NHL Buzz: Ekholm returns for Oilers against Sharks

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Edmonton Oilers

Mattias Ekholm and Stuart Skinner each returned from injury for the Oilers against the San Jose Sharks on Friday.

Ekholm missed the past seven games, and 13 of the past 17, with an undisclosed injury. The defenseman has 33 points (nine goals, 24 assists) in 64 games.

"A guy that can eat up minutes playing against other teams' top lines, but also a guy that our forwards, especially our skilled forwards, like to be on the ice with because he can transport the puck really nice," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said of Ekholm. "So, the role that 'Ekkie' has is immense. He does so much for our team."

Skinner, a goalie, missed seven games with a head injury following a collision in the crease with Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen on March 26. He will back up Calvin Pickard on Friday.

Skinner is 24-18-4 with a 2.91 goals-against average and .894 save percentage in 49 games (48 starts).

"He is cleared, he could play, he could be our starting goalie tonight, but with the amount of time we've had for practice and just being cleared, he's had a couple pre-game skates, we felt like giving him a little more time," Knoblauch said of Skinner.

Knoblauch said Skinner will play one of the back-to-back games against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday or the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.

Defenseman Jake Walman missedhis second game with an undisclosed injury, but is expected to return to the lineup either Sunday or Monday, Knoblauch said.

The Oilers are third in the Pacific Division, four points behind the Los Angeles Kings. -- Gerry Moddejonge

Toronto Maple Leafs

Oliver Ekman-Larsson will not play for the Maple Leafs when they host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SNO, SNE, SNP).

The defenseman, who played a team-high 25:14 in a 4-3 overtime win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, did not practice Friday and is day to day with an undisclosed injury.

He did not play another shift after 1:23 of overtime when he fell awkwardly while on a breakaway.

"He'll be evaluated, you never know," coach Craig Berube said. "He's a tough guy but he won't be playing tomorrow."

The Maple Leafs will face the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.

Because of roster limitations under the NHL salary cap, the Maple Leafs will play with 17 skaters against the Canadiens, and use five defensemen.

"It's always challenging but we've played games where we've lost a defenseman early in the game and you play with five," Berube said. "It's important that our forwards do a good job of helping our defense out tomorrow night and making sure they get back quick for breakouts and make the game easy on them as much as possible, not getting extended shifts in the D-zone and tiring your defense out. That'll be a big part of the game."

Defenseman Jake McCabe and forward David Kampf will each miss his fourth straight game.

McCabe, who is out with an undisclosed injury, was not on the ice at practice on Friday while Kampf, who is out with an upper-body injury, skated on his own prior to the main session.

Berube said he expects McCabe to return prior to the end of the regular season. Toronto has four games remaining. -- Dave McCarthy

Colorado Avalanche

Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are among the Avalanche regulars who won't play during their two-game road trip to end the regular season in order to rest before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

MacKinnon, along with fellow forwards Jonathan Drouin and Ross Colton, and defensemen Makar and Josh Manson will not travel for games at the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; FDSNW, ALT) and at the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.

"They're not going on the trip," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Friday. "We got a lot of guys dealing with stuff. The training room's full, as you can imagine, this time of the year and the schedule that we've been playing. So yeah, we'll make some informed decisions on some guys, and we're obviously not going to be able to [rest everyone]."

MacKinnon leads the Avalanche in goals (32) and assists (84) and is tied with Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning for first in the NHL with 116 points. His streak of 209 consecutive regular-season games played came to an end Thursday.

Colorado is locked into third place in the Central Division, and will play the Dallas Stars or Winnipeg Jets in the first round.

"There's so many guys dealing with little things that you can't take them all out," Bednar said. "It's just not possible. So we'll pick and choose some guys that we want to make sure are feeling the best they can feel come next weekend (start of playoffs)."

Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog was loaned to the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League on a conditioning assignment Wednesday and will play for them on Friday. Landeskog has been working toward a return since undergoing cartilage transplant surgery in his right knee May 10, 2023. He last played in Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. -- Ryan Boulding

Tampa Bay Lightning

Luke Glendening will be out indefinitely with an upper-body injury and may not be available for the rest of the regular season.

The forward has seven points (four goals, three assists), averaging 10:47 of ice time in 77 games, to go along with 105 hits and 58 blocked shots.

He has not missed a game due to injury this season, only missing one game due to the birth of his child.

After Friday, the Lightning have three regular-season games remaining before the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin. They have qualified for the postseason. They are second in the Atlantic Division, three points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and one ahead of the Florida Panthers.

Dallas Stars

Tyler Seguin is nearing a return to the lineup for the Dallas Stars.

The 33-year-old forward has missed the past 56 games after undergoing hip surgery on Dec. 5.

After several weeks of noncontact practices and morning skate participation, Seguin has started practices with contact this week.

"[He] is knocking on the door to come back," Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said prior to a 4-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. "He's taking contact, he's taking full practices."

Seguin had 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 19 games prior to the surgery.

Dallas is six points behind the Jets for first in the Central Division, and has clinched no worse than the No. 2 seed in the division with home-ice advantage in the first round. The Stars host the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; Utah16, Victory+). -- Taylor Baird

New York Islanders

Ilya Sorokin did not play in a 9-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday.

The goalie sustained a lower-body injury in the second period of a 7-6 overtime loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday when Predators forward Michael McCarron fell on top of him while scoring.

Sorokin remained in the game and finished the period, but he was relieved by Marcus Hogberg for the third period and overtime.

"After the game I said it was upper body, but after seeing the doctor it has nothing to do with what happened during the summer with his back," Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. "It's a lower-body injury."

Sorokin, who had offseason back surgery, is 29-23-6 with a 2.77 goals-against average, .905 save percentage and three shutouts in 59 games (58 starts).

Roy did not say whether Sorokin would be unavailable for the rest of the regular season.

The Islanders (34-32-11) are eight points behind the Montreal Canadians for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. They have four games remaining.

Hogberg allowed eight goals on 30 shots against the Rangers. Tristan Lennox, who was recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on Thursday morning, made his NHL debut in relief in the third and allowed one goal on two shots before Hogberg reentered the game. -- Stefen Rosner