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It's not exactly a national secret that hockey teams tend to go through coaching changes about as often as a high school kid goes through a change of clothes (speaking on personal experience, that's about once per year). As we begin the conference finals, it's probably worth pointing out that three of the four teams taking part -- the Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks -- experienced a change behind the bench during the regular season.

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

Rangers 4, Flyers 3: With a win on Sunday -- or a loss in overtime -- the Philadelphia Flyers could have secured the No. 4 seed and home ice advantage in the opening round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Instead, the Flyers watched a 3-2 lead after two periods turn into a 4-3 loss, at home, against a New York Rangers team that had absolutely nothing to play for in terms of playoff positioning. As a result, the Flyers are going to begin their opening round series in Pittsburgh against a Penguins team that is extremely difficult to beat on home ice.

During Tuesday night's game between the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres, we showed you some video of Jarkko Ruutu taking a bite out of Andrew Peters during a first period altercation. In what can only be described as confusing, maybe even a little ridiculous, Peters received the only penalty on the play, picking up a two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Today, the NHL announced that Ruutu will be suspended two games for his actions. Following the game, Ruutu denied the incident even took place. Peters' response?

"I don't think if I did something that stupid I'd really be admitting to it either," Peters said. "It goes too far for any player. It doesn't matter who you are, it's not part of hockey."

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said he wasn't going to overreact to the incident, and even called it "humourous" and that "games need a little spice."

Funny, needing a little spice is probably would Ruutu had to say about Peters' hand.

This is Ruutu's second suspension of the season, as he received a two-game banishment for elbowing Montreal's Maxim Lapierre in the head. Combined, his two suspensions still don't equal the punishment handed out to Sean Avery for making a sex joke. I'm still not sure how that makes any sense.

Every day from Monday to Saturday, The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

With all of the talk about Alexander Ovechkin winning the Hart Trophy and the Art Ross trophies in a High School cakewalk, most people haven't quite noticed another superstar Russian kicking ass and taking names: Evgeni Malkin.

Now that Alexander Ovechkin has gone three straight games without a point (I'd blame his new girlfriend for sapping his energy *Ahem*), Malkin has leapfrogged Ovechkin and taken the lead in the NHL's scoring race.

"It's a great feeling to be leading the NHL in scoring," Malkin said through translator George Birman. "There are still lots of games left and Ovechkin is a good player. He will try to prove he's the best in the NHL. We'll see what will happen."

Malkin continues his torrid play. He saw his five-game goal streak snapped, but extended his points streak to nine games (6+14). He has 38 points (19+19) in his past 20 games.

"I never had a stretch like that over here in the NHL or back when I played in Russia," Malkin said. "I just want to thank all my teammates who are giving me such great passes.

Since Sidney Crosby went down to injury, the Penguins have gone 8-4-2.. Rather than wilt and cry about their predicament, Malkin decided that it was his time to step out of Crosby's shadow and carry the team for awhile. Certainly, Malkin ought to be entering the MVP discussion and booting Vincent Lecavalier all the way to the golf course.

One of the most sensible rules changes in the NHL 2.0 reboot has been the one that prohibits defensive players from making a line change if their team is guilty of icing the puck. (You didn't think I was going to mention that asinine regulation that treats a puck over the glass with the same level of punishment as a high-sticking minor, did you?) The rule has also made for more exciting hockey, as teams leading late in the game are no longer able to ice their way to victory -- a tactic that had become the tedious hockey equivalent of basketball's foul-shooting exhibitions to end regulation.

But there's a loophole to the icing rule, and Lindy Ruff helped expose it in the Winter Classic. Pittsburgh had all the momentum late in the game, forcing the Sabres to ice the puck rather than face another wave of attacking Penguins. The NBC announcers predicted Ruff would call a time out, and call one he did -- allowing his defenders to rest before heading back out on the ice for a critical face-off.

If the intent of the rule is to punish the team that ices the puck, let's take it all the way: Coaches should not be allowed to call a TO in that situation. Yes, the same players that were on the ice before the time out have to return after it's over -- having caught their collective breath. Yes, time outs in hockey are intended to be used sparingly and strategically, and burning one in a defensive situation means not having one in a critical offensive moment even later in the game. I can understand that latter argument. But what other penalty in hockey has a "Get Out of Jail Free" card like the icing rule has? It cheapens what is, in fact, a pretty good rules change for the NHL.