NHL: Pluses and minuses around the league

+ Confession is good for the soul. Pittsburgh’s Arron Asham apologized for making tasteless gestures after he pummeled Washington’s Jay Beagle. CBC personality Don Cherry apologized for calling Chris Nilan, Stu Grimson and Jim Thomson “pukes.” In turn, they dropped their threat to sue Cherry.

+ John Tavares had a hat trick and reluctant New York Islanders goaltender Evgeni Nabokov won his debut Saturday. Afterward, teammates lined up to form a “receiving line” to congratulate the stars. Nice scene.

+ Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, the No. 1 pick in the June entry draft, scored four of Edmonton’s first five goals. It’s probably safe to say he’s not going back to junior hockey.

- The Dallas Stars could have claimed forward Eric Nystrom on re-entry waivers for $700,000 but instead traded for him at $1.4 million so they could reach the salary floor. It’s crazy to make teams spend more money than they want to.

- Columbus is 0-4-1, a very disappointing start for a team that figured to be better after acquiring Jeff Carter to center for Rick Nash. Carter has a hairline fracture in his foot and is likely to sit out at least one game.

- Ottawa has a league-worst 4.52 goals-against average, bloated by Craig Anderson’s 5.07 GAA in four games. Last season, Anderson played for league-worst Colorado (3.45).