FanHouse ChuckKobasew

Newsmakers in the NHL is a weekday morning attempt to clear yesterday's rebounds and look to the day ahead.

Blue Jackets 2, Predators 1: Raffi Torres may only have 12 goals this season, but he sure has a knack for getting them when they count. His goal at the 4:05 mark of the third period in Columbus' 2-1 win over Nashville was his sixth game-winner of the season, helping get the Blue Jackets back in the win column after dropping three of their past four games. Steve Mason turned aside 21-of-22 shots in net to earn his 32nd win of the season.

Kings 5, Capitals 4: Exciting game in Washington as the Caps and Kings combined to light up the scoreboard with nine goals and 80 shots in Los Angeles' 5-4 win. The Kings had a number of two-goal leads throughout the night, including a 5-3 advantage late in the third period. With just over a minute to play in regulation, Brooks Laich scored his 13th goal of the season, closing the deficit to just one.

Jonathan Quick managed to hold on for the Kings in net, as Washington fired 22 shots on goal in the third period, and 45 for the game. Alex Ovechkin scored his 37th goal of the season -- and 200th of his career -- for the Capitals.

Montreal's Andrei Kostitsyn recorded his first career hat trick on Saturday night, while Carey Price stopped 31 shots, including 16 in the third period to lead the Canadien's to a 3-2 victory in Pittsburgh. With the win, Montreal moves ahead of the Penguins in the Eastern Conference standings, while the Penguins failed to win consecutive games yet again -- they haven't won two in a row since November 13-15. Just sayin'.

Kostitsyn scored a pair of goals in the first period before completing the hat trick early in the third period with a quick slap shot that beat Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury through the five-hole.

Following Kostitsyn's goal, Price turned into a brick wall, as the Penguins had a trio of power plays in the final period, and peppered the Montreal netminder. Of course, if you're Pittsburgh, you have to be a tad frustrated you failed to convert on five power plays, after going 0-for-5 one night ago in New Jersey. How a power play that features Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Petr Sykora and Ryan Whitney, among others, can consistently have so many 0-for-5 and 0-for-6 nights seems to defy all logic. Yet, here we are.

Crosby and Pascal Dupuis each finished with a goal and an assist for Pittsburgh.

Every Monday morning The Ice Sheet will take a close look at everything that's happened in the NHL since Friday night at 5:00 p.m. -- or if need be, anything else the author wants to bleat about. To read them all, click here.

No, that is not a misprint in today's edition of the NHL standings. Indeed, the Boston Bruins are alone on top of the Eastern Conference with 40 points, with preseason favorites like New York, Montreal and Washington all filling space in their rear view mirror.

All of this begs a question: Can this really be the same franchise that a little more than three years ago traded Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks, a man who would go on to win the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP only a few months later?

It's official: Sidney Crosby is on a roll. The Penguins captain netted his second career hat trick on Saturday night, helping lead Pittsburgh to a 4-1 win over New Jersey. Crosby now has 13 goals on the season, and six in his past three games.

Crosby opened the scoring just over a minute into the game, when he spun around and slipped a blind backhander behind New Jersey goalie Scott Clemmensen. He also added goals in the second and third periods, and picked up an assist on Petr Sykora's power play goal.

Crosby is now second in the NHL's scoring race with 34 points, just five behind teammate Evgeni Malkin, who picked up two assists in the win. The duo has been white-hot the past three games, combining for 17 points and dominating just about every time they've been on the ice. Right now, these two guys are from another planet.

Mike Rupp scored New Jersey's only goal of the game early in the third period, and nearly found himself in a fight with Crosby. Instead of actually dropping the gloves and taking a few swings on one another, the two just sort of wrestled along the boards and picked up coincidental minors for roughing.

Before we dig into last night's action, this was passed on to us here at FanHouse in the spirit of the holiday season. The National Hockey League and the Salvation Army have partnered up this year to help raise money during the holidays, and you can help the cause by creating your own online NHL team kettle (you provide the bell) to help raise money. The fan that raises the most money will win an All-Star prize package, including two tickets to the game in Montreal. You can find all the details right here.

As for the Wednesday night schedule, Henrik Lundqvist had a relatively short night in net for the Rangers, as he surrendered five goals on 17 shots in just over a period of action. He was ultimately lifted in favor of backup Steve Valiquette, as New York fell to Vancouver, 6-3, at the Garden.

Just five minutes into the second period, the Canucks had a 5-1 lead thanks to goals from Alexandre Burrows (two),Kyle Wellwood, Ryan Johnson and Pavol Demitra. Demitra's power play goal at the 5:33 mark of the second period was the final straw for Lundqvist, as coach Tom Renney sent in Valiquette, who turned aside all 15 shots he faced. Daniel Sedin added an empty net goal for Vancouver with three seconds to play in the third period.