Welcome to the NHL Buzz. Each day during the regular season, NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.
Vegas Golden Knights
Adin Hill will not dress when the Golden Knights host the Washington Capitals on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, MNMT).
The goalie left a 4-1 win against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday after the second period with a lower-body injury.
“Day to day for now. He's not going to dress tonight,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said Saturday. “We want to give him a full couple of days here after leaving the game. We'll see where he's at [on Monday].”
The Golden Knights recalled Jiri Patera from Henderson of the American Hockey League to back up Logan Thompson. -- Paul Delos Santos
Pittsburgh Penguins
Matt Nieto and Noel Acciari will not play for the Penguins against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, NBCSP).
Each forward is being evaluated for a lower-body injury after missing the morning skate, Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said. Acciari normally is the center on the fourth line with Nieto at left wing. Forward Joona Koppanen, recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League, could replace Acciari with Jansen Harkins on the left and Jeff Carter on the right. Koppanen had one assist in five games with the Boston Bruins last season, his first in the NHL.
“[Koppanen] obviously brings a lot of size,” Sullivan said. “He’s a real mobile guy for his size (6-foot-5, 216 pounds). He checks well. He can help us on the penalty kill. So, there’s a number of areas that I think we can plug ‘Koppy’ into the lineup and he can help us immediately.”
Nieto and Acciari each is in his first season with Pittsburgh. Nieto has four points (one goal, three assists) in 22 games after signing a two-year, $1.8 million contract ($900,000 average annual value) on July 1; Acciari has three points (two goals, one assist) in 22 games after signing a three-year, $6 million contract ($2 million AAV) the same day.
Pittsburgh is already without forward Rickard Rakell, out longer term with an upper-body injury sustained Nov. 19, and defensemen Chad Ruhwedel (lower body) and Pierre-Olivier Joseph (lower body). -- Wes Crosby
Nashville Predators
Defenseman Alexandre Carrier is week to week because of an upper-body injury after being hit by Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov in the first period of a 6-1 loss Thursday.
Carrier has been playing on Nashville’s second pair, alongside Jeremy Lauzon. Nashville has played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen in three consecutive games.
Carrier has eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 22 games and leads the Predators with 51 blocked shots. He is second on the team in average short-handed time on ice per game (2:38).
Predators defenseman Dante Fabbro, a right-handed shot, replaced Carrier on the second pair against the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Seattle Kraken
Jaden Schwartz is expected to be out about six weeks because of an upper-body injury. The forward was placed on injured reserve Thursday.
"Not available today," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said Thursday prior to Seattle's 4-3 shootout loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. "We still have some further evaluation to do, but he's not available [Thursday] and we will update it a little bit more. It's not a day-to-day situation we don't believe, but we don't want to get ahead of ourselves."
Schwartz left a 4-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday early in the third period. He had one shot on goal and was minus-1 in 9:33 of ice time.
Forward Marián Studenič made his Kraken debut Thursday, and forward Max McCormick was recalled from Coachella Valley of the American Hockey League on Friday. Forward Andrew Poturalski was sent to the AHL.
"That's the nature of the game," Hakstol said. "He's a guy that is important to us, but now we've got opportunity for somebody else and collectively the group has to fill in those holes and overcome his absence here for a little while."
The Kraken, who have lost three straight games, play at the Ottawa Senators on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, TVAS2, ROOT-NW). -- Dave McCarthy
Winnipeg Jets
Vladislav Namestnikov did not play in a 3-1 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday and will miss at least one more game with a lower-body injury, according to Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness.
“He won’t play tomorrow,” Bowness said following practice Friday. “Probably won’t play on Monday. I’d say a couple of days and go from there.”
The Jets host the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday before beginning a four-game road trip.
Namestnikov was injured in the third period of a 3-1 loss against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday. Bowness suspected it happened while the forward was tied up with Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse.
Namestnikov has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 22 games this season, including a recent six game point streak from Nov. 11-24, when he had seven points (one goal, six assists).
Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi, who played for the first time Thursday after missing 18 games with a knee injury, moved up to the second line in place of Namestnikov on Saturday alongside Alex Iafallo and Cole Perfetti, who moved to center. Vilardi had an assist on Saturday.
Forward David Gustafsson entered the Jets lineup Saturday, and defenseman Declan Chisholm had an assist in his season debut in place of Nate Schmidt.
Philadelphia Flyers
Joel Farabee is expected to receive his regular ice time for the Flyers against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, NBCSP) after being benched for most of a 4-3 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.
The forward played two shifts, totaling 56 seconds, the last coming when he was on the ice for Alexander Holtz's goal that gave the Devils a 1-0 lead 3:10 into the first period.
Tortorella's only comment on the decision Thursday was, "Because he didn't listen."
Farabee practiced Friday at left wing on a line with center Scott Laughton and right wing Cam Atkinson, which is where he started Thursday.
"He'll be fine," Tortorella said Friday of Farabee. "I had a two-second discussion [with Farabee] as we passed ways in the hallway. That's all that needed to be done."
Prior to Thursday, Farabee had been fifth among Flyers forwards in average ice time at 15:26 in 22 games.
"I'm by that. I've already moved by it," Tortorella said. "He'll play with 'Laughts' and Cam, as he started last night, he’ll get his ice time and right back at it."
Farabee was not available to comment Friday. -- Adam Kimelman
