NEW YORK -- Kris Letang returned from a vicious hit from Montreal's Max Pacioretty on Saturday to score the game-winning goal in overtime, but Penguins coach Dan Bylsma was non-committal on his defenseman's status for tonight's game against the Rangers (7:30 p.m. ET, Versus, TSN2).

Letang skated at Madison Square Garden this morning and said he would speak to doctors this afternoon about his broken nose. The Penguins only have six defensemen in town right now, so if they wanted to replace Letang, they'd need to recall one from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL before the game.

Bylsma said Marc-Andre Fleury would make the start in net. Assuming Letang plays, here is what the Penguins' lineup will look like against the Rangers:

Chris Kunitz - Sidney Crosby - Pascal Dupuis
Steve Sullivan - Evgeni Malkin - James Neal
Matt Cooke - Jordan Staal - Tyler Kennedy
Arron Asham - Joe Vitale - Craig Adams

Brooks Orpik - Kris Letang
Zbynek Michalek - Paul Martin
Matt Niskanen - Deryk Engelland
 
Marc-Andre Fleury will start in goal, with Brent Johnson the backup.

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

Follow Dave Lozo on Twitter: @DaveLozo

The Carolina Hurricanes have claimed forward Andreas Nodl off waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers.

The 24-year old Nodl was a second-round pick by the Flyers in the 2006 NHL Draft and played 127 games for the team over parts of four seasons, compiling 12 goals and 28 points. Nodl has 1 assist in 12 games this season.

Injured New York Rangers defenseman and Marc Staal has begun skating lightly on his own at the team's practice facility in Greenburgh, N.Y., according to a report from ESPNNewYork.com, which cites sources.

Staal reportedly skated briefly Monday and was on the ice again Tuesday morning. He has not played this season due to the aftereffects of a concussion he suffered Feb. 22, a result of a hard hit he took from his older brother, Carolina captain Eric Staal.

The Rangers host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m. ET, Versus, TSN2).

At 6:01 of the third period in the Sharks/Kings game, video review determined that Los Angeles forward Vyacheslav Voynov propelled the puck into the net with his skate.  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."  No goal Los Angeles.

Video review was used to determine if the puck shot by Edmonton's Shawn Horcoff crossed the goal line. After video review, the call on the ice stands, the puck did not completely cross the goal line. No goal Edmonton.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- After watching his team continue to muddle offensively, Los Angeles Kings coach Terry Murray decided wholesale change was in order.

Murray has mixed up almost all of his line combinations and will try them out Monday night in a divisional matchup against San Jose.

The first line has Dustin Brown moving to left wing with Anze Kopitar and Trent Hunter. The second line reunites former Philadelphia teammates Mike Richards and Simon Gagne with Jarret Stoll moving to right wing. Finally, Andrei Loktionov will center a third line with Kyle Clifford and the demoted Justin Williams.

The Kings have scored seven goals in the past four games.

Brown has one goal in the past 14 games and Williams has no goals in that span. Stoll, a 20-goal scorer last season, has only two goals this season.

"I'm hoping the players are going to show us an answer one way or the other here certainly on the positive side that they like the change," Murray said.

Murray won't change the power play units, though, because the issue there has more to do with the organization's long-term issue of not putting pucks on net.

"The shot mentality -- it has to get better," Murray said. "We have to get it off our stick faster. People are in front of the net doing their job and give ourselves and opportunity to score or to recover a puck and create more opportunities."

Hunter on top line: Hunter's promotion to the first line comes curiously after he dubiously missed an open net in Saturday's 2-1 loss to Chicago.

But Hunter is a former 20-goal scorer who has gone from playing on a pro tryout contract in training camp to a first line right wing position.

"It's definitely a little bit of a roller coaster, starting in the summer and not having a contract," Hunter said. "It's not something I've had to do for quite a while, but it's part of the game. Now I've just got to take advantage and try and contribute any way I can."

Hunter has no goals in 11 games but that could change with Brown and Kopitar.

"They're both great players and do great things with the puck," Hunter said. "Brownie takes the puck to the net hard and opens up a lot of space there. Kopi just makes great plays with the puck and sees the ice so well. They definitely make space out there, for sure."

Brown moves to left side: Kings captain Dustin Brown will play left wing after spending large portions of his career on the right side.

The right-handed Brown said there will be some considerable adjustments good and bad.

"It's much more difficult making plays coming out of your own end," Brown said. "But making plays coming off the blue line on the offensive side of the puck -- you can cut, you can do the slant pass on to the guys' stick. And from a protection standpoint it's a lot easier to drive wide.

"There's lot more options on the offensive side of the puck. It's more difficult. I've just got to take more reps in practice and taking it off the wall."

Penner cleared: Dustin Penner has been cleared for practice but is not yet ready to return to the lineup, coach Terry Murray said.

Penner has missed seven games with a hand injury. The team has two days off after Monday and Thursday is a possible target date for his return.

"I hope so," Murray said. "We're very close. If it came to his decision, he'd want to play tonight. But two more days of practice, getting going, feeling more comfortable, I think he's pretty close."

Alec Martinez remains out with an upper-body injury.

San Jose a measuring stick: Murray downplayed the matchup with San Jose as a way to measure his team.

But it's difficult to ignore that L.A. is 0-4 against top-tier teams San Jose, Detroit, Chicago and Vancouver.

Monday is the first Kings-Sharks meeting in L.A. since San Jose eliminated the Kings in overtime of Game 6 of last season’s conference quarterfinals.

"It's definitely an important game," Kyle Clifford said. "Every game counts come April. Obviously we want to make a good push, and you never know who you're going to meet in the playoffs, too. You definitely want to make a strong impression."

Here are how the lineups could look tonight when the Los Angeles Kings host the San Jose Sharks at Staples Center:

SHARKS
Logan Couture - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski
Ryane Clowe - Patrick Marleau - Torrey Mitchell
Jamie McGinn - Michal Handzus - Martin Havlat
Brad Winchester - Andrew Desjardins - Andrew Murray

Dan Boyle - Douglas Murray
Brent Burns - Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Jason Demers - Jim Vandermeer

Antti Niemi

KINGS
Dustin Brown - Anze Kopitar - Trent Hunter
Simon Gagne - Mike Richards - Jarret Stoll
Kyle Clifford - Andrei Loktionov - Justin Williams
Ethan Moreau - Colin Fraser - Kevin Westgarth

Drew Doughty - Rob Scuderi
Jack Johnson - Willie Mitchell
Slava Voynov - Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick

DENVER -- These are the projected lineups for tonight's game between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center:

STARS
Loui Eriksson - Jamie Benn - Michael Ryder
Steve Ott - Mike Ribeiro - Tomas Vincour
Eric Nystrom - Vernon Fiddler - Radek Dvorak
Krys Barch - Tom Wandell - Toby Peterson

Sheldon Souray - Stephane Robidas
Nicklas Grossman - Adam Pardy
Mark Fistric - Philip Larsen

Andrew Raycroft will start in goal with Richard Bachman as the backup.

AVALANCHE
Matt Duchene - Paul Stastny - Milan Hejduk
Gabriel Landeskog - Ryan O'Reilly - Daniel Winnik
Cody McLeod - TJ Galiardi - David Jones
Kevin Porter - Jay McClement - Chuck Kobasew

Kyle Quincey - Shane O'Brien
Ryan Wilson - Stefan Elliott
Jan Hejda - Ryan O'Byrne

Semyon Varlamov will start in goal with Jean-Sebastien Giguere as the backup.

Will a coaching change in Washington be the thing to snap Alex Ovechkin out of his scoring slump?  Ovi's fantasy owners sure hope so. 
 
On Monday, the Capitals made the decision to dismiss coach Bruce Boudreau and replace him with Dale Hunter. In the past two seasons, Boudreau had his team shift to a more defensive style in the hopes of better equipping Washington for an extended playoff run into June. Unfortunately, while that approach never did yield the postseason results Boudreau had hoped for, it did appear to hold down the club's premiere offensive talents, none more so than the Capital's captain.
 
After a 50-goal campaign in 2009-10, Ovechkin scored a career low 32-goals in 2010-11. Though he seemed poised for a bounce-back year this season, the Russian superstar has only lit the lamp eight times in 22 games. Ovechkin had not scored a goal at home until this past Friday, and though he is one of the game's biggest impact players, he has been invisible out on the ice for stretches this season. Meanwhile, Sidney Crosby has two goals and seven points in three games since his return to action, taking a clear edge over Ovechkin as the NHL's premiere fantasy player.
 
Though times have been tough, there is plenty of hope on the horizon for the Great Eight. A coaching change might be exactly what he needs to get his game going. The relationship between captain and coach appeared to have been strained at times this season, and a new face behind the bench could go a long way in helping Ovechkin regain his focus. 
 
The hiring of Hunter in Washington could have a far greater impact on the team's offensive output than your typical coaching shakeup. It is logical to assume the front office would like to see Hunter open up the offense and allow the Capital's impressive offensive talent to return to wreaking havoc on the rest of the League. Take note, Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin owners.   
 
At just 26-years-old, there is no reason to doubt that the uber-talented Ovechkin could in a moment's notice return to his elite status as one of the top players in fantasy hockey. Could the coaching change be the the spark needed to get one of the NHL's most gifted scorers back on track? Only time will tell, but if you have any hopes of landing Ovechkin in your league now is the time to strike. An Ovi hot streak could be just around the corner so fantasy GMs would be wise to put together a package and see if they could land him for reasonable value. Even with his recent struggles, Ovechkin will surely come with a very high price tag but don't forget what No. 8 has done or more importantly what he is capable of doing still.

In this week's "Making of a Royal" blog, head coach Pat LaFontaine and assistant coach Steve Webb discuss the team's travel habits for regular season and major national tournaments. Additionally, the parents of all the players for the Long Island Royals Under-16 Team must also log plenty of miles and hours driving their sons to games, practices and, most times, weekend tournaments. The team is currently 33-3 and ranked No. 2 in the nation.
 

Webb, born and raised in Peterborough (Ont.), recalled his traveling days in the minor hockey system in Peterborough and how different it is for those parents of the minor clubs in the United States.
 
I grew up in the Peterborough minor hockey system where it was mandatory every road game in the Peterborough Petes AAA system that you had to take a bus. The only thing parents needed to do was bring their kids to the bus stop. On the way back, we just needed to find a ride home, so it was less of a burden on the parents.
 
Also, a majority of the parents, from what I remember, were on the bus so that's when we really gelled as a team and came together. You were riding with everyone at that time. With the Long Island Royals, it's a different animal. There is no rule where buses are mandatory. The one time we did take a bus was last year when we flew into Toronto to go to Peterborough. The bus picked us up and drove us into Peterborough. That's the one time, but other than that, it's a lot of driving. Parents must find a way to pile kids into someone's car and get the kids up there for a weekend event or showcase. Parents can hopefully make it up for a Saturday and still see some games in quarters or semifinal rounds if we're still alive.
 
We've traveled to Washington, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Vermont and Connecticut for showcases. We've been to New Hampshire and also flew into Chicago as a group. Not every parent could make it because of the cost; don't forget you also have to arrange a room and that gets costly as well. We want to make sure the kids are being viewed and that they have the best opportunity to go on to the next level and have the scouts look at them.