Ice Chips: Devils' Hughes takes 'another positive step' toward return
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Keep updated on all the injury news and roster updates from around the NHL with daily Ice Chips.
New Jersey Devils
Devils forward Jack Hughes was on the ice for Tuesday's morning skate in a regular jersey, according to team reporter Amanda Stein. However, Hughes will remain out for tonight's game against the Colorado Avalanche.
Head coach Lindy Ruff called Tuesday "another positive step" toward a return. The Devils are off on Wednesday and Ruff said the Devils would "evaluate where he's at" then, adding the team would wait and see on Hughes' status before their next game against the Calgary Flames on Thursday.
“Hopefully I come out of the break here and feel good and can finish the year off really strong,” Hughes said during All-Star weekend.
The star forward has not played since Jan. 5 due to an upper-body injury. He has 15 goals and 45 points in 32 games this season.
Forward Tomas Nosek will return to the lineup on Tuesday following foot surgery in December. Various injuries have limited him to six games this season.
Defenceman John Marino (maintenance) did not participate in practice but will play.
Goaltender Vitek Vanacek will likely start against the Avalanche.
Winnipeg Jets
Newly acquired Jets forward Sean Monahan did not participate in the team's optional morning skate. Rasmus Kupari filled in as second line centre in his absence while wearing a light blue jersey.
Head coach Rick Bowness said Monahan is fine and will play tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The team also activated forward Mark Scheifele from injured reserve.
Scheifele has missed Winnipeg's last six games due to a lower-body injury and is expected to be in the lineup on Tuesday when the Jets play the Penguins in Pittsburgh.
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Perfetti-Kupari-Ehlers
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Namestnikov-Iafallo
Morrissey - DeMelo
Dillon - Pionk
Samberg - Schmidt
Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens took part in an optional skate this morning ahead of their game against the Washington Capitals.
Sam Montembeault is expected to get the start. He has an 11-7-4 record with a .905 save percentage and 3.10 goals-against average in 22 starts this season.
Brandon Gignac will make his Habs debut on Tuesday night after recording 14 goals and 42 points in 43 games with the Laval Rocket this season. The 26-year-old has played one NHL game in his career, with the Devils in 2018-19, and did not record a point.
The team also announced that defenceman Arber Xhekaj will be in tonight's lineup, taking the place of Jordan Harris. Xhekaj has no point in two games since returning from a stint in the AHL. The 23-year-old has one goal and wo assists in 19 games with the Habs this season.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Goaltender Joseph Woll joined the team for practice for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury on Dec. 7. However, Sheldon Keefe said Monday that the 25-year-old is "not anywhere close to game action."
Keefe said the team is looking for Woll to return to full practices in mid-February, with a determination being made on his playing status from there.
The Leafs lines at Tuesday's practice ahead of Wednesday's game against the Dallas Stars.
Knies - Matthews - Marner
Bertuzzi - Tavares - Nylander
Gregor - Domi - Robertson
McMann - Holmberg - Reaves
Rielly - Brodie
Benoit - McCabe
Giordano - Liljegren
Lagesson - Timmins
Samsonov
Jones
Woll
Calgary Flames
The Flames projected lineup Tuesday against the Boston Bruins:
Jonathan Huberdeau - Yegor Sharangovich - Andrei Kuzmenko
Connor Zary - Nazem Kadri - Martin Pospisil
Andrew Mangiapane - Mikael Backlund - Blake Coleman
Jakob Pelletier - Kevin Rooney - Walker Duehr
MacKenzie Weegar - Rasmus Andersson
Noah Hanifin - Chris Tanev
Oliver Kylington - Brayden Pachal
Jacob Markstrom
Washington Capitals
Capitals forward Sonny Milano is on the ice in a regular jersey for the team's morning skate. It is the first time he has been out of a non-contact jersey since sustaining an upper-body injury nearly two months ago.
The 27-year-old has four goals and four assists in 23 games this season.
Former Canadiens goaltender Charlie Lindgren is expected to start for Washington. \
Projected Capitals lines:
Alex Ovechkin- Dylan Strome - Tom Wilson
Max Pacioretty - Connor McMichael - T.J. Oshie
Anthony Mantha - Michael Sgarbossa - Aliaksei Protas
Beck Malenstyn - Nic Dowd - Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Martin Fehervary - John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin - Trevor van Riemsdyk
Joel Edmundson - Nick Jensen
Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Minnesota Wild
The Wild have assigned forward Adam Raska to the AHL's Iowa Wild. The 22-year-old has not recorded a point in five NHL games this season.
Florida Panthers
Forward Nick Cousins will return to the lineup on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers, head coach Paul Maurice said after morning skate. He has not played since Jan. 2 due to a concussion.
Maurice also said goaltender Anthony Stolarz will start.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The team has announced that goaltender Tristan Jarry will start Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets. The 28-year-old has a 13-14-4 record with a 2.53 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
Buffalo Sabres
Forward Zemgus Giergensons (upper-body) and defenceman Erik Johnson (upper-body) are both expected to return to the Sabres' lineup Tuesday against the Stars, the team announced.
Giergensons has been out since Jan. 24, while Johnson has been out since Jan. 18.
Jeff Skinner – Tage Thompson – Kyle Okposo
Zach Benson – Dylan Cozens – JJ Peterka
Jordan Greenway – Casey Mittelstadt – Alex Tuch
Zemgus Girgensons – Peyton Krebs – Eric Robinson
Victor Olofsson
Rasmus Dahlin – Henri Jokiharju
Owen Power – Connor Clifton
Ryan Johnson – Erik Johnson
Jacob Bryson
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Eric Comrie