Afternoon Hits: Tootoo, Ultimate Rankings, Injuries, Lines and Goalies

  • NHL Player Safety: Devils forward Jordin Tootoo has been fined $2,217.74 for a dangerous trip on Predators defenseman Seth Jones
  • ESPN: 2015 Ultimate franchise rankings
    1. Tampa Bay (3rd overall)
    2. Anaheim (4th overall)
    3. Dallas (10th overall)
    4. Detroit (14th overall)
    5. Chicago (17th overall)
    6. Columbus (19th overall)
    7. Nashville (27th overall)
    8. Pittsburgh (31st overall)
    9. Minnesota (37th overall)
    10. Los Angeles (39th overall)
    11. St. Louis (43rd overall)
    12. Arizona (44th overall)
    13. Florida (48th overall)
    14. Colorado (51st overall)
    15. Montreal (54th overall)
    16. Washington (55th overall)
    17. Calgary (56th overall)
    18. Ottawa (58th overall)
    19. Buffalo (62nd overall)
    20. Winnipeg (69th overall)
    21. NY Islanders (73rd overall)
    22. New Jersey (74th overall)
    23. NY Rangers (75th overall)
    24. Carolina (78th overall)
    25. Philadealphia (81st overall)
    26. San Jose (88th overall)
    27. Boston (93rd overall)
    28. Edmonton (112th overall)
    29. Vancouver (113rd overall)
    30. Toronto (122nd overall)

    Affordability (11.3%): Price of tickets, parking and concessions
    Coaching (3.2%): Strength of on-field leadership
    Fan relations (25%): Courtesy by players, coaches and front office toward fans, plus how well a team uses technology to reach fans
    Ownership (13.1%): Honesty; loyalty to core players and the local community
    Players (14.6%): Effort on the field, likability off it
    Stadium experience (9.8%): Quality of arena; fan-friendliness of environment; frequency of game-day promotions
    Title track (4.6%): Championships won or expected within the lifetime of current fans
    Bang for the buck (18.3%): Wins in the past two years per fan dollar, adjusted for league schedules

Roster Notes …

  • Ansar Khan: The Red Wings put Johan Franzen on the short-term IR.
  • Ansar Khan: Darren Helm had a bit of setback and won’t play this weekend.
  • Rob Mixer: Blue Jackets Alexander Wennberg (concussion) had a setback today according to coach Todd Richards.
  • Helene Elliott: Kings defenseman Matt Green didn’t practice today. Derek Forbort was paired with Christian Ehrhoff.
  • Chris Johnston: Senators Clarke MacArthur won’t be in lineup tonight, Shane Prince will take his spot.
  • Isabelle Khurshudyan: The Capitals recall Chandler Stephenson.

Line Combinations and defensive pairings

  • Jeremy Rutherford: Blues lines: Steen-Stastny-Tarasenko, Schwartz-Lehtera-Brouwer, Jaskin-Backes-Upshall, Ott-Brodziak-Reaves. Defensive pairings: Pietrangelo-Bouwmeester Gunnarsson-Parayko Edmundson-Bortuzzo
  • Roger Millions: Flames lines: Bennett Backlund Frolik, Gaudreau Monahan Hudler, Ferland Stajan Jones, Bollig Jooris Raymond. Defensive pairings: Giordano Hamilton, Russell Wideman, Kulak Engelland.
  • Buffalo Sabres: lines: O’Reilly-Girgensons-Ennis Kane-Eichel-Gionta Deslauriers-Legwand-Foligno Moulson-Larsson/Reinhart-McGinn
  • Bryan Burns: Lightning: Drouin-Stamkos-Callahan Palat-Johnson-Kucherov Killorn-Filppula-Condra Boyle, Namestnikov, Brown and Paquette. Defensive pairings: Hedman-Stralman Garrison-Carle Coburn-Nesterov with Sustr mixing in

Starting goalies

  • Joe Smith: Kari Lehtonen will start in net for the Stars.
  • Arthur Staple: Thomas Greiss will start in net for the Islanders.
  • Dean Brown: Craig Anderson will start in net for the Senators.
  • Jason Mackey: Marc-Andre Fleury will start in net for the Penguins.
  • Steve Zipay: Henrik Lundqvist will start in net for the Rangers.
  • George Richards: Roberto Luongo will start in net for the Panthers.
  • Shawn Mitchell: Sergei Bobrovsky will start in net for the Blue Jackets against the Maple Leafs tomorrow.
  • Jonas Siegel: James Reimer will start in net for the Maple Leafs tomorrow, Jonathan Bernier will start on Saturday.