Chuck Gormley via twitter: Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom said he won’t play on Thursday against Boston. Could be looking at Saturday against the Canadiens.
Josh Yohe via twitter: Penguins defenseman Kris Letang won’t play on Thursday or Friday.
Damien Cox of the Toronto Star: Word is that the Maple Leafs are close to signing college free agent Spencer Abbott of the Maine Black Bears. A number of teams are interested but he may be leaning towards signing with the Leafs. Abbott had 62 points in 39 games and is a Hobey Baker Award finalist.
David ALter via twitter: Maple Leafs line: MacArthur-Grabovski-Frattin, Ashton-Bozak-Kessel, Connolly-Steckel-Crabb, Rosehill-Lombardi-Brown-Armstrong.
Ken Warren via twitter: Senators Ben Bishop said his recovery is ahead of schedule and is hoping to skate this weekend. He might be able to play next week.
Iain MacIntyre of the Vancouver Sun: Canucks Cory Schneider will start tonight, and should get another start this weekend as they have a back-to-back starting Friday. There is a chance Schneider plays in 5 of 9 games in a 2 week stretch that follows Roberto Luongo’s worst 4 game stretch this year. “Is it possible there’s a genuine goaltending audition going on here and no one has much noticed or believed it?”
