NHL Buzz: MacKinnon could miss final 3 games of regular season
Hertl back for Golden Knights; Sorokin out for Islanders
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Colorado Avalanche
Nathan MacKinnon did not play for the Avalanche against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday and could miss their upcoming two-game road trip to end the regular season.
The forward could be rested until the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs while nursing an undisclosed injury.
"He's dealing with something," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I think you get to this point in the year, all these guys are dealing with something. The guys that didn't get the break, too, for the 4 Nations [Face-Off]. This has been a tough stretch of games since then, right? I think rest is part of it, though."
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. He has 43 points (16 goals, 27 assists) during his current 26-game home point streak.
"I don't think that individual accolades [matter to him]. I think they're nice. I think he's won a lot of them," Bednar said. "His trophy case is huge. I don't think it matters to him. I think winning has always been the most important thing to him. Having accomplished that in 2022, I think he got a taste for it, and he wants to win again."
MacKinnon's streak of 209 consecutive regular-season games played came to an end Thursday. Colorado plays at the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday and at the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.
Colorado is third in the Central Division, six points behind the Dallas Stars, but has played one more game.
Forward Martin Necas and defenseman Samuel Girard each returned on Thursday. Necas had missed the previous three games because of an upper-body injury, and Girard missed the previous four games because of a lower-body injury.
Defenseman Ryan Lindgren did not play Thursday after he sustained an upper-body injury during a 3-2 shootout win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
Forward Jonathan Drouin participated in morning skate in a noncontact jersey but missed his fourth straight game because of a lower-body injury.
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog was loaned to the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League on a conditioning assignment Wednesday. 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
Vegas Golden Knights
Tomas Hertl is expected to return for the Golden Knights against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; KHN, KING 5, SCRIPPS, KONG, TVAS).
The forward has missed the past eight games with an upper-body injury.
"It wasn't a long time. Thank God," Hertl said. "It always [stinks] to miss games, especially close to the playoffs. But it's nice to be back. When you're injured, you kind of feel alone because you're staying here, you don't travel and stuff."
Hertl was injured in a 4-2 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 23 after hitting the boards following an Emil Lilleberg hit. He is second on the team with goals (31) and has 59 points in 70 games this season.
"Hopefully, he gets up to speed as quickly as possible," Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. "We're thankful he's able to get out there now and not go right into the playoffs. That's a bonus. When the injury happened, we all saw it. We didn't know how it would play out. Whether it be day to day or a couple of weeks, whatever, but here he is. So, he does get an opportunity back and get some games under his belt before the playoff start, so that's the good part."
Forward Jack Eichel will also miss his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury and is day to day. Eichel leads the team with 93 points (27 goals, 66 assists) in 76 games.
Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo will also be out with an illness and is day to day.
The Golden Knights (47-22-9) are first in the Pacific Division and can clinch the top seed in the division with a win and a regulation loss by the Los Angeles Kings to the Anaheim Ducks. -- Paul Delos Santos
New York Islanders
Ilya Sorokin did not play against 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."
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 after Thursday.
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).
Goalie Tristan Lennox was recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis. The 22-year-old, who was selected by New York in the third round (No. 93) of the 2021 NHL Draft, missed significant time because of a lower-body injury and is 0-3-0 with a 4.44 GAA and .832 save percentage in four games for Bridgeport. -- Stefen Rosner
Dallas Stars
Tyler Seguin is nearing a return to the lineup for the Dallas Stars.
The 33-year-old forward has missed the past 55 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 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, which is playing Winnipeg on Thursday, is four points behind the Jets for first in the Central Division. -- Taylor Baird
Winnipeg Jets
Neal Pionk and Nikolaj Ehlers each returned for the Jets at the Dallas Stars on Thursday.
Pionk, a defenseman, had missed the previous 12 games because of a lower-body injury. He has 37 points (nine goals, 28 assists) in 66 games this season.
Ehlers, a forward, had missed the previous two games after being struck with a shot in the foot during a 4-0 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on April 3. He has 63 points (24 goals, 39 assists) in 67 games.
“You want to have your full squad, especially in games like this but obviously for the first round of the playoffs," Jets forward Nino Niederreiter said. "Hopefully they have a chance to play tonight. It's all about how they feel and how warmups go. Having these two guys back there is a big part of our group, [they are] core guys, and definitely something that we need." -- Taylor Baird
Pittsburgh Penguins
Rutger McGroarty will miss the rest of the regular season because of a lower-body injury.
The 21-year-old rookie forward did not practice Thursday after taking a shot off his left skate late during the second period of a 5-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. He could return during the Calder Cup Playoffs if Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League advances far enough, Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said.
Forwards Tommy Novak (lower body), Blake Lizotte (undisclosed), Noel Acciari (undisclosed) and Matt Nieto (undisclosed) also will be out the rest of the season for the Penguins, who have three games remaining, beginning at the New Jersey Devils on Friday (7 p.m. ET; SN-PIT, MSGSN, NHLN). Pittsburgh did not qualify for the playoffs for the third straight season.
Forwards Vasily Ponomarev, Emil Bemstrom and Valtteri Puustinen were recalled from the AHL on an emergency basis.
McGroarty had been on the first line with center Sidney Crosby since being recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on March 28. Acquired in a trade from the Winnipeg Jets on Aug. 22, he has three points (one goal, two assists) in eight NHL games.
"It's disappointing because he was playing real well and we thought it was a great experience for him to get NHL games," Sullivan said. "We're hopeful that Rutger's injury will come around. We're hopeful that Wilkes-Barre will play long enough that he has an opportunity to help them continue to have success down there. That's an important experience for him as well."
Rookie forward Ville Koivunen replaced McGroarty at first-line left wing Thursday. -- Wes Crosby
