RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes will likely have forward Nathan Gerbe back in the lineup when they face the Vancouver Canucks at PNC Arena on Friday (7 p.m. ET; SNP, FS-CR).

Gerbe has missed the past 25 games with a lower-body injury. Forwards Brock McGinn and Phil Di Giuseppe, the latter of whom has recovered from a concussion, were sent to Charlotte of the American Hockey League.

Each team will be playing the second half of a back-to-back set.

TORONTO -- Mike Babcock likes to coach against the NHL's best coaches.

Babcock will get the opportunity Friday when his Toronto Maple Leafs host the Chicago Blackhawks at Air Canada Centre (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, CSN-CH, TSN4).

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville became the NHL's second all-time winningest coach when the Blackhawks defeated the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Thursday. The win was Quenneville's 783rd, moving him past Al Arbour; he trails Scotty Bowman, who has 1,244 victories.

"Scotty's safe," Quenneville joked after the win in Montreal.

"He's a good man and a good coach," Babcock said of Quenneville. "He's in a good situation in that he's got lots of talent. It was fun to watch his team play last night."

William Knierim, a B-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting's November players to watch list for the 2016 NHL Draft, is in his second season with the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the United States Hockey League this season. The 6-foot-2, 207-pound right wing has seven goals, 15 points and 85 penalty minutes in 26 games this season. The Skokie, Ill., native is committed to Miami University in 2016-17. Knierim has offered to maintain a blog for NHL.com leading up to the 2016 NHL Draft in Buffalo.

Hi everyone.

I had such a great experience at the USHL/NHL Top Prospects game in Omaha, Neb., on Jan. 12.

The city of Omaha and the Omaha Lancers organization put together a top-notch game. The restaurants, the hotel, the rink and everything involved with the game was phenomenal.

We had one full day, which was Monday, to get ready for the game. We had on-ice testing in the morning and had some down time in the afternoon. It was great meeting up with friends that play on other teams like defenseman Mitch Elliot of Muskegon and defenseman Andrew Peeke of Green Bay.

Each Friday throughout the season Kevin Weekes will be bringing you his Friday Four. He will be blogging about four players, teams, plays, or trends that have caught his eye.

Brock Nelson, New York Islanders

Quick -- who leads the Islanders in goals? John Tavares? Nope. Kyle Okposo? Try again. If you said Brock Nelson, chances are you're either an Islanders fan or lying. Nelson has been on a surge lately with four goals in three games and five in four games. He had his first NHL hat trick and an assist in a 5-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.

Nelson is scoring goals, and he's getting them in different ways. That has been impressive during an up-and-down stretch in a good season for the Islanders. Nelson has 28 points, second on the team behind Tavares (31) and Okposo (33).

At 14:20 of the third period in the Red Wings/Coyotes game, Arizona requested a Coach's Challenge to review whether Justin Abdelkader interfered with Coyotes goaltender Louis Domingue before the puck crossed the goal line.

After reviewing all available replays and consulting with NHL Hockey Operations staff, the Referee confirmed no goaltender interference infractions occurred before the puck crossed the goal line.

Therefore the original call stands – good goal Detroit Red Wings.

Since the Coach’s Challenge did not result in the original call being overturned, the Arizona Coyotes forfeit their time-out.

At 1:08 of the first period in the Predators/Jets game, video review determined that Kevin Fiala's shot at 0:59 entered the Winnipeg net. According to Rule 38.6 "In the event that a video replay shows a goal was scored prior to the play being stopped, the Video Goal Judge will inform the Game Timekeeper and Official Scorer of the time and the amount of playing time left to be reset on the game clock and penalty time clocks (if applicable)." Therefore the clock is reset to show 19:01 (0:59 elapsed time) and good goal Nashville.

Each day during the 2015-16 season, NHL.com's fantasy staff will identify one player at each position worth owning in DraftKings daily fantasy hockey contests. Based on factors including but not limited to matchups, line combinations, power-play usage, statistical coverage and recent production, we'll provide you with lower-priced options that can help you build a winning lineup.

J.T. Miller, C, New York Rangers

DraftKings price: $3,500

Miller is playing top-six minutes lately and is expected to line up alongside Derick Brassard ($5,600) and Mats Zuccarello ($5,700) in Brooklyn against the New York Islanders on Thursday. Miller has six points, six blocks and 14 shots on goal in his past 10 games, and has a chance to get in on the scoring again with the Islanders missing injured defensemen Travis Hamonic and Johnny Boychuk.

NEW YORK -- The next chapter of the rivalry between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders comes Thursday at Barclays Center (7 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, MSG, MSG+).

The mere mention of Rangers vs. Islanders is enough to put an emotional charge into each fan base. But the stakes are higher now than their previous game, Dec. 2 in Brooklyn, when the Islanders defeated the Rangers 2-1 in a shootout.

The Rangers (23-14-5) and Islanders (23-15-5) are tied for second in the Metropolitan Division, each with 51 points. If the season ended today they would play in the Eastern Conference First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Rangers owning home-ice advantage.

"I don't think much needs to be said," Islanders captain John Tavares said. "Obviously we know about this scenario at this point of the season and who we're playing against. So these games are always a lot of fun.

SAN JOSE -- Todd McLellan, dressed in street clothes, looked cool and calm following the Edmonton Oilers optional morning skate Thursday at SAP Center, hours away from facing the San Jose Sharks, his former team.

How will McLellan react when the puck drops Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; SNW, CSN-CA) in his first game in San Jose since parting ways with the Sharks after last season?

"I've been asked that question a couple times, are you going to be nervous?" McLellan said. "I'm not nervous because I'm back in San Jose. It's a comfortable spot for me. I liked it here. I'm always nervous about playing the game, what the opposition can or can't do and how we'll respond. So that's not going to change at all. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't different when you walk in the building and turn right instead of left, but we're into January already.

"We've fully entrenched ourselves, we've married ourselves to this group of players and we're excited about where we're going to go. We know we have a ton of work ahead of us. Some of it's been put in place already."

DENVER -- The Colorado Avalanche will have a new look on defense Thursday when they play the New Jersey Devils at Pepsi Center (9 p.m. ET; MSG+2, ALT).

Nikita Zadorov and Chris Bigras were recalled Wednesday from the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League and will be paired with Francois Beauchemin and Zach Redmond, respectively.

"I said to them it's their chance to push some guys out of the lineup and I want some consistency from them," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "We're a team that wants to make the (Stanley Cup) Playoffs and they have an opportunity to show what they can do."