NHL notebook

Hemsky's status unclear
Ales Hemsky's shoulder is damaged, but the Edmonton Oilers don't know how badly.
"He's gone for an MRI. He's not expected to be available for a little bit," said Oilers coach Pat Quinn.
The star winger, who was hurt on a hit from Los Angeles Kings forward Michal Handzus on Wednesday night, will not play Friday night against the San Jose Sharks.
The Oilers have lost a league-leading 146 man-games to injury or sickness, and they're only 25 games into the season, not even a third of the way through the NHL marathon.
Only four forwards - Dustin Penner, Patrick O'Sullivan, Andrew Cogliano and Zack Stortini - have played every game. Defenceman Tom Gilbert has suited up for all 25, too.
"Amazing. I didn't know that," said Cogliano.

Sens fans staying home
While Ottawa Senators players have been showing up for games more consistently this season, the same cannot be said for their fans.
The team temporarily claimed the Northeast Division lead with a 4-3 win over Washington on Monday, but there were only 16,210 fans on hand to witness the victory at Scotiabank Place. The draw was the lowest attendance figure at a Senators home game since before the 2004-05 lockout - and that was with Alex Ovechkin on the ice.
The Senators regained first place Thursday with a 2-1 win over Columbus and 19,244 fans in the building.
Jeff Kyle, Senators vice-president of marketing, said the club will re-evaluate its ticket sales programs later next month. He attributed much of the team's early season ticket troubles to a decrease in season-ticket sales due to the economy and a front-loaded home schedule in which 16 of the club's first 23 games are at home.
Overall, the Senators' average season attendance had sunk to 17,886 before Thursday's game against Columbus, a decrease of 1,195 fans a game from a year ago.

Spezza ends slump
Ottawa Senators centre Jason Spezza couldn't have picked a better time to have a scoring slump.
The team is clicking along with an average of three goals per game (11th in the NHL) and its record heading into Thursday night's 2-1 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
While Spezza potted one Thursday night, the goal gave him a grand total of one in his past 10 games. The No. 1 centre obviously isn't pleased with his struggles, but it could be worse.
Just imagine the call-in shows if the Senators had put up four straight losses over the past week instead of four straight wins.
"I think, obviously, when the team's winning, it makes things a lot easier . . . it makes it a lot more pleasant to be around the rink," Spezza said Thursday. "I pride myself a lot on being a good offensive guy and it has been probably the toughest stretch I can remember."

Senators not getting the calls
Ottawa Senators head coach Cory Clouston complained earlier this month that the officials were giving his team far fewer man advantages than their opponents. It seemed to work for a while, but no more.
The fact they didn't get a single five-on-four against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night angered general manager Bryan Murray enough that he took it up personally with referee Kerry Fraser after the game.
Clouston remained perturbed on Thursday.
"Again, we're right back to almost where we were about two weeks ago where we're not drawing any penalties," he said, adding his players are clearly frustrated.
"Hockey's a very similar game to football," he said. "Just about every shift there could be - if you call it directly, 100 per cent by the book - could almost be a penalty.
"In my opinion, it's up to the official to have a feel, to understand who has got possession, who has got momentum, who's on the attack more often than not."

Draper delights in American tradition
Detroit Red Wing forward Kris Draper gets a kick out of Thanksgiving - the American variety, that is.
Draper was born and raised in Toronto, but the Draper home is the destination spot for Red Wings on Thanksgiving day, as it was Thursday.
The Detroit Free Press reports that in addition to Draper, his wife and their three children, invitations were handed out for a big meal to Red Wings teammates Todd Bertuzzi and his family, Daniel Cleary and his family, rookies Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader, and Patrick Eaves.
"We've got a pretty good table set," Draper said, smiling, to the newspaper. "Helmer and Abby are going to sit with my two oldest kids, Kennedi and Kienan, and Bert's two kids. . . . We enjoy having some of the guys over and then just watching football and just hanging out and enjoying the day. It's nice to be able to open up our house to them."
The Red Wings star checker says he always carves the turkey and stirs up the mashed potatoes. Teammate (and American citizen) Jimmy Howard told the paper, he's not quite as active.
"I get up from bed," he said, "and go from the couch to the table to back to the couch."

Peters not about point the finger, but . . .
New Jersey Devils enforcer Andrew Peters is good with his fists, but that doesn't necessarily make him quick with his lips.
Peters was asked, again, after Wednesday night's New Jersey win over Ottawa about last season's altercation with Ottawa's Jarkko Ruutu who bit him in the hand during a Jan. 6 game.
"He is what he is," Peters, who was playing for the Buffalo Sabres at the time, said to the Star-Ledger. "I've spoken to some of his teammates about him. He's liked on his team. Players around the league don't like him and there's a reason for that.
"He's good at what he does. He's an agitator. He and I have a history but it's not worth talking about. It goes back to him biting me last year. That's all in the past. He was suspended for that."

Stepping up to make history
New Jersey Devils radio colour analyst Sherry Ross made history on Wednesday when the Devils topped the Ottawa Senators 3-1.
Ross became the first female broadcaster to provide play-by-play for an entire NHL game in English, on New York all-sports station WFAN-660 AM, reports Tom Gulitti of the Fire & Ice website.
The longtime colour voice replaced usual play-by-play man Matt Loughlin, who missed the game because of the death of his father-in-law. Ross also subbed in in the 1993-94 season for one period after Gary Thorne, the Devils' TV play-by-play announcer at the time, was late because of travel issues.

Ice chips:
Rugged Ottawa Senators winger Chris Neil is expected to be out 10 to 14 days with a knee injury after taking an awkward hit from the Devils' Andrew Peters Wednesday night. . . . Eighteen-year-old Brayden Schenn was recalled on an emergency basis from the Brandon Wheat Kings by Los Angeles prior to Thursday's game in Vancouver. Schenn was the fifth-overall pick at this summer's entry draft. . . . Sidney Crosby excels against the Canadiens. He has 23 points in 16 career NHL games versus Montreal. . . . Wednesday night's win over Ottawa marked New Jersey coach Jacques Lemaire's 400th behind the Devils bench. . . . Canucks forward Henrik Sedin is among the NHL's elite ironmen, having played 358 consecutive games including three complete seasons. Calgary defenceman Jay Bouwmeester is the current ironman leader with 364 straight games. . . . Montreal has returned centre David Desharnais to the Hamilton Bulldogs after playing his first NHL game on Wednesday night.