- Dan Rosen of NHL.com: Blackhawks forward David Bolland hasn’t been cleared for contact yet, and he may not be close. “It’s awareness,” Bolland said. “Your awareness is the big one. Just playing 2-on-2 out there with the guys, you’re still looking around and you’re not sure where the guy is or where he’s coming from. That’s probably the big one, my awareness. That’s one I have to be cautious about.” It doesn’t look like he’ll be going in Game 2, and could be in doubt for the rest of the series.
- Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg skated for about 15 minutes. He has a 2nd degree MCL sprain which usually takes 3 weeks to heal, it’s been just over a week since the injury.
- Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: On the list of priorities for Thrashers GM Rick Dudley is a top-6 forward and a possibly a top-5 defenseman. Obtaining a forward could come by trade or free agency. He doesn’t rule out signing a RFA to an offer sheet. Eric Boulton and Radek Dvorak are UFA’s and Dudley has already spoken to them. Dudley doesn’t see any issues in re-signing RFA Zach Bogosian.
- Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Blues forward David Perron is still experiencing post-concussion symptoms 5 months after initially being concussed. “You can’t be too eager to come back,” Perron said. “There’s parts of the day when I feel really well, and you’re like, ‘If I could feel like that all day, I’d be fine.’ But then there are situations that remind me, ‘All right, you’re not fine.'” GM Doug Armstrong may have to start planning on heading into next season without him.
- Jesse Spector of the NY Daily News: Rangers coach John Tortorella is considering moving Erik Christensen to the top line with Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal and moving Artem Anisimov to the 4th line. Tortorella on the move, “He is a skilled guy, and has given us some good minutes at certain points during the year. After Game 1, there need to be certain improvements with our game, and certainly creating more offense is one of them.”
- Helene Elliott of the LA Times: The LA Kings have assigned Brayden Schenn to Manchester of the AHL rather than calling him up to the big club.
“The other thing, too, is that he can help us in terms of making plays. But the perception that he’s somehow going to fill in for Kopitar is way off,” Lombardi said. “He could improve the team in an area like Loktionov, in terms of playmaking and puck possession. But the perception that he’s going to go in there and suddenly Kopitar’s hole is going to be filled, that’s totally unrealistic.
“The other thing in the back of my mind is, is this really the stage to put the kid on?”
- Kings center Jarret Stoll hits Sharks defenseman Ian White from behind, will he get suspended?