Welcome to the NHL Buzz. Each day during the regular season, NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.
Buffalo Sabres
Kyle Okposo is week to week with a lower-body injury.
The forward was injured Sunday in a 5-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators and played through it.
“It’s one of those injuries that if you can tolerate the pain and get through it but you know that the next morning, the next day, the inflammation is going to lock up, it’s going to seize up, whatever the terminology," Sabres coach Don Granato said. “He gutted it the last little bit of the game, and you knew what was coming from that point.”
Okposo, the Sabres captain, has 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in 38 games. He’s scored all his goals in the past 19 games, and his five since Dec. 7 lead Buffalo in that stretch.
“Obviously there’s a concern there for him, first of all,” Granato said. “But he’s been playing better and better. Certainly, the last 15 games he’s had a really great stretch. He’s a competitor, ultra-competitor. He’s obviously the leader we know, and those are two areas that we’ve talked a lot about.
“It’s incredible, the game that (forward) Zemgus Girgensons is back is the exact game that Kyle Okposo is now going to be out. I talked a lot about how nice it’ll be to have both of them in because we haven’t had both of them in for quite some time with that in mind, that competitive guy, that experienced guy that knows how to play the game hard and direct. That’s unfortunate because as a tandem … they’re even better. So, yeah, it’s another challenge.” -- Heather Engel
Pittsburgh Penguins
Bryan Rust returned for the Penguins when they hosted the Washington Capitals on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; HULU, ESPN+, SNO, SNE, TVAS).
The forward was a full participant at the morning skate, taking rushes at second-line right wing with center Evgeni Malkin. He missed 10 games with an upper-body injury while on long-term injured reserve.
Pittsburgh was 7-2-1 without Rust, who hadn't played since Dec. 6.
"It's easier to be watching when the team’s winning games and the team is getting points," Rust said. "If it was the other way around, you’d try to get back in there quickly, it would be a bit frustrating. Obviously, the team’s putting together some wins and doing some good things."
Rust has 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in 22 games this season, mostly at right wing on the first line.
Rickard Rakell, who has replaced Rust next to first-line center Sidney Crosby, has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past five games after having four assists in his first 18 this season.
To make room on the roster for Rust, forward Vinnie Hinostroza was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. -- \Wes Crosby \
Carolina Hurricanes
Jesper Fast did not play for the Hurricanes when they visited the New York Rangers on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; BSSO, MSG) because of an upper-body injury.
The forward left in the first period of a 3-2 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday after taking a check to the head from forward Noah Gregor.
"He is going to be out, that I know, but I don't know how long," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said Monday. "I didn't really look at [the hit] too closely but obviously it's a hit to the head and everyone takes that real serious now. Not that we didn't before, but it's a lot different now."
Fast has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) playing all 37 games for Carolina this season. He was replaced by Brendan Lemieux, who hadn't played since Dec. 9. Lemieux has two goals in 11 games. -- David Satriano
Tampa Bay Lightning
Haydn Fleury and Erik Cernak were each out with an upper-body injury when the Lightning visited the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; TSN3, BSSUN).
Fleury is week to week, and Cernak is day to day.
The defensemen played in a 4-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday, but their ice time was limited. Fleury played 9:27, and Cernak 6:29.
The Lightning remain without Mikhail Sergachev, who has missed six games with a foot injury. The defenseman skated with teammates in Winnipeg on Tuesday but left the ice early and did not play.
Defenseman Philippe Myers was recalled from Syracuse of the AHL, and defenseman Sean Day was assigned to the AHL. -- Darrin Bauming
