Ice Chips: Ovechkin skates Thursday at Capitals' practice
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Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin skated at practice as he continues to work his way back from a fractured fibula.
The 39-year-old skated by himself in full gear. He has not played since sustaining the injury in a shin-on-shin collision with Utah’s Jack McBain on Nov. 18. He was given a timeline of four-to-six weeks, putting a potential return sometime in late December or early January.
Ovechkin had scored 15 goals in his first 18 games before getting injured to move 27 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record.
The Capitals visit the Toronto Maple Leafs Friday night, looking to maintain their spot atop the Metropolitan Division.
Edmonton Oilers
Oilers forward Zach Hyman is set to return to the lineup from a five-game absence when the Oilers host the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Hyman will play on the top line and top power play unit against the Jackets.
Nugent-Hopkins-McDavid-Hyman
Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Kapanen
Skinner-Henrique-Janmark
Brown-Ryan-Perry
Ekholm-Bouchard
Nurse-Emberson
Kulak-Dermott
Pickard starts
Toronto Maple Leafs
Forward Bobby McMann skated at Thursday's practice as he works his way back from a lower-body injury.
Head coach Craig Berube: "Hopefully if he gets skating here & he feels good, he could be an option for next week, but we'll see"
Berube also confirmed that blueliner Jake McCabe will not return Friday against the Capitals. Forwards Max Domi and Max Pacioretty will also not return but both are getting close to returning to the ice.
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens look for their second-straight win on Thursday as they host the Nashville predators at the Bell Centre. There will no lineup changes from Tuesday's overtime win over the New York Islanders.
Sam Montembeault, who was recently named to Team Canada's 4 Nations Face-Off roster, is expected to start.
Caufield - Suzuki - Newhook
Slafkovsky - Dach - Laine
Anderson - Dvorak - Gallagher
Heineman - Evans - Armia
Guhle - Matheson
Hutson - Struble
Xhekaj - Savard
Montembeault
Ottawa Senators
Head coach Travis Green shuffled the Sens lines on Thursday, moving Ridly Grieg up to the second line.
Tkachuk-Norris-Batherson
Greig-Stützle-Giroux
Cousins-Pinto-Amadio
Reinhardt-Gaudette-Gregor
Ostapchuk
Sanderson-Hamonic
Chabot-Jensen
Kleven-JBD
Linus Ullmark is expected to get the start tonight as the Senators take on the Detroit Red Wings.
Vancouver Canucks
Canucks GM Patrik Allvin announced that forward Jonathan Lekkerimäki and defenceman Cole McWard have been recalled from Abbotsford of the AHL.
Defenceman Filip Hronek has been placed on LTIR retroactive to November 27. Max Sasson has been recalled from Abbotsford in a corresponding move.
Winnipeg Jets
The Jets projected lines for tonight's game against the Buffalo Sabres:
Connor - Scheifele - Vilardi
Namestnikov - Lambert - Perfetti
Neiderreiter - Lowry - Appleton
Barron - Kupari - Iaffalo
Morrissey - Pionk
Fleury - Demelo
Stanley - Heinola
Hellebuyck
Tampa Bay Lightning
Star forward Nikita Kucherov will miss a second straight game on Thursday against the visiting San Jose Sharks with an undisclosed injury. Head coach Jon Cooper hopes to have the Russian back in the lineup for Tampa's upcoming road trip.
Forward Nick Paul will return to the lineup against San Jose.
The 31-year-old Kucherov has tallied 12 goals and 22 assists over 22 games this season.
Detroit Red Wings
Forward Patrick Kane will return to the lineup tonight in Ottawa, while Joe Veleno will come out. The 36-year-old American has three goals and seven assists over 20 games in 2024-25, his 18th season in the NHL.
He has not played since No.18 due to an upper-body injury.
Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres recalled defenceman Ryan Johnson from the AHL's Rochester Americans on Thursday.
The 23-year-old tallied seven assists in 41 NHL games with the club last season.
The move comes two days after Rasmus Dahlin exited Tuesday's game against the Colorado Avalanche due to back spasms. He will not be in the lineup on Thursday.
Forward Sam Lafferty sustained a lower-body injury on Nov. 29 as is week-to-week, according to head coach Lindy Ruff.
“The initial prognosis was week to week,” Ruff said. “He’s doing OK, so it could be one of those shorter things.”
Forward Jordan Greenway and defenceman Mattias Samuelsson also joined the team this morning at practice. Samuelsson began skating last Friday as he recovers from a lower-body injury which has held him out since Nov. 11.
Greenway continues to recover from a mid-body injury and has not played since Nov. 14.
New York Islanders
The Islanders have listed goaltender Semyon Varlamov as day-to-day with a lower-body injury and recalled Marcus Hogberg on an emergency basis.
Varlamov, 36, has a 2.89 goals-against average and .889 save percentage in 10 games this season. He last played on Nov. 29 against the Capitals.
Defenceman Adam Pelech joined the team at morning skate on Thursday. It's his first time skating with the team since sustaining an upper-body injury on Nov. 1.
The Toronto native has four assists in 11 games this season.
New Jersey Devils
Jack Hughes (maintenance) will not participate in practice Thursday, the team announced.
Hughes also missed practice prior to the team's game on Monday but suited up against the New York Rangers and scored two goals to go with an assist.
The 23-year-old has eight points over his past three games.
Philadelphia Flyers
Goaltender Ivan Fedotov will get the start for the Flyers tonight against the Florida Panthers.
The 28-year-old has a 3.39 GAA and .881 save percentage in nine games this season.