Senators' Jason Spezza has scored 12 goals and 17 points in his past 14 games, including three game-winning goals. Senators' Jason Spezza has scored 12 goals and 17 points in his past 14 games, including three game-winning goals. (Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press)

1. Jason Spezza, a scoring machine

There are many reasons for the Ottawa Senators' rise in the NHL Eastern Conference standings and their move into first place in the Northeast Division.

Goalie Brian Elliott has been spot on. They have received scoring from throughout the lineup. Defencemen Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov have regained their form as one of the top shutdown pairings in the league.

Jason Spezza also has been on fire for the Senators, who have won 13 of their past 14 games. Spezza has scored 12 goals and 17 points in his past 14 games, including three game-winning goals.

2. Getzlaf goes for a twirl

Injured Canadian Olympian Ryan Getzlaf went for a five-minute skate on Thursday and felt no discomfort.

The Anaheim Ducks centre sprained his left ankle on Monday, putting his participation in the Vancouver Games in doubt.

But Getzlaf vows he'll be ready to go for Canada's opener against Norway on Tuesday. He plans to skate again at practice on Friday and possibly play in Calgary on Saturday or more likely Edmonton on Sunday.

3. Sexton talks tough after Moore trade

Florida Panthers general manager Randy Sexton didn't exactly distinguish himself in his first tour of duty as a general manager in the NHL with the Senators.

But that didn't prevent Sexton from issuing warnings to his players that more moves will be made before Friday's 3 p.m. ET Olympic trade freeze.

He traded centre Dominic Moore to the Montreal Canadiens for a second-round selection in the 2011 NHL entry draft. Moore had not scored in his past 13 games.

"This is the first move of the process to retool our team," Sexton said. "We need to make more moves, need to be better. We're working on a variety of things.… From our perspective, we need to add depth.

"Converting [an unrestricted free agent] we signed for nothing into a second-round pick is something we need to do. There's going to be more things happening, I hope. Time is ticking.

"There's no player off limits. There are players we'd like to keep, but at the end of the day, Wayne Gretzky was traded. We have to get better and get our team to the point where we want it to be. Sometimes you have to make hard decisions."

4. Trade rumours abound

With the Carolina Hurricanes moving Matt Cullen to the Ottawa Senators for defenceman Alexandre Picard and a 2010 second-round pick this morning and players like Ilya Kovalchuk, Dion Phaneuf, Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Olli Jokinen traded recently, the NHL rumour mill has heated up this week.

Besides Cullen, the Hurricanes continue to try to trade forwards Erik Cole, Stephane Yelle and Ray Whitney. The Hurricanes have made trades to two different teams for Whitney, but he won't waive his no-trade clause unless he receives a contract extension.

The Chicago Blackhawks were said to be interested in Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Andrej Meszaros or reacquiring James Wisniewski from Anaheim.

Philadelphia Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren denied that he was about to pull the trigger on a deal to land veteran goalie Marty Turco from the Dallas Stars after shutting down his goalie Ray Emery due to a sore left hip until after the Olympic break.

There also is a persistent rumour that Alex Frolov would be dealt by the Los Angeles Kings to the Montreal Canadiens. Some of the other names to be on the move include Toronto's Alexei Ponikarovsky and Detroit defenceman Brett Lebda.

5. NHL to join Hockey Canada's summer summit

Hockey Canada will hold a press conference on Sunday to announce details of its summit that will deal with player safety and the NHL's participation in the Olympics to be held later this summer in Toronto.

Hockey Canada president and CEO Bob Nicholson remarked last month that he was hoping to make this more than a Hockey Canada Summit. Nicholson wanted to include the NHL, too.

It appears Nicholson got his wish because along with the Hockey Canada president, CHL president David Branch and International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel, and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly are slated to attend the news conference in Vancouver.