SUNRISE, Fla. -- Florida Panthers defenseman Ed Jovanovski is expected back in the lineup for the first time since January when they face the New York Islanders on Saturday night at BB&T Center.

The Panthers captain has missed the past 22 games since sustaining a lower-body injury in a 5-2 loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Jan. 29.

Jovanovski took part in the morning skate for Thursday's game against the Boston Bruins and again Saturday morning.

"Jovo looks like he's a go there for tonight," Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said. "That's a heck of an addition to have our captain back in the lineup. He's been sorely missed and he'll be a great addition to have back.

"He makes a big difference with our group. Obviously, I took my time deciding which direction I was going to go captain-wise, but at the end of it Jovo just kept sticking out. And as much as his leadership ability was his on-ice play. It was a mixture of both of those last year. We're looking forward to having both his leadership and his play back on the ice."

TAMPA -- When Vincent Lecavalier went on injured reserve Thursday with a lower-body injury, Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher said he would look to forward Adam Hall to step up and take more faceoffs.

That night against the New York Islanders, Hall skated 9:15 and won four of six faceoff opportunities.

Friday, the Lightning put Hall on waivers, and he was claimed Saturday by the Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay's opponent Saturday night.

"You have to ask Steve [Yzerman, Lightning general manager] about that," Boucher said. "I'm not the one making moves; I coach the guys that are here. I know we are going in a certain direction and Adam has been great for us. He has a terrific attitude, he's a great faceoff guy, he is a guy that has given us honest work every single day. It's sad to see those guys having to deal with that. But at the same time there is a bigger plan and Steve's in charge of directing that bigger plan, so I won't comment on the guys who are leaving; for me it's important to focus on the guys that will stay here.”

Yzerman was not immediately available for comment.

The Lightning did get one piece of encouraging news with Tom Pyatt, injured March 12 against the Florida Panthers, set to return against the Hurricanes.

"We miss a lot when Tom Pyatt is not in the lineup," Boucher said. "He's relentless, he's fast, penalty kill, first on the puck, first backchecker, great in his defensive zone. He's one of those guys that brings it all, so he's part of the relentless culture that we want.”

Carolina had the morning off after practicing Friday.

Here are how the lineups likely will look Saturday night:

The Carolina Hurricanes have claimed Adam Hall on waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team announced Saturday morning.

Hall had four assists in 20 games for the Lightning this season. When he packs up his gear, he won't have to take it very far -- the Hurricanes are in Tampa, Fla., and play the Lightning on Saturday night so Hall could make his Carolina debut against his former club.

"Adam gives us an added penalty killer," Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford said on Twitter (@HurricanesGM). "He plays the wing, but can also play center and is a very good face-off man."

One of the surprise teams of the 2012-13 NHL season has been the Montreal Canadiens, who head into their game Saturday at the New Jersey Devils (7 p.m. ET, NHLN-US, CBC) leading the Eastern Conference standings.

It's a long way from last season, when the Canadiens finished 15th in the conference; entering this season they weren't predicted to finish much higher.

As the April 3 NHL trade deadline approaches, the decisions only get tougher for Canadiens first-year general manager Marc Bergevin. Does he stay with the team that's gotten the Canadiens this far? Or does he look to add pieces for a Stanley Cup Playoffs run?

"I think it's a constant revisiting of how you can improve your team on a daily basis," Canadiens assistant GM Larry Carriere told NHL.com. "That's something we started when Marc came in and it's something we do every day."

At 1:14 of the third period in the Predators/Flames game, video review upheld the referee's call on the ice that the puck deflected off Curtis Glencross' body and into the net in a legal fashion. According to Rule 78.4 "if an attacking player has the puck deflect into the net, off his skate or body, in any manner, the goal shall be allowed." Good Goal Calgary.

CISCO NHL Live talks with David Desharnais Forward for the Montreal Canadiens, who signed a new contract on Friday.

Here's how the Edmonton Oilers' lines could look Friday night when they host the Detroit Red Wings, their first game back at Rexall Place after completing a nine-game road trip with a 3-4-2 mark:

Taylor Hall - Shawn Horcoff - Ales Hemsky

Ryan Jones - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Jordan Eberle

Magnus Paajarvi - Sam Gagner - Nail Yakupov

Lennart Petrell - Ryan Smyth - Mike Brown

Ladislav Smid - Jeff Petry

Ryan Whitney - Justin Schultz

Nick Schultz - Corey Potter

Devan Dubnyk

Yann Danis

Scratches: Ben Eager, Teemu Hartikainen, Theo Peckham

Injuries: Eric Belanger (groin), Mark Fistric (elbow), Nikolai Khabibulin (groin)

Cisco NHL Live with Steve Mears and EJ Hradek, at 5 p.m. ET on the NHL Network, will get you ready for three big games Friday night and your hockey weekend. David Desharnais signed a contract extension earlier today with Montreal, he'll join us to talk about it and the future of the Canadiens.

The New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers finish off a home-and-home series and we'll get a live update from our Cisco NHL Arena Cam in Philadelphia. Fresh off his first career shutout, St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen will join the show to talk about his hot start to the season.

We'll also have Eddie Olczyk on to talk about the amazing season that Sidney Crosby is having. On the other side of the spectrum we will get NHL Network analyst Barry Melrose's take on how he would fix some of the struggling NHL teams.

Don't forget to submit your #AskEJ questions through Twitter via @NHLNetwork or @EJHradek_NHL, and stick around for the shootout as EJ picks a winner for all three games being played on Friday.

CALGARY -- Here are the projected lineups for Friday night’s game between the Nashville Predators and Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome:

FLAMES

Alex Tanguay – Mike Cammalleri – Jarome Iginla

Curtis Glencross – Matt Stajan – Lee Stempniak

Jiri Hudler – Mikael Backlund – Blake Comeau

Tim Jackman – Steve Begin – Brian McGrattan

Jay Bouwmeester – TJ Brodie

Dennis Wideman – Mark Giordano

Derek Smith – Chris Butler

Miikka Kiprusoff

Joey MacDonald

PHILADELPHIA -- The New Jersey Devils heard all the talk earlier in the week about how the Philadelphia Flyers were approaching the teams' home-and-home set as if they were the Flyers' biggest games of the season.

After a 5-2 win Wednesday at Prudential Center, the Devils go into the rematch Friday at Wells Fargo Center (7 p.m. ET, NHLN-US) with a chance to give themselves an eight-point lead on the Flyers, as well as continue to lock in their spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

"We want to try to bury the teams below us as quickly as possible," Devils coach Peter DeBoer said. "Doesn't matter whether it's Philadelphia or Florida or anybody else -- you get an opportunity to separate yourself from the teams below you, you want to take full advantage of that. It's all about getting points right now. It's not necessarily about the opponent; it's about putting points on the board and trying to solidify a spot in the top eight."