Palat missed the last five games with a lower-body injury but will be back in the lineup when the Lighting host the Devils on Thursday. This is good timing for the Lightning, as they will be without Nikita Kucherov, who was added to the COVID-19 protocol list on Tuesday.
Hamilton remains week-to-week after undergoing surgery to repair his broken jaw but the fact that he returned to the ice is a good sign. However, it sounds like he's still a few weeks away from returning to the lineup.
Dillon has missed the last three games while in COVID-19 protocol but took part in Friday's practice and will be a game-time decision on Saturday afternoon.
With Allen out for two months and Carey Price still not with the team, the Canadiens will move forward with a goaltending tandem of Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau. Don't expect to see Allen until late March.
Brown is expected to be sidelined until early-to-mid February after breaking his jaw in warmups last Thursday. Tyler Ennis has been bumped up into the top-6 to replace Brown.
Brown was hit in the face with a puck in warmups on Wednesday and played the game with a broken jaw, scoring one goal with one assist in 19:28 TOI. He'll miss some time according to head coach DJ Smith but could be replaced by Tim Stützle (COVID-19 protocol) on Saturday.
Dillon will miss Thursday's game in Detroit, opening the door for Declan Chisholm to make his NHL debut.
Palat was held out of part of Tuesday's win in Buffalo and will not play Thursday vs. the Canucks. With Palat out, Mathieu Joseph skated on the top line in the morning skate.
Hamilton was already sidelined with a broken jaw, so this likely doesn't change his timeline at all. The Devils have yet to release any details of when they expect to get him back in the lineup.
