NHL Buzz: Poitras expected to be out rest of season for Bruins after surgery
Cizikas back for Islanders against Lightning; Pospisil signs 2-year contract with Flames
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Boston Bruins
Matthew Poitras is expected to be out for the rest of the season after the forward had surgery on his right shoulder Wednesday. The expected recovery time is five months.
"Everyone was on the same page that this is what would be best for him moving forward since he's 19," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said Thursday. "Next year, he's going to have a full summer to get prepared for next year. If we waited, then the summer gets compromised."
The Bruins host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NESN, SNP, SNO, SNE, TVAS).
"He's not leaving Boston," Montgomery said. "He's got to do his rehab here and we're going to be hands-on with him, and he's going to be starting his recovery right away. He was actually in here (at TD Garden), looking at him with how everything went. He knows the areas that he needs to grow in in order to get that ‘man strength' to also get the stamina required to be a player that we don't have to do the maintenance with, so that he can play full-time next year. Because he's a big piece of what we're going to be doing moving forward."
Poitras sustained an upper-body injury against the Arizona Coyotes on Jan. 9 and missed four games. He returned Jan. 20 against the Montreal Canadiens and played three of four games but missed the Bruins’ final game before the NHL All-Star break, a 6-2 win at the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 27, with an undisclosed injury. He then missed Boston’s first game after the break, a 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.
Poitras has 15 points (five points, 10 assists) in 33 games this season, his first in the NHL.
“Matt has been an important part of our team’s success thus far, and he will be missed,” general manager Don Sweeney said. “Our medical staff made the recommendation for Matt to proceed with the surgery rather than continue playing with an unstable shoulder and risking further damage. Everyone involved supported the decision as to do what was best for him at this time. Matt is just starting his Bruins career and is a key part of our future.” -- Joe Pohoryles
New York Islanders
Casey Cizikas returned to the lineup when the Islanders hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
The forward had missed 10 games because of a lower-body injury he sustained while blocking a shot in a 5-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 9.
Although he was initially retroactively placed on injured reserve, Cizikas was transferred to long-term injured reserve on Sunday so that the Islanders could activate defenseman Ryan Pulock off LTIR. Pulock returned for a 3-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday after missing 24 games.
Forward Kyle MacLean, who played six games in Cizikas' absence, was assigned to Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on Thursday to make room on the roster for Cizikas, who has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 39 games this season. -- Stefen Rosner
Arizona Coyotes
Barrett Hayton returned to the lineup against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday after missing 32 games with a hand injury.
The Coyotes forward had not played since Nov. 16.
"For me, you don't come back and dip your toe; you get back when you are ready to dive," Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said Thursday. "If you drive an F1 or NASCAR, how is your first race? You go in the back of the line, and you follow everybody? It's a race; you need to win the race or else don't drive the car. Hayton will be ready to race."
Hayton has four points (two goals, two assists) in 16 games this season, including a goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Nov. 16 game he was injured. He was expected to play center the third line with Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther.
Forward Liam O'Brien was a healthy scratch for the first time this season.
"When you have an NHL player scratched, that's no good for the guys who are scratched, but it is good for our organization," Tourigny said. "We have decisions to make with the center competition." -- Alan Robinson
Calgary Flames
Martin Pospisil signed a two-year, $2 million contract with the Flames on Wednesday. It has an average annual value of $1 million.
The 24-year-old forward, who was selected in the fourth round (No. 105) of the 2018 NHL Draft, has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 34 games as a rookie this season.
"We have seen tremendous growth and maturity in Martin’s game since we drafted him in 2018," Flames general manager Craig Conroy said. "Martin has become a big part of our team, and we are excited to have him under contract for the next two years."
Pittsburgh Penguins
Noel Acciari will be out indefinitely for the Penguins with a concussion.
The forward was helped off the ice at 4:15 of the second period Tuesday after taking an illegal check to the head from Winnipeg Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon, who was suspended three games.
Acciari will not travel for a two-game road trip beginning against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Friday (8 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, BSWIX, BSN, SNP, SNE, TVAS). He has four points (three goals, one assist) in 39 games this season, his first with Pittsburgh.
Colin White replaced Acciari at fourth-line center in practice Thursday with Jansen Harkins at left wing and Jeff Carter at right wing.
"I'm not sure we're going to stay with that, quite honestly," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "'Carts' obviously is real comfortable playing in the middle. They're both comfortable taking face-offs. 'Carts' is really good at taking face-offs. So I'm not sure that we're going to stay with that. That was something we thought we'd try in practice and see if we liked it. What we do know is we have the option to go get either guy to play the center-ice position." * -- Wes Crosby*
St. Louis Blues
Justin Faulk was placed on injured reserve on Thursday and is week to week with a lower-body injury.
The defenseman was injured against the Calgary Flames on Jan. 23 and has missed the past four games. The injury is not related to the lower-body injury Faulk sustained Dec. 29 against the Colorado Avalanche that caused him to miss five games.
Blues coach Drew Bannister was hopeful that Faulk would be able to skate during the All-Star break but that was not the case.
"It's disappointing," Bannister said. "He's a big part of our team, but while he was out in the first part, we played some good hockey, so we'll continue to do that and lean on guys moving forward and expect more from other guys."
The Blues, who have not played since Jan. 30, next play at the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday.
Defenseman Scott Perunovich is week to week with a lower-body injury sustained against the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 28; he has missed one game. Defenseman Calle Rosen was recalled from Springfield of the American Hockey League on Thursday in a corresponding move.
"We always thought there would be a chance at maybe coming off the break that we would maybe have one or both in," Bannister said, "but it's unfortunate that they come back and they're not quite ready to get themselves back on the ice. Certainly we're going to miss both of them, but like always, this is an opportunity for Calle Rosen and for [Tyler] Tucker to come in and be able to partake and give us good minutes. We're going to need these guys and other guys to step up." -- Lou Korac
