Wes Gilbertson: Calgary Flames forward Mikael Backlund was on the ice before the practice and remained on for the start of practice.
- Wes Gilbertson: Backlund has been out for the past five games with an upper-body injury.
Calgary Flames: Defenseman MacKenzie Weegar (lower-body) and forward Martin Pospisil (maintenance) didn’t practice yesterday.
Wes Gilbertson: Flames coach Ryan Huska on if Backlund and Weegar will be in the lineup tonight.
On Backlund: “I don’t know if we’re there yet. We have to see how he reacts after practice, so we’ll go from there.”
On Weegar: “My gut says we see him tomorrow, but we’ll have to see how things go.”
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Colleen Flynn: Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog was back skating again with the team. He’s been looking better every day.
Evan Rawal: Avalanche defenseman Sam Girard is out day-to-day. Defenseman Erik Johnson took a maintenance day after tweaking something during their last game.
Stefen Rosner: Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson returned to the lineup last night. He’d been out since October 15th with a shoulder injury.
Sam Nestler: Dallas Stars coach Pete DeBoer said that forward Tyler Seguin can now skate whenever he wants. The next step for Seguin is going to be skating for four or five days in a row and then working up to taking contact. He will travel with the team on their road trip.
Derek Van Diest: Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch on Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
“They’re going to be still a while,” Knoblauch said after practice. “We’ll be playing a couple of games without them, at least. It’s good for those other guys that they know they’re going to get some more playing time.”
Dobber Hockey: Michael Russo on KFAN 100.3 said that Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov is expected to start skating his week. If all goes well, he could return for their final two or three regular-season games.
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Minnesota Wild PR: Defenseman Jonas Brodin missed last night’s game with a lower-body injury and is day-to-day.
- Joe Smith: Wild coach John Hynes said that Brodin didn’t re-aggravate his previous injury.
Taylor Baird: Wild defenseman Declan Chisholm left in the second period after blocking a shot.
Alex Daugherty: The Nashville Predators won’t be giving an official injury update on defenseman Roman Josi until after the season. There is no chance that he plays another game this season.
TSN 1200 Ottawa: Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk was given a maintenance day yesterday and is expected to play tonight. Defenseman Artem Zub also had a maintenance day.
Defenseman Nick Jensen looked good in practice and could be available tonight.
Vancouver Canucks: Goaltender Thatcher Demko was activated from the IR yesterday and he started last night.
Mike Morreale: Canucks forwards Elias Pettersson and Nils Hoglander returned to Vancouver and are out for the remainder of their road trip.
Stephen Whyno: Washington Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun had his right wrist cut by the skate of Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov.
Coach Spencer Carbery said that there is some concern: “Got very fortunate that there was no significant damage, but it’s still a significant cut.”
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Murat Ates: Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk (lower-body) and forward Gabriel Vilardi (stitches after taking a puck to the face on Sunday) were not at practice.
- Mitchell Clinton: Vilardi is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury, and it’s not his ear where he was hit with the puck, according to coach Scott Arniel.
- Mike McIntyre: Pionk is also out week-to-week.