NHL Buzz: Doughty expected to play for Kings on Thursday

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Los Angeles Kings

Drew Doughty is expected to play the San Jose Sharks at home Thursday (10 p.m. ET; FS-W, NBCSCA, NHL.TV).
The defenseman took a maintenance day and did not practice Wednesday. He left a 4-3 shootout loss to the Sharks on Tuesday at 6:13 of the third period after he was struck in the right arm blocking a shot by Brent Burns and did not return.
"He doesn't miss many games," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "I think that I'm [going to] have his number up on the board tomorrow. He's [going to] be ready to play, so not necessarily a big relief. It's probably what I expected. Excited about getting him back."
Matt Roy (undisclosed) practiced wearing a non-contact jersey for the first time since the defenseman was boarded by Minnesota Wild forward Kevin Fiala in the second period of a Jan. 28 game.

Boston Bruins

Jake DeBrusk and Matt Grzelcyk will each return from a lower-body injury for the game at the New York Rangers on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS, NHL.TV).
DeBrusk missed five games and is expected to play left wing on the second line with center Charlie Coyle and right wing Anders Bjork.
"Now that [forward David Pastrnak] is back, he'll have a different line," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "With this juncture in the season we've moved some people around and I think Jake is used to that. For him, it's important to find his game, worry about himself, not worry about who his linemates are. Hopefully that's his attitude tonight to get his game back to where it needs to be.
"The onus will be on him. Just do his job, do it well. He's with two good linemates and go from there."
Grzelcyk missed four games. He's expected to play on the second defense pair with Brandon Carlo.
"You need a lot of depth in your lineup, especially in these COVID times," Cassidy said. "You never know what's going to happen, but those two guys will go in tonight."

Edmonton Oilers

Zack Kassian is week to week with an upper-body injury.
The forward is getting further evaluations, Oilers coach Dave Tippett said before a 3-2 win at the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday. He left in the first period of a 3-1 victory against Ottawa on Monday. He fought Senators defenseman Erik Gudbranson at 1:43 and played a 31-second shift before leaving at 11:04.

Ottawa Senators

Defenseman Erik Brannstrom will be out 7-10 days with an undisclosed injury.
"He played through it for the game (3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Monday) and did a good job battling for us but after sleeping and getting up this morning, wasn't nearly as good," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "We'll be cautious with him as we are with a lot of these younger guys."
Christian Wolanin took Brannstrom's place in the lineup. He was minus-1 in 13:49 of ice time in Ottawa's 3-2 loss to Edmonton on Tuesday.