RALEIGH, N.C. -- Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk will return to the lineup Tuesday after missing the past nine games with a second-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee.

Faulk is Carolina's leader in ice time, skating 23:23 per night. Carolina sent defenseman Brett Bellemore to Charlotte of the American Hockey League to open a roster spot.

Forward Alexander Semin also is expected to return to face the Pittsburgh Penguins, after missing two games with a lower-body injury.

Here are the projected lineups for the game between the Penguins and Hurricanes:

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning will turn to new goaltender Ben Bishop on Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes, one day after the former Ottawa Senators netminder was acquired at the NHL Trade Deadline. He was relaxed when he met the media after the team's morning skate.

"Your first game, you want to show what you can do for the guys," said Bishop, who has a 2.45 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. "At the same time, I've been doing this for a little bit now and one game is not going to make the year."

His first challenge, he figures, is getting to know his teammates before he takes the ice Thursday night.

"The biggest thing is trying to learn everybody's names on the ice real quick and not have to think about it before you call their name," he said. "So that will be the hardest thing. After a couple days I'm sure I will have it down."

RALEIGH N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes acquired defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday in exchange for forward Adam Hall and a seventh-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft.

Bergeron joins his seventh NHL team and is expected to be in the Carolina lineup Tuesday against the Washington Capitals.

"We're bringing him in here for the power play," said Carolina coach Kirk Muller, whose team has an NHL-worst 12.7-percent conversion rate with the man advantage.

"Basically, he shoots the puck and he's got a cannon. He's a veteran guy and I've worked with him before."

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes placed forwards Jussi Jokinen and Tim Wallace on waivers Tuesday.

Jokinen, who scored 30 goals three seasons ago, has five goals and 10 points through the first 30 games.

Wallace has played 21 games with Carolina, recording one goal. He has 20 points in 43 games with the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League.

Here are the projected lineups for Tuesday night's game between the Winnipeg Jets and Hurricanes:

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Two key players will return to their respective lineups for the New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes when they face off Thursday (7 p.m. ET, NHLN-US).

New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur is ready to return after missing 13 games with a pinched nerve in his neck. The Devils were 3-8-2 in his absence, as Johan Hedberg made all 13 starts. Brodeur, who last played on Feb. 21, has an 8-2-3 mark and a 2.27 goals-against average.

The Hurricanes will work forward Tuomo Ruutu into the lineup for the first time this season, after recovering from hip surgery in December. The team activated him from injured reserve Thursday.

“He’s excited and ready to go,” Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller said. “We waited to see what the right opportunity was for him. I said, ‘Listen, when you feel comfortable, let me know.’ He felt comfortable enough this morning to say, ‘I’m ready."

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Already struggling to overcome injuries, the Florida Panthers will see at least one new face in the lineup Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Eric Selleck will make his NHL debut, adding some toughness to Florida's roster in the absence of George Parros. Selleck has 16 points and 181 penalty minutes in 60 games with San Antonio of the American Hockey League this season.

"I don't know how many shifts I'm going to get, so the early ones count," Selleck said. "We've got a game plan, so I'll just try to keep it simple and stick to my role."

Selleck's role is no mystery to either team -- and that simplifies his approach.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Here are the projected lineups for the game Thursday between the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena:

CAPITALS

Matt Hendricks - Nicklas Backstrom - Alex Ovechkin

Eric Fehr - Marcus Johansson - Troy Brouwer

Jason Chimera - Mike Ribeiro - Joel Ward

Aaron Volpatti - Jay Beagle - Joey Crabb

Jeff Schultz - John Carlson

Karl Alzner - Tomas Kundratek

Tom Poti - Steve Oleksy

Michal Neuvirth

Braden Holtby

Scratches: Mathieu Perreault, Wojtek Wolski, Cameron Schilling

Injuries: Mike Green (groin), John Erskine (upper body), Brooks Laich (groin)

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Justin Peters will make his second start of the season Thursday, coming off a 4-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night. The team also recalled forward Jeremy Welsh from Charlotte to replace Riley Nash, who has flu symptoms.

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Yannick Weber is expected to rejoin the lineup for the first time since their Jan. 27 win over the New Jersey Devils.

Here are the projected lineups for Thursday night's game:

RALEIGH, N.C. - The Carolina Hurricanes will begin a long stretch of hockey without goaltender Cam Ward, who suffered a third-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee Sunday and will miss 6-8 weeks.

The Hurricanes will turn over the net to Justin Peters on Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres, after his recall from the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League. Dan Ellis still is battling an illness, but will serve as the backup. This will mark the fourth straight season Peters has seen time in the Carolina goal.

"We're going to go with his energy and give him an opportunity to jump right in and play," Hurricanes coach Kirk Muller said. "He's had a great first half down in Charlotte, so he should have confidence. He should look at all the experiences leading up to now and just go out and play hockey and get the job done."

Buffalo will get its top scorer back against Carolina. Thomas Vanek, who has missed the past two games with an upper-body injury, will bring his 27 points to the Sabres' offense.

"It's great to see [Vanek] out there, especially to get some work on the power play, and what he means to that phase of our game," Sabres interim coach Ron Rolston said. "Any time you lose a player of that quality, it's certainly a dent in your lineup. I'm looking forward to getting him back in there."

Here are the projected lineups for Tuesday's game:

After about two weeks of playing without a number of their regulars, the Carolina Hurricanes are welcoming back the majority of their walking wounded.

Two days after activating Tim Gleason and Tim Brent from injured reserve and welcoming back Jeff Skinner, who had been out with a concussion, the team announced that defenseman Joni Pitkanen has been activated from injured reserve.