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The Calgary Herald indicates that the temptation, surely, is there.

To give the Calgary Flames’ best passer one more game off — tonight against the visiting San Jose Sharks — and get him another full week’s worth of recovery.

But the coach isn’t interested in that ploy.

Neither is the player.

“You never know — I might be lucky, have a couple breakaways, and be the difference in the game,” Alex Tanguay said after Monday morning’s practice at the Scotiabank Saddledome. “And it might be the two points that gets us in the playoffs. As far as I’m concerned, I want to play as soon as possible. I wanted to get back a month ago. I didn’t want to miss any time.

“We’ll see what Brent decides in the morning.”

When asked, Brent Sutter insisted that if he can play, he will.

“It’s the right thing to play him if he’s ready,” said the coach. “He’ll be a game-time decision, but it’s certainly one I’m leaning in favour of. He’s very close . . . the way he’s looked the last three days on the ice. He needed a couple practices with us to get back into the game-like mindset.

“He’s got it now.”

Hampered by mysterious neck issues, Tanguay skipped the past 15 contests. He last suited up Dec. 20.

“I’ve been working with a lot of people to help me moving forward,” he said. “I see it changing . . . but it’s a matter of finding a way to get it to be consistent. I’ve been working extremely hard to get back. It’s obviously frustrating any time you’re out and missing time.

“You want to be out there helping your team, especially in the situation we’re in. Hopefully, I can help this team.”

The Ottawa Sun posits that tonight at Jobing.com Arena Kyle Turris will get a cold and bitter welcome back to the place where he started his career as the third pick of the 2007 draft, then last month was granted his desire to be traded.

“It’s just going to be another game, but at the same time it’s going to be a little bit of a different atmosphere for me,” said Turris, who moved to Ottawa when GM Bryan Murray outbid counterparts by trading the Coyotes David Rundblad and a second-round pick. “There might be a couple of boos thrown in there, but it’s something that comes with the expectation of playing in a league like this.

“It’ll be weird walking into the visiting room and warming up on the other side of the ice, and all that. It’s something I’m looking forward to, something I’m excited to get at.”

Not only did Turris fail to get the jumpstart to his NHL career enjoyed by the first two picks of the ’07 draft — Patrick Kane, James Van Riemsdyk — but in parts of three seasons as a Coyote, he never became a regular anywhere other than on the fourth line.

Turris was acquired by the Senators to fill the dire need for a second-line centre, and has been a perfect fit both at the position and in the room.

In 17 games for coach Paul MacLean heading into Monday’s meeting with the L.A. Kings, The Sun notes Turris had 13 points on four goals and nine assists. In doing so, he has developed some chemistry with Daniel Alfredsson.

“I’m definitely a lot more comfortable here,” said Turris, who had 19 goals and 27 assists in 137 games for the Coyotes. “I’m having more fun, playing more of my game and how I know I can play, compared to when I was with Phoenix.

“It’s been amazing. Coach MacLean has given the team and myself confidence, allowing us to play our game and have fun.

“Having that confidence makes you 100 times better as a hockey player. The game and the majority of sports is all about confidence. He has instilled that in me from Day 1. I can’t thank him enough for it. It’s made me feel comfortable and allowed me to play my game.

“It’s just such a great group of guys. We all mesh so well.”

With five wins in 25 games and just a few months left on his contract, The Edmonton Sun believes it’s been obvious for weeks that Tom Renney is on the hot seat.

But not so obvious that it enters into his daily thinking.

“I’m not worried about that,” said the Oilers coach. “I can’t be. I’m not one of those guys to dwell on my own circumstances or put it in the forefront or worry about it so it gets in the way of my job. I think that’s counterproductive.

“I’m going to do my job, I’m grateful for the opportunity. I’ll just keep going until somebody says OK, hand in the keys.”

The record is pretty grim, but on a rebuilding team decimated by injury, he says his performance shouldn’t be judged entirely on wins and losses.

“You always hope that the commitment you give your players is reciprocated,” said Renney. “Day in and day out as a coaching staff we lay it on the line, we work our butts off and all you can ask them for is to reciprocate that. And I think this team does that. It might not look like it in the results, but in terms of effort, outside of a handful of games, they’ve done that.

“You have to measure anybody’s coaching success through that as much as anything, especially when you’re having tough times.”

“The way we play is different because of the difference in personnel, but the message is the same for sure,” Brad Richards told The New York Post of how head coach John Tortorella's approach to this season is similar to that of when both men were part of the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning Cup-winning team. “It was all about focus then and it’s all about maintaining focus now, which is extremely important because of the attention and everything else that comes in New York when you’re doing well.

“Torts is constantly reminding us that it’s our responsibility to be ready for the next game and to keep our minds clear of anything beyond that. It was the same way in Tampa. We were rolling along and didn’t really have a clue about anything bigger than the next game.

“We were in first place but that was never the topic of conversation. That was Torts’ influence then and it’s his influence now.”

The Buffalo News relays that Christian Ehrhoff, who is ready to play his first game of 2012, wants to bring more than his hockey skills to the Buffalo Sabres tonight. He plans to bring a dose of Daniel Tosh or Chris Rock.

He feels the Sabres could use a laugh.

Ehrhoff, who has been out since suffering an upper-body injury against Washington on Dec. 30, will be on the blue line tonight against the New Jersey Devils in Prudential Center.

While the defenseman was sidelined, the Sabres went just 2-7-2, part of a disheartening stretch that has seen Buffalo win just three times in 17 games.

"It was pretty tough to watch and see the guys being down," Ehrhoff said after practice in Northtown Center at Amherst. "Everybody really cares, so it has been tough to be around and not being able to really help. I'll try to maybe throw a joke out or something to get guys going, try to get the confidence level up again."

Ehrhoff, signed to bolster the team's offense, has one goal and two assists in his last 11 games. His shot is his biggest weapon, and he hopes the Sabres can find a lane for him to use it against the Devils. He doesn't expect to have any limitations in his first game back.

"I'm happy to get back, and hopefully we can get out of this hole and get a win," Ehrhoff said. "Just bring some confidence and some fun. It's been a tough few weeks for the guys that have been playing, and I'll just try to come in and bring a little excitement and try to give them some confidence."

Having played only nine games this season, including only six since October, The Denver Post observes that Peter Mueller is not leading the Avalanche in any season statistics. But in terms of averages, Mueller is having a monster month.

Mueller, one of the NHL's top feel-good stories of the season, is a shot waiting to happen. He has fired 25 shots in six games since returning Jan. 12 after battling postconcussion symptoms for nearly 18 months.

He is the only Avs player to produce a shot in every game he has played, and he leads the team with an average of 3.33 shots per game. In Sunday's 3-2 loss at Anaheim, Mueller had a season-high six shots in 19:27 of ice time, most among Colorado forwards.

"It makes me feel good that I'm getting out there in more situations, makes me feel like the coaches can trust me a little more," Mueller said Monday during the Avs' optional practice. "It also feels good with the boys too, because I have a bigger role with the team."

Mueller, 23, has three goals in his past three games. His ice time slowly increased in his first three games back, from 13:10 on Jan. 12 to 14:47 on Jan. 16 and to a season-high 19:47 on Jan. 18 against Florida, in a game in which he had two goals and three points.

"He's progressing very well," Avs coach Joe Sacco said of Mueller, who suffered concussion-like symptoms after playing the first three games of the season and missed all of last season battling similar symptoms. "You still have to consider he missed a lot of hockey, and we're throwing him back into the thick of things. I've been real pleased with Peter. Every game he's getting a little more confidence."

Most of all, Sacco likes that Mueller is shooting the puck.

"He has a shot mentality. As a team, sometimes we tend to overpass, and we talk about that a lot," Sacco said. "I like the fact that he has a shooting mentality."

ESPN Dallas recalls that when the Dallas Stars traded for defenseman Alex Goligoski last season they saw him as a key part of the team’s blue line moving forward. Now, they have him locked up for four more years.

The Stars announced Monday they had signed Goligoski to a four-year, $18.4 million contract extension.

“I think the key is we view Alex Goligoski as one of our core players. I think the philosophy of our organization is to identify our core players and make sure they are long-term Dallas Stars,” said Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk. “He’s a great person, he’s well-respected in the locker room and he’s a big part of our team with the minutes he plays and the style of game that he plays. I think it is important to our success, and we didn’t want him to get into a situation where he becomes an unrestricted free agent the year after. He’s that important to us.”

Goligoski, 26, would have been a restricted free agent at the end of this season. He’s in the final year of a three-year deal that is paying him $2.75 million this season. The new contract, which kicks in next season and runs through 2015-16, will pay him $4.2 million the first year, $4.6 million the second and $4.8 million in each of the last two years.

“I’m excited. Relieved the process is over. It’s really exciting. Four years in a place that I love,” Goligoski said. “We’ve got a good group of guys here. Since the second I got here I’ve felt really comfortable and liked it a lot.”

When the Stars shipped left wing James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen to Pittsburgh in exchange for Goligoski, they saw him as a skilled, puck-moving defenseman the team had needed, and a player whose best years were ahead of him.

“I think we’ve seen in the post-lockout era, players like him thrive with the minutes he can play, the movement he has on the ice and his abilities with the puck,” said Nieuwendyk. “Its’ an important signing for us. He’s in the prime of his career.”

The article also notes Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk said talks with forward Jamie Benn, who is the final year of his three-year, entry-level contract, will probably take place once the season is over.

'We've had discussions, but there won't be any more discussions, I don't think," Nieuwendyk said. "His situation is different than (Alex Goligoski's). He's still in entry-level and doesn't have the rights that maybe Alex has. We'll have further discussions with him at the end of the season."

Ask Evgeni Malkin or James Neal, and The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review notes they'll say without hesitation that teammate Chris Kunitz is always getting in the way.

For instance, when Malkin was making a quick pass and Neal was scoring the game-tying goal Sunday, Kunitz was standing in the way.

And earlier that game, when Kris Letang was blasting a 60-foot goal from the blue line, Kunitz was there in the way.

Both times the Penguins forward was skating in front of Washington's net, blocking the view of Capitals goalie Michal Neuvirth. Kunitz didn't earn an assist on either goal, but neither happened without his subtle help.

Or not-so-subtle help, if you were Neuvirth trying to see around him.

"Kunitz may not be the flashiest first-line player in the league, but there's speed, there's grit, and there's a net-front presence," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "There's a lot to his game that maybe doesn't get on the scoresheet. (Against the Capitals), he did some of his best work in and around the net."

Kunitz has 14 goals and 17 assists. But it's his physical play that makes him a top-line forward, like when he screened Neuvirth from the game-tying shot.

"His screen takes the vision away from the goalie just for a split-second and I get a chance to shoot it," said Neal, whose goal with 12:54 left helped extend the team's winning streak to six entering tonight's game in St. Louis. "We're playing as a line. Kuny does those things that go unnoticed every night."

Malkin, Neal and Kunitz could be the hottest line combination in hockey. During this six-game streak, Malkin has nine goals and Neal has five.

"That line may be the best line in the league right now, the way they're playing," Bylsma said.

Kunitz deflected credit for the line's success, insisting "Geno's the main factor," but no one should downplay his role. Even if at times he's just getting in the way.

"Any time you can help your team out, that's what you do," Kunitz said, "whether that's scoring goals or standing in front."

Email: chris.nichols@sportsnet.rogers.com

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