NEW YORK -- The Penguins will be without two of their top-four defensemen tonight at Madison Square Garden as both Kris Letang and Zbynek Michalek are heading back to Pittsburgh for further evaluation. Both players were with the Penguins at the morning skate.

Pittsburgh recalled defensemen Alexandre Picard and Robert Bortuzzo from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. Both are expected to play as the Penguins have only six defensemen remaining in New York.

Letang suffered a broken nose when Montreal forward Max Pacioretty hit him Saturday. Pacioretty was suspended for three games by the NHL on Monday for an illegal hit to the head.

Michalek missed 10 straight games from Oct. 29 - Nov. 19 because of a broken finger, but he has played in the last four. The nature of his injury has not been disclosed.

Picard played six games with the Penguins earlier this month, averaging 12:41 of ice time and picking up a plus-4 rating. Bortuzzo made his NHL debut with the Penguins at Los Angeles on Nov. 5. He was scoreless and had a minor penalty in 10:38 of ice time.

Follow Dan Rosen on Twitter at: @drosennhl

VANCOUVER -- Columbus rookie Ryan Johansen is right at home in Vancouver, but the 19-year-old will have a new vantage point Tuesday against the Canucks team he grew up cheering.

Johansen, who returned to his nearby hometown of Port Moody to watch his younger brother play hockey and eat with family on Monday night, was a spectator at Rogers Arena as recently as Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. Now the fourth pick in the 2010 NHL Draft will be counted on to slow down a Vancouver team finding its groove again.

"For a kid like that to be able to come home, he's pretty excited, he'll have lots of family in the building, and hopefully it's a big night," Columbus coach Scott Arniel said. "It took him a while to get the feel of the NHL and what it takes to play every night, but he's been dangerous. He's shown a lot of the skill for the size that he has, and an ability to score some big goals. It would be nice to see him get rewarded in front of the home crowd."

It hasn't necessarily been an easy transition for Johansen, who was scratched four times during a miserable October in Columbus. But shortly after shifting from center to right wing while Jeff Carter was out, Johansen scored the winning goal in the Blue Jackets' first three victories, and now has 5 goals, 10 points and a team-best plus-4 rating.

"There was a lot on his plate early on, especially playing center in the National Hockey League. As an 18-year-old, there was a lot to grasp," Arniel said after practice Monday. "The switch to right wing seemed to make him really comfortable and all of the sudden we started to see the offense and the big power forward we were hoping for."

Unfortunately for the Blue Jackets, they will face a goaltender that also benefitted from some tough Arniel love early in his career. Canucks backup Cory Schneider, who will make his sixth-straight start Tuesday and is coming off NHL Second Star honors for his play last week, credits Arniel for giving him a "kick" during his rookie AHL season.

"I'd like to kick him right now," Arniel joked.

Ironically, Schneider faces Curtis Sanford, his playing partner when the Canucks' AHL affiliate went to the Calder Cup Finals in 2009. It's a scenario few would envisioned a few weeks ago, when Schneider was still the backup to Roberto Luongo, Sanford was hurt and the Blue Jackets' third-stringer, and Arniel was listening to regular speculation about his job being in jeopardy while Columbus struggled. Even if they didn’t see Tuesday's matchup coming, Arniel and Sanford both foresaw success for Schneider.

"Everybody envisioned he was going to be a good NHL goaltender," Arniel said. "He's a guy that’s very driven and very confident, a big goalie that's also very athletic."

Size isn't on Sanford's size, but that hasn't kept the 5-foot-10 goaltender from getting back to the NHL three seasons -- and several serious injuries -- after his last game with Vancouver. With a 3-1-2 record, 1.39 goals-against average and .947 save percentage during six-straight starts, the popular journeyman has made the most of this unexpected opportunity, sparking a Columbus turnaround.

VANCOUVER -- Derick Brassard gets back into the Columbus Blue Jackets' lineup for just the third time in the last nine games after being a regular scratch, with Cody Bass coming out. Coach Scott Arniel pledged to get the sixth pick from the 2006 NHL Draft more ice time, but it won't be easy on the fourth line.

Vinny Prospal - Jeff Carter - Rick Nash
R.J. Umberger - Mark Letestu - Ryan Johansen
Antoine Vermette - Samuel Pahlsson - Derek Dorsett
Derick Brassard - Derek MacKenzie - Jared Boll

Fedor Tyutin - Nikita Nikitin
Marc Methot - James Wisniewski
John Moore - Grant Clitsome

Curtis Sanford, who backed up Roberto Luongo in Vancouver for two years, will make his seventh straight start while Steve Mason, recently cleared to return after suffering a concussion in from a shot off the mask in practice, is at least backing up again.

CHICAGO – He's not ready to rejoin the Phoenix Coyotes active lineup just yet, but Kyle Turris probably isn't far off from after recently signing with the team.

Turris, a restricted free agent, would have missed the entire 2011-12 season if he didn't reach an agreement on a new contract before Dec. 1, and at one point asked the Coyotes to trade him. Instead, they inked him to a new two-year deal, and all that's left to do now is get the 22-year old center -- taken by Phoenix with the third pick of the 2007 Entry Draft -- ready for games.

"He's come in in great shape," said Coyotes coach Dave Tippett, who got another look at Turris during this morning's skate in Chicago. "So far in practices he looks very good. He plays the game fast, his skill level and everything looks to be right in sync."

Turris still might need a conditioning stint with Portland in the American Hockey League, but that hasn't been determined yet. For now, he's with the Coyotes for practices but not games.

"We'll see where it goes for the next couple of days here and whether he has to go play a couple days in Portland  or whether we keep him up here," Tippett said. "That final decision hasn't been made yet, but the bright spot is he has come in and you can tell he has put a lot of
work in to get himself ready, so that's a real positive for us."

Just getting Turris back in the fold is a positive, almost akin to making a trade to get a solid player without having to give up anything in return.

"You're adding a good player," Tippett said of Turris, who had 11 goals and 14 assists in 65 games last season. "Sometimes the business part of the game comes into play and that was the case, but you're adding a player that can come in and I think can make an impact on our team."

Turris also appears to have added some muscle to his 6-foot-1, 195-pound frame, which Tippett thinks will help him improve even more in the middle.

"The other side of that (contract dispute) is he's a player that has worked on his strength and maturity and that extra month might have done him some good," Tippett said. "Time will tell on that, but he looks fit and looks strong and rested, ready to play."

As for his teammates understanding his situation after the contentious negotiations sometimes became public, Coyotes captain Shane Doan said it's not an issue.

"It's one of those things that you understand it's a business and the way that it goes and that obviously there are going to be times where, business-wise, you're going to try to take advantage of the way the system is set up," Doan said. "When it's set up in your favor, yeah, you should definitely use it. Other times, maybe not."

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Alex Ovechkin hasn't averaged less than 21 minutes per game of ice time in his career ... until this season.

One of Bruce Boudreau's edicts for the Washington Capitals this campaign was to play his star players less during the regular season to take advantage of the team's depth and keep everyone fresh. Well, Boudreau is no longer the coach of the Capitals.

Dale Hunter is, and he is now in charge of rationing minutes for a deep and talented (yet struggling) squad.

"Minutes are always judged by how well you play that game -- always that game," Hunter said. "It is a reward system here with ice time. If you deserve more, you're going to get more. Definitely, I like playing my star players, but it is one of those things where if the team is going right and everybody is firing on all cylinders, I'll roll four lines."

Hunter's previous job was coaching the London Knights in the Ontario Hockey League. While he typically had one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the OHL, that is a league that is notorious for having the best players see upwards of 30 minutes of ice time.

How Hunter doles out minutes in the coming days and weeks will be worth monitoring. At the beginning of the season, Boudreau's plan seemed sound -- keep the big guns fresh for the games that matter in the postseason. But those big guns have not performed, and it is possible the reduction of ice time has played a role.

As for other changes to watch for, Hunter said there will be a few. The forward lines were not different Monday during his first practice, but he did move people around when working on the power play Tuesday morning.

Nicklas Backstrom, who leads the team with 18 assists and 25 points, was not on the top PP unit. Rookie defenseman Dmitry Orlov, he of the four career NHL games, was.

The top unit included Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Mike Knuble up front with Brooks Laich and Orlov on the points. The second unit included Backstrom, Marcus Johansson and either Jason Chimera or Troy Brouwer up front with John Carlson and Dennis Wideman on the points.

One of the staples of a Boudreau-run power play was typically either two left-handed shots up front or two righties -- it appears the top unit for Hunter's first game will include three right-handed shots.

"It is a fine line," Hunter said. "I changed a few things, but you can't make drastic changes because you have no time to practice it."

CHICAGO -- Here's how the lineups might look for Chicago and Phoenix in tonight's game at the United Center:

BLACKHAWKS
Viktor Stalberg - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Sharp
Daniel Carcillo - Patrick Kane - Marian Hossa
Andrew Brunette - Dave Bolland - Michael Frolik
Bryan Bickell - Marcus Kruger - Jamal Mayers

Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Nick Leddy - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Steve Montador - Sami Lepisto

Corey Crawford will get the start in net, with Ray Emery the backup.

Sean O'Donnell or John Scott also could draw in on defense, possibly in place of Lepisto.

COYOTES
Ray Whitney - Martin Hanzal - Radim Vrbata
Mikkel Boedker - Daymond Langkow - Shane Doan
Taylor Pyatt - Boyd Gordon - Lauri Korpikoski
Raffi Torres - Kyle Chipchura - Patrick O'Sullivan

Keith Yandle - Derek Morris
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Adrian Aucoin
Rostislav Klesla - David Schlemko

Mike Smith will get the start in net for Phoenix, with Jason LaBarbera the backup.

Cal O'Reilly could see time in the middle in the fourth line in place of Chipchura.

For more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.

CHICAGO -- The Hawks had a stopover in Las Vegas planned before the team left on its annual "circus trip," but some wondered whether they still would go after losing 9-2 in Edmonton just before they were supposed to arrive in Sin City.

They made the trip anyway and wound up using it as a way to get rid of the bitter memory of that stinging defeat.

"It was kind of a wake-up call, losing that game to Edmonton, because we didn't play at all the way we wanted to," forward Viktor Stalberg said after this morning's skate at the United Center. "That was the biggest thing, but it was nice to get away for a couple days. It was good for us to get away from (the loss) for a little bit."

That's because it was one of those losses that stuck in a lot people's minds who watched it, let alone watched first-hand from the receiving end.

"It's easy when you have a loss like that to keep overthinking things," Stalberg said. "The message in our locker room from the older guys was just, 'It's a loss. It doesn't matter if it's 2-1 or 9-2. We take the loss and move on from there.'"

Chicago then lost its next game in San Jose, but played much better in defeat before winning the final two games of the road trip, against the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings.

CHICAGO -- After being a healthy scratch for the first time this season Saturday against the Kings, gritty forward Daniel Carcillo will get back in the lineup tonight against the Coyotes.

Carcillo played left wing on the second line with Patrick Kane at center and Marian Hossa on the right side for much of the early part of the season, but Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville wasn't thrilled with Carcillo's effectiveness of late and decided to sit him out for a game.

The message came through loud and clear, according to Carcillo.

"I haven't been playing as well as I'd like to," said Carcillo, who didn't record a point and logged just four shots with a minus-3 rating in the five games preceding his benching. "Obviously, sitting out last game I'm not very happy about … so I'm ready to get back at it with a strong match."

What things will Quenneville be looking for from Carcillo?

"The biggest thing is being on the forecheck and being on the body and getting under people's skin," Carcillo said, following today's morning skate at the United Center. "That comes with skating and working hard and getting (my linemates) pucks and finishing my checks."

VANCOUVER -- Alexandre Burrows needed four stitches to close the cut on his left hand, but will be back on the top line against Columbus tonight, leaving the other lines intact:
 
Defenseman Alexander Edler left Saturday's game in San Jose early after a big hit from Jamie McGinn, but was back on the ice Monday and Tuesday and also appears ready to play the Blue Jackets:
 
Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Alexandre Burrows
David Booth - Ryan Kesler - Chris Higgins
Cody Hodgson - Maxim Lapierre - Jannik Hansen
Aaron Volpatti - Manny Malhotra - Dale Weise
 
Dan Hamhuis - Kevin Bieksa
Alexander Edler - Sami Salo
Keith Ballard - Aaron Rome
 
Cory Schneider makes his sixth-straight start in goal, while Roberto Luongo watches a fourth consecutive game from the bench, his longest stretch as a healthy backup in six seasons in Vancouver.

For more on tonight's game, check out the preview here.