VOORHEES, N.J. -- Matt Read, who hasn't played since Feb. 20 because of torn muscles in his rib cage, took part in the Philadelphia Flyers' morning skate and looks like he'll return to the lineup.

The original diagnosis was for Read to miss six weeks, but if he does play Thursday against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins, he'll have missed two weeks and one day. He left the lineup after a hard hit by the Penguins' Chris Kunitz in the first period of that Feb. 20 game.

"Just getting better every day," Read said. "I look forward to getting back into lineup. It's gone day to day right now. It's getting better."

Read said he still has soreness when he shoots the puck.

"I've still got to do some treatments, some stretching and see how I feel," Read said. "It's really not my decision, it's [coach Peter] Laviolette and [general manager Paul Holmgren] if they want me out there."

PHILADELPHIA -- As much as the Philadelphia Flyers faithful inside Wells Fargo Center attempt to make Sidney Crosby and Co. uncomfortable every time they're here, since coach Dan Bylsma took over, the Pittsburgh Penguins have typically been able to brush it off and play their game.

The Penguins are 8-2-1 under Bylsma at Wells Fargo Center. They'll try to push it to 9-2-1 Thursday night.

"They'd probably say the same about coming to Pittsburgh, they've done pretty well there," Crosby said, referring to the Flyers' 8-3-0 record there since Bylsma took over on Feb. 15, 2009.

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:

NEWARK, N.J. -- Buffalo Sabres coach Ron Rolston will go with backup goalie Jhonas Enroth between the pipes on Thursday when his team battles the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center.

Enroth, who will be making his fourth appearance of the season and first start since Feb. 5 at the Ottawa Senators, will be seeking his first victory of the season. Ryan Miller started the previous 14 games (6-7-1) for Buffalo.

"We are playing things off of Ryan and how he was doing and felt this was a good opportunity to get Jhonas in there," Rolston said after his team's morning skate. "Jhonas has done a good job since I've been here working with Jim Corsi [goalie coach]. Really, for him, practices are his games, and we've had limited practice times, but in those situations he's certainly done a good job for us and merits an opportunity."

PHILADELPHIA -- Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Paul Martin could return to the lineup Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers after missing two games with a lower-body injury.

Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said Martin will be a game-time decision, but the defenseman, who skated in practice Thursday morning with regular partner Brooks Orpik, said he feels good and hopes to be in.

"The last couple of days it's been getting better and today was no different," Martin said. "I hopefully expect to be in tonight."

TAMPA -- Ryan Malone will return to the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup when they host the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night at Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Malone, who missed 13 games with a lower-body injury, was cleared to play after the morning skate. His return, while welcomed, does create a lineup dilemma for coach Guy Boucher.

"[Alexander] Killorn has been outstanding, [Ondrej] Palat too, so they are not coming out," Boucher said. "[Pierre-Cedric] Labrie brings us a lot of grit and enthusiasm. We don't want to change that. Those young guys have been terrific."

BOSTON -- The Bruins' seven-game win streak against the Toronto Maple Leafs is amazingly the longest the Boston franchise has had against its Original Six brother from the north.

That Toronto enters Thursday night's game at TD Garden one point behind Boston in the Eastern Conference, and riding a three-game winning streak, tells the Bruins that the Maple Leafs are a different team than the one it has handled easily the past couple seasons.

A glance at the fighting-major leaderboard, which features the Maple Leafs on top, also sends the Bruins a message that they're going to have their hands full.

"They've obviously got a big lineup and guys who can definitely take care of business," Bruins forward Milan Lucic said after an unusually aggressive morning skate. "With saying that, regardless of that fact, they've also been playing a good team game and been able to put pucks in the back of the net as well. So I think there's confidence up and down their lineup, from top to bottom, and you can see that in their play of late."

New York Rangers center Brad Richards will miss his second straight game Thursday night.

Richards was driven into the boards by Buffalo Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta on Sunday night, a hit that resulted in Kaleta receiving a game misconduct and five-game suspension from the NHL.

Richards returned to that game, but he did not play against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday and will sit against the New York Islanders on Thursday.

NEWARK, N.J. -- One day after New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello did a little roster tinkering, his team was back on the ice making preparations for the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday at Prudential Center.

The Devils play host to the Sabres (MSG-B, MSG PLUS) at 7 p.m. ET.

Wednesday, Lamoriello assigned goalie Keith Kinkaid and forward Cam Janssen to Albany of the American Hockey League and recalled goalie Jeff Frazee. The GM then claimed forward Tom Kostopoulos off waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins and said the 6-foot, 197-pound right wing would be in the lineup against the Sabres.

Lamoriello then informed the media that goalie Martin Brodeur likely would miss the next three games with back soreness.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks reassigned forward Brandon Bollig to the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League on Wednesday.

The move likely means veteran defenseman Steve Montador is ready to return from an upper-body injury believed to be concussion-related that has kept him out of the lineup since March 27, 2012, when he took a high hit in a game against the New Jersey Devils.

Montador had hoped to be ready for the start of the 2012-13 season, but he wasn't medically cleared to return.