The Nashville Predators will make their fifth stop of a seven-game road trip against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday at Prudential Center (7 p.m. ET).

Coach Barry Trotz will be without starting goaltender Pekka Rinne, who remains out at least one more month with a spontaneous bacterial infection in his left hip. The two-time Vezina Trophy finalist had undergone arthroscopic surgery on that hip on May 9, which required approximately four months of recovery before the season. He is on injured reserve.

Rinne is 4-4-1 with a 2.31 goals-against average and .917 save percentage in nine games this season. He's sixth in the NHL with 152 wins since 2008-09.

Backup goalie Carter Hutton (4-2-1, 3.32 GAA, .898 save percentage) will be making his seventh straight start. The 27-year-old Hutton was pulled in the first period of a 5-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday and has allowed three or more goals the past five games.

NEWARK, N.J. -- Jacob Josefson will make his first start in three games Sunday when the New Jersey Devils host the Nashville Predators at Prudential Center (7 p.m. ET).

Josefson will replace Stephen Gionta in the lineup. Gionta sustained a foot injury in the shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday and is day-to-day. Josefson has no points in four games and Gionta has one assist in 16 matches this season.

Josefson will likely take Gionta's spot as fourth-line center with Ryan Carter and Cam Janssen.

The Devils have strung together consecutive wins just once this season and that trend must change if the team has any hope of qualifying for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After starting the season 1-5-4, the Devils won back-to-back games against the Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning. Since those wins, New Jersey has struggled to find its offense, scoring four times over the past four games (1-2-1).

ST. LOUIS -- Pittsburgh Penguins right wing James Neal returned to the lineup Saturday after a 15-game absence.

Neal, who had not played since opening night against the New Jersey Devils, was sidelined by an upper-body injury.

Right wing Beau Bennett also returned to play against the St. Louis Blues.

As center Stephen Weiss rehabs a groin injury and wing Johan Franzen is out with an upper-body injury, Darren Helm has earned a unique opportunity with the Detroit Red Wings.

After a back injury limited him to one game since the 2011-12 season, Helm enjoyed a triumphant return to the Detroit lineup Nov. 2 against the Edmonton Oilers. The center scored his first goal since March 9, 2012 at 5:09 into the game and was credited with the game-winner in the 5-0 victory. Two nights later, he visited his hometown when the Red Wings lost on the road 4-2 against the Winnipeg Jets.

Helm played 7:46 against the Jets, but he should see a sizeable increase in his ice time with Weiss out of the lineup. In Detroit's morning skate Saturday, Helm centered the second line between Daniel Alfredsson and Tomas Tatar as the Red Wings prepare to face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.

"I think it's coming around," Helm said. "Each game I'm starting to fit in a little bit, get a little more comfortable with everything. I think I still got a little ways to go."

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Mike Ribeiro will see a lot of familiar faces when the Washington Capitals visit his new home in Arizona on Saturday night.

But one of Ribeiro’s new friends on the Phoenix Coyotes will be missing.

Coyotes winger Radim Vrbata, who has scored all six of his goals this season in his team’s first seven home games, sustained a lower-body injury early in Phoenix’s 5-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. He skated briefly at an optional workout Saturday morning but will miss his first game of the season against Alex Ovechkin and the surging Capitals.

Ribeiro was traded from Dallas to Washington in June of 2012 and had 49 points in 48 games for the Capitals in the shortened 2012-13 season. He couldn’t agree on a new deal in Washington and was snapped up by the Coyotes on the first day of free agency with a four-year, $22 million contract.

"It will be a fun game to play against my old teammates," Ribeiro said. "I was traded, I had no choice to go there. But it was great to be part of a team with players like [Nicklas Backstrom] and [Mike] Green and [Ovechkin] and live in D.C. for a year. But it was great to come here and get out in the sun a little more."

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- It's not the way Alec Martinez wanted to get back into the Los Angeles Kings lineup, but he's trying to make the most of his opportunity.

Los Angeles went down to six available defensemen when Matt Greene sustained an undisclosed injury, so the Kings had little choice but to insert Martinez back in the lineup. After he was scratched for the previous seven games, Martinez played Thursday and will be back in Saturday night when L.A. hosts the Vancouver Canucks.

"Obviously it's unfortunate that we've got other guys getting hurt but I think we've got a lot of depth in this room and injuries are going to happen," Martinez said. "You need to be able to rely on those players when it does happen. I'm just trying to play my game and help the team win."

ST. LOUIS -- A battle of past Olympians and 2014 Sochi Olympics hopefuls representing a plethora of countries will happen Saturday night when the Pittsburgh Penguins face the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center.

But each team, a top-tier team in each conference, will be missing some key pieces when the puck drops.

Pittsburgh will be without defenseman Paul Martin (undisclosed), but they are expected to get right wing Beau Bennett (lower-body) back into the lineup.

"He's not going to be available for tonight's game, Paul Martin," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "That leaves us with six defensemen here."

The Blues (10-2-2) will insert defenseman Ian Cole into the lineup in place of veteran Jordan Leopold (hand), who blocked a shot in a 3-2 victory Thursday against the Calgary Flames.

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock called Leopold's injury day-to-day, but a better prognosis won't be known until after the weekend.

"We'll know a little bit better on Monday how long he's going to be out for," Hitchcock said. "Right now it's just day to day and we'll see how he feels. Whether it's a week or two, we'll see how it feels. We'll know more on dates on Monday."

DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars' recent three-game road trip couldn't have gone much better as the Stars beat the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins in the shootout and the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday at Joe Louis Arena in overtime.

But first-year Dallas coach Lindy Ruff knows his club faces another big test Saturday night as the reigning NHL Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks visit American Airlines Center for the first time this season.

"I think they're probably one of the best transition teams in the league," Ruff said of Chicago. "They're as good as any team at getting four guys up, sometimes five guys up. When you turn it over, it leads to them going the other way and they've got skill up front."

Kari Lehtonen, who is 5-1-2 with a 2.25 goals-against-average since returning from a lower-body injury on Oct. 24 against the Calgary Flames, will start his ninth straight game in net for Dallas.

OTTAWA -- Goalie Tim Thomas was activated from injured reserve by the Florida Panthers on Saturday prior to the game against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.

The two-time Vezina Trophy winner led the Panthers onto the ice for the pre-game warm-up. Thomas has won his past nine games at Canadian Tire Centre, all as a member of the Boston Bruins.

Florida interim coach Peter Horachek makes his debut on Saturday. One of the few certainties about his starting lineup is that Jesse Winchester won't be included.

Winchester was suspended for three games Friday for elbowing Boston Bruins forward Chris Kelly in the head in Florida's 4-1 loss at TD Garden on Thursday.

"I didn't know what to expect, really," Winchester said. "It is their ruling. I have to respect it, and live and learn, and move on."

Horachek was promoted from San Antonio of the American Hockey League by Panthers general manager Dale Tallon, who fired coach Kevin Dineen and assistant coaches Gord Murphy and Craig Ramsay on Friday.

COLUMBUS -- The Columbus Blue Jackets took a jolt to the system Thursday in a 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers.

Both coach Todd Richards and forward Brandon Dubinsky used the word "embarrassment" to describe the Blue Jackets' fifth straight loss, which dropped them to 5-10-0.

What followed the next day was a players-only meeting as well as numerous player-coaches conversations.

How that translates to the game Saturday against the New York Islanders at Nationwide Arena is anybody's guess.

"I'll be able to answer that question after the game tonight whether it was a wakeup call or not," Richards said. "The alarm went off for them based on how we practiced but the question for me is if they hit the snooze alarm or did they really wake up?"