On Tuesday, Warsofsky participated in his first full practice since injuring his groin on November 6th. He heads back to Providence where he has not recorded a point in seven games this season.
Gibson skated for the first time since suffering a groin injury on October 30th. Gibson said “tomorrow is a big day to see how he responds to today’s practice.” Gibson remains without a timeline and is expected to go back to the AHL when he returns to full health.
Davidson, 23, was the Oilers sixth round pick (162nd overall) in 2010. The former Regina Pats defenseman has one goal and two assists in 14 games with OKC this season. He is a great story, the young defenseman beat testicular cancer in 2012 and has now reached the NHL.
Nieto will miss his third straight game with a lower-body injury that he suffered last week. Melker Karlsson has been recalled from Worcester and will make his NHL debut in Nieto’s absence.
Hendricks has missed the last four games with a leg injury, but he will be back in tonight. Boyd Gordon is out with a back injury, so Hendricks returns to centre the Oilers’ fourth line with Steve Pinizzott and Luke Gazdic.
Gordon will come out of the lineup because of a back issue and will be replaced by Matt Hendricks, who has missed the last four games with a leg injury. Gordon is day-to-day.
Baertschi served as a healthy scratch on Saturday. With Matt Stajan and Mason Raymond back from injuries, the Flames had to make a roster move. Baertschi had three assists in 14 games during his recall.
Elliott, who has been sidelined with a knee injury since November 25th, skated for the first time since suffering the injury on Tuesday morning. He did some goalie technique drills this morning, but remains without a timeline for his return. Jake Allen and Martin Brodeur are more than capable than carrying the load while Elliott is out, so they will not rush him back.
Allen was yanked after giving up three goals on 12 shots in the first period of Saturday’s comeback win over the Islanders. He has actually been overshadowed by Martin Brodeur since Marty signed, but Allen gets another crack agh the Isles tonight; this time at home where he is 4-1-1 with a 2.51 GAA and .893 SV% this season.
Scrivens allowed one goal on 21 shots in the Oilers 2-1 win over the Sharks on Sunday. The win snapped an ugly nine game losing streak for Scrivens. Tonight he takes on the Sharks once again, but the chances of this struggling Oilers team coming up with a repeat performance seem pretty slim.
With John Gibson and Jason LaBarbera out with injuries, the Ducks have brought Bryzgalov back to play with Frederik Andersen. Bryzgalov will go to Norfolk (AHL) on a conditioning stint before joining the Ducks.
Perry suffered the injury on Friday vs. the Wild and will be out until the end of December or early January. This is a tough break for the Ducks and Perry owners. Expect Kyle Palmieri, Devante Smith-Pelly and Rene Bourque to take on larger roles with Perry sidelined.
Rinne allowed two goals on 30 shots in the Predators loss to the Blackhawks on Saturday. Despite the loss, it was another strong performance for Rinne. He ranks first in wins (17), fourth in GAA (1.89) and tied for second in SV% (.931). He makes for a strong start tonight in Colorado.
Niemi stopped 33 of 35 shots in the Sharks win over the Flames on Saturday. He was given Sunday night off, but he will be back in tonight as the Sharks try to avenge Sunday’s loss to the Oilers. He has won four in a row with a 2.75 GAA and .910 SV%. He makes for a great start vs. Edmonton.
Karlsson, 24, has 10 points (5G / 5A) in 20 games with Worcester. This is his first year in North America and he is expected to make his NHL debut tonight vs. Edmonton.
Rendulic, 22, has four goals and three assists in 21 games with Lake Erie. He is en route to Colorado and will make his NHL debut tonight vs. the Predators. The Avs were prepared to play with just 19 players, but Rendulic’s recall will have them at 20 tonight.
Hornqvist plans to practice on Thursday and if all goes well, he could return to the lineup on Friday vs. the Flames. This news suggests that Hornqvist avoided a concussion, which is great news for the Penguins.
Varlamov underwent an MRI on Monday and the results did not reveal anything positive for the Avalanche. Varlamov will miss a couple of weeks at least, which leaves the team with Calvin Pickard as their starter.
With Patrick Sharp returning to the lineup tonight, the Blackhawks had to make a roster move to make room for him to be activated from IR. Nordstrom had two assists and 12 shots on goal in 10 games during his recall.
With Semyon Varlamov out with a groin injury again, Pickard is back and will start on Tuesday. During his last recall, he won three games with a 1.99 GAA and .936 SV% in three starts and two relief appearances. He becomes the Avs’ temporary starter but has an rough matchup tonight with the Predators in town.
