Dan Boyle heating up for NYR
The Leafs fired Randy Carlyle on Tuesday and the circus began as did the rumor mill. Detroit coach Mike Babcock has been rumored to take over and the firing of Carlyle certainly helps his case as his contract with the Red Wings expires at the end of the season. The Carlyle move has probably cost the Red Wings a couple of million extra dollars per season if they re-sign him.
Phil Kessel was berated on Tuesday as a reporter asked him if he was coachable. It was a no-win situation for Kessel as no matter how he answered, he couldn’t look good.
The Leafs are in big trouble as they still have a lot more away games to play than at home. They head west this week and four more losses could be in the cards.
Fantasy-wise, grab Dan Boyle if you can. He has been hot of late and is owned in only 60 percent of Yahoo pools.
Don’t forget, for everything NHL, check out Rotoworld's Player News, and follow @Rotoworld_ HK and@mfinewaxhockey on Twitter.
Now to The Week Ahead.
WEEK OF JANUARY 12-18
4 Games- Arizona, Buffalo, Colorado, Dallas, Detroit, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Washington, Winnipeg
3 Games – Anaheim, Boston, Carolina, Columbus, Edmonton, Florida, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Montreal, Nashville, New York Islanders, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Jose, Vancouver
2 Games – Calgary, Chicago, New Jersey
Colorado and Toronto play all four games on the road.
Edmonton, the New York Rangers and Vancouver play three games on the road.
Boston, Buffalo, Los Angeles and St. Louis play three games at home.
INJURIES
Johan Franzen has been placed on the injured reserve list with an upper body injury. (Click here to see the rest of the injury list.)
Note: A tired team is one that has played the day or night before and is going against a team that did not play the previous day or night. The reverse is true for a rested team.
ANAHEIM
Games this week
vs. Toronto, vs. New Jersey, @ Los Angeles
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: @ Los Angeles (Saturday)
Notes
The Ducks play three times in four nights this week so expect to see Ilya Bryzgalov get a rare start in place of Frederik Andersen. Bryzgalov has struggled mightily with the Ducks thus far as he is 0-2-0 this season with a 4.93 GAA and a .836 save percentage. The great experiment could be over soon so do not be surprised to see John Gibson back with the big club. Rene Bourque continues to see time on the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry and could be worth a pickup. Sami Vatanen continues to be one of the top offensive defensemen in the NHL with nine goals and 26 points as he has 14 points on the power play. He is on pace to hit the 50-point mark this season.
ARIZONA
Games this week
vs. San Jose, vs. Calgary, @ Minnesota, @ Winnipeg
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: @ Winnipeg (Sunday)
Notes
The Coyotes play three games in four nights as part of a four game week so look for Devan Dubnyk and Mike Smith to split the net. The Coyotes have to be excited by the play of their 2013 first round pick Max Domi, who was named the top forward at the recently completed World Junior Hockey Championships as he led Canada to a Gold Medal. Arizona has not been competitive this season as they have been in previous years as they have lost a dozen games by at least three goals. Surprise, surprise…Martin Hanzal (upper body) is hurt again.
BOSTON
Games this week
vs. Tampa Bay, vs. New York Rangers, vs. Columbus
Rested Team: vs. Tampa Bay (Tuesday), vs. Columbus (Saturday)
Tired Team: None
Notes
Coach Claude Julien commented earlier in the week that he wanted better play from Milan Lucic and Lucic responded on Wednesday with a couple of assists and Thursday as well with two goals. Lucic is doing fine in the penalty minute category as he should surpass the 100 minute mark for the first time since 2011-12, but with only eight goals and 22 points in 41 games, he has not been this bad offensively since 2009-10 when he had nine goals and 20 points in 50 games. Tuukka Rask has not lost a game in regulation in nine games but is only 4-0-4 as he has lost four times in OT or a shootout. He is 16-10-6 this season with a 2.52 GAA and a .913 save percentage, not bad numbers but certainly not Rask-like.
BUFFALO
Games this week
vs. Detroit, vs. Minnesota, vs. Philadelphia, @ Detroit
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
The Sabres play three games in four nights so look for Michal Neuvirth to play once in place of Jhonas Enroth. Enroth has been slumping of late with losses in his last four games. Phil Varone scored twice in his second game of the season on Thursday. Drew Stafford sat out on Tuesday and Thursday due to the birth of his first child. Andrej Meszaros was thought to be an important member of the Sabres blueline but he has been a healthy scratch in three of his last four games. Nine Sabres have a double digit minus rating with Josh Gorges on top (or bottom depending on which way you see it) at minus-20.
CALGARY
Games this week
@ Arizona, @ San Jose
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
The Flames only play twice this week so I recommend benching all with the exception of Johnny Gaudreau and Mark Giordano in weekly transaction pools. Look for Jonas Hiller to start in goal for both games as Karri Ramo was placed on the injured reserve list after colliding with teammate Raphael Diaz. Joni Ortio was recalled to back up Hiller. Josh Jooris was placed on the injured list with a wrist injury and it allowed the Flames to recall Markus Granlund on Thursday after sending him to the minors on Wednesday. Mikael Backlund returned to action on Wednesday after missing action since October 28 and celebrated with a goal and an assist.
CAROLINA
Games this week
vs. Colorado, vs. Vancouver, @ Ottawa
Rested Team: @ Ottawa (Saturday)
Tired Team: vs. Colorado (Tuesday), vs. Vancouver (Thursday)
Notes
The line of Alexander Semin, Jeff Skinner and Riley Nash should have looked very good during the off-season but who would have thought as the season passed the half-way mark that Nash would have 18 points while Skinner had 17 and Semin having only seven. It’s true and they are now the third line on a poor Carolina squad. The problem with the Hurricanes is that their first unit of the Staal brothers and Elias Lindholm have only 45 points between them, although to be fair Jordan Staal has three points in only five games. Cam Ward has been surprisingly good on a weak Carolina team as he is 11-16-2 with a 2.32 GAA and a .914 save percentage.
CHICAGO
Games this week
vs. Winnipeg, vs. Dallas
Rested Team: vs. Winnipeg (Friday), vs. Dallas (Sunday)
Tired Team: None
Notes
The Blackhawks only play twice this week but in both games they play a team that played the previous night and that has to give them an edge. Corey Crawford has been great this season and he showed it again on Thursday as he kicked aside 42 shots in a 402 win over Minnesota. Chicago has moved Bryan Bickell up the depth charts as he played on Thursday with Patrick Kane and Brad Richards. He responded nicely on Thursday with a couple of goals. Duncan Keith has been held off the scoresheet in the last two games but had seven helpers in his previous four games to give him 26 points in 40 contests.
COLORADO
Games this week
@ Washington, @ Carolina, @ Florida, @ Tampa Bay
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: @ Carolina (Tuesday)
Notes
The Avalanche play four games this week including three games in four nights and all are on the road. Look for Reto Berra to play once for Semyon Varlamov. The return of Varlamov forced the Avs to send Calvin Pickard to the minors. It has certainly been a sophomore slump for Nathan MacKinnon who has seven goals and 24 points in 41 games this season after the former first overall pick in 2013 had 24 goals and 63 points in winning the Calder Trophy last season. It’s been a huge drop in plus/minus as well as he is a minus-10 after going plus-20 last season. Jarome Iginla had a couple of goals Thursday to give him 12 this season and five in his last eight games as he needs 18 in the second half to reach the 30 goal mark for the 13th time in his NHL career.
COLUMBUS
Games this week
vs. Montreal, vs. New York Rangers, @ Boston
Rested Team: vs. New York Rangers (Friday)
Tired Team: @ Boston (Saturday)
Notes
The Blue Jackets play three games in four nights so look for Curtis McElhinney to play once for Sergei Bobrovsky. Nick Foligno continues to have the best year in his NHL career as he had three assists on Wednesday in a 4-2 win over Dallas. The son of Mike, has 17 goals and 38 points in 37 games and is just nine points off his career high with half a season left to play. Ryan Johansen went through a big slump the first two weeks of December with only two assists in seven games but is currently on an eight game scoring streak and has a goal in each of his last four games as he now has 13 goals and 36 points in 38 games this season. Mark Letestu played on Tuesday for the first time since October 28 as he returned from groin/abdominal surgery. He has four goals and six points in 10 games.
DALLAS
Games this week
vs. Ottawa, vs. Winnipeg, vs. Washington, @ Chicago
Rested Team: vs. Washington (Saturday)
Tired Team: @ Chicago (Sunday)
Notes
The Stars play three games in four nights as part of their four game week so it’s likely that Anders Lindback will play once for Kari Lehtonen. It’s hard to believe but Jason Spezza has only seven goals in 40 games this season. While he does have 28 points, it was thought the Spezza would return to his old form and get 85-90 points in Dallas after spending 11 seasons in Ottawa where it was thought he needed a change of scenery. Apparently that is not the case and the 31-year-old center may be just a half-decent second line player. Antoine Roussel has hit the halfway mark as one of the better combinations of scoring and penalty minutes as he has 10 goals and 20 points in 40 games with 84 minutes spent in the sin bin, the fourth best penalty minute total in the NHL.
DETROIT
Games this week
@ Buffalo, @ St. Louis, vs. Nashville, vs. Buffalo
Rested Team: vs. Nashville (Saturday)
Tired Team: None
Notes
The Red Wings four times including three games in four nights this week so expect to see Petr Mrazek to play once for Jimmy Howard. Johan Franzen took a hit to his head on Tuesday and the fear is that he has suffered a concussion as the Red Wings have placed him on the injured reserve list. Although he has 22 points in 33 games, he had been slumping of late with only one goal in his last 20 games and a goal and three assists in his last 11 contests. The Red Wings recalled Teemu Pulkkinen from the minors to replace Franzen. Pulkkinen was leading the AHL with 20 goals and had 39 points in 33 games before his recall. Pavel Datsyuk has 30 points in 30 games while Henrik Zetterberg has 36 points in 41 contests including five goals and 10 points in his last nine.
EDMONTON
Games this week
@ St. Louis, @ Tampa Bay, @ Florida
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
The Oilers returned the third overall pick in the 2014 Draft, Leon Draisaitl, to the Western Hockey League this past week. He played 37 games this season and while one year off his entry level contract was burned, the more important 40 game mark in which Draisaitl would have been a year closer to possible free agency, was not lost. Taylor Hall is not having a good season but does have points in four of his last five games. That is not the case for Nail Yakupov who has just two points in his last 25 games. The former first overall pick in 2012 has been a bust in the NHL but is still only 21 years of age. He has 32 career goals and 68 points in 152 NHL games with a minus-57 rating.
FLORIDA
Games this week
@ Winnipeg, vs. Colorado, vs. Edmonton
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
It’s hard to believe that the Panthers are 18-11-9 this season and two of their last three first round picks, Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov have just nine goals between them in 38 games. Two of those goals came on Thursday in a 3-1 win over Vancouver. The future looks bright in Florida if the two youngsters ever start to play like they were projected to. Roberto Luongo returned to Vancouver for the first time since being dealt from there in the off-season and he stopped 27 shots to push his record to 16-7-7 this season with a 2.23 GAA and a .926 save percentage. Both his peripheral numbers are top-ten in the NHL.
LOS ANGELES
Games this week
vs. Toronto, vs. New Jersey, vs. Anaheim
Rested Team: vs. Anaheim (Saturday)
Tired Team: None
Notes
Drew Doughty sees more ice time in the NHL than any other player save for Ryan Suter of the Minnesota Wild and still wants more as he wants to be used during shootouts. Doughty has only eight shootout attempts in his career and has scored twice so his stats aren’t bad. Justin Williams potted a couple of goals on Thursday to give him 11 this season as he is on pace for yet another 20 goal season. Jonathan Quick has struggled in his last two games, giving up seven goals in 68 minutes on only 35 shots. That’s a 6.18 GAA and a .800 save percentage, not exactly stats to write home about. The good thing is that he should snap out of it quickly.
MINNESOTA
Games this week
@ Pittsburgh, @ Buffalo, vs. Arizona
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
Darcy Kuemper is out of action with a lower body injury and the Wild now have to rely on Niklas Backstrom in goal with John Curry as his backup. It didn’t work out too well on Thursday as Backstrom gave up three goals on only 19 shots and is now 0-2-2 in his last five games. Coach Mike Yeo was not at all happy with his troops at practice this week and went on a profanity laced oration that was shown on all sports channels. You can catch it here. Don't watch it if you are offended by profanity. Sad news out of Minnesota as former NHLer J.P.Parise, the father of current Wild star Zach, passed away Wednesday night. Our condolences to the Parise family on their loss. J.P. had 238 goals in a 890 game career but was perhaps best known for being thrown out of Game 8 in the 1972 Summit Series for Canada when he threatened to hit one of the referees with his stick after a horrible penalty call. He played for Boston, Toronto, Minnesota and the Islanders during a 13 year career.
MONTREAL
Games this week
@ Columbus, @ Ottawa, vs. New York Islanders
Rested Team: @ Ottawa (Thursday)
Tired Team: vs. New York Islanders (Saturday)
Notes
Montreal plays three games in four nights so look for Dustin Tokarski to play once in relief of Carey Price. Price was the NHL’s third star of the week as he won all three games with a 1.33 GAA and a .952 save percentage. Mike Weaver has not played in over a month since suffering a concussion on December 6. Bryan Allen cleared waivers this week but no word as of yet as to what the Canadiens have planned for him. P. A. Parenteau is out with an upper body injury and his spot on the second line has been taken over by Dale Weise. Weise has been fantasy relevant of late with a goal and three assists in his last five games as well as going plus-four. He has five goals and 15 points with a plus-11 rating in 37 games. Max Pacioretty is becoming a two-way player as he now has 17 goals and 32 points with a plus-20 rating this season.
NASHVILLE
Games this week
vs. Vancouver, vs. Washington, @ Detroit
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: @ Detroit (Saturday)
Notes
Pekka Rinne is 8-0-1 in his last nine games and has a 27-6-2 record this season with a 2.00 GAA and a .929 save percentage, despite giving up six goals to the Kings on Saturday in a 7-6 overtime win. Shea Weber now has 10 goals after scoring a pair on Thursday in a 3-2 win over Dallas. James Neal is on the injured reserve list with a lower body injury and has missed the last four games. I continue to be impressed by the play of Roman Josi who has seven goals and 27 points in 40 games as he trails fellow Nashville blueliner Weber by only one point. He is owned in only 70 percent of Yahoo leagues. Miikka Salomaki was recalled in time for Thursday’s game and the winger potted his first NHL goal in his debut.
NEW JERSEY
Games this week
@ Los Angeles, @ Anaheim
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
The slumping Devils play only twice this week and both are in the Greater Los Angeles area. Jaromir Jagr continues to amaze as he approaches his 43rd birthday as he has nine goals and 25 points in 42 games. He also has been chippier with 34 penalty minutes in 42 games. In what looked like a nice line combination in years gone by, the Devils are playing Martin Havlat, Michael Ryder and Dainius Zubrus together on the third unit. Unfortunately, the points leader Ryder, has only 15 points this season while Havlat has nine points in 25 games and Zubrus has only five in 35 contests. Adam Larsson has impressed since the Devils changed coaches after Christmas and he has played over 22 minutes in each of his last four games, picking up two assists as well.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
Games this week
@ New York Rangers, vs. Pittsburgh, @ Montreal
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: @ Montreal (Saturday)
Notes
The Islanders finish a seven game road trip on Tuesday as they are home for one against the Penguins before traveling to Montreal Saturday. Mikhail Grabovski has only three goals in his last 23 games. Michael Grabner has finally been activated from the injured reserve list and returned to action on Tuesday. He was replaced on the IR by rearguard Lubomir Visnovsky who has an upper body injury. John Tavares has 17 goals and 36 points in 40 games but is still a minus player, as he has been for all six years of his NHL career. Jaroslav Halak is 21-8-0 this season with a 2.30 GAA and a .914 save percentage. He likely came cheap in your pool and if you have him, you have been rewarded handsomely.
NEW YORK RANGERS
Games this week
vs. New York Islanders @ Boston, @ Columbus, @ Pittsburgh
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: @ Columbus (Friday)
Notes
The Rangers play three games in four nights so Cameron Talbot should get one start in place of Henrik Lundqvist. Dan Boyle has four goals and nine points in 22 injury-filled games this season but he has been hot of late with two goals and seven points in his last seven games. After a terrific World Junior tournament, Anthony Duclair was sent back to the QMJHL. He had a goal and seven points in 18 games with the Rangers and should be a star in the Quebec league. Martin St. Louis has three goals and eight points in his last seven games and is up to 31 points in 38 contests. Rick Nash is plus-18 with 25 goals and 40 points in 38 games.
OTTAWA
Games this week
@ Dallas, vs. Montreal, vs. Carolina
Rested Team: vs. Montreal (Thursday), vs. Carolina (Saturday)
Tired Team: None
Notes
Curtis Lazar also had a big World Junior tournament and that should help his confidence level the rest of the season. Mark Methot finally returned to action on Thursday as he had been out since December 6 with a lingering back/hip problem. He has played only three games this season. Craig Anderson (10-10-6/2.41/.926) and Robin Lehner (6-6-2/3.03/.904) have provided the Senators with adequate goaltending but Ottawa may want to lean on Lehner a bit more down the stretch to see what the 23-year-old can do. The Senators are in tough to make the playoffs as they are 11th in the East with both the Blue Jackets and Flyers breathing down their neck.
PHILADELPHIA
Games this week
vs. Tampa Bay, @ Washington, vs. Vancouver, @ Buffalo
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: vs. Vancouver (Thursday)
Notes
The Flyers play all four games this week including three games in four nights so look for Ray Emery to play at least once for Steve Mason. Mason left practice early on Wednesday with soreness but was fine in Thursday’s 3-2 win over Washington. Claude Giroux returned to action on Tuesday after sitting out one game with a cut near his Achilles tendon. After scoring five goals in six games, Giroux has two assists in three January contests. It certainly seems that if you stop Giroux and Jakub Voracek, then you stop the Flyers as the two are plus-20 between them while the rest of the team is minus-38. Zac Rinaldo has 44 penalty minutes in 32 games to lead the Flyers but with only one assist, his fantasy value is negligible.
PITTSBURGH
Games this week
vs. Minnesota, @ New York Islanders, vs. New York Rangers
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
Paul Martin (undisclosed injury) was activated from injured reserve on Wednesday and the move forced Derrick Pouliot to the press box as a healthy scratch. Pouliot is worth having in keeper pools but could be returned to the minors so his value in one-year pools may be minimal at best. David Perron scored in his first game as a Penguin and should be a big fantasy asset the rest of the way as it’s likely he will play with either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin as his center the rest of the season. I commented last week on the lack of scoring of Crosby and lo and behold, he went out and picked up four assists on January 2. Steve Downie continues to lead the NHL in penalty minutes with 141 and has seven goals and 20 points in 35 games with a plus-eight rating. He has two goals and an assist in his last three games.
ST. LOUIS
Games this week
vs. Edmonton, vs. Detroit, vs. Toronto
Rested Team: None
Tired Team: None
Notes
It’s nice to see Jaden Schwartz back in the lineup as he missed seven games with a foot injury. In the three games since he returned, Schwartz has two goals and six points to boost his totals to 13 goals and 33 points in 34 games. Put him back in your lineup if you have not done so. GM Doug Armstrong really wants to hold onto Martin Brodeur so the Blues will continue to go with three goalies. It shouldn’t hurt the value of Brian Elliott but it will take away from Jake Allen’s fantasy value as he will lose starts to Brodeur. David Backes finally broke out on Tuesday as he scored four times for the second time in his career. The effort finally brought his season back to some relevance fantasy-wise as he has 14 goals and 25 points in 40 games with 45 penalty minutes and eight power play goals. He is minus-two but that should change for the good in the second half.
SAN JOSE
Games this week
@ Arizona, vs. Toronto, vs. Calgary
Rested Team: vs. Toronto (Thursday)
Tired Team: None
Notes
Joe Thornton is still out of action but is hoping to return on January 10 as he has missed the last four games with a shoulder injury. Thornton is an assists machine as he has had seven seasons with at least 60 helpers and another two with 50 or more. Antti Neimi has been pulled in two of his last three starts and has given up 13 goals in his last three games on only 67 shots. Look for the Sharks to start Alex Stalock a little more often in the foreseeable future, especially with Niemi’s contract running out at the end of the season. Everyone who jumped on the Tomas Hertl bandwagon at the start of the season has to be disappointed as he has only seven goals and 15 points in 42 games with only a goal and an assist in his last 15 games.
TAMPA BAY
Games this week
@ Philadelphia, @ Boston, vs. Edmonton, vs. Colorado
Rested team: None
Tired Team: @ Boston (Thursday)
Notes
The Lightning play four times this week including three in four nights. Evgeni Nabokov should get one start in place of Ben Bishop. Radko Gudas is out for the rest of the season as he had arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Jonathan Drouin is off to a slower start in his rookie season than was thought at the beginning of the season as he has two goals and 16 points in 32 games. While I like his long-term future in the NHL, I think you have to take a pass the rest of the season. Victor Hedman continues to be one of the top defensemen in the NHL as he has 20 points in 24 games with a plus-nine rating. Steve Stamkos has only four goals and six points in his last 15 contests.
TORONTO
Games this week
@ Los Angeles, @ Anaheim, @ San Jose, @ St. Louis
Rested team: None
Tired Team: @ San Jose (Thursday)
Notes
The Maple Leafs play all four on the road including three games in four nights so James Reimer should get a start for Jonathan Bernier this week. The Maple Leafs fired Randy Carlyle this past week (see above). The Leafs switched up their lines in their first game under new interim coach Peter Horachek and had Nazem Kadri between Phil Kessel and Daniel Winnik while Mike Santorelli played alongside James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak. For Toronto to make the post-season, Jonathan Bernier will have to stand on his head and he hasn’t done so of late as he has lost four of his last six starts and has given up at least three goals in all but one of those games.
VANCOUVER
Games this week
@ Nashville, @ Philadelphia, @ Carolina
Rested Team: @ Philadelphia (Thursday)
Tired Team: @ Carolina (Friday)
Notes
The Canucks do not play on the weekend but do play three games in four nights leading up to it so Ryan Miller should play twice with Eddie Lack also getting a start. The Canucks are on the road for all three. Vancouver coach Willie Desjardins switched up his line combinations earlier in the week and Alex Burrows was moved to the top line with Henrik and Daniel Sedin while former linemate Radim Vrbata is now playing on the second unit with Linden Vey and Nick Bonino. The Canucks use four forwards on their first power play unit so Burrows, Vrbata and the Sedin twins play with blueliner Alexander Edler.
WASHINGTON
Games this week
vs. Colorado, vs. Philadelphia, @ Nashville, @ Dallas
Rested team: None
Tired Team: @ Dallas (Saturday)
Notes
Justin Peters could get a start this week as coach Barry Trotz has been going with Braden Holtby, but with the Capitals playing three games in four nights, it could be the chance to give Holtby a rest for one game. Peters was sent to the minors on Friday to get in a couple of games with Pheonix Copley coming up but Peters is expected to return on Monday. Mike Green has six assists in his last five games and now has 23 points in 32 games. Alex Ovechkin was named the second star of the week as he had a trio of two point games. Ovechkin is four points behind team leader Nicklas Backstrom in points as Backstrom is tied for 12th overall in the NHL with 40 points.
WINNIPEG
Games this week
vs. Florida, @ Dallas, @ Chicago, vs. Arizona
Rested team: vs.Arizona (Sunday)
Tired Team: @ Chicago (Friday)
Notes
The Jets play four times this week including three games in four nights so look for Michael Hutchinson and Ondrej Pavelec to split the net. Pavelec continues to struggle as he has given up four goals in each of his last three starts as Hutchinson seems to have taken over as the Jets top goaltender. Evander Kane (lower body) was expected to be lost to the Jets until February when he was injured at the end of December but on Wednesday he was practicing with a no-contact jersey and he is way ahead of schedule. The Jets blueline took another hit as Grant Clitsome underwent back surgery and could be gone for the remainder of the season. Fortunately Zach Bogosian returned to action on Thursday after missing 14 games with a lower body injury. Tobias Enstrom, Jacob Trouba and Mark Stuart are still out with injuries.
