

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" Gotta love those graphite sticks, eh?"

Boston Bruins' coach Claude Julien, after Patrice Bergeron's stick shattered in his hands in the final 10 seconds of Saturday's date with the Pittsburgh Penguins, enabling the Penguins to tie the game with under a second to go in regulation and win in overtime. The Bruins' freakish run of bad luck, which includes injuries to Marc Savard and Milan Lucic, sees them just 8-7-3 going into tonight's meeting with the New York Islanders. Until they broke out for five goals against Penguins backup goalie Brent Johnson, Boston had managed just eight goals in six games. Luckily for them, Savard is supposed to start skating this week, one of half-a-dozen star NHL players sidelined with a broken foot.