Ice Chips: Keep updated on all the injury news and roster moves from around the NHL with daily Ice Chips.

 

Calgary Flames

T.J. Brodie was not on the ice for Thursday's practice. He left last night's game in the 2nd period after blocking a shot. Mark Giordano was also absent for Thursday's practice.

Thursday's practice lines:

Forwards:
Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler
Bennett-Backlund-Frolik
Bouma-Jooris-Colborne
Ferland-Stajan-Jones

Granlund-Bollig

Defence:
Russell-Hamilton
Smid-Nakladal
Wideman-Engelland

Goaltenders:
Ramo
Hiller
 

Columbus Blue Jackets

David Savard (oblique strain) hasn't been given the green light to participate in contact drills. Savard did take part in Wednesday's practice, but that doesn't necessarily mean his return is imminent. - Columbus Dispatch

 

Chicago Blackhawks

Jonathan Toews is healthy again and back in the lineup tonight. Toews had eight days between games because of the break and his suspension on Tuesday for missing the All-Star Game. - Chicago Sun-Times

 

Detroit Red Wings

Riley Sheahan (illness) hopes to return Thursday against Florida. "He could probably play but wouldn't be able to play at 100 percent," coach Jeff Blashill said Wednesday. "My kind of rule of thumb is we want guys, even when they don't feel 100 percent, to play at 100 percent and Riley isn't quite there." - Detroit News

 

Edmonton Oilers

Originally out with a broken finger, defenceman Oscar Klefbom now has a leg infection, according to head coach Todd McLellan. There's no timetable for his return. - Edmonton Sun

 

Nashville Predators

Colin Wilson (lower body) participated in Wednesday's practice. He said he felt good following the session, but there is no timetable set for his return. Wilson hasn't played since Jan. 8. - The Nashville Tennessean

 

New Jersey Devils

Patrik Elias (knee) has recently consulted with a doctor, but it's not known when he might be able to resume skating. Elias was climbing stairs on Thursday as part of his off-ice rehab work. It doesn't sound like he's anywhere close to returning. - The Bergen Record

 

Los Angeles Kings

Forward Kyle Clifford (upper-body injury) activated from injured reserve. - Team Release

 

Toronto Maple Leafs


The Maple Leafs held a morning skate at the Air Canada Centre ahead of tonight's game against the New Jersey Devils. - TSN

Mike Babcock will coach in his 1,000th career NHL regular season game becoming the 25th man to reach that mark. Babcock was asked what he enjoys most about his job. "It's growth and development of your people. It's the interaction, it's being around the young people – the best in the world at what they do trying to get better. The other thing I know about players, I probably had two in my whole time in 25 years coaching that I didn't think tried to get better. The rest try to get better every day. I think when you're sharing something with them that they think can help them get better, I think most people are all-in. Sometimes there gets to be a point where they're not the right fit for your team and it's hard on them mentally, they've got to go somewhere else. The reality is most coaches that I know love their players and are doing everything they can to make them better. My goal as I've gotten older is I want to make them better people first and better players second. A little more perspective." - TSN

There are several milestones being reached tonight with Dion Phaneuf playing in his 800th NHL regular season game, Joffrey Lupul playing game No. 700 and Nazem Kadri playing game No. 300. "There were some years where I wasn't sure I was going to play, I had people telling me I couldn't play anymore," Lupul told reporters after the morning skate (referencing a serious injury from his days in Anaheim). "That makes getting to these types of milestones a bit more special." - TSN

The Leafs will be commemorating the 40th anniversary of Darryl Sittler's 10-point game. - TSN

Keith Kinkaid will start for the Devils. Per Rich Chere of The Star-Ledger, Cory Schneider, who won on Tuesday against the Rangers, is nursing a minor injury, but is expected to dress as the back-up. Schneider expects to be ready for Saturday's game against Washington. - TSN

In the wake of the Dennis Wideman situation, Babcock was asked about the league's concussion protocol. "I think when the player says he's okay to play and keeps playing, he's okay to play. I put an unbelievable amount of duress on my poor trainer when he's taking some player off the ice when he should be killing the next penalty. You have no idea how kind I am during that interaction. So, this is a hindsight thing after the fact, everyone can blame everyone else, the people there, the medical people in Calgary would have done everything they could to make the right decision based on League protocol. They obviously didn't think -- Wideman played the whole game -- I know nothing about this situation besides what I saw on TV so for me to even have an opinion here is scary... Well on our team when someone is unconscious or dazed or looks like they're supposed to go to, I guess they call it the dark room or whatever. I mean, some of these things aren't even anything and they're going to a dark room, but that's legal liability with the League and that's concussion protocol. As we learn more and more you're more and more careful with them." - TSN

Projected lines vs. Devils:

Forwards:
Grabner-Kadri-Komarov
Winnik-Bozak-Parenteau
Matthias-Spaling-Lupul
Holland-Froese-Clune
Boyes

Defence:
Hunwick-Rielly
Phaneuf-Corrado
Gardiner-Polak
Marincin

Goaltenders:
Reimer
Bernier

PP units:
Phaneuf
Kadri-Komarov-Holland-Gardiner

Rielly
Bozak-Lupul-Matthias-Parenteau
 

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks have reassigned forward Brandon Prust to the AHL Utica Comets. - Team release

 

Washington Capitals

Brooks Orpik (lower body) participated in Washington's Thursday morning skate. He will miss his 35th consecutive game on Thursday. - CSNmidatlantic.com

Taylor Chorney (flu) will be a game-time decision on Thursday. If Chorney can't play then Aaron Ness will be inserted into the lineup. - CSNmidatlantic.com

Marcus Johansson (upper body) might travel with the Capitals in their upcoming road trip. Johansson will not play on Saturday or Sunday, but after that Washington has three-road games on Feb. 9, Feb. 11, and Feb. 13 in Nashville, Minnesota, and Dallas respectively. It's not clear if Johansson will participate in any of those games, even if he does travel with the team. - Washington Post

 

Winnipeg Jets

Jets forward Alexander Burmistrov has been fined $2,000 as supplementary discipline under NHL Rule 64 (Diving/Embellishment), the NHL announced. - Team Release
 

Waivers

Luke Gazdic (EDM) and Matt Halischuk (WPG) cleared waivers.


GAME NOTES

Bruins (58P) at Sabres (46P) - 7PM
Teams have split two games this season, BOS 1-0-0 in BUF
BOS has won 3 straight in BUF, 3GA
BUF (21-26-4):
won 2 straight, both on the road, 2GA in each game, 2/5 on PP
Eichel (2G, 3A) 3 game PT streak
BOS (26-18-6):
0-1-1 past 2GP, 10GA, 0/8 on PP
Krejci (1G, 4A) 4 game PT streak

Wild (55P) at Rangers (59P) - 7PM
MIN is 1-0-0 vs NYR this season, winning at home
NYR have won 2 straight at home vs MIN
NYR (27-18-5):
1-2-0 past 3GP, 3GA in each game, 1/11 on PP
Brassard (2G, 4A) last 2GP
MIN (23-18-9):
0-2-1 past 3GP, 7GF, 2/9 on PP
Coyle (4G) has scored in 4 straight games

Oilers (45P) at Senators (52P) - 7:30PM
OTT was 2-0-0 vs EDM last season
EDM has won 3 of their past 4 in OTT (lost last)
OTT (23-22-6):
lost 2 straight, 9GA, 4/7 on PK
Ceci (1G, 2A) last 2GP
EDM (20-26-5):
lost 2 straight on the road, 9GA, 1/7 on PP
Hall (2G, 6A) 6 game PT streak

Devils (57P) at Maple Leafs (45P) - 7:30PM
TOR is 1-0-0 vs NJ this season, SOW at home
TOR has gone 5-1-0 past 6GP at home vs NJ, last 3 wins in a shootout
Game Coached 1,000 for Babcock
Career GP 800 for Phaneuf, 422 with TOR (1st game with TOR was vs NJ, Feb 2/10)
TOR (18-22-9):
0-2-2 past 4 at home, 4GF, 0/10 on PP
Komarov (1G, 2A) past 4GP
NJ (26-20-5):
5-1-0 past 6GP, 10GA, 15/20 on PK
Stempniak (5G, 3A) past 6GP

Red Wings (58P) at Panthers (65P) - 7:30PM
FLA is 1-0-0 vs DET this season, OTW in DET
DET has gone 3-1-0 past 4GP in FLA (lost last)
FLA (30-15-5):
won 4 straight, outscored opponent 19-5, 16/17 on PK
Jokinen (1G, 4A) 4 game PT streak
DET (25-17-8):
2-3-1 past 6GP, 13GF, 2/18 on PP
Larkin 1G, 2A past 6GP

Islanders (58P) at Capitals (74P) - 7:30PM
WSH is 1-0-0 vs NYI this season, winning at NYI
WSH has gone 4-0-2 past 6GP vs NYI
WSH (35-9-4):
4-0-1 past 5 games, 6GA, 11/12 on PK
Kuznetsov (10A) 4 game PT streak
NYI (26-16-6):
won 3 straight, 4/8 on PP, last 2 wins in a shootout
Tavares (2G, 3A) 3 game PT streak

Sharks (56P) at Blues (66P) - 8PM
STL was 2-0-1 vs SJ last season, 14GF final 2 meetings
SJ has won 2 of their past 3GP in STL
STL (29-16-8):
won 2 straight at home, 9GF, 0/4 on PP
Tarasenko 0P last 4GP
SJ (26-19-4):
1-1-1 past 3GP, 7GF, 11/13 on PK
Burns (3A) past 2GP

Flyers (52P) at Predators (56P) - 8PM
PHI is 1-0-0 vs NSH this season, OTW at home
NSH has gone 4-0-1 at home vs PHI in the shootout era
NSH (24-19-8):
lost 2 straight at home, 1GF, 0/6 on PP
Josi (1A) past 3GP
PHI (22-18-8):
won 2 straight, 4GF in each game, 3/9 on PP
Simmonds (4G, 2A) 4 game PT streak

Stars (69P) at Avalanche (57P) - 9PM
COL is 2-0-0 vs DAL this season, outscoring them 9-4
COL has won 7 straight at home vs DAL, 16GA
COL (27-23-3):
1-2-0 past 3GP, 6GF, 2/13 on PP
Landeskog (3G) past 2GP
DAL (32-14-5):
won 2 straight, 4GA, 7/8 on PK
Klingberg (1G, 2A) past 2GP

Blackhawks (72P) at Coyotes (53P) - 9PM
CHI is 1-0-0 vs ARZ this season, winning in ARZ
CHI has gone 3-0-1 past 4GP vs ARZ, 2-0-0 in ARZ in that span
ARZ (24-21-5):
lost 2 straight, 11GA, 7/11 onPK
Duclair (2G) has scored in back to back games
CHI (34-14-4):
2-3-0 past 5GP, 5GF, 1/13 on PP
Kane (2A) past 4GP

Blue Jackets (43P) at Canucks (51P) - 10PM
VAN is 1-0-0 vs CBJ this season, winning at CBJ
VAN has gone 7-1-0 past 8 at home vs CBJ (lost last)
VAN (20-19-11):
lost 2 straight, both by 1G, 0/3 on PP
Tanev (3A) 3 game PT streak
CBJ (19-28-5):
2-1-1 past 4 road games, 11GF, 3/14 on PP
Hartnell (1G, 2A) 3 game PT streak

Ducks (53P) at Kings (65P) - 10PM
LAK are 1-0-0 vs ANA this season, winning in ANA
ANA has gone 8-1-1 past 10GP vs LAK, 4-0-1 in LA in that span
LAK (31-16-3):
1-3-0 past 4 at home, 9GF, 2/11 on PP
Doughty (2G, 2A) 3 game PT streak
ANA (23-18-7):
won 4 straight, 8GA, 14/14 on PK
Perry (3G, 3A) 4 game PT streak