Buzz: Stone will return for Golden Knights tonight

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Vegas Golden Knights

Mark Stone will return for the Golden Knights at the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, ATTSN-RM, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).
The forward, who last played on Feb. 8, had been on long-term injured reserve with a back injury. Vegas went 12-13-1 in the 26 games without Stone.
"Every one of these guys that has come back into the lineup makes a difference," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "You saw (Max) Pacioretty changes our team. (Alec) Martinez and (Brayden) McNabb coming back like last week change our team. Robin Lehner changes our team, so obviously Mark Stone is our captain and he's been the leader here since I got here, so it's important and you can't understate his importance to our group.
Stone has 28 points (eight goals, 20 assists) and leads Vegas forwards in takeaways (44) despite being limited to 28 games because of injuries.
"When he's not playing it's obviously a big loss, and when he does he's got a huge impact," Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said Monday. "... Obviously we know what he can do offensively. But when you put a player like that on the defensive side of the game, you talk about creating turnovers and opportunities. You are talking about probably one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL and you match that with his skill and all of a sudden the whole game changes and his impact is seen up and down the lineup. When you add guys in the lineup like that, the trickle-down effect is huge for us."
Vegas is two points behind the Dallas Stars, who have one game in hand, for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"At my level, it's just been an abundance of injuries," DeBoer said. "Fourteen years in the League I haven't dealt with this many for this long to that many key people, so it's a credit to our group, our depth, our (American Hockey League) coaches and the guys that have come up that we've still got a pulse here with 10 games to go."

St. Louis Blues

Torey Krug returned for the Blues against the Boston Bruins.
The defenseman had missed 10 games with a left-hand injury sustained against the Washington Capitals on March 22. Krug and forward Tyler Bozak, who has missed 13 games with a lower-body injury, each practiced Monday, but Bozak did not play against Boston..
Krug skated on a pair with Colton Parayko at morning skate and was switching in and out with Nick Leddy on the top power-play unit. It is his first game against the Bruins since he signed a seven-year contract with the Blues on Oct. 9, 2020, after playing his first nine seasons for Boston.
Krug has 35 points (eight goals, 27 assists) in 57 games this season.
"Obviously we know what 'Kruger' brings," Parayko said Monday. "We're excited to have those guys back with us and hopefully we see them in the lineup sooner than later."
Defenseman Marco Scandella did not practice Monday because of an illness but is on the trip. Forward Mackenzie MacEachern, who sustained an upper-body injury during a 4-3 overtime win against the Minnesota Wild on Friday, did not make the trip. -- Lou Korac

Montreal Canadiens

Jake Allen is out for the season for the Canadiens because of a groin injury.
The goalie left during the first period of a 3-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday after stretching to make a save.
Allen, who is expected to be ready for training camp, is 9-20-4 with a 3.30 goals-against average, .905 save percentage and two shutouts in 35 games.
"Jake gave us some really good hockey," Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. "He helped us win games. His level of play was impressive.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Jake Muzzin did not play for the Maple Leafs against the Buffalo Sabres.
The defenseman, who has played three games since returning from a concussion that sidelined him for 20 games, is out with an unrelated injury.
"He's less than 100 percent here and needs a couple of days of treatment for that to settle down a little bit," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said Monday. "He's not going to play tomorrow but we are hopeful or expecting he will be available after that."
Defenseman Timothy Liljegren will replace Muzzin in the lineup.
Goalie Erik Kallgren will start against the Sabres. Jack Campbell participated in practice Monday but left about halfway through the session.
"That was scheduled to be the case; he was getting a goalie session in. But Kallgren is going to play tomorrow," Keefe said. "Combination of him coming off a really good start (3-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday) and Jack is, I would say, a little bit below 100 percent at this point. Nothing to do with his previous (rib) injury. A little bit below 100 is enough for us to give him an additional a couple of days."
Forward Ondrej Kase, who has not played since March 19, has been diagnosed with a concussion. -- Dave McCarthy

Pittsburgh Penguins

Brock McGinn will return for the Penguins against the New York Islanders (7:30 p.m. ET; MSG+, ATTSN-PT, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).
The forward has missed 15 games because of an upper-body injury. McGinn took full contact for the first time at the morning skate, when he was third-line left wing with center Teddy Blueger and right wing Evan Rodrigues.
McGinn has 18 points (11 goals, seven assists) in 56 games this season. -- Wes Crosby

Los Angeles Kings

Dustin Brown is expected to return for the Kings against the Chicago Blackhawks (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, KCOP-13, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).
The forward missed 14 games because of an upper-body injury and hasn't played since March 12.
Brown has 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 57 games.