When the Buffalo Sabres face the Winnipeg Jets tonight, Ryan Miller likely will be in the Sabres' net. The Buffalo News is reporting Miller was the first goalie off the ice at this morning's practice.

It will be Miller's first game action since being pulled 6:23 into last Wednesday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Jhonas Enroth started both games since then, earning one-goal wins against Calgary and Ottawa. It led some in Buffalo to question if Enroth was ready to replace Miller as the undisputed top goalie in Buffalo.

Miller certainly has struggled this season -- he's lost four straight, and in nine games he's 4-5-0 with a 2.48 goals-against average and .922 save percentage -- while Enroth is 4-0-0 in five games, with a 1.41 GAA and .952 save percentage.

However, he's got a far longer track record -- one that includes Olympic silver medal and a Vezina Trophy -- and he'll look to re-discover that form tonight.

"You want to play," Miller told reporters Monday. "My last outing wasn't the way you like to leave the ice. You want to go out and do your job, and the next chance I get I'll be ready."

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

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

New York Rangers left wing Wojtek Wolski will undergo surgery for a sports hernia Wednesday and is expected to miss about four weeks.

The 25-year-old has been battling groin problems since training camp, but Wolski left the Rangers' game against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday and has not played since.

With just 2 assists in 6 games, it's been a disappointing season for Wolski, who was given the first crack at playing with Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards. Injuries and ineffectiveness forced coach John Tortorella to shuffle Wolski around, and now surgery will keep him on IR.

The procedure will be performed by Dr. William Meyers at Core Performance Physicians in Philadelphia.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- After losing four games in a row, including his most recent outing when he was relieved in the first period, it's no wonder Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller hasn't exactly been in a great mood these days.

Miller, who was pulled after allowing three goals in less than seven minutes in an eventual 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 2, was vividly upset with his recent play when asked about it during the Sabres morning skate on Monday at First Niagara Center.

"I don't want to be pulled out of a game. I want to, you know, I want to [expletive] win the game," Miller told John Vogl of the Buffalo News.

Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff opted to start Jhonas Enroth on Friday against the Calgary Flames (a 2-1 victory) and Saturday against the Ottawa Senators (a 3-2 shootout victory). It marked the first time since the 2006-07 season that a healthy Miller sat out consecutive games. Ruff wouldn't reveal his starter on Tuesday on home ice against the Winnipeg Jets.

"I'm here to win," Miller, winner of the 2010 Vezina Trophy, told reporters. "That's the emotion you get from me. If I'm discouraged, if I'm [ticked] off, that's just how it is. I want to win. I don't want to be out there getting scored on."

For the season, Miller is 4-5-0 with a 2.49 goals-against average and .920 save percentage in nine appearances. Enroth is 4-0-0 with a 1.41 GAA and .950 save percentage in five games.

"I'm just trying to do everything that's in my control," Miller said. "You can't always control what happens in front of you or the coach's decision or anything. You just have to react to it. Goaltenders are judged on how they react, whether it's the puck going in or if they make the save or if they get pulled out of the game or if when they get put back in. It's all about how you react. I'm just trying to do my best to be ready to react in a way that helps this club."

The Columbus Blue Jackets could be back to the team they were expecting to have when the season began.

Center Jeff Carter, who has missed the last nine games with a broken bone in his right foot suffered Oct. 15, skated for about 20 minutes with the team today according to the Columbus Dispatch and said his foot felt OK. Carter added the plan now is for him to skate a full practice with the team tomorrow, with a chance he could play in the Jackets' next game, Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks.

"I'm usually pretty quick to get back to speed," Carter said. "I have to get a decent practice in before I know how it feels. I'll probably know more (Tuesday)."

Carter and defenseman James Wisniewski were the club's major offseason acquisitions, but due to suspension -- Wisniewski sat out the first eight games of the season -- and injury, the pair has yet to be on the ice at the same time since the preseason.

The Blue Jackets also could have forward Jared Boll back in the lineup Thursday. Boll hasn't played since breaking his thumb in a fight in the Jackets' final preseason game.

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

Nothing has been made official, but it's looking highly unlikely the New Jersey Devils will have forward Ilya Kovalchuk in the lineup for tomorrow's game against the Carolina Hurricanes (7:30 p.m. Versus, TSN2).

Kovalchuk, who hasn't played since leaving late in the third period of last Thursday's 4-3 shootout win in Philadelphia due a pulled leg muscle, sat out today's practice at Prudential Center in Newark.

Coach Peter DeBoer wasn't ready to completely rule Kovalchuk out for tomorrow, but told reporters it would take "a miraculous recovery" for him to play.

Kovalchuk said he worked out off the ice today and told reporters he's hopeful his injury heals enough for him to get into the lineup.

"I worked out a little bit, so it'd definitely better than a couple of days ago," he told reporters. "We'll see tomorrow."

If Kovalchuk can't go, it's likely his top-line spot alongside left wing Zach Parise and center Adam Henrique will be filled by David Clarkson, who played there in Saturday's 3-2 overtime win against the Jets.

Contact Adam Kimelman at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK

In this week's 'Making of a Royal' blog, coach Pat LaFontaine discusses the team's recent second-place finish at the Beantown Fall Classic in New Hampshire and the tremendous work done by power-skating instructor Jacki Munzel. The Long Island Royals National Team defeated Little Caesars (Mich.), the Junior Bobcats (Conn.) and the Valley Junior Warriors (Mass.), before suffering a 2-0 loss to the nation's No. 1-ranked Under-16 team, the Chicago Mission. The final day of the tournament was cancelled due to inclement weather along the East Coast.
 

BOSTON -- Rich Peverley's injury should open up a lineup spot tonight for winger Benoit Pouliot, who has been out the last three games the Bruins played.

Peverley has been declared out with an undisclosed injury by coach Claude Julien for the Bruins' game against the New York Islanders at the TD Garden.

Pouliot, who projects to skate on a line with Jordan Caron and Chris Kelly, missed the Oct. 29 game in Montreal with an illness and has been a healthy scratch the last two games. He's still looking for his first point of the season and is minus-3 in eight games. Famously he's stated numerous times the adjustment to Boston's system has been a slow process.

"I think we've talked about it a lot," said Pouliot after the Bruins' morning skate. "It's just the little things. It's not much, but it's something that can affect your game or the whole team's game. So I can't really mess that up and just try to focus on one thing. We'll be all right."

Peverley's absence could open up even more time for Pouliot's projected linemate Caron. In addition to some more 5-on-5 time, Caron might have to add penalty-killing to his list of responsibilities.

The rookie forward has kept Pouliot out of the Boston lineup with his assertive play, including serving as a net-front presence during Boston's pivotal victory over Ottawa last week. While he has yet to show up on the score sheet this season, Caron has establishing his presence with physicality.

Playing with Kelly and Peverley has helped Caron gain confidence.

"I think they're both very good players and very patient with the puck. So I'm just trying to make room for them and skate and go to the net hard and doing the dirty stuff in the corners and stuff like that," he said. "They're smart players. And I'm just trying to do my job. That's what I did in junior, that's why they brought me here. And I'm not going to change my style, I'm just going to play the same way I always did."

Without Peverley, the test for Caron will be to take a larger role while continuing to do what’s made him successful. And for Pouliot tonight will be all about making it difficult for the Bruins to take him out of the lineup again once the forward corps is completely healthy.

BOSTON -- New York Islanders coach Jack Capuano plans tonight to stick with what earned his team a long-awaited two points Saturday night, except when it comes to his goaltending.

Capuano revealed that Evgeni Nabokov will start tonight and be backed up by Al Montoya. Rick DiPietro started the Isles' three previous games, including the slump-busting 5-3 win over Washington Saturday. The Isles had been 0-4-2 in their prior six games.

While Nabokov missed the last three games with a lower-body injury, Montoya has been healthy but inactive since Oct. 20. Of the six games over that span, Montoya didn't even dress for two.

Capuano said he's not worried about rust on Montoya.

"No, like I said earlier, I just concentrate day to day and Nabby will go tonight," the coach said. "Just like our team, whether it's the D or the forwards, it's a day-to-day process with our lineup."

The Islanders juggled their lines to start the Caps game, and it paid off with a rally from 2-0 down. While the lineup in front of the goaltender will stay the same, the Isles are hoping that translates into a similar performance and in turn a victory.

"It was big. It was against a pretty good hockey team that's playing really well," star forward John Tavares said about the Washington victory. "So it was definitely big for us. But we've got to learn how to bring that every night and have that consistency in being able to win victories likes that. And we haven't played too well on the road (0-2-1), so this is a good test for us tonight. It's time to move on and focus on what we have to do to be successful tonight and throughout the rest of the year. But it was definitely a good feeling though to get the confidence up and see the results."

Here is the Islanders' projected lineup:

Matt Moulson - John Tavares - Michael Grabner
Blake Comeau - Marty Reasoner - Kyle Okposo
Brian Rolston - Frans Nielsen - PA Parenteau
Matt Martin - Josh Bailey - Jay Pandolfo

Mark Streit - Steve Staios
Travis Hamonic - Andrew MacDonald
Mark Eaton - Milan Jurcina

Healthy scratch: Mike Mottau

Evgeni Nabokov in goal, Al Montoya to back up.

A blockbuster trade was finalized in the United States Hockey League on Monday when the Sioux City Musketeers dealt highly touted defensive prospect Jordan Schmaltz to the Green Bay Gamblers as part of a six-player deal.

Schmaltz, committed to the University of North Dakota next fall, is regarded by many to be a first-round choice for the upcoming 2012 NHL Draft in Pittsburgh. Schmaltz finished his rookie season in the USHL last year as the highest scoring defenseman in the league with 44 points, including 13 goals, in 53 games.

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Schmaltz has 3 goals and 6 points in nine games this season.

"He's got a good shot from the top of the point," NHL Central Scouting's Jack Barzee told NHL.com. "The thing is, I don't think he'll be drafted as a defensive guy -- he'll be drafted for his high-end offense."

In fact, many believe Schmaltz offers the type of offensive skills that made Kitchener Rangers defenseman Ryan Murphy (Carolina Hurricanes) so attractive last June.

Schmaltz of Verona, Wis., is currently in Langley, B.C., with Team USA for the 2011 World Junior A Challenge. Schmaltz is actually one of two returnees on the team, which captured a third straight World Junior A Challenge title in 2010. Team USA opens the tournament on Nov. 7 against Sweden.

Schmaltz was dealt to Green Bay in exchange for forward David Goodwin, defensemen Andy Ryan and Dan Molenaar and affiliate list player forward Jacob Montgomery. The Gamblers also acquired forward Peter Maric as compensation for an earlier trade involving forward Nikita Sirotkin.

Schmaltz, a member of the 2011 All-USHL First team and All-Rookie team, was also a member of the United States team that captured the gold medal in the 2010 World U-17 Hockey Challenge.  

"The trade was made with mixed emotions," Green Bay coach Derek Lalonde told the team's website. "David, Andy and Dan our great people and were valuable players to our team. But at the same time you rarely have an opportunity to acquire a player the caliber of Jordan Schmaltz. He is a projected a first round NHL draft pick and will be a tremendous addition to our team."

Additionally, the Gamblers added Jordan's younger brother, forward Nick Schmaltz. Nick Schmaltz, a member of the Chicago Mission Under-16 Team, is one of the top players among the 1996 birth years.

According to the Gamblers website, Jordan Schmaltz is expected to make his Green Bay debut on Nov. 18 against the U.S. U-18 National Team Development Program.  The team is currently 8-3 in the Eastern Conference.

Follow Mike Morreale on Twitter at: @mike_morreale