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

Senators 3, Canadiens 2: First, the bad news for the Montreal Canadiens: they dropped a 3-2 decision, at home, to the Ottawa Senators on Monday night. Now, the really bad news for the Canadiens: remember those injuries to Andrei Markov and Mathieu Schneider? Yeah, they're worse than expected.

Senators 5, Canadiens 4: It could be argued that Montreal has already hit the panic button by firing Guy Carbonneau, but if there's another one hidden in the bowels of the Bell Centre, it might be time to press that one, as well.

Thanks to their 5-4 loss to Ottawa on Thursday, the Canadiens have now lost four in a row and six of their past eight, as they continue to flirt with the possibility of missing the postseason.

It was one year ago Tuesday that we saw Richard Zednik involved in a horrific accident on the ice. The blade of teammate Olli Jokinen's skate cut Zednik's neck, severing his carotid artery. It was a frightening scene (this video is the least disgusting of the ones I could find, but it could still be disturbing for some of you). Obviously, Zednik is okay now, as he played in his 42nd game of the season Tuesday. While Zednik has tried not to think about last year's scare, it's hard not to notice what he was able to do on the one-year anniversary Tuesday, as the Panthers hosted Toronto.

Sharks 5, Bruins 2: In what was the premier matchup of the night, San Jose scored four unanswered goals in the third period on its way to a 5-2 win over the Bruins.

After Milan Michalek gave the Sharks their first lead of the night midway through the third period, Joe Thornton helped burn his former team when he chipped in his 13th goal of the season. Ryane Clowe recorded three assists in the win, while Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves.

A 3-2 win over the lowly Islanders Thursday night kept Florida in the conference's eighth position, and they have games in hand on the teams directly below (Carolina and Pittsburgh) and above (Buffalo) them in the standings. The big play in Thursday's win was a highlight-reel goal by forward Richard Zednik, who went airborne to give Florida a 3-1 lead and keep them relevant in the playoff race.

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.

Of all the big offseason moves over the summer, Boston's signing of Blake Wheeler is looking to be like quite a steal. Wheeler, if you'll recall, was a former first-round pick of the Phoenix Coyotes (fifth overall) and, well, it didn't exactly work out as he never signed with Phoenix, instead electing to become a free agent this summer. In early July, he inked a deal with the Bruins, made the roster out of camp, and thus far has been quite a contributor to the best team in the Eastern Conference.

The 22-year old forward scored a pair of goals in Sunday's 6-3 win in St. Louis, both of which came in the games first five minutes. Through Boston's first 32 games, the rookie has 11 goals and nine assists, placing him fifth among NHL rookies in points, five behind Columbus' Derick Brassard, who, by the way, could miss the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury.

Anyway, back to the Bruins, they've now won five in a row, and 10 of their past 11, while scoring a boatload of goals in the process. During their current five-game winning streak, for example, the Bruins have lit the lamp 29 times. Granted, those games have been against Atlanta (twice) , Toronto and St. Louis, but, hey, 29 goals in five games is still 29 goals in five games.

Things have been bleak in New Jersey ever since Martin Brodeur went down with his elbow injury, and they didn't exactly get any better on Friday night when the Devils fell, 3-1, to Washington. The Devils are now 1-5 since Brodeur's injury, and have scored just five goals in the five losses. Perhaps instead of acquiring a new goalie to replace his injured star, Lou Lamoriello should consider picking up somebody that can actually fill the net. Just a thought.

Scott Clemmensen was the hard-luck loser for the Devils on this night, giving up only two goals on 26 shots (the third goal for Washington was of the empty-net variety).

Battle of New York with the all too familiar recap for Devils fans:

It's already becoming a familiar script. A good effort by an undermanned Devils team, but the offense can't put the puck past a goaltender you wouldn't expect to play well and despite acceptable goaltending on their own end, it's all just good enough to lose. That's what's facing the Devils right now after their 3-1 loss in Washington, dropping them to .500 (7-7-2) just two weeks after being four games over.

Alex Ovechkin continued his recent hot-streak by scoring his fifth goal (empty net) of the year and also picking up an assist. He's now scored in three straight games, after going ten in a row without a goal. It was only a matter of time before he started to catch fire.

Brooks Laich and Tomas Fleischman also scored for the Capitals, while Patrick Elias scored the lone Devils goal.

Unfortunately for the Capitals, the win came with a price as they lost the league's leading scorer, Alexander Semin, to an "undisclosed injury" in the second period. He did not return to the game.

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. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.

Well it's good to see you up and about this morning, having made it through another Hallmark holiday! Hopefully yours was a good one and you, you know, remembered to get something for that special someone. If you didn't, well, I hope your night on the couch was a good one. Depending on which story you can relate with, there's a hockey team you can surely identify with (aren't sports great?). Winners, losers and for those single folks, teams that took the night off. Yes, if you couldn't tell, it's the Valentine's edition of the Ice Sheet. Timely and relevant, no?

First things first, we'll start with a heart warming story (see what I did there?) from Buffalo. The word out of western New York is that Richard Zednik, who was on the wrong end of a skate blade the other day, is making a hell of a recovery from a horrific injury. Per a team news release, it turns out that Zednik may be discharged from the hospital on Saturday and got a Valentine's Day gift from a local pizza place -- buffalo wings.

Dr. Noor confirmed Zednik's condition Thursday afternoon. She added, "He asked if he could eat Buffalo chicken wings yesterday – so we let him."

Now that's what I call a doctor.

Next on Action News 8: Injuries galore! Chicago pwns Nashville like n00bz. The Islanders win two in a row (No, really. They did.). And your mom plays hockey.

The Ice Sheet will take a look at the biggest stories in the league that happened on the ice and elsewhere the night before.

Well, so much for some theory that the weakening economy will put a dent into trend of rich men buying pro sports clubs. Not long after the owners of the Edmonton Oilers accepted a lucrative offer to buy the club, we run into the Tampa Bay Lightning being sold to a willing buyer: Oren Koules, the man famous for bringing us the never-ending SAW series of horror flicks.

Palace Sports & Entertainment and OK Hockey LLC have a definitive purchase agreement for the Tampa Bay Lightning, the leasehold rights to the St. Pete Times Forum and approximately 5.5 acres of land in Tampa's Channelside District. Details of the deal were not released, but earlier reports had set the purchase price in the $200 million neighborhood.

Of course, the team was just about sold a few months back, before the whole thing unraveled like a poor movie plot (Something the prospective owner should know all about).

While Koules might love horror shows, he can't like the fact that the Lightning are in last place in the Eastern Conference, have 95% of their payroll tied up in three players, and have very little in the way of good prospects in the system. It'll take some Hollywood Magic to turn this franchise around, that's for sure.