NEWARK, N.J. -- For the first time in his NHL career, New Jersey Devils rookie defenseman Adam Larsson will be listed as a healthy scratch.
 
Devils coach Peter DeBoer has opted to give Larsson, the fourth pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, a breather and will replace him in the lineup with recent call-up Peter Harrold.
 
"He's a young guy and it doesn't hurt to sit up and watch and take a step back sometimes," DeBoer said. "I think, since he's come back from his injury, he's had a few bumps in the road and struggled with some consistency. We've talked to him about that. It's getting to the point in the year here where it will benefit him to sit and watch for a night."
 
The Devils enter Tuesday's contest against the Chicago Blackhawks at Prudential Center having lost five of their last seven games (2-4-1). The club would not only like to clinch a playoff berth as quickly as possible, but start playing the brand of hockey that enabled it to reach this point in the first place. New Jersey has allowed an un-Devil-like 18 goals in its last five games.
 
Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, who will get his third straight start between the pipes, is 0-3-1 in his last four starts and 1-4-1 in his last six. The future Hall of Fame goalie, who on Monday celebrated the 20th anniversary of his NHL debut on March 26, 1992, in a victory over the Boston Bruins at Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, feels Larsson can only benefit from watching.
 
"He's here for a long time and this is just a bump in the road in his progress," Brodeur said. "It happens with young guys a lot, especially when expectations are high. The depth of our defense has been challenged a little bit with Henrik Tallinder out and (Anton Volchenkov). That makes it tough on younger players with regard to how to deal with it. The games pick up this time of year … the intensity, the drive of teams you play against is higher and you have to step up, and that's one of the hardest things to do as a young player."
 
Larsson missed 10 games in February with a bruised lower back after taking a check from Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban. In 64 games with the Devils -- he also missed two games for personal reasons -- Larsson has 2 goals, 18 points and a minus-7 rating.
 
"You can't hide a defenseman, just like you can't hide a goalie," Brodeur said. "That's because defense is where you get exposed the most. For him, it's a matter of working hard. He'll be here a long time and he'll be back in the lineup sooner than people think. But right now, he has to realize he needs to step up a little bit, and that's fine.
 
"To be honest, I didn't really see anything that the coaches might have saw (with regard to his play). I thought he was playing alright, but they felt he needed that break."
 
DeBoer wants to see Larsson fresh and confident entering the postseason.
 
"You don't get to this stage by just jumping in … you go through a progression, and the progression when he came back from injury was to try and let him fight through some of the inconsistencies," DeBoer said. "But at some point, you have to take a different approach and that's where we're at. He handled it well in our conversation, and I'm confident he'll bounce back."
 
Harrold, who was recalled from the Devils American Hockey League affiliate in Albany on Monday, will skate with Matt Taormina to start the game. In five games with the Devils this season, Harrold has no points and a minus-1 rating. He last played with the club on Feb. 24 in a loss to Vancouver.
 
Following their contest with the Blackhawks, the Devils will have three more home games, including Thursday's clash with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and two on the road. The club currently sits in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, has six games remaining and requires a total of six points to officially clinch a playoff spot.
Defenseman Anton Volchenkov did not practice for a second straight day and will likely miss his second straight game with a lower-body injury.
 
While the Devils lose their leading hitter and shot blocker in Volchenkov, center Travis Zajac returned to the lineup on Sunday. Zajac, playing his first game since Jan. 2, notched one assist in his team's 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He centered Ilya Kovalchuk and Alexei Ponikarovsky against the Penguins, but was working with Kovalchuk and rookie Adam Henrique during the team's full practice session on Monday.
 
It will mark the first time this season that Henrique will skate on wing.
 
"It'll be a little change for him playing wing, but he's a smart player and he'll figure it out quick," Zajac said.
 
The only trio that remained intact from Sunday was Patrik Elias centering Zach Parise and Dainius Zubrus. Nine players decided to rest the legs during Tuesday's optional skate, including Kovalchuk, Dainius Zubrus, Petr Sykora, Elias, Bryce Salvador, Andy Greene, David Clarkson and Marek Zidlicky.
 
Here are the possible line combinations for the Devils:
 
Adam Henrique - Travis Zajac - Ilya Kovalchuk
Zach Parise - Patrik Elias - Dainius Zubrus
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Jacob Josefson - David Clarkson
Petr Sykora - Ryan Carter - Steve Bernier
 
Andy Greene - Mark Fayne
Bryce Salvador - Marek Zidlicky
Matt Taormina - Peter Harrold
 
Martin Brodeur
Johan Hedberg

The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today that defenseman Kris Letang will not play Tuesday against the New York Islanders and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Letang, who has missed time twice this season due to concussion-like symptoms, collided with New Jersey's Dainius Zubrus during Sunday's game. He returned, however, and played more than 22 minutes.

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Letang is not suffering from any concussion-related issues.

The Penguins, who clinched a playoff spot last week, have seven games left in the regular season.

WASHINGTON -- The Sabres are on the ice at Verizon Center in advance of Tuesday night's huge game against Washington for sole possession of eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Both the Caps and Sabres are tied with 84 points, but Washington holds the tiebreaker and is currently in eighth place due to its 36 non-shootout victories. The Sabres have only 30, but they can make the tiebreaker meaningless with a win here.

Judging from the line rushes early in the morning skate, Patrick Kaleta (thumb) will return to the lineup and skate on the fourth line with Brad Boyes and Cody McCormick. Kaleta has missed the last three games.

Nathan Gerbe (upper-body) has also been cleared to play, but he was skating as an extra forward.

The Sabres announced on their Twitter feed Tuesday morning that Travis Turnbull was returned to Rochester of the American Hockey League.

Ryan Miller is expected to make his ninth straight start. He has started 28 of the last 30 games, going 18-5-5 over the span since Jan. 19.

The Sabres have one of the hottest lines in the NHL going right now with Tyler Ennis playing in between Drew Stafford and Marcus Foligno. The Sabres' new top line has 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points in the last eight games.

Buffalo is 18-5-5 in its last 28 games. The Sabres made the playoffs last season after going 16-4-4 in their final 24 games.

Here are the Sabres' expected lines and defense pairings:

Marcus Foligno - Tyler Ennis - Drew Stafford
Ville Leino - Derek Roy - Jason Pominville
Corey Tropp - Cody Hodgson - Thomas Vanek
Cody McCormick - Brad Boyes - Patrick Kaleta

Jordan Leopold - Tyler Myers
Andrej Sekera - Robyn Regehr
Christian Ehrhoff - Alexander Sulzer

Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl

NHL Network's Craig Button has been tracking playoff positioning -- using a variety of statistical categories -- for several years now. His formula, while not a true probability exercise, has proven to be very effective at predicting the cutoff number to secure a Stanley Cup Playoffs berth.

In its simplest terms, Button's formula uses a team's current winning percentage, factoring in games remaining, to arrive at the number of wins -- and points -- each team will finish the season with. From that exercise, the formula can extrapolate the magic number for qualification and which teams currently in the race will reach that number. This equation will also determine tiebreakers should they become necessary.

Still not convinced? Check out the full explanation of Button's formula. 

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Current Position	NHL Team	Games Played	Current Points	Games Remaining	Projected Points	Wins to earn 8th
8th		76	84	6	90	4
9th		76	84	6	90	4
10th		76	78	6	84	6
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Current Position	NHL Team	Games Played	Current Points	Games Remaining	Projected Points	Wins to earn 8th
8th		77	87	5	92	3
9th		76	86	6	92	4
10th		78	86	4	90	4
11th		77	85	5	90	4

The skinny: Look no further than America's capitol city for the 'must-see' game Tuesday.

The Buffalo Sabres will be in town to face the Washington Capitals, and the winner moves into sole position of eighth place in the Eastern Conference. The projection for playoff qualification in the East remains at 91 points, so while no 'spoils' will go to the victor, that team can move a little closer towards the magic number and in turn, inflict some damage on the nearest competitor. A Washington win coupled with a Florida loss at Montreal and the Southeast Division crown also comes into sight for the Caps. Florida visits Washington one last time this season on April 5th.

Washington holds the tiebreaker over Buffalo, with more regulation and/or overtime wins -- the magical 'ROW' column in the standings -- by a wide margin.  A tie in the standings does not help the Sabres. With five games remaining for each club after Tuesday, the Sabres would have to gain three more points than Washington in those games to get past them.

It is a small number but with an equally small number of games remaining, it becomes quite a task to accomplish barring a Washington collapse. The Panthers need to help their own cause and not rely upon others to push them along. Winless in their past three games, including shootout losses to the Oilers and Islanders, a Florida win has significant repercussions for the East race. It would put them four points, at the very least, up on the ninth-place team.

Again, at this point in the season with the schedule dwindling, that is a significant number and a gap that would be very difficult to overcome for the team that loses in Washington. The winner on Tuesday in Washington will get a leg up and 'control their destiny' and the Panthers can 'kill two birds with one stone' with a win.

At 17:03 of the third period in the Senators/Jets game, video review determined that Jason Spezza hits the puck out of the air which then deflects off  Evander Kane's body and enters the net in a legal fashion. Good goal Winnipeg.

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."

At 14:03 of the second period in the Stars/Flames game, video review determined that Adam Burish kicked the puck into the net with his right skate. No goal Dallas.

According to rule 49.2 "A goal cannot be scored by an attacking player who uses a distinct kicking motion to propel the puck into the net.".

SAN JOSE -- It's been 28 days since the San Jose Sharks sent forward Jamie McGinn to Colorado in a trade deadline deal for wingers Daniel Winnik and TJ Galiardi.

McGinn left as a solid third-line winger, but will return Monday night to HP Pavilion as one of the NHL's hottest players when he faces his former Sharks teammates for the first time.

McGinn has 8 goals (2 game-winners) and 4 assists in 13 games for the Avalanche. He has a pair of 2-goal games, and he reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career Saturday night when he scored on the power play against Vancouver.

Has he ever been this hot on the ice?

"Maybe in junior hockey," McGinn said after Colorado's morning skate at HP Pavilion. "It's nice. It's been a while, but I'm not going to think about it too much. I'm just going to continue to go out there and take every game like it's a new game and continue to work hard. I can't worry about that. You don't want to jinx it or anything. You just continue to work. That's all it is."

McGinn, who was drafted by the Sharks in the second round in 2006, said retuning to San Jose has been "surreal" for him. He went out to dinner Sunday night with former Sharks teammates Logan Couture, Ryane Clowe, Torrey Mitchell, Jason Demers and Colin White.

But after catching up with "a few of the boys," McGinn said it will be all business Monday night and he'll play the same high-energy, hard-hitting game he always does.

"You have to continue to play hard every night no matter who you're against," McGinn said. "It's hockey. Trades happen. You can be buddies off the ice, but once you're on the ice you've got to forget about it and worry about what's at hand. There's five games left, so every point's important. I can't take a night off."

McGinn has been getting more ice time with Colorado than he did in San Jose, which explains some of his newfound success. He's also a top-six forward in Colorado, and Avalanche coach Joe Sacco said McGinn found instant chemistry with center Paul Stastny and forward David Jones.

"With him and Jones on the wing you've got two bigger guys that hound the puck, that get after it on the forecheck, and you have a very smart centerman in the middle there who can make plays, distribute the puck to those guys," Sacco said. "Both wingers have good shots. Both guys use their size effectively, and when you have that guy in the middle who can make plays, sees the ice well, it's been a good fit for everyone."

McGinn didn't have a point in his first two games with Colorado, but in his third game he had 2 goals, including the game-winner, against Minnesota. Two nights later in a rematch with the Wild, McGinn had the game-winning goal and an assist.

"You want to be an impact player right away," McGinn said. "It's new fans, new teammates. You don't want to be coming in and kind of sitting back just watching. I want to be an impact player, I want to be a part of it, I want to be a guy they can look to to maybe put the puck in the net.  I was pretty excited to get the first one out of the way early."

Sharks coach Todd McLellan said he's not surprised by McGinn's success.

"Well, he's a hell of a player," McLellan said. "He's having a career type year. He's scoring goals and he's given an opportunity to play a few more minutes there with a young team. He gets a little more on the power-play unit, perhaps first line power-play minutes vs. second. He went there, he established himself, and he's a confident player right now. And that's Jamie McGinn. We all liked him when he was here, and now our job is to go out and beat him when he’s over there."

Winnik started heating up just in time to face his former team. He scored a goal in each of the past two games, his first two goals since coming to the Sharks. Winnik, center Andrew Desjardins and winger Tommy Wingels have found some chemistry and given McLellan some offensive production outside of his top two lines.

"You can see that he's found a home and he feels comfortable there," McLellan said of Winnik. "Rewarded with a couple goals. We'd like to keep him going, as well."

Sacco said he's not surprised that Winnik is "popping in some goals here and there" for the Sharks.

"He's a good solid player. He's a good penalty killer, he's a good defensive foreward," Sacco said. "He's strong on the puck, he cycles it well. He gives you some good grind time. And I think with Winny, scoring is a bonus."

Galiardi, who has yet to score a goal for the Sharks, will miss his sixth straight game with an upper-body injury and won't get to face his former team Monday night.

After missing three games with back spasms, Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson will return to the lineup against San Jose, Sacco said, replacing defenseman Tyson Barrie.

Johnson practiced Sunday, and after going through Monday morning's skate, he said he was good to go.

"It was definitely hard being out," Johnson said. "An injury like a back, you kind of have to make sure you're ready to go. I didn't want to take two steps forward and then one step back. It was an injury that wasn't really fun to have, and especially this time of year, it was really bad timing for it."

Johnson said he's ready to resume his roles on the power play and penalty kill, as well.

"I feel good enough to play as much as they want me to," Johnson said. "I'll accept those minutes how they're given to me. Obviously you'd like to play as much as you can, and hopefully I can do that tonight and use the ice time effectively."

Here's how the lineups could look tonight:

SHARKS
Patrick Marleau - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski
Ryane Clowe - Logan Couture - Martin Havlat
Dominic Moore - Michal Handzus - Torrey Mitchell
Daniel Winnik - Andrew Desjardins - Tommy Wingels

Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Dan Boyle
Douglas Murray - Brent Burns
Jason Demers - Justin Braun

Antti Niemi
Thomas Greiss

Niemi will make his 15th consecutive start for the Sharks. He's 4-1-2 with a 2.49 goals against average and one shutout in his career against Colorado.

AVALANCHE
Steve Downie - Ryan O'Reilly - Gabriel Landeskog
Jamie McGinn - Paul Stastny - David Jones
Mark Olver - Matt Duchene - Milan Hejduk
Cody McLeod - Jay McClement - Chuck Kobasew

Matt Hunwick - Ryan Wilson
Jan Hejda - Ryan O'Byrne
Shane O'Brien - Erik Johnson  

Semyon Varlamov
Jean-Sebastian Giguere

Varlamov will be in goal for the fifth straight game. He is 2-1-0 with a 2.93 goals against average in his career against San Jose.

Vancouver Canucks coach Alain Vigneault confirmed what most already suspected Monday, when he said leading goal scorer Daniel Sedin suffered a concussion on an elbow from Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith.

"Daniel obviously, as everyone knows, has got a concussion and we're following the protocol," Vigneault said after his team's morning skate, ignoring the fact no one else from the Canucks said so since Wednesday's hit, which resulted in a five-game suspension for Keith.

As for Sedin's timeline for a possible return, Vigneault didn't sound like he'd have updates anytime soon: "I'm not going to address this every day. He's got a concussion and when we've got something more to say, we'll say it."

While it's anyone's guess when Sedin will return, Vancouver could be getting a couple other players back sooner than expected. Utility forward Andrew Ebbett, who has 4 goals in 14 games this season, is practicing after having his collarbone broken in two places by a big hit in Boston on Jan. 7 and needing surgery to repair the damage. And defenseman Keith Ballard, out since Feb. 7 with a concussion, rejoined the team at Monday morning's skate. Ballard, who has been cleared for light contact after missing 22 games, is hoping to practice Tuesday, but wasn't close to thinking about playing in the final seven games.

"How he'll react next couple of days is anyone's guess," Vigneault said.

The same could be said of an up-and-down Canucks team that has been locked into the second seed in the Western Conference for a while -- they can clinch no worse than second and close within two of St. Louis for first place with a win over a more desperate Los Angeles Kings team fighting for its playoff life.

Vancouver will try to build off two-straight road wins and put a decidedly blasé 3-4-0 homestand in the past against a streaking Kings team that won six straight before losing to Boston on Saturday, dropping to eighth in the West -- tied with San Jose and Colorado, but just one point behind Dallas for the Pacific Division lead.

Here are the expected lineups for their final meeting of the season:

CANUCKS
Mason Raymond - Henrik Sedin - Zack Kassian
Alexandre Burrows - Ryan Kesler - David Booth
Chris Higgins - Samuel Pahlsson - Jannik Hansen
Manny Malhotra - Maxim Lapierre - Dale Weise

Alexander Edler - Kevin Bieksa
Dan Hamhuis - Christopher Tanev
Marc-Andre Gragnani - Sami Salo

Roberto Luongo
Cory Schneider

The only change for the Canucks is Gragnani coming back into the lineup for Aaron Rome, who suffered a minor knee injury Sunday in Colorado and is expected to be out seven to 10 days as a result.

Luongo is back in goal for a second straight game after splitting the four-game road trip with Schneider, and playing his two best game in recent weeks, including 38 saves in the 3-2 overtime win in Colorado Saturday.

KINGS
Dustin Brown - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams
Dwight King - Mike Richards - Jeff Carter
Dustin Penner - Jarret Stoll - Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford - Colin Fraser - Jordan Nolan

Rob Scuderi - Drew Doughty
Willie Mitchell - Slava Voynov
Matt Greene - Alec Martinez

Jonathan Quick
Jonathan Bernier

Coach Darryl Sutter called the 4-2 loss to Boston one of the team's best games despite winning the previous six, so it's no surprise he won't change his lineup as the Kings open a tough four-game road trip that finished with an absurd Edmonton-to-Minnesota trip for games on consecutive nights.

CALGARY -- The fate of the Dallas Stars lies within.
 
The fate of the Calgary Flames could lie in the Stars, too. A Dallas win over the Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Monday night would all but put an end to the playoff aspirations in Calgary.
 
Stars forward Eric Nystrom is well aware of that.
 
"We know we have a chance to put a team that's competing with us out of the picture -- or almost out of the picture," Nystrom said. "It's huge. We're battling for our lives just like they are. You just have to win hockey games."
 
The Stars currently hold down top spot in the Pacific Division, but are just four points up on the 11th place Flames with the Phoenix Coyotes, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche scattered in between.
 
"We know what the standings are, we know what our position is, we know what we're trying to accomplish," Sheldon Souray said. "We'll take it one game at a time, and if it means going through Calgary and having one less team in there, perfect. Every night we have our work cut out for us, but obviously the fewer teams in there the better our chances are."
 
But a win over Calgary isn't all about ending the Flames hopes, according to Jamie Benn.
 
"We know what we can do, but the biggest picture is the two points and that's what we're going for," he said. "We have to keep climbing, keep playing our game, and hopefully have a strong push for the playoffs."
 
A strong push from here on out is critical if the Stars hope to have success given the proximity of how teams are situated.
 
"We're sitting in a position where everything is so ridiculously tight," Steve Ott said. "Their life is on their line. Our life is on our line as well. There are only so many games and so many points left in the season. The tightness is only going to continue to go until Game 82.
 
"If we continue to get points we'll figure it out by the end of the standings. It puts us in control of our own destiny."
 
It's something Stars coach Glen Gulutzan has been preaching to his club.
 
"We've got to help ourselves," Gulutzan said. "Anytime you start worrying about those other teams they keep winning. We've really had to look internally in our group to make sure we get points. Truthfully in our locker room all we're talking about is getting points. We've got to get points in every game we play. We can't look around and watch scoreboards."
 
It boils down to simple math to Nystrom.
 
"If you win, you're in," he said. "That's the way it works the whole year. It's no different right now. If we win games we're going to be in the playoffs."
 
And if the team happens to dismiss a few opponents along the way?
 
"It's nothing personal," said Nystrom, a former member of the Flames. "This is my team. I want us to make it. That's just an opponent that's standing in our way. It's nothing personal against them. I want my team to make it."

CALGARY -- The playoff fate of the Calgary Flames is simple -- win out and get in.
 
Trailing the eighth and final playoff spot by three points with six games remaining coupled with having to leapfrog three teams, the 11th place Flames have set their sights on winning their remaining games in order to extend their season.
 
But the Flames can't win six if they don't first win one.
 
"We know we pretty much have to run the table, but it's with one game," captain Jarome Iginla said. "As far as the way we're thinking positively, we've been in a drought, but the tide will turn and we all have to approach it that it'll be tonight."
 
The Flames host the Dallas Stars, a team that took two points away from Calgary in the first of a home-and-home series Saturday. Another loss against the Stars puts the playoffs all but out of reach.
 
"The focus is to win tonight," Matt Stajan said. "If we don't win tonight, nothing else matters. That's our focus. We've got to be ready to go and treat it like Game 7 and go from there. The next game will be a Game 7, but you can't look past tonight."
 
A favorable schedule, Calgary will play the majority of their remaining games at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
 
"We've got six games left," winger Curtis Glencross said. "We're not out of it yet. We have five home games and we have to take advantage of it."
 
Iginla agreed.
 
"We have these games at home and we have this week at home," Iginla said. "It starts with tonight. We've got a shot, but we've got to win our own games. No matter how much help we get, we have to win our own games, and that's what our focus has to be."
 
Winning six straight is a daunting task for the Flames, whose season-high five-game winning streak in early March has given way to a five-game skid. Though they've earned points in three of their five losses, Calgary hasn't seen the win column since March 15.
 
“These last five games, we've went into them knowing how big each game is, we know where the standings are, and they haven't turned out well for us, obviously," Iginla said. "Now we just go play. As far as squeezing sticks, teams run into tough stretches where you have a hard time scoring goals. It turns. We need it to turn now. We know the time is running out and we need to get ourselves on a roll. We think it's going to turn."
 
It just has to start with one.
 
"The best way is to win one hockey game and we'll see what happens from there," Tim Jackman said. "All of a sudden you win two. Then you win three.
 
"We believe we can do this. We have the team. We just have to win one game and we'll take things from there."
 
Because if they can't, the Flames will find themselves watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third consecutive year.