Around the internets

Tarik takes a look at Matt Pettinger's scoring woes, and confirms he will be back in the lineup tonight after sitting out Monday's loss to the Sabres as a healthy scratch:

During his drought, Pettinger has experienced a range of emotions, from frustration to guilt, which stems from the firing of former coach Glen Hanlon. Hanlon was replaced by Boudreau on Thursday after the Capitals got off to their worst start in 26 years.

"We weren't producing offensively," Pettinger said. "Part of that is me."

Yet as dejected as Pettinger was after his blown scoring chance in Philadelphia, Clark considered it a positive, perhaps a sign of things to come.

Corey focuses on Boudreau's use of the whole Caps roster and the reason behind it:

Part of the reason for Boudreau's plan comes from his experience as a player. He was a prolific scorer in the American Hockey League, but he never played more than 40 games in an NHL season. He was shuttled back and forth between leagues and spent many nights watching from the press box when he was on an NHL roster.

“I know exactly what the players are going through, and it wasn't conducive to winning,” Boudreau said. “You sit in the stands for an awful lot, and whether you like it or not, human nature is, 'Oh, I hope they don't do well.' I want everybody to believe and to pull for everybody.”

In other hockey news:

Kukla's Korner has a link to a great article on the effect of the salary cap.

Gary Bettman is considering more NHL games in Europe, and rolling back the NHL's policy on shutting down NHL play so players can compete in the Olympics.

More speculation about Ovie leaving the Caps. Blah blah.