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St. Louis Blues
Vladimir Tarasenko could return from a hand injury sooner than expected for the Blues.
The forward injured his right hand blocking a shot by the Minnesota Wild defenseman Matt Dumba in the first period of a 5-2 loss on Dec. 31. At the time, the Blues said Tarasenko would be reevaluated in four weeks, but he practiced in full on Sunday after skating the past few days on his own. He rotated in on a line with Brayden Schenn and Brandon Saad.
“It was really good, he looked really good,” coach Craig Berube said. “He was skating well and shooting a little bit, which is a good sign.”
Tarasenko, who has 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 34 games this season, will not play against the Ottawa Senators on Monday (8 pm ET; SN, BSMW, RDS2, ESPN+, SN NOW) but could return as early as Thursday against the Nashville Predators.
“He’s closer than we’re thinking,” Berube said. “He looks good. … He looked really good skating out there. He’s not going to have an issue with that.
“We’ll see. I don’t know. He’s got to keep practicing with us and then he’ll let us know when he’s ready. … It’ll be good for sure to get him back.”
Tarasenko and captain Ryan O’Reilly, who broke his foot in the same game, have missed the past seven games. The Blues are 4-3-0 in that span. — Lou Korac
Colorado Avalanche
Valery Nichushkin could return for the Avalanche when they host the Detroit Red Wings on Monday (3 pm ET; SN, SN360, ALT, BSDET, ESPN+, SN NOW).
“We’ll see. Possibly,” coach Jared Bednar said. “He could come in tomorrow and be like, ‘I’m ready to go,’ and I’ll play him. He could come in tomorrow and take three more days off and say he’s not ready. So, I just have to trust the player.”
Nichushkin has dealt with an ankle injury since the end of October. He missed four games before having surgery on the ankle on Nov. 8, which caused him to miss another 13 before he returned on Dec. 9. Nichushkin then played in the next eight games but has been out of the lineup since Dec. 23 because of discomfort related to the surgery.
“It’s just strictly what [the ankle is] doing in the skate and how it feels in the skate,” Bednar said. “After the surgery, his injury is healed. He was having trouble with the scar tissue and the actual cut itself. You just got to make sure that he can push and skate and explode and accelerate and decelerate the way he wants to in order to be able to play, and it has nothing to do with the injury except for how it feels in his skate.”
Darren Helm could be out the rest of the season. The forward sustained a lower-body injury against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. Bednar said it’s related to the adductor surgery Helm had in November.
“It’s a possibility. I don’t know yet,” Bednar said. “This injury, you’re able to rehab and come back from it, I think, but we still have to get more information.” — Ryan Boulding
Detroit Red Wings
Alex Nedeljkovic was placed on waivers by the Red Wings on Sunday.
The 27-year-old goalie is 2-4-2 with a 4.09 goals-against average and .880 save percentage in nine games (eight starts) this season. He was previously assigned to Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League for conditioning on Jan. 4.
Acquired by Detroit in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes on July 22, 2021, Nedeljkovic is in the final season of a two-year contract he signed with the Red Wings the same day.
Vegas Golden Knights
William Carrier will not play when the Golden Knights host the Dallas Stars on Monday (6 pm ET; ATTSN-RM, BSSW, ESPN+, SN NOW).
The forward sustained an upper-body injury in a 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
“Will Carrier, obviously, didn’t skate today and won’t play tomorrow,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “It’s an upper-body injury, and we’ll have more news as we go forward. But he’s out tomorrow.”
Carrier has scored an NHL career-high 11 goals and has 16 points in 43 games this season.
Forward Jonas Rondbjerg was recalled from Henderson of the American Hockey League on Sunday. — Paul Delos Santos
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