Nov. 15: A mark, a bark, a spark
Okay, let's lift the twig to the rafters and rip three slappers into another NHL weekend:

	ALL-TIME U.S.-BORN POINTS LEADERS
	Through Nov. 14:
	Rk	Player	Points
	1.	Phil Housley	1,215
	2.	Joe Mullen	1,063
	3.	Jeremy Roenick	1,027
	4.	Pat LaFontaine	1,013
	5.	Mike Modano	999

Modano's milestone
Stars center Mike Modano could reach the 1,000-point plateau with a single goal or assist against the Avalanche in Dallas on Friday night. The 32-year-old Modano, a natural talent who transformed himself into a complete player in the late 1990s, reached 999 with a pair of assists against the Capitals on Wednesday. Among the league leaders with 22 points, Modano is on pace for the first 100-point season of his career. If he fails to hit the scoresheet on Friday, you can watch him go for the personal milestone against the Blue Jackets on Sunday night (ESPN2, 7 p.m.). Modano will be the 64th player -- and fifth U.S.-born player -- to reach 1,000 points.

Biting the hand that once fed him

	Joseph

An old dog comes home on Saturday night when Curtis Joseph leads the Red Wings into an Original Six battle against the Maple Leafs in Toronto. Expect the Leafs faithful to welcome their former puckstopping hero with open arms and a long ovation. The sophisticated hockey fans in TO know when a mistake has been made -- and it was a mistake to let Cujo leave via free agency last summer. No doubt, Joseph would love to beat his former mates on their ice. We figure he'll skate off with a win and first-star honors.

Storm front across the Southeast

	Fedotenko

The Lightning and Hurricanes faceoff in a key Southeast Division game Sunday afternoon in Raleigh. In their first meeting, on Oct. 12 in Tampa, Ruslan Fedotenko scored a pair of goals as the Lightning rolled to a 5-1 win. The game was marred (some might say, enhanced) by several fights and stick fouls, as the clubs combined for 169 penalty minutes. In the aftermath, Tampa tough guy Chris Dingman was slapped with a two-game suspension by the league as a result of a high-stick against Carolina's Jesse Boulerice. These two teams, who'll likely be battling for playoff position throughout the season, will probably get after one another on Sunday. It should be fun to watch.

See you Monday.

Nov. 14: Islander unto himself
This Time, It's For Real.

The title of that classic old Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes tune aptly describes the return of Islanders captain Michael Peca in Boston on Thursday night. Late Wednesday, a source close to the Isles' captain confirmed published reports to The Morning Skate that Peca will indeed make his full-time return to the club at FleetCenter.

Peca, who has been rehabbing from offseason knee and shoulder surgeries, turned in a cameo appearance against the Blues on Nov. 2 at the Nassau Coliseum. That evening, Peca took the opening faceoff, landed one light hit (on St. Louis defenseman Barret Jackman), then skated to the bench after just 27 seconds. He didn't play again as the Isles dropped a 6-1 decision. Afterward, coach Peter Laviolette took responsibility for the move, saying he wanted to energize his slumping club.

Now, just 12 days later, Peca is ready for full-time duty. And he couldn't return quick enough, as the Islanders find themselves near the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 5-10-1-0 record. The Isles' biggest problem has been keeping the puck out of their net. They've allowed a league-high 3.69 goals, thanks in part to poor goaltending and poor attention to detail.

GM Mike Milbury and Laviolette hope Peca's strong two-way play and leadership skills will help right their sinking ship. No doubt, he gets a tough test right out of the gate against the Bruins, who are averaging an Eastern Conference best 3.67 goals per game.

Peca's early return also will allow him some time to better prepare for his grudge match with the Leafs and Darcy Tucker on Dec. 6 in Uniondale, N.Y. Originally, the club (and Peca) had targeted that date for his return. As you might remember, Peca suffered a torn ACL in his left knee as a result of a low hit by Tucker in Game 5 of a bloody first-round playoff series last April. Since then, Peca has been looking forward to another meeting with Tucker.

Until then, Peca and his teammates have a lot of work to do. With their captain back, the Isles definitely need to get real.

Scratch them from your lineup
Rangers goalie Mike Richter won't be available for Thursday game at Calgary or Saturday's tilt in Vancouver. Richter suffered a concussion after being kicked in the head by the Oilers' Todd Marchant in the final minutes of a 5-2 win on Nov. 5. The Rangers' veteran stopper hasn't played since. On Thursday, Richter is scheduled to visit Montreal neurologist Karen Johnston, who has treated Eric Lindros in the past. Sophomore Dan Blackburn, 19, likely will start against both the Flames and Canucks. Johan Holmqvist has been recalled from Hartford to back up Blackburn.

Nov. 13: Shark attack
On Wednesday night, possibly with their full roster finally under contract, the struggling Sharks open a season-long, eight-game road trip against the Thrashers in Atlanta.

This morning, team management put the final piece back in place when they re-signed restricted free agent defenseman Brad Stuart to a three-year contract worth approximately $5 million. The 23-year-old Stuart is scheduled to rejoin the club in Atlanta. Of course, there's no telling when he'll be ready to play.

It's been a turbulent first five weeks of the new season for the Sharks, who bring a very disappointing 5-8-1-1 record into their meeting with Kovalchuk, Heatley & Co.

The club was forced to make due without No. 1 goalie Evgeni Nabokov for the first five games due to a similar prolonged contract negotiation. And until Monday's 5-4 loss to the visiting Rangers, they'd been without gritty, two-way left winger Scott Thornton, who underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery during training camp.

Perhaps, with everyone back on board, the Sharks can regain their nasty bite. After all, this team piled up 44 wins and 99 points last season.

Against Atlanta, Darryl Sutter's troops might want to get out of the gate with some jump. The Sharks, who've been below .500 since losing to the Wings on opening night, have fallen behind in each of their last five games, going 2-2-1 in that span.

They'll also need to incorporate a bit more discipline into their game. On Monday against the Rangers, the Sharks took several dumb penalties that led directly to goals against. Under the best of circumstances, you don't want to take needless penalties. But when your penalty-killing unit is ranked a dismal 28th among 30 teams, you really don't want to start a parade to the box.

While it's still very early in the season, the Sharks can't be happy to be sitting near the bottom of a competitive Western Conference. A strong road trip would go a long way toward getting them back into the mix in the West. They can get off on the right foot with a win in Atlanta.

Fitting?
Yes, it did seem fitting that Stars center Pierre Turgeon chalked up the 1,200th point of his NHL career against the Canadiens in Montreal on Tuesday night. The former Habs captain, who was born in nearby Rouyn, Quebec, hit the mark with a first-period assist (on a goal by Jason Arnott) during the Stars' 4-3 win. Turgeon, who is the 37th player in NHL history to reach the 1,200-point plateau, is tied with Dino Ciccarelli on the league's all-time points list.

Nov. 12: A devil among Ducks
Petr Sykora probably won't wax poetic about his final days as a Devil. In fact, Sykora's behavior during those last days probably earned him his offseason ticket to Disneyland.

On Tuesday night, Sykora and his new team, the Mighty Ducks, open a five-game road trip with their one and only regular season match against the Devils. Thus, Sykora and ex-Ducks/now Devils Jeff Friesen (who couldn't have been happier to leave Anaheim) and Oleg Tverdovsky will face see some familiar faces.

Sykora, however, might not receive such a warm reception from some of his former teammates. You see, during New Jersey's first-round playoff series against Carolina last season, Sykora opted out of two games with a bruised ankle, although medically cleared to play. He missed Games 1 and 5 of the series, both road losses. The Devils were eliminated in six games.

Privately -- during and after their first-round elimination -- several Devils questioned Sykora's commitment to the team. They were especially miffed that Sykora wouldn't suit up while veteran Joe Nieuwendyk was playing at less than 100 percent due to a bad case of stomach flu and several others were skating with nagging injuries.

Clearly, Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello stood among those unimpressed with Sykora's somewhat fragile nature. At the draft, Lamoriello shopped his former first-line star around the league. Finally, on July 6, he sent Sykora to the Ducks in a multiplayer deal.

So, on Tuesday night, when Sykora returns to New Jersey to face his old mates, he'd be wise to keep his head up. After all, you just never know who might want to say hello.

Congratulations ...
... to Dave Andreychuk, who tied Phil Esposito's league record for power-play goals during the second period of the Lightning's 4-2 win over the visiting Coyotes on Monday. Andreychuk and Esposito both have 249 career PPGs. Andreychuk can establish a new mark when the Sharks swim into Tampa Bay on Friday.

Nov. 11: A black eye from the Blueshirts
If Colin Campbell does his job, Rangers thug Krzysztof Oliwa won't be in the lineup Monday night when the Blueshirts face the Sharks in San Jose. If Campbell is really diligent, first-year head coach Bryan Trottier won't be behind the bench, either.

Oliwa and Trottier forced their way onto Campbell's to-do list in the final seconds of the Blue Jackets' 6-3 win over the Rangers in Columbus on Saturday night.

With just three seconds remaining in a nasty third period -- down three goals and on the short end of a 4-on-3 power play -- Trottier sent the trio of Oliwa, Sandy McCarthy and Matthew Barnaby onto the ice. Afterward, Trottier told the inquiring media, he sent them out to "keep the peace."

If that was the case, Oliwa, a man who apparently has more consonants in his name then marbles between his ears, must have misunderstood his orders. After a clear warning from veteran referee Kerry Fraser, Oliwa (who never takes draws) stepped to the faceoff dot against Grant Marshall. When the puck was dropped, Oliwa blasted Marshall across the left side of his head with a right hand and the butt-end of his stick. Then, to further "keep the peace," Oliwa cross-checked Marshall to the ice.

For the record, Marshall -- who suffered a broken neck in junior hockey -- is four inches and almost 50 pounds lighter than Oliwa. A tough cookie, Marshall responded and another meaningless brawl was on.

It was Oliwa's second of the night.

Luckily, Oliwa, who has scored just one goal in 102 games since the beginning of the 2000-01 season, didn't injure Marshall. But Oliwa's intent was clear. And because of that, Campbell -- who will make a decision before Monday night's game -- should suspend Oliwa for at least five games.

Of course, if Campbell really wanted to penalize the Rangers, he'd force the club to play Oliwa on regular shifts -- not just the 2:42 he played against the Jackets. Not surprisingly, on Saturday, Oliwa didn't play in any short-handed situations and he skated only five shifts.

Trottier, the person who sent Oliwa onto the ice, also should be held responsible -- much like Flames coach Greg Gilbert was last December, when he was suspended for two games for the conduct of the team against the Mighty Ducks "beginning with the lineup he sent on the ice," as the league stated in the press release.

Because the encounter paled in comparison to the Flames-Ducks fracas, Campbell easily can overlook Trottier's role.

Or Campbell can take a stand and send a message to the league's other 29 head coaches that this type of behavior will no longer be tolerated.

We can only hope Campbell opts for the latter.

E.J. Hradek writes hockey for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ej.hradek@espnmag.com.