No. 1 Star: Jonas Gustavsson, Toronto Maple Leafs

Congratulations to the Leafs, who are now clearly the 29th-best team in the NHL after defeating fellow cellar-dweller the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-2, with a three-goal rally (video). Gustavsson was outstanding on several of his 34 saves, including 18 he made in the third period against a still-determined Canes team.

No. 2 star: Chris Stewart, Colorado Avalanche

Another marathon shootout for the Avs and the Chicago Blackhawks, who went nine rounds earlier this season. This time, it was an eight-rounder; this time, Colorado skated away with the extra point, as Stewart's blast (video) beat Antti Niemi (19 saves) and Dustin Byfuglien's shot buzzed wide of Craig Anderson (29 saves) to give Colorado the 4-3 win and a 6-0 home record.

No. 3 star: Cory Schneider, Vancouver Canucks

Had the Canucks defeated the Dallas Stars, Schneider would have been the hands-down No. 1 star; alas, the Stars won, 2-1, wasting a 45-save effort from the young netminder in his trading block audition sixth NHL start.

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Here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.

Preview: Toronto Maple Leafs at Carolina Hurricanes, 7 p.m. EST. Both teams enter the game with seven points, so they're playing for last overall in the NHL. Jonas Gustavsson is in goal against the Staal-less Hurricanes. Chemmy on PPP said it: On Nov. 6, it's a must-win for Toronto.

Preview: Philadelphia Flyers at Buffalo Sabres, 7:30 p.m. EST. The flu has officially joined the Flyers lineup just in time to face the Sabres, who are 8-2-0 in their last 10. Interesting take in the Buffalo News about the Sabres on the draw, after dominating the Islanders by the ridiculous margin of 39-8. Watch The Game Live Via Hockey Night on Y! Sports.

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After Alex Rodriguez helped some team in some sport Leahy cares about win a world title, A-Rod evidently stopped being "the best player in all of American sports who will never win a championship." At least in the eyes of Dan Levy of The Sporting Blog.

Levy, a lapsed puckhead from The Great Lockout Purge of 2005, called us today to ask if there were any players in the NHL that would fit that description: A star player who will "will end his career with utter disappointment" by not hoisting the Stanley Cup.

We tried to talk him out of this first one. It didn't work:

For nothing other than cheap heat, I'll say Alexander Ovechkin. Sure he's the most exciting player in the league and he's transcended the sport to become a, gulp, household name, but that doesn't mean he's going to win anything. His team is good, but he has a guy named Crosby playing in his conference, and that guy has a guy named Malkin playing with him. Of course, Greg Wyshynski from Yahoo's Puck Daddy thinks I'm nuts, but what have the Caps ever won? Can they afford to keep this team of budding stars around Ovechkin?

The last point was a fair one, but odds are that Ovechkin gets his Cup before his contract expires in 2021. After all, it's on Ted Leonsis's to-do list.

The other names we mentioned to Levy were Joe Thornton(notes) of the San Jose Sharks, an underwhelming playoff performer on an underwhelming playoff team; Daniel Alfredsson(notes) of the Ottawa Senators; Roberto Luongo(notes) of the Vancouver Canucks, in yet another attempt to reverse-karma our way to a correct Stanley Cup prediction; and Henrik Lundqvist(notes) of the New York Rangers, because he's going to retire before 2048. 

Writer Jeff Hale on Twitter suggested Jarome Iginla(notes), who's only 32 but locked into a team with a very top-heavy cap. Any other stars that you think will fall short of the ultimate prize, before inevitably Mike Gartner'ing their way into the Hall of Fame? (*cough*Mats Sundin(notes)*cough*).

While waiting on hold for Verizon customer service, the mind wanders. Mine wandered to special teams in the NHL this season, and whether proficiency on the power play or the penalty kill equated to success in the standings.

For the 2009-10 season so far, these were the numbers crunched:

Top 15 teams in power-play conversion percentage: 120-77-27

Bottom 15 teams in power-play conversion percentage: 98-85-29

For the killers, it went like this:

Top 15 teams in penalty-killing conversion percentage: 121-76-17

Bottom 15 teams in penalty-killing conversion percentage: 97-86-39

It isn't exactly "BREAKING NEWS! MUST CREDIT PUCK DADDY" that teams that are really, really good on the power play and the kill win more games, on average, than teams in the lower part of the special teams rankings. There are always anomalies -- the Pittsburgh Penguins (12-4-0) are 22nd in the NHL on the power play, while the Toronto Maple Leafs (1-7-5) are second -- but it's common sense that this is going to be the trend annually.

The interesting number, at least to me, are the 39 overtime losses (hence, charity points) for the lower half of the League's penalty killers.

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Outdated sports cards happen. Always have, always will. That's why traded sets became a cottage industry during the 1980s in baseball cards.

The latest set of Upper Deck hockey cards available at McDonald's around Canada are no exception, as Saku Koivu(notes) is presented as a Montreal Canadiens captain and Dany Heatley(notes) of the San Jose Sharks is featured on three cards: Twice as an Ottawa Senators winger, once as one of the prides of Canada. Koivu is listed as an Anaheim Ducks player in Upper Deck's official 2009-10 sets, while the Heatley trade apparently happened too late -- he's a Senator there as well.

Of course, there's a slight difference between depicting a player in his old uniform that management decided to let go, and featuring a player in a jersey he metaphorically threw in the garbage towering over the city of Ottawa. The back of the Heatley card is now unintentionally hilarious:

His latest hit being the $4 million bonus he was paid while demanding a trade.

Couldn't help but notice something about this Heater and the City card, up in the top left corner. We're sure it's a complete coincidence that in a random, non-alphabetical checklist, Heatley ends up as the "H8" card. Just like the player number for Miroslav Satan(notes) is completely random here on Yahoo! Sports. Uh-huh.

Stick tap to the National Post for the story.

Here are your Puck Headlines: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

• Really interesting analysis being done by the MSM and the blogs on the Colorado Avalanche's attendance woes, as the first-place team had a record-low crowd earlier this week. Adrian Dater asked for, and received, a ton of feedback from fans about why they do or do not attend games. [All Things Avs]

• Jibblescribbits, meanwhile, has two posts on the issue that put the blame squarely on the Avalanche's poor marketing, both of their players and of their ticket affordability: "The casual Denver sports fan right now has no clue how good the Avs are, and they have no idea that there are some great ticket specials." [Jibblescribbits]

• Twenty-one-year-old Robert Hughes, a center for the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers, was arrested on charges of a first-degree criminal sexual act and a third-degree criminal sexual act after a game in Bridgeport. [AP]

• Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Dustin Byfuglien are called out as the Chicago Blackhawks struggle offensively. Toews and Hossa will probably help. You know, a little. [Between the Circles]

• The Vancouver Canucks are seriously looking at Peter Forsberg. Because after October, consistent injuries are sort of the norm over there. [Globe & Mail]

• Bringing Jaromir Jagr to the Edmonton Oilers remains something on associate coach Tom Renney's mind, but is that a good thing? [Illegal Curve]

• Josh Sacco, a.k.a. Lil' Herb Brooks, will do the "Let's Play Hockey" intro at the Minnesota Wild's game against the New York Islanders on Nov. 20. Better yet: He's going to Vancouver for the Winter Olympics. That. Is. Awesome. [Tennessean]

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When the headline is "Saving the Jackets" in the Columbus Dispatch, panic sets in for Columbus Blue Jackets fans. When the team president tells that newspaper that "time is of the essence" and that "the current ownership group is not in a position to continue to deal with the arena's structural (financial) problem," there's a natural inclination to place the Jackets on the same rack as the Phoenix Coyotes as endangered franchises.

This isn't meant to downplay the importance of these times for the franchise, but when the dire predictions are coming from an owner with an unfriendly arena lease and the president of the Columbus Chamber, the region's economic growth and development organization that supports the arena, they carry the whiff of hyperbole for the sake of public pressure.

Rather than predict apocalypse, what the Chamber's report did was evaluate the Blue Jackets' economic viability, and that of the arena district, via a study by Ohio State University Fisher College of Business Professor Stephen A. Buser. From the Chamber:

The report offers nearly 20 options in three categories: continuation of the existing ownership structure; implementation of public-private partnerships; and alternative private ownership structures. "I've looked at NHL franchises across the nation, and it is clear that there are forms of public-private partnerships that have been successfully employed in other cities might be equally beneficial if employed in the case of the Columbus Blue Jackets and the operations of Nationwide Arena," said Buser.

The report also details the economic growth that has occurred since the Columbus Blue Jackets came to Columbus and the Arena District was developed. According to the report the Arena has spurred economic growth in and around the district and more than $630 million had been invested in district as of 2006. At least 170 businesses employed more than 5,500 workers with annual wages of more than $350 million. Over a 10-year-period (1998 to 2008), property values increased by 267 percent.

So yeah, there are some very good reasons for local businesses and politicians to keep the Blue Jackets in Columbus. But how can the city keep them, and keep them viable?

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Verizon Center in D.C. is considered by some to be the epicenter for fans placing photos of rival players next to men's room urinal cakes. But Staples Center in Los Angeles has experienced its own steady stream, with Anaheim Ducks players the victims in the past.

The Royal Half reports that some enterprising Los Angeles Kings fan decided to once again turn the porcelain spotlight on Sidney Crosby(notes) during last night's 5-2 Kings victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins:

Allusion to diving? Check. Infant iconography? Check. We're always amazed at the level of intense thought that goes into something as frivolous as this; the notion that this guy and D.C.'s infamous propagator of "Pee-Pics" actually take the time to laminate their creations is as laudable as it is disturbing.

(This bicoastal work couldn't be from the same steady hand, could it? Jokes about diving and crying just seem beneath the comic genius that gave the world "I'm Thirsty" at a Washington Capitals home game.)

We're probably not alone in saying that Crosby's performance in the playoffs last season impressed the hell out of us, not only from a numbers perspective but with his toughness in going to the net. Despite that, the mold for mockery has been cast for NHL fans and old memes die hard; perhaps that's why some in the Pittsburgh media are calling for a rebranding of Crosby's nickname.

He may have been golden last night in LA, but he gave Penguins fans the silver last summer -- as The Royal Half was reminded after the Kings' win:

As we exited the Staples Center he said to us... "it's not like the Penguins aren't going to make the playoffs." And as we stood on a street corner with Pens fans, decked out in Penguin wear, a car drove by and said "Screw Pittsburgh!" When I repeated what the car had screamed out... one of the Pens fans looked at me and said "I couldn't hear him because our Stanley Cup rings are clogging my ears." I smiled at the dude and had the horrible pangs of jealousy fill my body. Goddamn I hope I can use that line one day.

Hey, stealing jokes from Patrick Roy isn't a sign of greatness. Finding Anze Kopitar's(notes) face circling a urinal drain ... now that's when you've arrived.

No. 1 star, Anze Kopitar(notes), Los Angeles Kings:
The league's leader in points scored two more goals on Thursday night to help the Kings pin the first road loss of the season on the Penguins, who had won seven straight on foreign ice. Kopitar has 13 goals and 26 points in 16 games as Los Angeles is riding its longest points streak of eight games (6-0-2) since November of 2000. After scoring just 27 seconds after the opening faceoff, Kopitar's second of the night tied the game 2-2 6:17 into a third period in which the Kings scored four unanswered goals. A plus-2 with three hits, Kopitar put seven shots on goals (five other attempts were wide) and won 13 of 23 faceoffs during a forward-leading 22:51 of ice time.

No. 2 star, Jonas Hiller(notes), Anaheim Ducks:
The Ducks' netminder made 40 saves for his fifth career shutout and Anaheim's first blanking since Jan. 17 of last season. Hiller was making his fourth straight start, and spearheaded Anaheim's perfect 5-for-5 night on the penalty kill.

No. 3 star, Jason Spezza(notes), Ottawa Senators:
The veteran center finally found the back of the net for the first time this season and he picked a fine time to do it – scoring 4:17 into sudden death on the power play to send the Senators past the Lightning. Spezza added two assists, too, to enjoy his second three-point game of the season. Spezza put four shots on goal, blocked one shot and won 10 of 18 draws.

Honorable mention: Anaheim's Teemu Selanne(notes) scored two goals, including the game-winner on a power play, and passed Hall of Famer Jean Beliveau to move into 38th place on the all-time scoring list (1,221 points). … Raffi Torres(notes) has eight goals already with two more in Columbus' win. … Rangers goalie Steve Valiquette made 26 saves and Ales Kotalik(notes) chipped in three points during a win at Edmonton. … Ilya Bryzgalov(notes) made 31 saves for a Phoenix win in Glendale. … Evgeni Nabokov(notes) stopped 36 of 37 in regulation before falling in the shootout. The San Jose goalie has permitted only seven goals in the last seven games. … Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg(notes) and Montreal's Michael Cammalleri(notes) each scored shootout winners. … Lars Eller(notes) scored his first goal in his first career game making the 20-year-old the 12th St. Louis Blues' rookie to score in his NHL debut. … Kyle Brodziak(notes) scored two goals in Minnesota's loss. … Alex Burrows(notes) had goal and an assist to support Andrew Raycroft's(notes) 28 saves for Vancouver. … Dion Phaneuf(notes) scored Calgary's game-winning goal in overtime. … Wondering why Patric Hornqvist(notes) at a minus-2 is in this category? He's here because the 22-year-old Nashville forward cranked 10 shots on goal and had 10 shot attempts.

Did you know?: The Sharks have won only four times in 34 all-time regular-season games in Detroit, yet San Jose has won three of nine Stanley Cup playoffs games – including a Game 7 – at Joe Louis Arena.

Dishonorable mention: The Bruins scored a goal for the first time in three games, and only one goal. They went 192:06 between goals, and came within 52 seconds of getting blanked for a third straight game for the first time since Eddie Shore and the 1928-29 team, which did go on and earn Boston its first Stanley Cup the same season. … Chicago's Patrick Kane(notes) and Patrick Sharp(notes) missed consecutive breakaway attempts in the second period against Phoenix. … Minnesota goalie Niklas Backstrom(notes) was pulled for the first time this season after allowing four goals on 17 shots. … A season-low crowd of 10,878 was announced in Atlanta for the Thrashers' game against the Blue Jackets.

Here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.

Preview: San Jose Sharks at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m. EST.

A slow start has turned into the Red Wings grabbing a point in each of their last eight games and putting up a 5-1-3 record in that span. Defenseman Brian Rafalski is expected to return after battling swine flu while Jonathan Ericsson is still questionable. San Jose, winners of six in a row and the NHL's highest scoring team, will have to best Chris Osgood who's won his last two starts and stopped 49 of 50 shots.

Preview: Chicago Blackhawks at Phoenix Coyotes, 9 p.m. EST.

‘Hawks captain Jonathan Toews will miss his fifth game in a row after a concussion at the hands of Vancouver's Willie Mitchell. With their dads in tow, the Blackhawks will be looking for their seventh straight win over the Coyotes and to pad the attendance numbers at Jobing.com Arena.

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