Chris Nichols

­Chris Nichols is Sportsnet.ca's fantasy hockey writer.

@Nichols_NHLPool on Twitter for timely NHL & poolie info, along with occasionally snarky comments.

Live blogging nightly: line combos, defensive pairings, analysis, statistical trends and more from every game on the NHL docket. Refresh the 'Live NHL Recap' page while the games are on to get new info as it is added.

Send in a brief fantasy hockey question, including all relevant league info, and it may be included in a future Hockey Hearsay blog during the week. One per person, please. Send it via Twitter for a possible response in the blog, or send via email (include your first name and hometown to represent!) if you'd prefer. chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

The Dallas Morning News observes that it shouldn't surprise anyone that Brad Richards and Loui Eriksson are making each other better this season.

What's interesting is how they're doing it.

Richards, who is known as a setup man at centre, leads the Stars in scoring with 17 goals and is on pace to shatter his career best of 25 goals, set in 2006-07. Eriksson, who is supposed to be the goal-scorer, has 26 assists and is just one behind Richards' team-leading 27.

"I definitely think that we're seeing more teams pay more attention to Loui and that opens up the shot for me," Richards said. "We've talked about it, and I think he recognizes that as well, and that can open up the pass for him."

Richards gets a boost from being the point man on the power play, and is playing the majority of the time the Stars are on the ice with the man advantage. Still, there also seems to be a big difference at even strength. Richards leads the Stars with 154 shots on goal, and is on pace to break the 300-shot barrier for the first time in his career.

"Brad is such a smart player, and Loui obviously has learned from him," Stars coach Marc Crawford said. "The two of them have built a real understanding and chemistry, and you can see that between them on the ice. They know where the other is, and they know that teams are looking for certain things against them. They definitely know how to take advantage of that."

The Morning News points out that Eriksson and Richards are among three pairs of linemates who are in the top 10 in scoring – Vancouver twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin and the Tampa Bay duo of Steve Stamkos and Martin St. Louis are the others.

"We have played together several years now, and I definitely think that helps," said Eriksson. "You start to know where each other will be or what they are thinking. It just makes it easier, more natural."

Last season, the duo showed a little taste of what was to come, as Richards tied his career-high with 91 points and finished seventh in the NHL in scoring. Eriksson, meanwhile, finished 23rd in the league in scoring with a career-best 71 points. Linemate James Neal also has been a steady presence and recently busted out of a 10-game slump where he had one assist, by tallying a big goal Sunday in St. Louis.

"It's a good line and you always want to play on a good line," said Neal. "I definitely look at it as a privilege to play with those guys."

According to The Ottawa Citizen, the Sens have won just four of their past 10, have lost their last three (one in overtime), and are now eight points out of a playoff spot.

And with his head being readied for the chopping block — at least by the media and the team’s fans — head coach Cory Clouston was grace under pressure after putting his team through a hard practice session.

“All I can do is my job,” he said. “Right now, it’s to try to win a game in Chicago (on Friday), try to keep our players focused and try to ensure we’re executing as well as we can. That’s all I can do.

“Obviously, (the media) is free to write and say whatever they want to say, but I’m not really concerned about that.”

Clouston told The Citizen that he doesn’t believe the Senators are doing everything wrong and that it’s more that they’re getting punished for every mistake they make. Add to this an offence that is on pace to score the fewest goals in the team’s modern history and that’s a recipe for losing.

Mike Fisher said Clouston is not the one who deserves to be criticized.

“You can’t blame the coaches when we go out and don’t perform, don’t do what we’re supposed to do,” he said.

“The onus falls on each and every one of us in the room. We know what we have to do. We know the game plan.

“And when we’re ready, when we do it, we’re successful. When we don’t do it, we’re not. It’s as simple as that.”

The Edmonton Journal notes the Oilers lost 55 games last season, 44 in 2008-09, and once again, the club is parked in the basement of the Western Conference with a meek record of 12-18-7.

"I've been on a losing team for the past three years. I'm sick and tired of it," said Theo Peckham. "But this is different than last year. A lot different."

"Everyone gets tired of losing," said Sam Gagner. "The biggest thing is to not let it affect the way you're thinking or the way you play. A lot of times losing breeds losing habits."

The Oilers, with another six-game losing streak in tow, take on the Detroit Red Wings tonight. It is the third time this season the club has lost six straight. Avoiding an unpalatable seventh won't be easy with the Red Wings up and losses piling up off the ice too. Jordan Eberle (ankle) now joins Shawn Horcoff (knee) and Ryan Whitney (ankle) in the medical room.

"We're getting through it. We feel like we're not far off," said Andrew Cogliano, "but the slide needs to end, that's for sure. A win (against Detroit) would be a good one for us and hopefully we'll get more guys back from their injuries, but the guys who are playing every night have to step up. There are no excuses, we have to get wins right now."

Head coach Tom Renney pointed The Journal in this direction: He said that if there's one lesson the players still have to learn, it's that they have to pay the necessary price to get the wins.

"I just wonder sometimes if they understand what the ultimate price really and truly is. If you look at shot blocking (for example), our defence-man have blocked more shots than the forwards, yet how many times do those shots come from the point? Our forwards could get in front of those.

"They hurt. But it's a very important function of the game ... So as much the intention is there, I'm not sure they have figured that part of it just yet."

As a team, the Oilers have blocked 566 shots, which puts them in 13th place in the NHL. Atlanta is tops with 702. Of those shots, 204 have been blocked by forwards. Colin Fraser (30), Dustin Penner (23) and Ryan Jones (21) were at the top of the list.

The Buffalo News points out that despite having 22 sets of back-to-back games this season, the Sabres play B2B just once this month (Jan. 20 at Boston, the next night home against the Islanders); giving coach Lindy Ruff the ability to run his top-six forwards out onto the ice more often.

That's a scenario that could be worth noting for poolies.

"The schedule is leaning towards every other day, where we can put a little bit more pressure on the top lines," Ruff said. "They can handle a little bit more ice time. You can dress one less forward. Keep your top lines at 19 or 20 minutes, something like that."

Drew Stafford, who has been scoring with regularity lately, added: "We have a day in between to get a practice in or catch our breath a little bit. It's just a matter of focus. Making sure we're 100 percent prepared every night."

The team's big guns got a taste of the increased ice time in Saturday's 7-6 shootout win over the Boston Bruins. Five forwards played more than 20 minutes. Four of them -- Stafford (20:59, hat trick), Jason Pominville (21:42, four points), Jochen Hecht (22:41), and Tim Connolly (21:13, two assists) -- all skated a season high in minutes. The other forward to go more than 20 minutes, Thomas Vanek (20:01), scored for the first time in eight games.

"The key is you have to play well. You can have lots of minutes, but if you don't play well, it doesn't do you any good," Ruff said. "We're hoping with the extra minutes you stay ramped up a little bit more inside the game. We're not playing four-in-six [games], we're not playing back-to-back games, so it makes it easier to play three lines."

The News believes that getting Pominville on the ice as much as possible makes sense, since he's on one of the best runs of his career. His two goals and two assists against the Bruins was the first four-point game this year by a Sabre, and he's got 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in the last 14 games.

Pominville had just four points in his first 12 games back from his Oct. 11 concussion against Chicago.

"I think the conditioning was fine, sometimes it's timing [and] the execution that's off," he said. "Your focus is a little off too. I didn't have any symptoms, but I didn't feel as good as I do now."

Pominville said any player on the team would welcome more ice time.

"You ask anybody -- whether you're top six or not -- you'd want to be out there and play as much as you can," he said. "You're out there every two, three shifts, so it's fun."

The Denver Post reports on several injury fronts:

Winger Chris Stewart, the Avs' leading goal scorer when he suffered a broken hand Nov. 27, is skating harder this week before practice with the coaches.

"That's a good sign," coach Joe Sacco said. "He's progressing. When Chris is ready to go, he's obviously going to be inserted in the lineup and somebody is going to have to come out. I'm not going to sit here and make predictions."

Winger Cody McLeod has missed six of the past seven games, including the past three, with a groin muscle problem. "He's getting better, but he hasn't skated yet," Sacco said.

There is nothing new to report about winger Peter Mueller, who suffered another concussion in an exhibition game, hasn't played this season and went to Boston recently to seek additional opinions about his case. But he has been spotted around the team more often lately, so perhaps that's a good sign.

The Columbus Dispatch writes that with his club down three goals in the third period Sunday in Nashville, Blue Jackets coach Scott Arniel decided to shorten his bench and play the three lines he'd come to trust the most.

It's only noteworthy because the Blue Jackets' No. 1 line - left winger Kristian Huselius, centre Antoine Vermette and right winger Rick Nash - wasn't part of Arniel's mix.

Arniel benched the line, featuring the team captain and two of the club's most accomplished veterans, for the final 14:07 of the 4-1 loss, saying their play in the neutral and defensive zones was not good enough to justify continual ice time.

After describing the play of those three as "awful" after the game, Arniel had warmed only slightly yesterday, saying with a smile, "I'll go back to loving them again (today)."

Nash played just 14:47 of ice time, Vermette drew 15:39 and Huselius 14:11. All three had a plus-minus rating of minus-3.

The Dispatch believes the top line was formidable in the first period but came up empty on numerous scoring chances. In the second period, they got pinned in their own zone for long shifts too many times for Arniel's liking, and when the Predators took a 4-1 lead against that line at 5:53 of the third, Arniel decided that "enough was enough."

"I didn't like that they were on for three goals against," Arniel said. "We put an awful lot of pressure on those guys to create offense and score goals, and they do a good job. Those guys have been our best three guys the last 10 games.

"But when they get away from their game and start turning pucks over and not playing at both ends of the rink, then they have to be held accountable. It's just like when I go after the young guys. You can't have two different standards."

Preds prospect Blake Geoffrion, via his '10-11 season blog for the Nashville Tennessean: "I’m not really worried about being called up right now. I’m just trying to have fun here. Every time I go to the rink I feel more and more com­for­ta­ble with the puck and my abi­lity to play. I’m lear­ning new things every day and I’m enjo­ying my time here in Mil­wau­kee. When they call me up, they’re going to know I’m ready. Hope­fully it’s soo­ner than later. I just have to worry about myself and the team here and hel­ping them win first and fore­most and hope­fully get the call one day."

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette indicates that Penguins coach Dan Bylsma didn't just put his players through a demanding workout yesterday; he broke out a couple of new forward combinations.

The No. 2 line had Jordan Staal between Evgeni Malkin and Tyler Kennedy, while Matt Cooke and Chris Conner flanked Mark Letestu on the No. 3 unit.

"[Kennedy] adds a disruption factor and a speed factor to a line that other guys on our team don't match," Bylsma said. "Speed on the forecheck, chasing the puck down, tenacity-wise, pursuing the puck. That's Tyler's strong suit, and that's what we're looking for."

Staal and Malkin have been united in an effort to generate offence; whether they can tap into whatever goal-scoring potential Kennedy has is unclear. Kennedy has five goals in 39 games, just one in his past 19.

Although Kennedy is a right winger by trade, he is penciled in on the left. That will allow Malkin to work on the right, which he prefers, even though Bylsma said he's willing to play either side.

"I actually prefer [Malkin] playing the right side and [Kennedy] playing the left in those situations," Bylsma said. "Given the way we play and some of the details we want in our game, it's not a bad thing to be on your off-side, so that's the way that line will look."

Sharks winger Ryane Clowe, following last night's 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, via The San Jose Mercury News: "They played back to back games and got 50 shots. That’s enough said there. we just want to cheat at times. That’s how it is. They’re not afraid to play a sound defensive game and they’ll stick to it. We’ve got guys who want to do it occasionally, but not all the time because that’s hard work.

“And when you work hard and you win, you feel it after a game. I guarantee you right now there’s guys that don’t feel that tired after that game. Just terrible. A first-place team in back to back games, tied going into the third.

“It was my fault on the last goal. He got underneath me, high stick or not. It’s things like that in the defensive zone. It’s unacceptable. I guess we can say we’re going to fix it, but when are we going to fix it?

“I think it’s just an individual thing, mentally. Do you want to score four goals or do you want to win a game? Are you happy losing with five goals, losing 6-5 maybe? Or would you rather have an LA game and win 1-0? Are guys happy? Maybe they want to score goals and get points. We’ve got to figure it out though. It’s frustrating. I’m pissed off. That’s for sure.”

The Washington Post writes that Caps winger Eric Fehr stole the headlines when he scored twice to help the Capitals beat the Penguins in the Winter Classic on Saturday, but the enigmatic forward acknowledged Tuesday he needs more than one big game to turn his season around, regardless of the stage.

Fehr has seven goals and eight assists this season in 36 games, and he was a healthy scratch for the fourth time as recently as Dec. 26.

He knows that if he is to get things going, the goals against Pittsburgh need to be the beginning of the transition rather than the culmination.

"Hopefully that will build my confidence to start scoring again," Fehr said. "I've had a lot of opportunities over the past couple of games, past couple of weeks, and I haven't been able to score. Hopefully now I'll be feeling a lot better and I'll be able to put the puck in the net."

Coach Bruce Boudreau lauded Fehr's play Saturday on both ends of the ice -- Fehr also blocked two shots -- but said he expects that kind of production from Fehr and needs to see it continue.

The Post points out that Fehr has been shuffled up and down lines repeatedly this season as the Caps try to jumpstart his scoring.

"Eric's getting press now because he scored two goals in the Winter Classic, but it's only seven," Boudreau said. "Let's not jump off the boat and anoint him here. It was just last week that I sat him out as a healthy scratch so he's got to -- again, like a lot of the guys, consistency is the key. He's got to do it consistently."

Fehr has dealt with various injuries throughout his time in Washington, including last year when he scored 21 goals in 69 games after recovering from shoulder surgery during the previous offseason.

He told The Post he currently feels as healthy as he has been in his entire pro career, and he hopes that shows on the ice during the second half of the season.

Now is as good a time as any for Fehr to start scoring, as the Caps' next four games are against division opponents, starting with tonight against the Lightning.

"I've got to get a lot better" Fehr said. "I've had just as many opportunities as last year, I just haven't scored as many goals. That's something I'll really focus on in the second half."

Nelson in Toronto: "Hey Chris, I haven't written in before but I read every blog and wanted to get your take on the Tim Thomas - Tuukka Rask situation in Boston. I have them both in my keeper league (eight players per team, 10 teams/ standard cats/ no restrictions on which position we keep) and to be honest, the only reason I drafted Thomas late this year to go with my Rask was because of what you wrote in training camp about people not writing Thomas off this year and that Rask owners should have him to begin with. He's stolen the league for me this year, so that's one of many I owe you.

But for next year, should I keep both guys? Or only Thomas? I need some guidance. If I kept both goalies, I'd likely be sacrificing someone like Brian Rafalski or James Neal. I already have Henrik Lundqvist too, so would hanging onto three goalies of eight keepers be prudent? Thanks in advance!"

Chris: Thanks for reading and for writing in too Nelson. Given how well Boston as a team has done defensively over the last nearly three seasons now, I think I'd seriously entertain keeping both Thomas and Rask along with Lundqvist. It's different, but in some ways it's like the situation Neuvirth and Varlamov owners face with the Caps. Thomas is playing the lion's share now, but we know that Rask is the future and he'll turn his game around this year soon enough too. Last night was a great start. With the Caps, it'll be both guys fighting for time now and one hoping to emerge as the starter down the line. Either way, both are needed for the next few years as well.

I'd rather keep Neal than Rafalski, of course with age as the No. 1 concern, but since you have Thomas I think Rask's potential value outweighs what Neal would bring to your team next season. Hopefully your other five non-goalie keepers are higher end players that'll give you solid building blocks right out of the draft. At least you'll know you should be set in net with Lundqvist and BOS either way.