Welcome to the NHL Buzz. The 2022-23 regular season is underway, and NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.
Montreal Canadiens
Juraj Slafkovsky has an upper-body injury and will not be in the lineup against the Dallas Stars on Saturday (7 pm ET; NHLN, CITY, SNE, TVAS, BSSWX).
The forward, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, scored his first NHL goal — his first point in five games — in a 6-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday. He is day to day.
Forward Rem Pitlick returns after being a healthy scratch for three games. He took Slafkovsky’s place on the fourth line Jake Evans and Mike Hoffman at the morning skate at Bell Centre.
“(Evans) came up to me and said, ‘Let’s go tonight,'” Pitlick said. “There’s a comfort level there and I think we know each other’s game to a degree, and I’m excited to be back with him.”
Injured defenseman Joel Edmundson (lower-body) and forward Joel Armia (upper body) took part in the morning skate, although both remained out.
“It’s a soft entrance because it’s not intense,” coach Martin St. Louis said. “There’s not much body contact or touches with readings that they’re going to make in a practice environment. So, I think it’s a good way to re-introduce them.” — Sean Farrell
Winnipeg Jets
Nikolaj Ehlers was placed on injured reserve Friday, retroactive to Oct. 18, because of an undisclosed injury. The forward is expected to miss 7-10 days.
Ehlers has not played the past two games since a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Oct. 17.
“It’s not as bad as it could have been,” coach Rick Bowness said Saturday. “Not as bad as the worst fears. He’s going to be okay. We’re hoping a week to 10 days. It shouldn’t be any longer than the projected [timeline]. There’s nothing underlying there that it’s going to make this go a lot longer. At this stage, we’re still thinking about the original time frame.”
Ehlers joined the Jets for the morning skate at Ball Arena in Denver prior to a 4-3 overtime win on Wednesday, leaving early. He also missed a 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday.
Ehlers has three assists this season. He had 55 points (28 goals, 27 assists) in 62 games last season.
Winnipeg recalled forward Dominic Toninato from Manitoba of the American Hockey League on Friday.
Bowness will coach his first game with the Jets when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 pm ET; CBC, CITY, SNO, SNW, SNP, ESPN+, SN NOW). He has not been with the team since testing positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 14. — Darrin Bauming
Minnesota Wild
Jordan Greenway was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury Saturday.
The forward left in the first period of a 4-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. It was his season debut after offseason shoulder surgery.
The Wild recalled forward Mason Shaw from Iowa of the American Hockey League on Friday.
Jon Merrill was activated off IR and is expected to make his season debut against the Boston Bruins. The defenseman was injured playing at the 2022 IIHF World Championship in May.
Defenseman Andrej Sustr was placed on waivers Friday for purposes of sending him to Iowa.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Jake Guentzel will travel with the Penguins for a five-game road trip while being evaluated for an upper-body injury, coach Mike Sullivan said.
The forward, who did not practice Friday, left a 6-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday after being hit in the ear by a shot from a Pittsburgh defenseman. Kris Letang at 6:51 of the third period. That came after Guentzel took a high shoulder hit from the Los Angeles forward Brendan Lemieux at 4:20.
Guentzel, left wing on the first line, has five points (three goals, two assists) in four games. He led the Penguins with 40 goals in 76 games last season.
“[Guentzel] is a great player, does a lot of stuff for us,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “Not an easy guy to replace. So when you get injuries, you have to find ways to make up for the guys that you lose and what they bring. I think we’ll try to do that collectively.”
The trip begins against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (7 pm ET; BSOH, ATTSN-PT, ESPN+, SN NOW).
Danton Heinen replaced Guentzel on a line with Crosby at center and right wing Rickard Rakell in practice Friday. Rakell took Guentzel’s spot on the top power-play unit.
“Regardless of what our line combinations look like, [Heinen] is a guy that I think is always in the conversation [to move up in the lineup]Sullivan said.
Pittsburgh is expected to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen Saturday. — Wes Crosby
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