FanHouse OwenNolan

It was a Sunday of good news and bad news for the Minnesota Wild. There was plenty of good, as star forward Marian Gaborik played in his first game since December 23, and the Wild used two Owen Nolan goals to beat Edmonton 3-0. A regulation win over a fellow West playoff contender has to be looked at as a positive.

However, as is typical of Minnesota's season, there had to be some bad mixed in with the good. Forward and team captain Mikko Koivu left the game in the first period with a knee injury.

There are certainly at least two really good teams in the NHL's Western Conference. Defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit and fast-starting San Jose appear in the clear to duke it out for the right to play for the Stanley Cup later this year.

Of course, we know that anything can happen in a best-of-seven series. In addition, we still have half a season left to play. What we don't know is which team in this conference is set up to challenge either the Red Wings or Sharks. They've beaten - at least once - pretty much everyone who has stood in their way, including each other.

While the top of the conference appears to virtually locked in place at this point, there are still serious battles to be fought, especially for the last four positions in the West. Currently, eight teams are separated by just six points. St. Louis, the last-place team in the West, is just nine points out of eighth.

Thanks to a pair of goals from Matt Ellis, the Buffalo Sabres ended Boston's 10-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory at TD Banknorth Garden on Saturday afternoon. The loss not only snaps Boston's 10-game winning streak, it also ended a 14-game home winning streak, while also giving the Bruins their sixth regulation loss of the season.

Ellis opened the scoring for the Sabres just three minutes into regulation, while Thomas Vanek added his 26th goal of the season just two minutes later.

After Phil Kessel cut the deficit in half with his 24th goal of the season, Ellis added his second goal of the game early in the second period to score what proved to be the game-winner. Paul Gaustad added his fourth goal of the year for the Sabres, while Ryan Miller turned aside 29 shots in net.

The win for Buffalo, combined with Pittsburgh's loss to Florida, moved the Sabres into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

What an amazing soap opera this has been. Perhaps we'll now get some closure in the Marian Gaborik story.

We've gone from trade rumors to an injury to more trade rumors to a comeback to another injury to trade rumors, and now we have a knife involved.

The knife in question belongs to Dr. Marc Philippon of Vail, Colorado. Monday, Philippon will operate on the left hip of Gaborik. Successful surgery and recovery will keep Gaborik out of the lineup for 10-14 weeks. That means the best-case scenario has Gaborik returning to the team sometime around March 16. Worst-case? April 13, which would be during the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Apparently unwilling to let the drama go, the Wild are making it abundantly clear that they aren't fully supportive of Gaborik undergoing this surgery. I'm not sure why, as Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune says this hip injury includes a torn labrum and bad cartilage. The belief is that the hip problems have been at the root of Gaborik's long-standing groin issues. It's thought to be worse than the right hip was before Philippon operated on it in 2008.

The Minnesota Wild are probably the last team you would expect to be involved in a 6-5 game, but, hark, here we are. Paul Stastny scored a pair of goals and picked up an assist for the Avalanche, as they snapped the Wild's modest two-game winning streak on Monday night.

Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom had what was, perhaps, his worst night of the season, giving up six goals on 26 shots through the first two periods. He didn't come back out for the third, as Josh Harding took over and stopped all five shots he faced in the defeat.

For the Avalanche, Peter Budaj gave up five goals of his own on 17 shots, as Minnesota picked up goals from Pierre-Marc Bouchard (2), Owen Nolan, Mikko Koivu, and Brent Burns.

Bouchard scored his second goal of the game just 22 seconds into the second period, giving Minnesota a brief 3-2 lead. Just three minutes later, Stastny picked up his first, as the Avalanche would fill the net three more times in the period, ultimately chasing Backstrom from the game.

Minnesota head coach Jacques Lemaire called the first 40 minutes the worst two periods he had seen, as Colorado was not only leading 6-4, but also holding a commanding 26-12 edge in shots on goal.

Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: Andrew Brunette, F (FA-COL); Owen Nolan, F (FA-CGY); Marc-Andre Bergeron, D (Trade-ANH); Marek Zidlicky, D (Trade-NSH); Antti Miettinen, F (FA-DAL); Craig Weller, F (FA-PHX)

Who's Out: Brian Rolston, F (FA-NJ); Pavol Demitra, F (FA-VAN); Todd Fedoruk, F (FA-PHX)

What's Changed: Hopefully, the Wild found some stability. General manager Doug Risebrough acknowledged he made a mistake by employing ten players in contract years last year. As a result, there was a lot of player movement over the summer. Rolston should have been re-signed during the previous off-season. Once it was clear he would test free agency, it was also clear he wouldn't be back.

Risebrough tried to make up for his blunders (too many free agents and not re-signing Rolston) by taking a stab at Marian Hossa, placing a bid for Kristian Huselius, and also making a play at a contract extension for Marian Gaborik. None of these moves have been successful, however the potential for a Gaborik deal is far from dead as of this writing.

(Of course, this hasn't stopped fans of other teams from dreaming.)

Welcome to the NHL FanHouse 2008-09 season preview. While other sites are previewing "30 teams in 30 days," we decided to take advantage of the extra time off before the start of the season to bring you all 30 previews over the next three weeks. We're counting down in reverse order of finish from last season in each conference every weekday from now until October 3. Look for an Eastern Conference preview every morning and a Western Conference preview every afternoon. Click here to read them all.

Who's In: Mike Cammalleri, F (FA-LA); Rene Bourque, F (Trade-CHI); Curtis Glencross, F (FA-EDM); Todd Bertuzzi, F (FA-ANH)

Who's Out: Kristian Huselius, F (FA-CBJ); Owen Nolan, F (FA-MIN); Alex Tanguay, F (Trade-MTL); Curtis Joseph, G (FA-TOR)

What's Changed: The backbone of this team hasn't been touched. 50-goal scorer Jarome Iginla is still the rock of the offense. Cammalleri should help bolster the Flames' top line, and Daymond Langkow is expected to remain the center. The signing of Bertuzzi is an interesting one for the Flames. Calgary has plenty of tough guys, and Bertuzzi struggled mightily at times last year in Anaheim. He did stay healthy for 68 games and tallied a not-terrible 40 points, but he still has a penchant for really dumb and irresponsible penalties.

While I know Mike Keenan wants a tough hockey team (hence the decision to let Tanguay and Huselius go elsewhere), I can't imagine he'll be happy watching Bertuzzi take a dumb penalty late in a close game. Unless Bertuzzi starts playing smarter hockey, it's not destined to go well for him.