At 18:59 of the first period in the Penguins/Hurricanes game, the Situation Room initiated video review because the puck entered the Carolina net. The referee informed the Situation Room that he was in the process of blowing his whistle when the puck was underneath Carolina goaltender Justin Peters' blocker, prior to the puck entering the net. According to Rule 78.5 (xii) "Apparent goals shall be disallowed by the Referee when the referee deems the play has been stopped, even if he had not physically had the opportunity to stop play by blowing his whistle". This is not a reviewable play. No goal Pittsburgh.

CHICAGO -- Among all the record breakdowns, the only one that's close to marginal for the Chicago Blackhawks is against Central Division teams.

Chicago is 8-6-1 against teams in its division with a back-to-back set this weekend against the two closest teams to the Blackhawks in the Central, the third-place Colorado Avalanche and second-place St. Louis Blues.

The Blackhawks (26-7-6) will host the Avalanche (23-10-3) on Friday at United Center and then make the trip to play the Blues on Saturday at Scottrade Center.

"It's nice being at the top of the League in the standings, but you know these division games are [against] teams you face a lot," Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane said. "It'd be nice to get a little better record than that and improve. I guess we have some games ahead of us that we can do that in the next two."

WINNIPEG -- Two struggling teams resume their schedule Friday when the Minnesota Wild make a return appearance to MTS Centre to face the Winnipeg Jets.

The Wild have lost three consecutive games and five of their past seven. In facing Winnipeg the Wild will conclude a stretch of seven road dates in their past eight games, a stretch that has seen them win one game away from home. Even with a three-day break to refresh, the Wild's 6-11-3 road record has left the team eager to begin remedying it.

"I think that if you're struggling a bit you just want to get back at it as fast as you can," Wild captain Mikko Koivu said.

Wild coach Mike Yeo again will be without left wing Zach Parise (lower body), who will miss his second consecutive game. Defenseman Clayton Stoner (lower body) also will not dress. Goaltender Josh Harding remains on injured reserve but participated in the team's morning skate Friday. Yeo indicated he was pleased with Harding's showing.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- NHL Facilities Operations Manager Dan Craig and his crew of rink builders were all set to paint the ice white at Michigan Stadium on Friday morning. Then the elements got in the way.

Specifically, the sun came out from behind the clouds and what was expected to be a balmy, gray day on the University of Michigan campus became a pleasant, sunny winter one instead. While that might have great for the residents of this college town, it delayed Craig's crew by a few hours.

"We cleaned the ice, burned it a couple of times, put in our stabilizing fabric that we do in front of the machine and the goal creases, and then the sun popped out," Craig said. "We'd be painted by now if the sun hadn't come out, but I'm not going to fight Mother Nature. We're just going to wait for it to go down and then be ready to paint when that happens."

After the cleaning the ice Friday morning, Craig's crew used hot water to "burn" off the leftover frost and humidity build-up that wasn't scraped off with the shovels. A huge part of Craig's job is calling audibles based on the elements, and Friday morning was a good example of that.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Phoenix Coyotes will have another change on their blue line when they host the San Jose Sharks on Friday.

Rostislav Klesla, who had played well in three games since being recalled from the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League, came to the morning skate not feeling well and was sent home. Defenseman David Schlemko skated with Michael Stone on Friday and will come off injured reserve to play against the Sharks.

Phoenix still is without defenseman Zbynek Michalek, who suffered a lower-body injury in Montreal during the 1-1-2 pre-Christmas road trip. Michalek is not back on the ice and continues to undergo tests that coach Dave Tippett said showed some positive signs.

CALGARY -- Calgary Flames center Matt Stajan couldn't dodge David Backes but he did dodge a bullet.

Stajan won't miss any time after a knee-on-knee collision with Backes during overtime of Calgary's 4-3 shootout victory against the St. Louis Blues on Monday.

"I feel OK," Stajan said. "I've taken a lot of hard hits here lately but the three days off, I think it did a lot. Luckily there was no serious ligament damage in any of the plays. It's just bruises and aches and pains that you recover with time. I'm excited to get back at it and hopefully heal up as we go here."

With one minute remaining in overtime, Stajan had the puck and was cutting across the Blues' blue line. Backes went in to deliver a blow to Stajan but caught him with a knee-on-knee hit instead. Backes was assessed a minor penalty on the play while Stajan immediately left the ice, slamming his stick against the boards before exiting.

E.J. Hradek Game Picks Friday December 27th:

Ottawa Senators vs Boston Bruins - Bruins

Columbus Blue Jackets vs New Jersey Devils -Devils

New York Rangers vs Washington Capitals - Rangers

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Carolina Hurricanes - Penguins

Buffalo Sabres vs Toronto Maple Leafs - Maple Leafs

Colorado Avalanche vs Chicago Blackhawks - Blackhawks

Minnesota Wild vs Winnipeg Jets - Jets

Nashville Predators vs Dallas Stars - Stars

Edmonton Oilers vs Calgary Flames - Oilers

San Jose Sharks vs Phoenix Coyotes - Coyotes

E.J.'s Season Record: 170-103-36

The three-day Christmas break has passed and NHL Live with E.J. Hradek and Butch Goring, at 5 p.m. ET on NHL Network, will get fans set for the return of hockey with a 10-game Friday night ahead.

The Central Division-leading Chicago Blackhawks play host to the Colorado Avalanche and we'll go live to our Arena Cam at United Center to welcome in Blackhawks analyst Ed Olczyk.

Cam Talbot gets the start once again for the New York Rangers against the Washington Capitals, and Rangers color commentator Joe Micheletti joins us from D.C. to talk about the move.

Also, NHL Network analyst Barry Melrose will give out his "Barry's Best" awards for the first half.

DALLAS -- With Dallas Stars veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar going on injured reserve with concussion-like symptoms, coach Lindy Ruff will plug in Aaron Rome, who has played in just three games this season, against the Nashville Predators on Friday at American Airlines Center.

Rome was activated from injured reserve earlier Friday.

"[Gonchar] is still not feeling quite right so we've got to get him through that, and when we do he'll start to exercise again," Ruff said of Gonchar, who last played Dec. 21.

Rome last played Dec. 16 against the Colorado Avalanche but has missed Dallas' past four games with a lower-body injury.

"I've played a few games and I've played on some good teams, so it's just about getting back in and getting comfortable and playing and being urgent," Rome said. "I want to be bringing an element that can help the team and fit in seamlessly."

Kari Lehtonen will start in net for the Stars for a fourth consecutive game.

TORONTO -- The Buffalo Sabres used the three-day holiday break to recover from a flu bug that forced the team to use 16 skaters in a 2-1 overtime win against the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday.

A full roster of players hit the ice during the morning skate Friday ahead of their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs (7:30 p.m. ET, TSN).

"They look a lot better [Friday] so that's good," Sabres interim coach Ted Nolan said. "Anytime you have a couple days' break, especially this time of year, it's good for your emotional spirits. So they came back in good spirits."

Nolan said he'll play newcomer Linus Omark on a line with Marcus Foligno and Ville Leino. All three players missed the game Monday with the flu. Omark was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 19 and has played one game with the Sabres.

"When I signed [with Edmonton] this year I wanted to play in the NHL," Omark said. "I wanted to get the opportunity right away but I didn't get it with Edmonton. So I'm glad that they traded me and I get a chance here to show what I can do."