Hours after his brother's team lost a heartbreaker in the Grey Cup, Ryan Getzlaf scored the opening goal against Phoenix but his Anaheim Ducks gave up the lead and fell to the Coyotes in overtime. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

HNIC's senior online reporter Tim Wharnsby dishes out the latest news, buzz and inside information in the hockey world.

1. Family matters

Tough day in Regina for the Getzlaf household. First, 26-year-old Chris, a slotback with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, suffered a heartbreaker in the Grey Cup when his team blew a 16-point lead and had 13 men on the field to allow Montreal Alouettes kicker Damon Duval a second chance to boot his game-clinching 33-yard field goal.

Then the Anaheim Ducks surrendered a 1-0 lead, built on younger brother Ryan Getzlaf's second period power-play goal, when Phoenix scored twice in the third period. The Ducks tied the game but lost in overtime on Coyotes defenceman Jim Vandermeer's second of the game.

2. Honour system

Rangers coach John Tortorella believes he has a solution to combat head shots. He wants the players to police themselves on the ice. The outspoken coach wants to remove the instigator rule.

He doesn't like the fact that if a player wants to punish an opponent for a dirty hit, he receives a two-minute minor for instigating a fight. "There's a big thing this year about these head shots and what the league is going to do," Tortorella said.

"To me, it's pretty simple — change the rule book. Some of these guys who go about doing that have no fear at all as far as maybe a little retribution. It'll continue, and that's why our game is more violent right now because I think guys hide behind that rule book."

Tortorella's remarks were issued on Sunday, a day after Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke elbowed New York's Artem Anisimov in the head midway through the third period.

Cooke received a two-minute penalty for interference and was suspended for two more games afterwards. The Penguins and Rangers go at it again at Madison Square Garden on Monday.

3. Standing by his man

It doesn't get any easier for the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday, when they face Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.

But general manager Jim Rutherford stated on Sunday that the solution to turn things around for the 30th-place club, which has lost four in a row, is not to fire coach Paul Maurice.

"I stand firmly behind him," Rutherford told the Raleigh News & Observer. "We all have contributed to what's happened. It's everybody, from me to the coaches to the players. We all share in the responsibility.

"But it's way too early, especially when you think of all the things that went right last year. All the things that went right last year are going wrong this year. We'll just try to sort through it."

Maurice was given a three-year contract extension after he returned to the Carolina bench mid-season and guided the Hurricanes to the Eastern Conference final.

4. Motivational speaker

Since St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts blasted his club on Nov. 13 with what has been referred to as his "it's time to win" speech, the Blues have gone 4-2-1.

"When an owner comes out and says what he said, you want to pay attention because he's your boss," Blues forward Brad Boyes told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"I think we were starting to get to a point where we weren't looking back anymore. We were moving ahead ... and having [Checketts] make those comments, it was an eye-opener, like enough is enough."

5. Double take

As the NHL season is about to enter its third month, the Atlanta Thrashers find themselves among the top eight in the Eastern Conference. They can thank their goalie tandem of Ondrej Pavelec and Johan Hedberg.

The two have combined to stop 106 of 110 shots in the team's modest three-game win streak, and both are among the top 10 in the league in save percentage, with Hedberg (.932) second and Pavelec (.921) 10th.

That's a good thing because the Thrashers have allowed the most shots per game this season at 35.6.

This is over 11 more shots per game than the best in that department, Chicago at 24.2, followed by Los Angeles (26.6), Phoenix (27), Detroit (27.4) and Pittsburgh (27.4).