NHL boston Bruins

Every Friday, FanHouse sifts through the rubble and picks the best NHL fight, with the help of HockeyFights.com.

It's no secret what we're looking for in a good fight. It needs to have intensity, some good back-and-forth action, and there is some longevity needed. If two guys trade a flurry of punches for seven seconds, it's not nearly as impressive as a high-quality 30-second fight.

This week's top fight has a little bit of everything.

Newsmakers in the NHL: During the regular season it's our weekday look at the previous night's action and some of the story lines taking place around the league. Have a tip or something you want linked? Send it in to nhlfanhouse@gmail.com.

Bruins 3, Predators 2: Entering play on Wednesday, the Nashville Predators, as a team, had scored as many goals (nine) as the league's leading goal-scorer (Alex Ovechkin). They have yet to score more than three goals in a game this season, and haven't scored more than two since October 8. That streak continued on Wednesday thanks to their 3-2 loss in Boston.

Through its first eight games, Nashville has scored just 11 goals, and because of their 0-for-3 showing on the power play, the Predators are now just 1-for-27 with the man-advantage.

Ouch.

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Some pretty big injury news around the NHL today, as the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins learned they will be without some key players for at least the next month.

In Boston, the Bruins will be without their top playmaker, center Marc Savard, for the next four-to-six weeks because of broken left foot, which comes just two days after power forward Milan Lucic had surgery on a broken finger, which will also sideline him for more than a month.

Newsmakers in the NHL: During the regular season it's our Weekday look at the previous night's action and some of the storylines taking place around the league. Have a tip or something you want linked? Send it in to nhlfanhouse@gmail.com.

Oilers 6, Predators 1: Unlike the Calgary Flames, the Edmonton Oilers were able to build a 5-0 lead and hold on for a win, as they crushed the Predators on Monday night. The 6-1 score is impressive for Edmonton as it was outshot by a 2:1 margin (41-20) over the course of the game. Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers stopped 40 shots for the Oilers, while Zach Stortini scored a pair of goals in the win.

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Every Friday, FanHouse sifts through the rubble and picks the best NHL fight, with the help of HockeyFights.com.

Fighting will always be controversial. Many fans say that it's as much a part of hockey as the ice is. Others would rather it went away, even if they may secretly enjoy it. However, it seems that fighting is here to stay in the NHL. This week's card included a few heavyweight bouts, an unlikely matchup in Alberta, and a rather long, intense fight between division rivals.

A fan favorite in Boston, and one of the most intimidating players in the NHL, Milan Lucic agreed to a three-year contract extension with the Bruins on Tuesday evening, a deal that will reportedly pay him $12.25 million over the next three seasons for a cap hit of just over $4 million per season.

There's no question that Lucic is an important piece for the Bruins, and he's a very unique player: a power forward, a devastating hitter, a willing fighter, and, at the age of 21, a player that still has room to get better.

Still, four million seems a bit steep at this point, doesn't it? Are the Bruins overpaying Lucic for the short-term?

BOSTON -- On the first day in October, more than eight months before the Stanley Cup is rolled out to center ice, the Washington Capitals demonstrated in NHL Game No. 1 in Boston on Thursday night why they may be the Eastern standard.

These Capitals are not just Alexander Ovechkin, but a team constructed with precision from top to bottom.

FanHouse's Christopher Botta is in Boston for Thursday night's season-opening contest between the Capitals and Bruins, and he's live-blogging the game direct from the press box. Not only that, he'll be joined in the second period by an NHL scout, who will be providing exclusive insights and scouting reports during the game to FanHouse readers. If you've got DirecTV, it might be your only shot to follow the game live.

BOSTON -- The Washington Capitals do not have all the answers for getting around Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Zdeno Chara, so maybe they're trying to kill the 6-9 defenseman with compliments.

"Best defenseman in the league," said head coach Bruce Boudreau after Thursday morning's skate at TD Garden.

"Big, strong, longest stick in the NHL -- one of the best d-men in the game," said tonight's nemesis, Hart Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin.

"Probably the toughest player to go against in the league," said Ovechkin disher Nicklas Backstrom.

Now that Phil Kessel is officially a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Boston Bruins can move forward. They knew that Kessel would be tough to bring back, especially given their salary cap issues. What general manager Peter Chiarelli wasn't necessarily prepared to hear was that Kessel didn't want to return under any circumstances.

Enter Toronto general manager Brian Burke, who gave up two first-round picks, along with a second-rounder, for the right to pay Kessel some $27 million for the next five years.