Rumors, moves, injuries and newsmakers...

Rook Carcillo excelling at his job; Stillman makes Ottawa debut; Greentree makes NHL debut; Hats off to Vanek; Osgood chased/Howard plays; and more hockey news'n notes...

INCORRIGIBLE! 
When the Phoenix Coyotes acquired Daniel Carcillo last season from the Pittsburgh Penguins as part of the package that sent Georges Laraque the other way, they knew they were getting a skilled winger with a bit of an agitating edge to him.

But they probably didn't expect that edge to be so pronounced. The 23-year-old rookie impressed late last season with seven points and 74 penalty minutes in just 18 contests. This season it's been more of the same, with decent production (12 points in 37 games) and a ton of time in the sinbin.

Carcillo's 204 penalty minutes lead the NHL by 30, and runner-up Jared Boll has played in 20 more contests. Even missing 20 games this year, Carcillo is still on pace for 341 PIM. Last season, Ben Eager's 233 penalty minutes were enough to lead the league--Carcillo is almost there in half the games. In fact, the last time a player finished with more than 340 penalty minutes was when Peter Worrell did it for the Panthers back in 2001-02. Worrell played in 79 games that year.

The team doesn't mind Carcillo's penalties. They like how he gets under the other team's skin. What they don't like, however, is his needless misconducts. At times, Carcillo carries things too far. So what did the team do? They sent him to San Antonio (AHL) to get his emotions in check.

Carcillo proceed to post 16 penalty minutes in five American League contests. Lesson learned? The Coyotes think so, as they called him back up and he was in the lineup for Monday's contest against the Stars. He did not spend a single second in the box this time--just the 12th time this season that he avoided it.

Ignoring the games prior to Ilya Bryzgalov's arrival--because the goaltender has clearly made Phoenix a new team--the Coyotes are 11-9-1 with Carcillo in the lineup and 10-6-3 with him out of the lineup. The jury is still out on whether or not a team needs a good agitator, but one thing cannot be disputed: Carcillo is one of the best.

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BLUES 
St. Louis coach Andy Murray made the unexpected move of scratching the team's leading goal scorer from last season, Lee Stempniak, but the move may have worked as the Blues topped the Kings 4-2. Martin Rucinsky, Jay McClement and David Backes picked up two points each in the win.

DUCKS 
It took the 37-year-old seven-time 40-goal scorer five games to do it, but Teemu Selanne finally scored his first goal of the campaign Tuesday. His power-play goal against the Avalanche came early in the second period to tie the contest at one. The team is now off until Friday, when they play host to the Stars.

FLYERS 
Undrafted 24-year-old prospect Kyle Greentree had a dream come true when the Flyers called him up on Tuesday. Greentree played over 11 minutes and was a minus-1 in the team's 4-3 loss to the Islanders. The team was outshot 47-29 in the contest. Greentree replaced Simon Gagne in the lineup. Gagne will likely be sidelined for a couple of weeks with a mild concussion.

HURRICANES 
It was Carolina's first game without Cory Stillman on the roster this season and it was obvious who the team expects to fill the void. Young winger Andrew Ladd played 16:18 Tuesday, which was just two seconds shy of his season high. He rewarded the team with a pair of goals to lead the 'Canes to a 3-2 victory over the Bruins. The team also recalled Ryan Bayda from Albany of the AHL because Patrick Eaves, who was acquired for Stillman, is still out with an injury.

LIGHTNING 
Tampa Bay continues to roll as they picked up their seventh win in 11 games Tuesday by topping the Habs 3-2. Michel Ouellet snapped a six-game pointless drought by scoring his first goal since returning from his shoulder injury. Defenseman Brad Lukowich missed the contest with a lower body injury, which forced the team to use Dan Boyle and Paul Ranger for more than 27:30 of ice time each.

OILERS 
Edmonton management suspected that this would be the case and on Tuesday they found out for sure. Defenseman Sheldon Souray will be out for the remainder of the regular season as he recovers from shoulder surgery. Meanwhile, Kyle Brodziak scored twice to lead the team to a 4-2 victory over the Wild. Curtis Glencross picked up a pair of assists, his first points with his new team.

PREDATORS 
Chris Mason was the big story Tuesday as he stopped 40 of 42 shots to lead Nashville to a 4-2 win over Detroit. Alexander Radulov scored a pair of goals in the win, giving him 10 goals and 14 points in his last 11 contests. Next up for the Preds are the Chicago Blackhawks in Nashville on Thursday.

RED WINGS 
Jimmy Howard made his fifth career NHL appearance and his first since 2005 Tuesday when starter Chris Osgood was chased from the game early in Detroit's 4-2 loss to Nashville. Osgood gave up three goals on the first four shots that he faced. Howard came on and stopped 18 of 19, allowing the Red Wings to get back in the game. Henrik Zetterberg's seven-game point streak came to an end in the loss.

SABRES 
After suffering through a terrible season after signing such a big contract in the summer, Thomas Vanek has recently shown signs of shaking the slump. Tuesday night in Ottawa he looked as if he finally did turn that corner, notching the first hat trick of his career to lead Buffalo to a 5-1 win. Tim Connolly added a pair of assists, which were his first points since January 4. Connolly had missed 13 games with a groin injury. Ales Kotalik was back in the lineup after missing one game with the flu, picking up an assist.

SENATORS 
Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore were both in the Ottawa lineup for the first time, but it was not the result they were hoping to see as the team got hammered 5-1 by the Sabres. The Sens gave up four goals in the third period and were outshot 39-26 in the contest. Stillman played just 14:12, but notched an assist on the team's only goal. Commodore played 17 minutes and was a minus-2. In other news, because of Stillman's acquisition, the team returned rookie Nick Foligno to Binghamton of the AHL.