After the NHL emerged from the lost 2004-05 season due to the lockout, the league changed some rules aimed at helping to boost offense. Because, let's face it, American sports fans like scoring, not 1-0 NHL games (or soccer matches). It seemed to work for a while. In 2005-06, there were seven players who totaled at least 100 points.

However, do you realize there haven't been multiple guys to finish with triple-digit points since 2009-10? That could change this year as four players -- Jakub Voracek, Sidney Crosby, Tyler Seguin and Evgeni Malkin -- are on pace to do it. Three guys on that list don't surprise me at all, but the Flyers' Voracek? He enters the week one point behind Crosby for the league lead with 32. Voracek already is more than halfway beyond his previous career high, which was 62 points (23 goals) last year. If Philadelphia's Claude Giroux (27 points) can pick up the pace a bit, we could have two teams with two players of 100 points each, with the Penguins of course being the other.

The last time two clubs had 100-point players in the same campaign was way back 1995-96, when three Penguins (Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis) and two Avalanche (Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg) each did it. Can't believe Jagr is still playing.

Crosby's Penguins have overtaken the Blackhawks as Bovada Stanley Cup champions at 7/1. That's moderately surprising because Chicago (15/2) just finished its six-game "Circus Trip" an impressive 5-1, including 4-1 wins Friday and Saturday at Western Conference contenders Anaheim and Los Angeles.

Injury Report

Columbus has lost center Artem Anisimov for 2-3 months because of a torn triceps. Anisimov has two goals and six points in 16 games; he missed seven games earlier this season with a concussion. Columbus now has seven players on injured reserve and has lost 154 man-games to injury entering this week. On the bright side, center Brandon Dubinsky should return this week after having abdominal surgery in October. Dubinsky, Anisimov and Mark Letestu, who will missed his 15th straight game Monday because of a groin injury, are 75 percent of the centers that coach Todd Richards planned to have on a nightly basis the beginning of the season. Only leading scorer Ryan Johansen is healthy. No surprise that Columbus has the fewest points in the NHL and November was the worst month in franchise history. Looks like a lost season there.

Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was scratched Saturday with a lower-body injury and won't play Tuesday, either. Letang was off to a hot start with four goals and 14 assists in 22 games before getting hurt. It doesn't appear to be too serious, so Letang could play later this week.

Devils center Travis Zajac and winger Martin Havlat will not travel with the team for its trip to Pittsburgh and Toronto this week. Havlat suffered a lower body injury in Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Islanders, while Zajac suffered a lower-body injury in Friday's 5-4 shootout loss to Detroit. Zajac has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Friday and is eligible to return Saturday against Washington. Zajac has eight points in 23 games and Havlat six in 14. The team is so short on forwards it signed Scott Gomez on Monday, and he might have to play Tuesday. Gomez had been practicing with the team as an unsigned player after attending training camp as a tryout. Gomez, who helped win Stanley Cups for the Devils in 2000 and 2003, has only six goals and 32 assists in 123 games over the past three seasons.

Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo missed games Friday and then Monday with an upper-body injury but could be back in net Tuesday at Detroit. With a win against the Canucks on Sunday, the Wings have won four straight to pull within a point of the Atlantic Division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning. The Wings are -200 favorites on BookMaker for this game.

Avalanche forward Jamie McGinn could undergo season-ending back surgery. He hasn't played since Nov. 15, but the team was hoping rest would solve the problem. McGinn had a career season last year with 19 goals and 19 assists for 38 points. He had four goals and two assists through 19 games this season.

Blues goalie Brian Elliott is on injured reserve and is listed as week-to-week. He is tied with Nashville's Pekka Rinne for the NHL lead in goals-against average. The Blues worked out future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur late last week. The team is expected to make a decision on whether to sign him early this week. Repots are he could sign Tuesday.

This Week's Games to Watch

Ottawa at NY Islanders, Tuesday: The Isles have lost just two of their past 13 games, and No. 1 netminder Jaroslav Halak wasn't in net for those two defeats. No player in the league is hotter than Halak, who beat New Jersey on Saturday for his ninth straight win. In that stretch, he has given up only 11 goals and posted three shutouts. To no surprise, Halak was named the NHL's First Star of the Week last week. The Islanders franchise record for wins is 10 straight by Billy Smith in 1982. It's the first meeting of the season between the Isles and Senators, and they play again Thursday in Ottawa. New York is a -175 favorite at BookMaker.

Boston at Los Angeles, Tuesday: The Blackhawks proved that it was possible to win in Anaheim one night and Los Angeles the next and that what will be facing Boston on Tuesday as it visited the Ducks on Monday night. The Bruins' David Krejci has missed 10 of the last 12 games with an undisclosed injury, and captain Zdeno Chara has been out since Oct. 23 with a torn ligament in his knee. Neither is on the trip West. The Kings are -140 favorites.

St. Louis at Chicago, Wednesday: Who knows, maybe Brodeur will be in net for this one? It's the start of a really tough week for Chicago as it then hosts Atlantic Division-leading Montreal on Friday before going to Central Division-leading Nashville on Saturday. The Blues beat visiting Chicago 3-2 on Oct. 25 in the only meeting this season. Hawks No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford didn't play in that one while Elliott did.

Vancouver at Pittsburgh, Thursday: This could be a Stanley Cup preview as the Canucks and Penguins are tied for their respective division leads. I keep waiting for Vancouver to fade, and its plus-nine goals differential is the worst among the division leaders. The Penguins also had interest in hiring Willie Desjardins as their head coach this offseason, but he chose Vancouver over Pittsburgh. From a talent perspective that was a surprising choice, but Desjardins is from Canada.

NY Rangers at Detroit, Saturday: This one is nationally televised by the NHL Network. The Wings are finally getting healthy and starting to play well, winning four straight games and scoring at least four goals in all of them. New York also is playing better of late with Rick Nash filling the net. The Rangers beat visiting Detroit 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 5 in the teams' only meeting thus far. Derick Brassard scored a power-play goal 1:50 into overtime after Detroit tied it in the closing seconds. Red Wings forward Justin Abdelkader is listed as day to day with a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the third period of Sunday's 5-3 victory over the Canucks. He has seven goals and 15 points, along with a plus-six rating, in 24 games.

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