Rinne leaves in the third
Paul Skrbina of The Tennessean: Nashville Predators Pekka Rinne left early the third period last night, about 3 minutes after teammate Kevin Fiala collided with him.
Coach Peter Laviolette didn’t have an update on Rinne’s status after the game and said that it wasn’t their choice for Rinne to leave the game. It’s possible that the concussion spotter had Rinne removed from the game.
“We didn’t pull him, so something was wrong,” Laviolette said.
Dvorak has surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle
Arizona Coyotes: Coyotes GM John Chayka said that forward Christian Dvorak will be out indefinitely after having surgery yesterday to repair a torn pectoral muscle.
“Christian was making good progress when he injured his pectoral muscle during practice,” said Chayka. “It’s unfortunate and unlucky, but the surgery went well today and we expect him to make a full recovery.”
Plekanec out with a back issue
Montreal Canadiens: Forward Tomas Plekanec is out with a lower back injury. Defenseman David Schlemko and Shea Weber, both out with knee injuries, remained in Montreal to continue their rehab.
John Lu: Canadiens coach Claude Julien said that Plekanec was feeling some pain in his back on Wednesday against the Blues. He’s been put on the IR and is expected to be out for at least two weeks.
Kopitar to return
Mike Harrington: Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar will return from his illness for today’s game against the Sabres.
Dzingel to return
Ian Mendes: Ottawa Senators forward Ryan Dzingel will return to the lineup today.
Zajac out … Schneider going on a conditioning stint
Amanda Stein: New Jersey Devils forward Travis Zajac and defenseman Ben Lovejoy are both out with lower-body injuries and won’t travel with the team on their road trip. They’ll be re-evaluated later next week and the Devils are hopeful that they will be short-term injuries.
New Jersey Devils: Devils goaltender Cory Schneider was activated off of the injured non-roster list and will go on a conditioning stint with Binghamton in the AHL.
No update on Lehner
Andrew Gross: New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz didn’t have an update on goaltender Robin Lehner and wouldn’t say if he was in concussion protocol. (left Thursday’s game in the third period after taking a puck to the mask)
Hanzal progressing
Sean Shapiro: Dallas Stars center Martin Hanzal appears to be progressing as he was taking faceoffs at the end of their morning skate.
Ericsson to return
Helene St. James: Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson is expected to return to the lineup today. Defenseman Danny DeKeyser will likely be moved to the IR.