CALGARY -- The message from Columbus Blue Jackets coach Scott Arniel is simple – keep playing well, keep playing.

Goaltender Curtis Sanford has earned his eighth consecutive start tonight, against the Calgary Flames, after stopping 30 of 33 shots against the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.

"Right now, he's earned the opportunity to continue to be back in the net," Arniel said. "He's been very good for us. He's given us a chance to win. We're just taking this a game at a time, and if he continues to play the way he is, he's going to get another look."

Sanford has been impressive in eight games this season for Columbus, posting a 3-2-2 record with a 1.61 goals-against average and .941 save percentage.

Sanford said he isn't sure where this run of success has come from.

"I really don't know," Sanford said. "I'm just really enjoying being here. That's the big thing. I'm really enjoying coming to the rink every day. I'm not putting as much pressure on myself to be great, I'm just taking it day by day and breaking the season down that way. It's just really fun to come to the rink."

The 32-year-old has played in just 116 NHL games over the course of his 13-year professional career, but has found inspiration in the likes of Tim Thomas, who emerged as an All-Star-caliber goaltender in his 30's.

"Absolutely, he's a perfect example," Sanford said. "Him and Dwayne Roloson are perfect examples for a guy like me just to never give up and keep improving, wait for an opportunity, and when you get it, just be ready for it. So far things have gone well. It's still early in the season, it's only eight games, but I hope to keep building on it."

Cory Schneider is back in goal for a seventh straight start Thursday against the Nashville Predators, but the team in front of him has changed with the return of Mason Raymond up front and Aaron Rome back in for an injured Sami Salo on defense.

Salo tweaked his groin kicking a puck out of his skates during Tuesday’s 4-1 win against Columbus and was listed as day-to-day by coach Alain Vigneault, who doesn’t think the injury is serious.

Salo’s spot alongside Alexander Edler on the second pairing will be taken by Rome, who hurt his hand blocking a shot four games ago but was ready to return for the last one. With Vancouver winning a season-high five straight, however, he couldn’t get back into the lineup.

“It’s been a mixture of both,” Rome said after a heavily optional game-day skate Thursday morning. “My hand is feeling well but the coach has to make a decision and the guys are playing well and you don’t want to change anything.”

That includes the goaltending, with Roberto Luongo on the bench for a fifth consecutive game as the backup because Schneider has stopped 164 of 168 shots during a win streak that started with Luongo hurt. But it does not extend to the forward group, where Mason Raymond will play his first game since breaking his back in Game 6 of the Cup Final.

Raymond, a top-6 forward with 40 goals over the last two seasons, comes back on a third line with rookie Cody Hodgson at center and fellow speedster Jannik Hansen on the other side. As for what to expect from Raymond, even coach Alain Vigneault wasn’t sure.

“I know physically he feels good,” Vigneault said. “It will be interesting to see mentally how he handles a game. Practicing and playing are two different elements.”

Raymond said he can only control how hard he works, but may feel better after a hit.

“I’ve had some good practice and I’ve had some good bumps but that (first hit) will be a little bit of a benchmark to see how I really feel,” Raymond said of his first game since June 13. “I may feel a little more at ease once I get that first bump.”
 
Canucks expected lineups:
 
Malhotra drops down to the fourth line to make room for Raymond, with Aaron Volpatti coming out of the lineup as a healthy scratch
 
Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin – Alex Burrows
David Booth - Ryan Kesler – Chris Higgins
Mason Raymond- Cody Hodgson -– Jannik Hansen
Manny Malhotra - Maxim Lapierre - Dale Weise
 
Dan Hamhuis - Kevin Bieksa
Alex Edler – Aaron Rome
Andrew Alberts - Keith Ballard

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger said surgery on his knee Tuesday went well, but that's about all the good news he had in speaking with reporters Thursday.

The Flyers estimated their captain could be out a month recovering from the procedure to clean up loose bodies in his left knee, but Pronger said he really has no idea how long he'll be out.

"I haven't started my rehab," he said. "As I progress I'll know more. Gauging off when I had my other knee done a couple years ago, a month sounds about right. It may be three weeks, may be six weeks. We gave a ballpark number because we don't know."

Pronger said the knee had been bothering him since he returned from his eye injury Nov. 9.

"It's been gradually getting worst since I came back from the eye injury," he said. "When I stopped skating, as I stared to work out, it started to bother me. I do my daily workouts and try to do legs every other day. It got to the point where I couldn't do my leg workout, so I knew something was wrong. We got the MRI, got on it quickly and got it fixed."

If it's four weeks, Pronger could be back by Dec. 27, and would miss 12 games. Any longer and his participation in the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic would be in jeopardy.

"If it was the playoffs and the Stanley Cup Final, I could play," he said. "It was to the point where I wouldn't have played very well. We always say we can play, but at what level and what detriment are you playing? This stage of the season … it was prudent to get it done now so that if I'm able to return in four weeks, then I'm able to get three weeks in before the All-Star break and put the hammer down after that for the playoff push and stretch drive."

More troubling than the knee, however, is the reason Pronger missed four games prior to having surgery.

The team said he had a virus, but Pronger said neither he nor the doctors he's met with have any idea what's been affecting him.

"We said it was a virus but I didn't know what it was," he said. "I've never felt like that before -- headaches, nausea, all the rest of that. I had a concussion test, did the baseline test and passed that. I've just never felt like this where you get light-headed, you have headaches, you're nauseous. It's been a bit of a mystery what exactly is going on. Did some blood work, and we're trying to get to the bottom of what's going on."

Pronger said he's feeling a bit better, but still isn't 100 percent.

"We're still trying to ascertain what's going on," he said. "I've never felt like this before. I don't really know what's going on."

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Jets began a long home stretch on Tuesday night looking to set a tone for December’s home-heavy slate.

But a sloppy 6-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators at the MTS Centre that began a run of 13 of 15 games on home ice left coach Claude Noel exasperated. The Jets blew a third-period lead to the Senators and reverted to many of the same bad habits that had plagued them earlier this season.

Still, Noel chose not to dwell on the loss and put the Jets through only a light workout on Wednesday morning.

“For us, I think that we move past [Tuesday’s loss],” Noel said. “We’ve got to play with some good energy tonight.”

The Jets still saw some fall-out from the loss on Wednesday when the club recalled 20-year-old left wing Carl Klingberg from St. John’s of the American League. Klingberg, a 2009 second-round pick, ranked second on the IceCaps with 9-7-16 numbers. Klingberg is expected to dress for tonight’s game.

The Jets remain without the services of defensemen Tobias Enstrom, Brett Festerling, Ron Hainsey, Randy Jones and Derek Meech, who are all on injured reserve. Center Nik Antropov and Eric Fehr are both banged up and will be game-time decisions.

Here are tonight's projected lines and pairings for the Jets.

JETS
Evander Kane - Bryan Little - Blake Wheeler
Andrew Ladd - Nik Antropov - Kyle Wellwood
Tanner Glass - Alexander Burmistrov - Eric Fehr
Carl Klingberg - Jim Slater - Chris Thorburn

Mark Stuart - Dustin Byfuglien
Johnny Oduya - Zach Bogosian
Arturs Kulda - Mark Flood

Ondrej Pavelec will start for the Jets, with Chris Mason backing up.

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Bruce Boudreau didn't spend much time without an NHL head coaching job, and several of his former players are thankful for that.

The Washington Capitals woke up Thursday morning preparing to face the rival Pittsburgh Penguins at Verizon Center, but they also found out about Boudreau's new gig in Anaheim just three days after he lost his job coaching them.

"I saw it on the ticker on SportsCenter this morning, and you know what? Good for him -- I'm glad he got a new job so quickly, and to a team that with his system will do a great job," defenseman Jeff Schultz, one of four guys on the Capitals who played for Boudreau both in Washington and for Hershey in the American Hockey League.

Boudreau was the fastest coach in NHL history to 200 wins after helping transform the Capitals into one of the League's dominant franchises in the regular season. Postseason success eluded the Capitals, and the team dropped 10 of 15 games after a 7-0-0 start this season, leading to Boudreau's dismissal.

The Ducks are in a similar situation to the one Boudreau walked into four years ago in Washington. Anaheim is in 14th place in the Western Conference despite having a roster laden with several elite talents.

"It is good for him," forward Brooks Laich said. "He did a lot around here and we knew he'd land on his feet. I think he's going into a good situation. They have a good team and he'll be excellent for them."

The Capitals were a young, unproven team when Boudreau arrived and molded them into contenders. Anaheim is not a young team, and the core of this team has already won a Stanley Cup.

That said, the Ducks have not played well this season with Randy Carlyle as coach, and  it is possible Boudreau's more offensive-minded philosophy could energize them.

"Yeah, he's a great guy and a great coach," Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said. "I don't think it is going to be a problem for him and for that team to connect [with] each other."

WINNIPEG -- Sub-freezing temperatures awaited the Phoenix Coyotes when they arrived in Winnipeg late Wednesday night.

Whether the reception from the boisterous 15,004 fans that fill the MTS Centre every night will provide the Coyotes an equally cold reception remains to be seen.

The Coyotes arrived in their ancestral home in possession of a two-game winning streak and will play a Winnipeg Jets club that they beat 4-1 in their home-opener, back on Oct. 15.

After netting just one goal in his first nine games, Radim Vrbata has exploded offensively for the Coyotes, scoring 11 goals in his past 14 games. Tuesday in Chicago, Vrbata had a goal and an assist, his sixth multi-point game this season.

The Coyotes have excelled away from home this season en route to producing the Western Conference’s second-best road mark (7-3-1). They've allowed only 19 goals in their past 10 road games.

"The basic premise is that we all have to play together or we are not going to win," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "Our players have bought into that. I've liked that we've played a real good team game the past few games."

Tippett indicated that there is a possibility that center Kyle Turris could make his season debut tonight.

Here are Phoenix's projected lines and pairings for tonight:

Ray Whitney - Martin Hanzal - Radim Vrbata
Mikkel Boedker - Daymond Langkow - Shane Doan
Taylor Pyatt - Boyd Gordon - Lauri Korpikoski
Raffi Torres - Kyle Chipchura/Kyle Turris - Patrick O'Sullivan

Keith Yandle - Derek Morris
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Adrian Aucoin
Rostislav Klesla - David Schlemko

Mike Smith will start in net for Phoenix, with Jason LaBarbera the backup.

For more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.

With Mark Giordano out with an injury, the Flames will have to tinker with their blue line to make up for his absence. The Blue Jackets, who are playing .500 hockey in their last 10 games, will continue to ride Curtis Sanford between the pipes.

Here is what each team's lineups will likely be tonight.

FLAMES
Curtis Glencross – Olli Jokinen – Jarome Iginla
Alex Tanguay – Roman Horak – Rene Bourque
Blake Comeau – Mikael Backlund – Lee Stempniak
Tom Kostopolous – Matt Stajan – Tim Jackman

Scott Hannan – T.J. Brodie
Jay Bouwmeester – Chris Butler
Derek Smith – Cory Sarich

Miikka Kiprusoff
Henrik Karlsson

BLUE JACKETS
Vinny Prospal – Jeff Carter – Rick Nash
R.J. Umberger – Mark Letestu – Ryan Johansen
Antoine Vermette – Samuel Pahlsson – Derek Dorsett
Derick Brassard – Derek MacKenzie – Jared Boll

Marc Methot – James Wisniewski
Fedor Tyutin – Nikita Nikitin
John Moore – Grant Clitsome

Curtis Sanford
Steve Mason

The Calgary Flames hope a returning veteran and a pair of rookies will ease the absence of workhorse Mark Giordano.
 
Cory Sarich will draw into the lineup in place of the injured Giordano, who suffered a hamstring injury in Tuesday’s 1-0 victory against the Nashville Predators.

“You don’t replace a guy like that but what you do is, the workload has to be spread around,” coach Brent Sutter said. “A guy like Cory has to come into the lineup and give us some quality minutes.”

Sarich, who has been a healthy scratch for the last four games and nine of the last 11, is hoping to burn some pent-up energy on the Blue Jackets.

“Take out some frustration on the opponent, that’s usually a good idea, a good way to get into the game,” Sarich said. “I’m just looking forward to helping, contributing. It’s hard to do that from the sidelines. Tonight’s my chance. It’s no fun sitting and watching, so when you have a chance to get out there and give’r, you try to make the most of it.”

The club will also lean on rookies T.J. Brodie and Derek Smith to help carry the load in the absence of Giordano, who has averaged 22:10 of ice time this season.

“Those guys have done a tremendous job when Gio was here and even the other night they filled in extremely well and logged a lot of minutes for us,” defenseman Chris Butler said, sporting eight stitches to his cheek after taking a puck to the face against the Predators. “They’re playing great hockey for us.”

Smith, who played a season-high 22:33 against Nashville, is ready to soak up the minutes after Tuesday’s experience.

“The minutes went up a lot,” Smith said. “Me and T.J. weren’t used to playing those minutes. It worked out well for us and hopefully the increased role will help us tonight too.”

Injuries have ravaged the Flames blue line this season.

Giordano joins Anton Babchuk (hand) on the injured reserve, while Brett Carson is close to returning from an offseason back injury. Carson has been assigned to the Abbotsford Heat of the AHL on a conditioning stint.

WASHINGTON -- Head injuries to defensemen Kris Letang and Zbynek Michalek have opened the door for Penguins 2009 first-round pick Simon Despres to make his NHL debut Thursday (7 p.m. ET, NHLN-US) against the Capitals here at Verizon Center.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma confirmed that Despres, the 30th pick of the 2009 Entry Draft who was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Thursday, will be in the lineup against the Caps. Despres will start the game paired with fellow rookie Robert Bortuzzo, but Bylsma doesn't plan to hide him.

"He is slated to play on the second (power-play) unit and sometimes that is not a whole ton of time on the power play, but he is slated to be out there on the power play," Bylsma said. "He has played 10 or 11 games in exhibition and he's played minutes. I know he's more than capable of playing in a lot of different situations, playing a lot of defense, being able to go back for pucks and make plays. He's had two months of being a professional and developing, and I'm fully confident he can be in a lot of different situations tonight."

Despres, 20, has 3 goals and 4 assists along with a plus-3 rating in 22 games as a rookie this season for the AHL Penguins. All three of his goals were game-winners and his 7 points are tied for the team lead among defensemen.

"A little nervous, but very excited," Despres told NHL.com Thursday morning when asked about his emotions. "It is what I have dreamed all my life. I'm just going to try to do my best to help the team."

Despres said he is familiar with the Penguins-Capitals rivalry because he's been watching it on TV since he was a kid. He said it will be special to play against Ovechkin.

Bylsma sounded as if he's ready to give the kid that chance, even though Brooks Orpik and Deryk Engelland will draw most of the even-strength ice time against Ovechkin.

"This is an opportunity with this game and the next game for Simon to show what he can do, and I think it's going to be more than just playing 10 minutes of hockey," Bylsma said. "He can be in a lot of different situations."

Orpik said he would be happy to give advice to Despres and Bortuzzo about playing against Ovechkin, but he doesn't want to fill their heads with minutia.

"I don't think you ever want to bombard them with stuff like that because then they go into the game thinking too much," he said. "You want them to just go out there and just concentrate on playing, let their instincts and natural ability take over. But with a guy like Ovechkin, I'm sure they have watched him on TV and seen enough of him. There are little things you can tell them about stick position, but you just want them to have a clear mind going into their first game."

That shouldn't be a problem for Despres.

"I will just try to take it one day at a time, play hockey, have some fun and enjoy it," he said. "That's all I can do really."

Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl

WASHINGTON -- Here is the projected lineup for the Washington Capitals for their contest Thursday night at Verizon Center against the Pittsburgh Penguins (7 p.m., NHLN-US). Check here for the lineup the Penguins likely will go with tonight.

Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Backstrom - Troy Brouwer
Cody Eakin - Marcus Johansson - Alexander Semin
Jason Chimera - Brooks Laich - Joel Ward
Matt Hendricks - Jeff Halpern - Mike Knuble

Karl Alzner - John Carlson
John Erskine/Jeff Schultz - Dennis Wideman
Dmitry Orlov - Roman Hamrlik

Tomas Vokoun will start in goal, with Michal Neuvirth the backup. Vokoun stopped 39 of 41 shots against Pittsburgh in a 3-2 overtime victory earlier this season.

Mathieu Perreault is slated to be the healthy scratch for the second time in as many games for new coach Dale Hunter. These are also the same lines Hunter deployed in his first contest Tuesday.

Schultz was a healthy scratch Tuesday, but all seven healthy defensemen left the ice Thursday morning before the "scratches skate." Schultz said he didn't know if he was playing or not.

For even more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.