Welcome to the NHL Buzz. Each day during the regular season, NHL.com has you covered with all the latest news.
New York Rangers
Igor Shesterkin started for the Rangers against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Saturday.
Shesterkin missed four games due to mild soreness that began after a 2-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 2. Shesterkin made 26 saves in that game.
Jonathan Quick started three games and Louis Domingue started one in Shesterkin's absence.
Shesterkin is 6-2-0 with a 2.36 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in eight games this season.
New York (11-2-1) is first in the Metropolitan Division and is on a 10-game point streak (9-0-1).
Washington Capitals
Evgeny Kuznetsov will not play for the Capitals against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET; MNMT, BSOH) because of an illness.
"Sick, so missed today's skate," Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. "Tomorrow's an off-day, so we'll see where he's at tomorrow and then Monday practice."
The Capitals' top-line center has eight points (three goals, five assists) in 14 games this season.
Anthony Mantha and Trevor van Riemsdyk will each return Saturday.
Mantha, a forward, missed the past three games with a ruptured left ear drum he sustained when he was hit with a defected shot in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Nov. 8. Van Riemsdyk, a defenseman, has missed four games with a lower-body injury sustained against Columbus on Nov. 4.
Darcy Kuemper, who had to be helped to the locker room after he was hit in an unpadded area on his leg with a shot during practice Wednesday, will back up Charlie Lindgren.
Kuemper did not dress for a 4-2 win against the Devils on Friday and 4-1 win against the New York Islanders on Saturday because of an unspecified injury he sustained during the loss to the Panthers. He returned to back up Charlie Lindgren in the Capitals' 3-0 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
Defenseman Joel Edmundson, who has been out since fracturing his hand in a training camp scrimmage on Sept. 24, is also expected to play.
"Physicality, his ability to defend, his range, his presence, his defensive zone protecting the interior," Carbery said of Edmundson. "Being able to win pucks down low. There's a lot of things I think that will help that we've maybe missed back there. Just a really strong, reliable, hard defender that makes it difficult on opponents when you try to come to the interior against us." -- Harvey Valentine
Chicago Blackhawks
Taylor Hall returned for the Blackhawks in a 4-2 loss at the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
Hall had five shots on goal in 16:39 of ice time.
The forward sustained a lower-body injury in a 5-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 9. He fell backward on his bent right leg after a collision with Lightning forward Michael Eyssimont with 5:33 remaining in the third period and had to be helped off the ice.
Hall has missed six games this season, including four due to a shoulder injury first sustained in a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Oct. 11. -- Tracey Myers
Florida Panthers
Aleksander Barkov sustained an undisclosed injury and is being evaluated.
The center left 57 seconds into the third period of a 2-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday after knee-to-knee contact with Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who was assessed a minor tripping penalty.
"We've got to get him back and get him looked at, and then we’ll see from there," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said after the game.
Barkov is second on the Panthers with 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in 16 games this season and is second among their forwards in ice time per game (20:06) behind Sam Reinhart (20:59).
The Panthers next host the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Boone Jenner will play his 675th regular-season game to pass Rick Nash for the most in Blue Jackets history when they visit the Capitals on Saturday.
"It goes by quick," the 30-year-old forward said. "I never would've dreamed my first year that I'd be here breaking that milestone. So, it's definitely special to me and special to be a Blue Jacket. To do it here with this organization means a lot."
A second-round pick (No. 37) in the 2011 NHL Draft, Jenner has played all 11 NHL seasons with Columbus and is third in franchise history with 338 points (177 goals, 161 assists), including nine (seven goals, two assists) in 17 games this season. Jenner said it adds to the honor to have his name linked to Nash, the Blue Jackets' leader in goals (289), assists (258) and points (547) who has rejoined them in retirement as director of player development.
"Obviously, everyone knows how much 'Nasher' has meant to this organization on the ice, off the ice, in the community, everything he's done in Columbus and for our team," Jenner said. "So, a special player and it's cool to have your name up there with a guy like that knowing what he meant to the city and the team here." -- Tom Gulitti
