Joe Haggerty of Boston Hockey Now: Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron took a re-directed David Pastrnak slap shot to the nose in the third period. He returned to the game.
Coach Jim Montgomery: “We’re hoping all the X-rays come back good.”
Walt Ruff: Carolina Hurricanes forward Max Pacioretty was back on the ice yesterday. He’s missed the past two games with a lower-body injury.
Aaron Vickers of NHL.com: Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar missed last night’s game with an undisclosed injury. He suffered the injury on Monday night.
Avs coach Jared Bednar said they don’t know if it’s going to be a long-term issue. He’s listed as day-to-day.
Conor McGahey: Avs defenseman Josh Manson practiced in a no-contact jersey.
Montreal Canadiens: Forward Juraj Slafkovsky will be out for three months with a lower-body injury. He doesn’t need surgery.
Forward Jonathan Drouin will be out until after the All-Star break with an upper-body injury.
Goaltender Jake Allen will be out for at least a week with an upper-body injury.
Forward Joel Armia will be out for at least a week with an upper-body injury.
Forward Jake Evans will miss eight to 10 weeks with a lower-body injury. He doesn’t require surgery.
Amanda Stein: New Jersey Devils coach Lindy Ruff on forward Nathan Bastian and if he could return tonight: “It’s a possibility for. He’s worked hard to get back to this point and we tried to give him a look today to see how he felt.”
Vince Z. Mercogliano: New York Rangers forward Chris Kreider practiced yesterday and was skating with Mika Zibanejad and Kaapo Kakko.
Bruce Garrioch: Ottawa Senators forward Josh Norris returned to the lineup last night.
Sens Communications: Senators defenseman Artem Zub was placed on the IR retroactive to January 14th.
Wes Crosby of NHL.com: Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was back on the ice yesterday.
“He skated for close to 50 minutes today,” Sullivan said. “That’s his first day on the ice in a couple weeks, so we want to make sure we put him in a position to be successful.”
Goaltender Tristan Jarry (lower-body) practiced yesterday. Defenseman Jeff Petry (upper-body) and forward Ryan Poehling (upper-body) took contact during practice. Defenseman Jan Rutta (upper-body) didn’t practice.
Lou Korac of NHL.com: St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko could return to the lineup as early as tonight.
“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 injured his hand on December 31st and was expected to be out for four weeks.
Jeremy Rutherford: Blues coach Craig Berube on Blues forward Nikita Alexandrov:
Berube said that defenseman Scott Perunovich has been cleared for “some light, light, light” contact.
Danny Webster: Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore and forward Brett Howden started skating according to coach Bruce Cassidy.
