TORONTO -- If you're a goalie and want to stop Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin's one-timer, former Soviet Union national team goalie and Hockey Hall of Fame member Vladislav Tretiak has a trick you should maybe try.

"If I play today against Ovechkin, I play more high because he shoots one-timer all the time," Tretiak said prior to the Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony Monday.

Tretiak said his trick for trying to stop Ovechkin is the same one he thought of after Bobby Hull scored three goals against him in Game 4 of the 1974 Summit Series in Vancouver.

"Bobby Hull play unbelievable, he scored against me [three] goals in Canada, and I think how do you stop the puck because he shot it one-time all the time, the hardest shot," Tretiak said. "I think my reaction, impossible to stop the puck. But I also think maybe if I move two meters out more I could do it.

"Sometimes it's impossible because sometimes the goalie moves and the hardest shot, it's impossible to stop the puck."

TORONTO -- Goalies Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek are turning what could have been an uncomfortable situation for the Detroit Red Wings into an undeniable strength for a team that appears to still be trying to figure out its identity and how good it can be.

Neither Howard nor Mrazek has emerged as the No. 1 goalie for the Red Wings, but that's only because each has played well in his starts this season, giving coach Jeff Blashill reason enough to keep going with the two-goalie system for the time being.

Mrazek, who made 32 saves in a 2-1 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, has started seven games and has four wins, a 2.42 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage.

Howard, who made 29 saves in his previous start, a 3-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 31, has started six games with three wins, a 2.01 GAA and a .934 save percentage. Howard could start Sunday against the Dallas Stars.

TORONTO -- Sergei Fedorov is about to see a cherished NHL record of his fall, and he loves it.

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin needs one more goal to tie Fedorov for the most goals scored by a Russian in NHL history (483).

"It's awesome," Fedorov said Friday after being honored with his Hockey Hall of Fame ring. "Records are made to be broken, so to me he's always been the goal-scorer and when he got close, I'm like, 'Of course it's him.' "

Fedorov said he's hoping Ovechkin waits to tie or break the record until Tuesday, when the Capitals play the Detroit Red Wings on Sergei Fedorov Night at Joe Louis Arena.

"I would hug him in his uniform," Fedorov said. "He'd be all wet and my suit would be ruined, but I wouldn't care. I'll put it somewhere in the closet. I'd cherish that moment."

NEW YORK -- New York Rangers center Derick Brassard can thank minor-league defenseman Chris Summers for playing a role in his recent hot streak.

Brassard has three goals and four assists in four games since he's been using the Easton sticks Summers left behind after the Rangers sent him to Hartford of the American Hockey League prior to the season.

Brassard had one goal and two assists in eight games prior to discovering Summers' sticks in the Rangers' stick room at their practice facility in Greenburgh, N.Y.

"They were in the stick room and I was looking for something a little lighter, so I've been using them and it's gone pretty well so far," Brassard said. "It's got my old curve too."

Here is the Nov. 4 edition of Dan Rosen's weekly mailbag, which will run every Wednesday in the Over the Boards blog during the 2015-16 NHL season. If you have a question, tweet it to @drosennhl and use #OvertheBoards.

Let's get to it:

Did you expect the Blues to be doing this well with all the injuries? And how dangerous will they be when healthy? -- @matt_winthrop

I say this knowing the Blues lost 3-0 on Tuesday, but I don't think anybody expected the Blues to be doing this well with Kevin Shattenkirk, Paul Stastny, Jaden Schwartz, Patrik Berglund and, for one game at least, Vladimir Tarasenko all sidelined. However, the injuries have forced the Blues to simplify everything about their game and that works for the style that Ken Hitchcock wants them to play. He wants to coach (sometimes over-coach), but it's hard to coach skill, because either you have it or you don't. With Tarasenko, Shattenkirk, Schwartz, Stastny and Berglund in the lineup, the Blues have plenty of skill. Without them they have to rely on immeasurable intangibles like being gritty and tough in the corners, hard on the forecheck, things like that. The Blues always have done those things well under Hitchcock. Now that they're taking a more simplistic approach, they're not drowning because of these injuries.

NEW YORK -- A win by the Washington Capitals against the New York Rangers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, SNO, SNP, CSN-DC, MSG) won't make up for losing to them in Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Second Round last season, but the Capitals feel it could do something for the psyche of the two teams this season.

"You always want to throw that element of doubt into your opponent, like, 'Alright, these guys are for real, this is a little different team, they want it,'" Capitals right wing Justin Williams said. "You always want to give them that sense of anxiousness that when we're at our best, we're better than you."

The Capitals have that chance at Madison Square Garden, where their 2014-15 season ended on Derek Stepan's overtime goal that capped the Rangers comeback from a 3-1 series deficit.

While according to the standings first place in the Metropolitan Division is on the line Tuesday, as Williams noted, the game takes on a bigger meaning for each team. It's really a measuring-stick game for the Capitals and Rangers.

NEWARK, N.J. -- New York Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak will play against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; SN, MSG+, MSG) after missing the previous game because of an illness.

Thomas Greiss made 26 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at Barclays Center on Thursday.

Halak is 3-1-0 with a 1.76 goals-against average and .940 save percentage in four appearances this season.

"Just talking with [Halak] and when he tells you he's ready and he's 100 percent, there's no question we're going to put him in there," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said.

PHILADELPHIA -- Lee Stempniak started the month of October hoping to land at least a one-year contract from the New Jersey Devils. He'll likely finish it as a valuable contributor on New Jersey's first line with Adam Henrique and Mike Cammalleri.

Stempniak has seven points on two goals and five assists through 10 games going into the Devils game against the New York Islanders at Prudential Center on Saturday. He's third on the Devils in scoring and has contributed to New Jersey's better-than-expected 5-4-1 start to the season.

He came to New Jersey on a professional tryout contract on Sept. 16 and signed a one-year, $850,000 contract on Oct. 3. Stempniak said he had offers from other teams to sign a PTO, but he chose the Devils because of a calculated gamble.

"I chose New Jersey because I felt it was a team I could contribute on and play a big role," Stempniak said. "I had a lot of belief in myself as a player. It wasn't that I couldn't play. I felt I had a pretty good year last year and a strong finish, and that never wavered. For me it was finding the right fit and the right opportunity. Coming here, it's been a really good fit so far."

PHILADELPHIA -- Even though he's had some quality scoring chances and leads the team with 34 shots on goal, Philadelphia Flyers right wing Jakub Voracek isn't one to make excuses for why he has no goals and three assists through eight games after scoring a career-high 81 points in 82 games last season.

"I think if I say I'm not getting the bounces, it's the easy way out," Voracek said Thursday before playing the New Jersey Devils at Wells Fargo Center (7 p.m. ET; MSG, CSN-PH).

Voracek is instead taking the honest approach, which is to say he's playing OK, but OK isn't good enough for him.

"I haven't played my best game yet," Voracek said. "Points are important."

PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia Flyers forward Vincent Lecavalier will make his season debut against the New Jersey Devils at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, CSN-PH). Lecavalier was a healthy scratch for the Flyers' first eight games.

Lecavalier last played in a game that counted on April 9. He played in four preseason games and scored a goal on five shots. He has 931 points on 411 goals and 520 assists in 1,163 games in his 17-year NHL career.

"I haven't played in a month as well, so tonight I definitely want to play simple," Lecavalier said. "If plays are there, I'll try to make them. You've gotta try to make things happen. I'm not going to chip it in just for the sake of chipping it in. You don't want to play like robots out there."