The big news coming out of HSBC Arena this morning is that Maxim Afinogenov will not play. He is sidelined with a lower body injury to his groin and could miss a number of games, although officially he is listed as “day to day”. Meanwhile, Drew Stafford, who has missed the last three games due to a concussion is good to go and will be in the lineup tonight.

The team had an optional skate today, and five regulars sat out. Lindy Ruff addressed the team’s recent scoring slump “It was time to maybe shake ‘em up a little bit” said Ruff in talking about the planned line changes. Ruff was also asked how important Jaroslav’s Spacek’s role is going to be in getting players to step up, especially now that he’s been named captain. “Well first of all by the way he’s played” said Ruff. “I want him to lead by example. He has a strong voice in the room and is not afraid to voice his opinion when things are not going well.”

Ruff admits that they’ve looked ahead to this month’s schedule, where there are only three home games and long stretches on the road. “We’ve looked at this schedule and there are no easy games.” Ruff emphasized the importance of winning games and snaring points especially with the standings being as tight as they are. “One win puts you in good shape, and one loss and you’re back down there.”

I talked to Jaroslav Spacek, asking him if the games leading to the Winter Classic were lost due to the distraction leading to the big game. “No I don’t think so” Spacek replied. “We had a couple good chances on the road but we could have played better and in the end we just didn’t score. In New Jersey we played a solid game for 40 minutes and then in the overtime couldn’t score with the advantage.” Today’s practice emphasized doing little things and getting the puck to the net. “We know it’s a big big game tonight” said Spacek.

Spacek said that the Winter Classic was televised back home and he got reports from friends and relatives that everyone watching in the Czech Republic enjoyed it. “It was 7 o’clock back home and everyone was still drinking from New Year’s, but it was great fun” Spacek said wistfully.

Puck drops tonight at 7:30 and I will be covering. I will have a postgame wrap up later on tonight.

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