dlbalr

I think they'll carry 8 for a while, especially since Subban, as you noted, won't be in the lineup for a bit. Pacioretty went on IR, Blunden took his spot on the roster so there was no affect. He and Kaberle were the only scratches yesterday so they had a spot open. When Pacioretty or Nokelainen get healthy though, then something will have to be done...unless there's another injury by then.

They don't actually have to make a roster move, with Pacioretty out the active roster now sits at 23.

It's legal, the 35% rule actually doesn't apply here. That was my mistake from earlier, it only applies to long-term pacts. The only rule that has to come into play here is the '100% rule,' rather than me try to explain it, here it is: http://www.capgeek.com/faq/what-s-the-100-percent-rule

It's official, both will stay. (Although Gallagher could be sent to Hamilton later on if he struggles of course...)

The AHL Skills competition was tonight, Dumont was in the fastest skater contest. He lost his heat to Jonathan Audy-Marchessault with a time of 14.312 seconds, the slowest of the 6 competitors. He also was stopped in the breakaway relay. Full results: http://theahl.com/2013-skills-competition-p181525

That one gained steam in the past 72 hours or so, it was hovering around 4-6% before then.

<End of hijack> I closed the Subban poll on the site tonight, figured I'd post the results here. The question, of course, was how long should the Habs sign him for? 1-2 years: 27% 3-4 years: 32% 5-6 years: 21% 7-8 years: 9% Trade him instead: 11%

I must say, these 6 PM starts make it much nicer to write the 3-Stars. Usually I'm pressed to get them up within a half hour or less (I usually watch something at 10) but it was nice to take my time on tonight's. Happy reading! http://www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=2988

Gallagher isn't in the same situation as Galchenyuk, the 5-game rule doesn't apply to him. Regardless of what happens with Galchenyuk, Gallagher will probably be up for a while yet.

He had 13 shot attempts; 3 hit the net, 3 were blocked, and a whopping 7 missed (the rest of the Habs had 8 combined). That said, he played well.

That was more of what we're accustomed to seeing with these two teams, a snoozer of a period for sure. They're going to have to do something about the faceoffs, Galchenyuk is now 0/5 (maybe try Prust in the 3rd) while Plekanec is 3/14; the Habs have won just 32% as a team. It's hard to get the offence going when you rarely start with the puck.

That was a nice period. It's going to take some getting used to seeing the Habs as the aggressors, particularly in the physical department (hits were 9-1 in the 1st). Faceoffs once again are a concern though, Montreal is just 9/23. (Galchenyuk is 0/3, that drops him to 35% on the season so far.)

DiPietro has counted in full against the cap, healthy or not. It's only when you're on LTIR that, in theory, your salary doesn't count against the cap (it technically does, you're just allowed to spend over by that exact amount). Since the Islanders are never near the Upper Limit, LTIR never comes into play. Here are their numbers from last year, DiPietro is there at the full $4.5 M: http://www.capgeek.com/islanders/archive/?year_id=2011

MSG Plus also has it, it's in the first post now. Also, lineup news, Weber is in, Kaberle out.

bar PM'ed me this afternoon and asked me to cover for him today so I thought I'd try his GDT code to try to keep the streak alive...if we lose, it's not my fault though.

New Jersey Devils Montreal Canadiens LINEUPS Forwards Mattias Tedenby - Travis Zajac - Ilya Kovalchuk Patrik Elias - Dainius Zubrus - David Clarkson Steve Bernier - Ryan Carter - Stephen Gionta Krys Barch - Stefan Matteau - Jacob Josefson Defense Marek Zidlicky - Bryce Salvador Andy Greene - Mark Fayne Henrik Tallinder - Anton Volchenkov Goaltenders Brodeur Hedberg Forwards Lars Eller - David Desharnais - Erik Cole Rene Bourque - Tomas Plekanec - Brian Gionta Brandon Prust - Alex Galchenyuk - Brendan Gallagher Travis Moen - Ryan White - Colby Armstrong Defense Andrei Markov - Alexei Emelin Josh Gorges - Raphael Diaz Francis Bouillon - Yannick Weber Goaltenders Price Budaj Team/Player Stats Record: 3-0-0 Scratches: Harrold, Janssen Injuries: Henrique, Corrente Goals: Kovalchuk/Zajac/Clarkson (2) Assists: Zidlicky (3) Points: Kovalchuk (4) +/-: Kovalchuk (+5) Record: 2-1-0 Scratches: Blunden Injuries: Pacioretty, Nokelainen, Kaberle, Palushaj Goals: Markov (3) Assists: Diaz (5) Points: Diaz (5) +/-: Lots (+1) Game Notes Puck Drop: 6:00 PM EST TV: RDS HD, MSG Plus

bar, are you covering tonight's GDT?

The strangest thing happened...Desjardins actually played well in the shootout, stopping 8/9 shots while Chaput scored the winner in the 9th round to give the Bulldogs a rare shootout win. http://theahl.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1010494 The victory snaps Hamilton's 5-game losing streak, their 10-game losing streak on the road, and Desjardins' personal 11-game winless drought.

Still 1-1, now in the shootout.

The Bulldogs decided to try to sit on a 1-0 lead. Does that ever work? 9 minutes in, the shots are 9-1 Lake Erie and they've tied the game on the PP.

Yeah, there weren't many teams on there that you could say legitimately might try it. To be honest, I did the research to see if Philly had all of their selections or whether the concerns about them were much ado about nothing, figured it was worth posting the results so everyone knew who couldn't try the offer sheet.

He (and Palushaj who is with the team while on the Habs' IR) both skated today and should be back soon. Early in the 3rd, it's 1-0 Hamilton, Dumont with the lone goal - unassisted and shorthanded.

For anyone wondering about offer sheets, here are the thresholds from the offseason before the expiration of the old CBA: Over $3,364,391 to $5,046,585 - 1st round pick, 3rd Over $5,046,585 to $6,728,781 - 1st round pick, 2nd, 3rd Over $6,728,781 To $8,410,976 - Two 1st round picks, 2nd, 3rd With offer sheets, teams can't use other teams' picks, they have to be their own. So teams lacking their own 1st, 2nd, or 3rd rounders, can immediately be excluded from tendering an offer sheet (unless they reacquired their own selection). Here is who doesn't have their own picks this year and thus cannot offer Subban an offer sheet: 1st - LA, NYR, NJ* (still have to forfeit one either this year or next from the Kovalchuk fiasco) 2nd - CGY, NYI, ANA, NSH, OTT, CHI 3rd - EDM, FLA, NJ, TB, NSH, SJ, MIN, CHI If you don't want to count, that's 14 teams that aren't able to tender an offer sheet (assuming that the minimum offer required for Subban to actually agree is in that second bullet).

Gomez is making his San Jose debut today. He's centering a line with Andrew Desjardins and Adam Burish (the 4th line if you couldn't tell from his linemates).

For anyone wondering, these are Hamilton's powerplay lines from today's skate: PP1: Bournival-Tenute-Leblanc, Beaulieu/DeSantis PP2: Blunden-Dumont-Holland, St. Denis/Ellis