- Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer: Hurricanes James Wisniewski suffered a torn ACL in his left knee and will require surgery. Recovery time is expected to be about six months.
“He was battling for a puck and a (Preds) guy kind of fell down when ‘Wiz’ outmuscled him,” Canes defenseman John-Michael Liles said Friday. “It was how (Wisniewski) planted and the ice at Nashville is known to have some pretty big ruts. I don’t know if he got caught in a rut, but as soon as he went down and grabbed at his knee, obviously it doesn’t look good. It’s tough.”
- Joe Haggerty of CSNNE: The Bruins and Zdeno Chara are trying to be a patient as possible with regards to his upper-body injury. Chara wants to be as close to 100 percent as possible before he gets back into the lineup.
“I wish I could give you more info, but I’m just waiting for tomorrow and I don’t want to have any setbacks. If it keeps going like this then I’m pretty close ,” said Chara.”
- Isabelle Khurshudyan: Capitals Brooks Orpik has been recovering from offseason wrist surgery, has been practicing all week, and will likely be in the lineup tonight. GM Brian MacLellan and coach Barry Trotz expect him to be ready. Orpik thinks the decision will probably be up to the doctors.
“If you ask a player, they’re probably pretty antsy to get back in,” Orpik said. “They know better than I do when it comes to this stuff, so you’ve got to listen to them.”
- Pat Leonard: Blue Jackets Alex Wennberg left last night’s game with an upper-body injury.
- Jeremy Rutherford: Blues Troy Brouwer (lower-body) will play tonight.
- Michael Russo: Wild coach Mike Yeo said that Nino Niederreiter wasn’t allowed to return to Thursday’s game because the Avalanche doctor didn’t follow protocol to come over and clear Niederreiter.
- John Vogl: Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said that with Josh Gorges being able to play, they likely won’t carry eight defenseman much longer.
- John Vogl: Sabres Brian Gionta skated yesterday and remains day-to-day. Linus Ullmark could be cleared to return in the next three to five days.