Friday's Coffee and Cornflakes

The Stanley Cup is not won in November. Teams may look great, but they still have to put on a lot more mileage before they can stand in line to lift the Cup.

So, just on pure entertainment value, last night was a winner. Plenty of issues and aggression in the Dallas/Los Angeles game. The Canadiens withstood a challenge to defeat the Bruins in Boston. These games go a long way toward building character, but only as long as these characters remain healthy and in the lineup.

Teams are starting to look at their injury reports -- the real ones, not the ones that just say upper- or lower-body injury -- and say, "No more, please."

The St. Louis Blues are busted up like old lawn furniture. The Kings are a few unfortunate hits away from needing help. There is plenty of time for a number of teams to close the gap on the leaders.

But for others -- Oilers and Islanders, please stand up -- you have all the time in the world this season. Your run for the Cup does not begin for a few more years, at least.

For those with time on their hands, I give you the spreadsheet for Thursday night on the ice.

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Montreal 3, at Boston 1
At N.Y. Rangers 3, Buffalo 2 OT
At Washington 6, Tampa Bay 3
Philadelphia 8, at Carolina 1
At Atlanta 5, Minnesota 1
At Detroit 6, Edmonton 2
Vancouver 6, at Ottawa 2
Nashville 3, at St. Louis 2 SO
At Los Angeles 3, Dallas 1
At San Jose 2, N.Y. Islanders 1 SO
Roundup is here.
Summaries are here.
Standings are here.
Three stars by Puck Daddy.



AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Toronto 5, at Adirondack 1
At Charlotte 6, Bridgeport 1
At San Antonio 1, Rockford 0
Roundup is here.
Summaries are here.
Standings are here.

EAST COAST HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Greenville 5, Florida 4
Reading 2, at Wheeling 1
At Las Vegas 4, Victoriaville 2
Summaries are here.
Standings are here.

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Montreal 5, Cape Breton 2
Recap is here.
Summary is here.
Standings are here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Niagara 5, Saginaw 4
Sault Ste. Marie 3, at Peterborough 2 OT
Summaries are here.
Standings are here.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Brandon 5, Medicine Hat 2
At Chilliwack 5, Vancouver 1
Kootenay 4, at Calgary 2
Roundup is here.
Summaries are here.
Standings are here.