Welcome to the NHL Buzz. Each day during the regular season, NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Auston Matthews and TJ Brodie are each expected to play when the Maple Leafs host the New York Rangers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; TSN4, MSG).
Matthews, a center, took part in the morning skate and was a full participant at practice Monday after missing a 7-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday because of an illness. He will play center on the top line with Matthew Knies and William Nylander.
"I was throwing up all afternoon and thought I could get to the rink and maybe get it settled down, but I couldn't," Matthews said Monday. "Just a normal day before a game routine (Monday) and just get ready to go for tomorrow. Felt pretty good out there today, so hopefully it just flushes out of the whole system and I'm back to feeling like normal."
Matthews leads Toronto with 23 goals in 27 games.
Brodie, a defenseman, also missed the game against the Penguins with an illness and was not expected to play. He will be on the top defense pair with Morgan Rielly.
Brodie is second on the Maple Leafs in ice time per game (22:15) and has six assists in 27 games. -- Dave McCarthy
Buffalo Sabres
Jack Quinn will make his season debut for the Sabres against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; BSOH, MSG-B).
The forward was out while recovering from an Achilles injury he sustained during offseason training in June.
"I'm excited to get back out there," he said. "It's been a long wait."
Quinn, who had 39 points (15 goals, 24 assists) in 77 games as a rookie last season, will be eased back in as he works his way into game shape. He skated at left wing with center Tyson Jost and right wing Victor Olofsson at the morning skate and will be used on the penalty kill.
"He's one of our most intelligent players at feel for the game and situations," Buffalo coach Don Granato said. "He can jump right in on that. He will jump in on that. We've missed some killers … so with 'Quinner' coming back in, yes, we'll put him there right away."
Forwards Jeff Skinner (upper body) and Zemgus Girgensons (lower body) are each progressing, and could return by the weekend or shortly thereafter.
Skinner, who was injured Dec. 13 against the Colorado Avalanche, has 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in 30 games.
"He's feeling better every day," Granato said. "What he's dealing with, it's all about how you feel, so he's progressed. He has not regressed at all each and every day since. And those are good signs that it'll continue to resolve at a good pace, meaning day to day. So I would expect that if that continues, we'll see him in four days or so."
Girgensons has been out the past 12 games. He has two goals in 20 games this season.
"There's potential before the (holiday) break that he gets in there," Granato said. "Potential. If not, I would say right after the break." -- Heather Engel
Boston Bruins
Pavel Zacha will return for the Bruins against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; BSWIX, BSN, NESN, SNO, SNE, TVAS) after missing three games with an upper-body injury.
Defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who has missed four games with an upper-body injury, will be a game-time decision.
"Zacha [is] 100 percent," Boston coach Jim Montgomery said. "We're just waiting for McAvoy to see where he's at after today. He's more than likely going to play, but I'm not going to sit here and say 100 percent [that he plays] tonight if something changes."
Zacha is expected to reunite with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak on the top line. McAvoy would skate with Matt Grzelcyk on the top defense pair.
Zacha is fifth on the Bruins with 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists) in 26 games, and McAvoy leads Boston defensemen with 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) while also leading the team in ice time per game (24:09).
"I wasn't gone for that long, so hopefully it's going to be good," Zacha said. "We'll see today in the game, I think. I just had one full practice with the team, so I'm excited to jump in the game and see how it goes." -- Joe Pohoryles
Carolina Hurricanes
Aaron Dell joined the Hurricanes on a free agent tryout Tuesday.
The 34-year-old goalie was 0-3-0 with a 2.71 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in four games (three starts) for the San Jose Sharks last season. He is 50-50-13 with a 2.92 GAA, .905 save percentage and five shutouts in 130 games (106 starts) for the Sharks, Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils.
Carolina has been without Frederik Andersen (blood clot) since Nov. 2, and he is not expected to return for at least a month, general manager Don Waddell said Monday. Antti Raanta was assigned to Chicago of the American Hockey League on Sunday after struggling with a 3.61 GAA and .854 save percentage in 14 games (12 starts) this season.
Pyotr Kochetkov, who entered the season as the No. 3 goalie, is 6-6-2 with a 2.65 GAA and .894 save percentage in 15 games (13 starts). He will start against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, BSSO) with Yaniv Perets backing up. Perets was recalled from Norfolk of the ECHL and backed up Kochetkov in a 2-1 shootout loss Sunday.
"We've got to have depth," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said Tuesday. "We've got [Raanta in Chicago]. He's got to find his game. In the meantime, it's such an important position. You need experience I think. It's a position like none other. When it's going good, you don't really think about it. But when it's going bad, all of a sudden, you realize how vital it is."
Vegas Golden Knights
Adin Hill did not travel with the Golden Knights for their three-game road trip which begins against the Hurricanes on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, BSSO).
Hill left a 6-3 win against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday during the first period after allowing one goal on three shots in 6:25. He was making his return after missing seven games with a lower-body injury.
"The best I can give him is day to day," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "He was getting reevaluated (Monday) when we left. I have not heard any news. I don't anticipate he will join us on this trip. If he did that would be great. That means he'd be close to playing, but that's where we're at right now."
Hill is 10-2-2 in 15 games with a 1.93 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.
Logan Thompson (10-4-3, 2.48 GAA, .911 save percentage) will start against the Hurricanes. Jiri Patera, recalled from Henderson of the American Hockey League on Monday, will be the backup.
"[Thompson] is going to get the majority of the starts," Cassidy said. "It's up to him to go in there and give us a chance to win. He's done that very well this year. For him, I look at it as an opportunity to get more starts, probably something that both guys would want when we had a fairly even split." -- Kurt Dusterberg
Washington Capitals
Ivan Miroshnicenko could make his NHL debut when the Capitals host the New York Islanders on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; MAX, MNMT, TNT, TVAS) after being recalled up from Hershey of the AHL on Tuesday, along with forward Hendrix Lapierre.
Miroshnichenko, the No. 20 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, practiced Tuesday on a line with Lapierre and Evgeny Kuznetsov, but Washington coach Spender Carbery wasn't ready to say the 19-year-old forward will play Wednesday.
"We'll talk about it," Carbery said. "I don't want to commit to anything 100 percent at this moment, so we'll, as a staff, figure that out in the next four, five hours and we'll go from there."
Miroshnichenko, who had 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 27 games with Hershey, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in Feb. 2022 and is cancer-free after undergoing four rounds of chemotherapy. He said playing in his first NHL game would be the fulfillment of a dream.
"I'm nervous because, basically, I went through so many circumstances and different situations in my life working for that for my whole life," he said. "Everybody is nervous, family is nervous, so just so excited about tomorrow."
Forward Max Pacioretty, who is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, participated in his first full-contact practice and Carbery said he could make his season debut in the Capitals' first game after the holiday break against the Rangers on Dec. 27 or soon after.
Carbery said injured forwards T.J. Oshie (lower body) and Sonny Milano (upper body) won't play in any of Washington's three remaining games before the break. -- Tom Gulitti
