NEW YORK -- It's been a struggle since the puck was dropped on the 2012-13 season for the Philadelphia Flyers. A 100-point team the past two seasons, injuries and inconsistency have combined to prevent the Flyers from spending even a day above .500 this season.

The Flyers will become one of two teams to reach the midpoint of their season Tuesday by playing their 24th game, and they will do so in an important Atlantic Division battle against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN2).

After an 0-3-0 start that continued into a 2-6-0 mark, the Flyers are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference at 11-11-1, one point ahead of the ninth-place Rangers. The Flyers' position is deceiving, however, because they've played the most games in the League and rank 19th overall and tied for ninth in the East with the Winnipeg Jets in points percentage.

If the Flyers lose in regulation Tuesday, they will find themselves one point behind the Rangers, who will have three games in hand. The Flyers could fall as far as 10th in the East with a regulation loss.

Flyers forward Maxime Talbot called this game the biggest of the season.

"We battled through a lot of adversity this year and we're just coming up to .500 after the start we had. It's where we want to be right now," Talbot said. "But now it's about moving up and keep going. Yeah, we have to go through this game to keep building and keep gaining points, so I'd say, yeah, to this day, it's our most important game."

The Colorado Avalanche announced forward Milan Hejduk will miss Tuesday's game against the Detroit Red Wings with a torso injury.

The 14-year veteran has three goals and nine points in 20 games this season.

The Avalanche also announced Jean-Sebastien Giguere would get the start in goal. Giguere briefly left the team to fly home to Montreal to attend the funeral of his mother.

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien was scheduled to rejoin his teammates shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday, or a couple of hours before the start of their game against the Florida Panthers.

Byfuglien missed Monday's practice after flying home for personal reasons. Coach Claude Noel said Monday that Derek Meech, recalled last Wednesday from St. John's of the American Hockey League, would take Byfuglien's place if he doesn't make it to the game on time.

Byfuglien averages a team-high 24:43 of ice time per game, but Noel wasn't fretting at possibly having to go without him.

"We'll see," Noel said. "I'm not too concerned with Dustin. If he's here, he's here; if he's not, we've got to win the game. There's other ways to win the game, so I'm not concerned. We'll just deal with it however it's dealt."

Forward Antti Miettinen, who has missed the past three games with a lower-body injury and has appeared in one game this season, will be back in the lineup for the Jets and is expected to play on a line with fellow Finn Olli Jokinen.

Forward Kyle Wellwood, a healthy scratch the past four games, also is expected to suit up.

Noel also confirmed that Ondrej Pavelec would make his 10th consecutive start in net.

Here are the Jets' projected lines:

Zach Boychuk is on the move again.

Boychuk was claimed off waivers by the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, the second time that's happened to him this season. The Pittsburgh Penguins had claimed him from the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 31.

The Predators, who claimed Bobby Butler off waivers from the New Jersey Devils on Monday, also placed forward Brandon Yip on injured reserve.

The Washington Capitals have placed defenseman Mike Green on injured reserve with a groin injury that continues to keep him out of the lineup.

Green missed three games because of the injury in mid-February before returning for games on back-to-back nights. He aggravated the injury and will miss his fifth contest in seven games when the Capitals play the Boston Bruins on Tuesday at Verizon Center.

NEWARK, N.J. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning will look to get their first road victory outside the Southeast Division on Tuesday when they visit the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center.

The Lightning, losers of five straight and six of their past seven, lost 4-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday at Consol Energy Center. Tampa Bay's 3-8-0 mark away from Tampa Bay Times Forum includes a pair of victories against the Carolina Hurricanes and one against the Florida Panthers.

"At some point playing well is probably not enough. We need to get results and we need to get them quick," Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier told the Tampa Tribune following Monday's loss. "We are doing a lot of good things, we are just not getting points. It's disappointing, but we have to find a way to push harder."

The Lightning lost goalie Mathieu Garon on Monday to a lower-body injury. Garon left the game early in the second period after stopping 12 of 13 shots. Anders Lindback took the loss in relief, making 16 saves in his first appearance since Feb. 24.

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson told the Columbus Dispatch that he will return to the lineup Tuesday against the Edmonton Oilers.

Johnson has missed the previous four games with an upper-body injury.

Johnson has eight points in 18 games, and is fourth in the League with 26:13 of ice time per game.

The New York Rangers announced Tuesday the club has signed free-agent forward Josh Nicholls.

Playing with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League this season, Nicholls, 20, is tied for fifth in the WHL with 41 goals, and he has 73 points in 65 games.

New York Islanders defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky will miss Tuesday's game against the Montreal Canadiens due to personal reasons.

According to a report by Arthur Staple of Newsday, Visnovsky also will miss Thursday's game against the New York Rangers.

The Columbus Blue Jackets had injured defenseman Jack Johnson on the ice ahead of the rest of the team Tuesday morning, and there's a chance he could return to the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Edmonton Oilers.

However, Johnson's availability is questionable, so here is the lineup the Columbus Blue Jackets could use against the Oilers on Tuesday at Nationwide Arena:

Matt Calvert - Artem Anisimov - Cam Atkinson

RJ Umberger - Ryan Johansen - Nick Foligno

Vinny Prospal - Mark Letestu - Derek Dorsett

Derek MacKenzie - Derick Brassard - Jared Boll

Tim Erixon - Adrian Aucoin

Fedor Tyutin - Cody Goloubef

Nikita Nikitin - Dalton Prout

Sergei Bobrovsky

Steve Mason

Scratched: Colton Gillies, Nick Drazenovich

Injured: James Wisniewski, Jack Johnson, Nikita Nikitin, John Moore, Brandon Dubinsky