After serving a two game suspension, Landeskog will be back on the Avs’ top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Matt Duchene on Thursday. Landeskog’s return means less minutes for Mikhail Grigorenko—Colorado’s captain has 12 points (5G / 7A) in 16 games.
Manson missed Monday’s game with an illness and head coach Bruce Boudreau said that he will be a “game-time decision at best” tonight. Korbinian Holzer replaced Manson last night and could play there again tonight.
Hinostroza had no points and four shots in four games since being recalled. Hinostroza has been returned to the AHL, which suggests that Bryan Bickell will be back in the lineup on Thursday in Winnipeg.
Schwartz was injured in practice on Friday and will now miss 12 weeks or three months of time. This timetable would put Schwartz out until late-January which would likely see him miss 40 games. This is a terrible break for the Blues, who will likely move Robby Fabbri into the top six when he is healthy and could be forced to move some blueline depth to pick up a forward.
After being helped off of the ice at practice this afternoon, Schwartz was taken to the hospital to have his leg examined. This obviously is not good news for Schwartz or the Blues, who are expected to give a full update on Saturday morning. With Schwartz out and Robby Fabbri still sidelined, the Blues have recalled Ty Rattie from Chicago (AHL).
Schwartz reportedly had to be helped off of the ice by his teammates after crashing legs-first into the net. We saw Logan Couture suffer a serious injury in practice last week and it looks like Schwartz might be the latest victim of practice injuries. Stay tuned, but it doesn’t look good for Schwartz.
Hinostroza, 21, was a sixth round pick (169th overall) in 2012. The 5-foot-9, 180 lbs. forward had 44 points (11G / 33A) in 42 games at the University of Notre Dame last year, before moving to the AHL. In seven career games for Rockford, he totalled three assists. He will make his NHL debut tonight vs. Columbus.
McKinnon has played the majority of his young career on the wing, but if they use MacKinnon in the middle it allows the Avalanche to give 18-year-old Mikko Rantanen a shot in the NHL and opens the door for Curtis Glencross and Jack Skille a chance to make the team on PTO’s. If MacKinnon indeed ends up on the third line, look for Rantanen and Blake Comeau to play on his wings.
Nelson, 23, had two goals in Game 1, but has been held off of the scoresheet, while only recording two shots and a minus-2 rating in the last three games. With Mikhail Grabovski coming back tonight, Nelson will get a chance to watch the game from the press box.
Kulak, 21, was a fourth round pick (105th overall) in 2012. The 6-foot-1, 185 lbs. defenseman had nine points (4G / 5A) in 22 games with Adirondack after starting the season in the ECHL. Kulak is expected to make his NHL debut on the Flames third pair with John Ramage as his partner.
Kadri has served his four game suspension and he is expected to be in the lineup tonight vs. the Senators. Kadri has two goals and twos assists in his last 10 games. Kadri is expected to centre the second line with Joffrey Lupul and David Booth on his wings.
Kadri was suspended for four games for an elbow to the head of Oilers forward Matt Fraser on Monday. The suspension will keep him out of the lineup until next Saturday vs. the Senators. With Peter Holland still out with a lower-body injury, the Leafs will likely recall a centre.
Kadri will serve the final game of his three-game suspension that was handed down by his coaches. He will play Saturday in Vancouver.
Kadri was scratched from Monday's game against the Islanders and he will also be a healthy scratch in tonight's game vs. Buffalo and Friday's game in Calgary. It was speculated that Kadri was scratched because he was late for a team meeting, but Leafs president Brendan Shanahan said "there's more to this [then being late for a meeting]."
Kadri was sent home on Sunday after showing up late for a team meeting. Kadri said he “slept in” which is why he missed the team meeting. He will take a seat tonight with Brandon Kozun drawing in for him. Peter Holland will centre the second line with Kadri in the press box.
