Tag Archives: Edmonton Oilers

Taylor Hall leading the way for Edmonton Oilers when they need him most

January 13, 2012 12:22 am Cheap Tickets Leave a Comment

EDMONTON – If adversity reveals character, Taylor Hall is making a bold statement about his willingness and ability to lead at a time when the Edmonton Oilers need him most.

The injury-riddled club is mired in a stretch that has seen them win just twice in their last 13 games, but the 20-year-old former two-time Memorial Cup champion and MVP is doing what he can to shake his team from its slump.

After scoring five goals during a seven-game stretch on the road in which the Oilers won just once, Hall was easily Edmonton’s best player in Wednesday’s 2-1 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils.

Beaten again, but not beaten down.

“I expect a lot out of myself,” Hall said Thursday. “No matter what’s going on around you, you always want to worry about your own game and how you’re playing.

“From there, you focus on how you can help the team as best you can. I’m just trying to play the best I can so help out my linemates and the team. We come to each game with a fresh mindset. We don’t worry about the last one. We try to win the next one. I think every player on the team is doing their best.”

Injuries to Jordan Eberle and rookie Ryan Nugent-Hopkins during the trip have left the Oilers without their top two scorers. Eberle is out for two to three weeks with a sprained right knee, while Nugent-Hopkins will be gone until the NHL all-star break with a shoulder injury. Defencemen Tom Gilbert, Ryan Whitney and Cam Barker are also out.

Enter Hall, a man on a mission against the Devils who fired five shots at Johan Hedberg, assisted on Ales Hemsky‘s 1-1 goal, set up a half-dozen scoring chances and logged 23:10 of ice time for coach Tom Renney against New Jersey.

“I’d like to think that’s symbolic of our team,” Renney said of Hall elevating his game during a frustrating stretch. “He’s certainly one of those guys who leads the way with that whole approach.

“This is a fabulous player. A huge passion to play and very driven. I just love that. That’s so much about what we need to be moving forward.”

Hall has 14 goals and 30 points in the 34 games season. Seven of his goals have come in the 12 games he’s played since he returned to action after missing seven contests with a shoulder injury.

“You can’t really worry about the situation you’re in,” said Hall, who won two Memorial Cups with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. “You have to treat every game like a new game and go out and play it.

“You play it the very best you can, the most desperate you can. You try to be consistent every night because that’s what your teammates want and expect out of you.”

Without Eberle, who has 43 points, and Nugent-Hopkins, who leads NHL rookies in scoring with 35 points and has been named to participate in the rookie skills competition at the all-star game, Hall is playing on a line with Sam Gagner and Hemsky.

“It’s a big lift for everyone when you see a guy who goes out there like that and just plays fearless,” Gagner said. “We can learn a lot from him in that regard. It doesn’t seem like worries about negative things happening or is scared of anything.

“He just goes out there and plays the game the way it’s meant to be played.”

Like Hall, Gagner has been playing his best hockey despite the lack of team success. He had a five-game point streak snapped against the Devils.

“He plays with passion and he’s obviously got a lot of skill to go with it,” said Gagner. “It’s a lot of fun to watch and a big lift for our team. If we can continue to follow guys like him, we’re going to have some success here soon.”

While the Oilers picked up a point against the Devils, they’ve lost four straight games as they prepare to face the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.

“I don’t recall any of these games, other than the last period in Long Island, where we quit at all,” Renney said. “I’m not suggesting we quit then. We just had one of those nights. We had four posts or something like that.

“I’d like to think our team is sort of taking on that look, too. Maybe we do have others in our dressing room who need to learn how to sustain that and continue to pursue it, but it’s sure nice to have that example. Certainly, Taylor is all about that.”

Filed Under: NHL Tagged With: Edmonton Oilers, NHL, Nugent Hopkins, Taylor Hall

Edmonton Oilers must overcome injuries, have strong second half to make playoffs

January 11, 2012 12:19 am Cheap Tickets Leave a Comment

EDMONTON – If the Oilers are going to climb back into playoff contention Edmonton will have to overcome a host of injuries as well as their opponents.

The Oilers open the second half of their season against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday, when they’ll try to end a three-game losing streak that’s part of a 2-8-0 record over the last 10 games.

Edmonton lost forwards Jordan Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as well as defencemen Tom Gilbert and Ryan Whitney at various points in that 10-game period.

“We can’t do much about what’s gone on in the first half, good and bad, unfortunately,” coach Tom Renney said on Tuesday. “What we can control is what’s in front of us and we certainly approach it that way.”

Briefly atop the Western Conference standings after a 9-3-2 start, the Oilers hit the halfway mark in 13th place at 16-22-3 with a 4-1 loss in Dallas last Saturday. That defeat saw Edmonton finish a stretch of seven road games at 1-6-0.

“We’ve got a group of guys here who have a terrific cumulative attitude, if you will,” Renney said. “We just have to stay with it. We had a great start and we faltered and we slipped. Other teams that people were writing about and throwing accolades all over have also had tough times and slipped.

Renney is confident that Edmonton can find itself back in the Western Conference’s playoff picture with some hard work.

“There’s an ebb and flow to the hockey season and there’s no reason why we can’t get ourselves winning again and get ourselves on a couple of real good rolls that really help reel people in,” said Renney.

Edmonton’s biggest personnel loss came in the 4-1 loss to the Stars. Eberle, who leads the team in scoring with 17 goals and 26 assists, sprained his knee when he collided with Jamie Benn. Eberle will be out two to three weeks.

“Whatever people are saying, we still want to make a push here and win hockey games,” said Eberle, who has already matched the 43 points he had in 69 games as a rookie last season.

“Obviously, it’s going to be tough to watch from the crowd, but, at the same time, I’ll get healthy and get back into this line-up as quick as I can.”

Nugent-Hopkins, who leads NHL rookies in scoring with 13 goals and 35 assists will be out until the end of January with a shoulder injury suffered when he lost his footing and fell into the boards in a 4-3 win in Chicago on Jan. 2.

With Eberle and Nugent-Hopkins injured, Renney will lean heavily on Taylor Hall — who has scored goals in four straight games — as well as Sam Gagner, Ryan Smyth and Alex Hemsky.

“The first 15 games were great for us,” said Hall, who will face New Jersey on a line with Gagner and Hemsky. “The last 25 haven’t been the greatest.

“There’s been a lot of injuries. There’s been times when we’ve had a lot of key guys out. It’s hard to play like that. There’s no getting around that, but we have to put that behind us and focus on having the best second half we can possibly have and see where that puts us.”

Gilbert sprained his ankle against the Blackhawks when he was slammed into the boards by Daniel Carcillo. He’s likely out until after the NHL all-star game on Jan. 29. Whitney, who has struggled to recover from ankle surgery, hasn’t even played since Dec. 22.

The loss of Gilbert, who leads the Oilers with 23:41 of ice time per game, is a big blow. With Whitney in and out of the lineup, Gilbert and Ladislav Smid have been Renney’s go-to tandem.

“I’ve used this before, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are in a playoff spot right now without the best player in the world,” Gagner said, talking about the loss of Sidney Crosby. “It’s tough. There’s times where it gets frustrating, but every team goes through injuries at some point in the season. It’s a matter of guys just coming together and collectively battling through it.

“It’s be a pretty special feeling in here if we’re able to soldier up and have a good little run here with some key guys out and get ourselves back into playoff contention. That’s our goal.”

After back-to-back 30th-place finishes, Renney’s goal at the start of the season was to play meaningful games in March and April. That will take some doing. Going into games Monday, the Oilers sit 26th overall and are 13 points back of the eighth-place Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference.

“We really can only approach every day as it comes and pay attention to the needs of the day in terms of how we practice and how we prepare to be better,” Renney said.

“That’s what you do here. I think our attitude is probably as important to us as anything.”

Edmonton is getting some reinforcements from its minor-league system.

Forward Magnus Paajarvi was recalled from Oklahoma City with Ryan O’Marra Monday after tallying nine points in 10 games with the Barons. Both will be in the lineup against New Jersey.

That won’t be the case for former first-round pick Gilbert Brule, who was also recalled but had to clear re-entry waivers. Brule was claimed by Phoenix.

Filed Under: NHL Tagged With: Edmonton Oilers, New Jersey, Nugent Hopkins, Western Conference

Marchand dazzles for B’s; Malkin Mania for Pens

December 25, 2011 6:05 am Cheap Tickets Leave a Comment

For a guy who figured to make his NHL living as a pest, Brad Marchand sure knows where the back of the net is.

8b428 8473419 Marchand dazzles for Bs; Malkin Mania for Pens

Find more sold out tickets

Boston picked Marchand in the third round of the 2006 NHL Draft with the expectation that he’d be a high-energy player who could chip in a little offense. He surprised everyone by scoring 21 goals and 41 points as a rookie as the Bruins won their first Stanley Cup since 1972, and is on his way to blowing past both those marks this season.

Marchand had a career night on Friday with his first NHL hat trick and a pair of assists for a five-point night as Boston buried the Florida Panthers 8-0. He has six goals and nine points in Boston’s past five games and has climbed to second on the Bruins with 29 points while leading the team in goals with 15. He’s also second in the League to teammate Tyler Seguin in plus-minus at plus-25 — matching his rating for last season.

Five up — Five players who hit the Christmas break playing well:

531d4 8471215 Marchand dazzles for Bs; Malkin Mania for Pens

Evgeni Malkin — With Pittsburgh decimated by injuries to Sidney Crosby and other top players, Malkin continues to drive the offense. The Penguins scored seven goals while winning both their games this past week, and Malkin set up four of them. He has 16 points during a seven-game scoring streak and is tied for second in the League with 40 points, though he’s played in only 28 games.

Marian Gaborik — Gaborik reached Christmas with a League-leading 21 goals, just one behind his total for all of last season. He’s scored six times during a four-game goal-scoring streak that includes a pair of winners.

Curtis Glencross — Jarome Iginla isn’t the only Calgary Flame who can put the puck in the net. Glencross reached the Christmas break riding a four-game goal-scoring streak, during which he’s connected five times.

531d4 8466148 Marchand dazzles for Bs; Malkin Mania for Pens

Marian Hossa — Hossa is the one who makes Chicago’s offense go. He’s seventh in the NHL and tops on the Hawks with 38 points and reached the break riding a seven-game points streak during which he’s put up seven goals and five assists.

Tuukka Rask — On any other team, Rask might be an All-Star; on the defending champion Bruins, he’s the backup to Tim Thomas. But coach Claude Julien never has to worry about giving the reigning Vezina Trophy winner a night off — not when Rask has pitched shutouts in his past two starts and owns a 1.66 goals-against average and .944 save percentage.

Five down — Five players who didn’t:

Carey Price — The pressure of trying to carry an underpowered team may be taking a toll on Price, who’s lost his past four starts for Montreal while allowing 16 goals.

Shawn Horcoff — One reason the Edmonton Oilers have struggled is a lack of secondary scoring when opponents shut down their first line. The Oilers need more from players like Horcoff, who’s gone seven games without a point.

Antoine Vermette — The 29-year-old had 65 and 47 points for Columbus in the past two seasons, which makes this season’s 12-point output entering the Christmas break a puzzle. He’s gone six games without a point and has yet to have a multiple-point game.

531d4 8471676 Marchand dazzles for Bs; Malkin Mania for Pens

Bobby Ryan — Many of the Ducks could make this list as Anaheim is one of the biggest disappointments of the season. But after three-straight seasons of scoring 31 or more goals, Ryan has just 10 goals and 17 points. He’s gone four games without a point and six without a goal.

Jack Johnson — The No. 3 pick in the 2005 NHL Draft (he was picked immediately after Ryan and two picks after Crosby) is struggling at both ends of the ice. Not only has Johnson gone seven games without a point from the blue line, he’s minus-10 during that span.

Injuries, news and notes — It’s fair to say that, as far as hockey is concerned, Sidney Crosby won’t miss the departure of 2011. There’s still no indication when he’ll get back into the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ lineup after his most recent concussion-related absence.

Out — Two goaltenders went down Tuesday night. Phoenix’s Mike Smith left with a lower-body injury, while the Islanders’ Al Montoya had to leave with a concussion. … Isles forward David Ullstrom also suffered a concussion Tuesday night, as did Chicago forward Marcus Kruger. … San Jose forward Martin Havlat had surgery Wednesday to repair a partially torn tendon in his left hamstring. He’ll be out for “an extended period of time,” according to GM Doug Wilson. … Dallas defenseman Stephane Robidas missed the Stars’ past two games before the break after injuring his foot in Wednesday’s morning skate. … Florida lost first-line center Stephen Weiss on Thursday with an upper-body injury. Weiss didn’t play Friday. Forwards Marco Sturm (undisclosed) and Mikael Samuelsson (back) didn’t play Thursday or Friday. … Boston’s Rich Peverley sat out Friday with an undisclosed injury. … Flyers forward Danny Briere missed Friday’s game in New York due to a hand injury. … Tampa Bay forward Ryan Shannon is expected to miss at least two more weeks after sustaining a lower-body injury on Wednesday. … Ottawa’s Peter Regin re-injured his surgically repaired left shoulder on Tuesday, sat out Thursday and Friday and may need more surgery, which could end his season.

Returning — The best thing the Philadelphia Flyers got for Christmas was Claude Giroux. The slick center returned Wednesday after missing 10 days with a concussion and promptly scored a goal and added three assists in Dallas. … Tampa Bay also got a boost when Martin St. Louis returned Wednesday after missing 13 days due to facial injuries sustained when he was hit by a puck during the morning skate on Dec. 8. … Los Angeles center Mike Richards returned from a concussion on Thursday in his first game since Dec. 1. He missed eight games. … Dallas forward Adam Burish returned Wednesday after missing 15 games with a broken hand. … Andrew Ebbett returned to Vancouver’s lineup Wednesday after missing nearly seven weeks with a broken foot. … Pittsburgh’s Ben Lovejoy played Tuesday for the first time since going down with a broken wrist on Nov. 3. … Phoenix defenseman Rostislav Klesla played in the Coyotes’ two-game trip Tuesday and Wednesday, his first games since sustaining a lower-body injury on Dec. 3. … The Sharks activated goaltender Antero Niittymaki on Friday; he hasn’t played this season after undergoing hip surgery. … Islanders defenseman Mark Eaton returned Thursday after missing 13 games with a sprained ligament in his left knee.

Still out — Phoenix put defenseman Adrian Aucoin (lower body) on IR. … Rangers defenseman Marc Staal is skating but still hasn’t been cleared for contact as he works to return from the concussion that has kept him from playing this season. … Chicago put forward Daniel Carcillo (upper body) on IR; he missed the Hawks’ last five games before Christmas but may be able to return this week. … Blues center Andy McDonald (concussion) is skating again but there’s no date set for his return. He’s been out since Oct. 13. … Ottawa forward Milan Michalek had hoped to return Friday from a concussion, but won’t be back until this week at the earliest. … Defenseman Henrik Tallinder missed New Jersey’s last four games before the break with back spasms. … Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen (groin) returned to practice on Thursday. He’s been out since Nov. 26. … Calgary defenseman Anton Babchuk has been able to skate at practice as he works to return from a broken hand sustained last month. Defenseman Mark Giordano (torn leg tendon) is also skating.

The week ahead — There will be plenty of hockey in Alberta this week, but none of the NHL variety. The start of the World Junior Championship in Calgary and Edmonton on Monday means that the Flames and Oilers are hitting the road.

Games to watch:

Detroit at Nashville (Dec. 26) — The Wings are back in Nashville for their second visit in 11 days — they were unable to hold a 3-1 third-period lead and lost 4-3 at Bridgestone Arena on Dec. 15.

Pittsburgh at Philadelphia (Dec. 29) — Expect plenty of booing when Jaromir Jagr steps on the ice at the Consol Energy Center for the first time — wearing a Flyers uniform.

Montreal at Florida — (Dec. 31; CBC) — It wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve in Sunrise if the Canadiens weren’t coming to BankAtlantic Center. This is the third year in a row that Montreal is spending the last day of the year in South Florida; the Canadiens won 4-0 in 2009 and 3-2 in OT last year.

Vancouver at Los Angeles (Dec. 31; CBC) — The Canucks and Kings get together for the last game of 2011 …

Calgary at Nashville (Jan. 1) — … and the Flames spend New Year’s Day in Nashville playing the Predators in the first game of 2012.

Tough week ahead:

Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers — The Flames start their week in Columbus on Tuesday before back-to-backs on Long Island and in Ottawa before visiting Nashville on Jan. 1. The Oilers visit Vancouver on Boxing Day and work their way East for games at Minnesota on Thursday and Long Island on Saturday.

Montreal Canadiens — If it’s the week between Christmas and New Year’s, it’s time for the Canadiens to head for Florida. They begin the second half of a two-week trip in Ottawa on Tuesday before heading South for games against the Lightning and Panthers.

Vancouver Canucks — Vancouver does get to play a holiday home game when Edmonton comes to town on Boxing Day, but the Canucks quickly head for California and three games in four nights, ending with a New Year’s Eve date in Los Angeles.

Easy week ahead:

Chicago Blackhawks — Not only did the Hawks finish the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule on Wednesday, they get to spend the week at home with visits from Columbus, Los Angeles and Detroit.

San Jose Sharks — The Sharks figure to have plenty of time for holiday festivities; they are home all week and play just twice, against Anaheim and Vancouver. The Sharks become the first team to end play in 2011 when they host the Canucks on Wednesday.

Tampa Bay Lightning — Like their Sunshine State rivals, the Florida Panthers, the Bolts spend the holiday week at home, with Philadelphia, Montreal and Carolina providing the opposition. The Panthers host Toronto and the Rangers before Montreal comes for its annual New Year’s Eve visit.

Filed Under: NHL Tagged With: Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning

Puck Previews: Battle of NY; Habs, Wild, Oil look to end skids

December 23, 2011 1:11 am Cheap Tickets Leave a Comment

Preview: New York Islanders at New York Rangers 7 p.m. EST

I know it’s tempting to skip the Rangers’ games and just catch the sexy HBO recaps with their David Fincheresque grit-filtered, behind-the-scenes magic, but there are plenty of reasons to watch this one live. First, the Rangers have won 4 straight at home and the Islanders are 5-1-1 in their last 7 on the road. Second, anything interesting that happens is going to be on Rangers-Flyers 24/7, so think of it like watching a three-hour teaser where most of the scenes will be cut.

Preview: Montreal Canadiens at Winnipeg Jets, 8:30 p.m. EST

Offensively monolingual coach Randy Cunneyworth and the Habs fly into Winnipeg, the city whose fanbase doesn’t care if you speak two languages. Must be nice. The Habs are 0-3 in the Cunneyworth era. Does the anglophone coach’s first win come tonight? If it doesn’t, one suspects the province of Quebec will be strapping him to a chair and forcing him to learn French (and unlearn English) via aversion therapy, Clockwork Orange-style.

Preview: Minnesota Wild at Edmonton Oilers, 9:30 p.m. EST

The Wild have lost 5 straight. Are they merely slumping or are they suffering the inevitable regression due a team that gets wildly outshot pretty much every night? Depends on if you’re a Wild fan or not. Either way, if they want to go into Christmas atop the Northwest Division, they need to start winning again, and the Oilers are a good team in that regard –in the sense that they’re not a good team in most other regards. They’ve lost 4 straight, and have fallen to 13th in the conference. Since I don’t think it’s possible for everyone to lose (unless there’s a shootout, amirite NHL fans?), somebody’s losing streak ends tonight.

Evening Reading

• Speaking of the Winnipeg fanbase, the city sold out of 20,000 Jets’ license plates in eight days. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Museum remains sparsely attended. #priorities [PHT]

• And in Minnesota, the most Canadian state in America (in the sense that its hockey fans are insane), a man has been charged with choking his son’s hockey coach until he began to black out. [Star-Tribune]

• The NHLPA has donated $300,000 worth of hockey equipment to programs all around the world. Amazingly, they only used money from James Wisniewski’s suspension. [CBC]

• Chloe Ezra’s 10 best Roberto Luongo animated gifs of 2011. The dude makes some odd faces. [PITB]

• Maybe it’s just because I’m a sucker for Daft Punk, but I think this Grand Rapids Griffins video is cool. That is all. [Reddit Hockey]

Bold prediction: The Wild snap the losing skid with a shutout win over the Oilers.

Filed Under: NHL Tagged With: Edmonton Oilers, EST, New York Islanders, New York Rangers

Seguin, Chara have defending champs back on track

December 16, 2011 5:55 am Cheap Tickets Leave a Comment

Tyler Seguin is showing why the Boston Bruins were thrilled to get him with the second pick in the 2010 NHL Draft.

The second-year center has 11 goals in Boston’s first 15 games this season, matching his total for all of his rookie season. Nos. 10 and 11 came Saturday night when he scored twice and added an assist in Boston’s 6-2 demolition of Buffalo.

The Bruins have won five in a row and scored 30 times during their hot streak, Seguin has seven of those goals, all scored in the last four games, and has assisted on three others. He’s also plus-7 during the streak, giving him a League-leading plus-14 rating less than a quarter of the way into the season. Not bad for a kid who doesn’t even turn 20 until the final day of January.

Five up — Five players who are playing well:

Johan Franzen — “The Mule” is pulling the wagon in Detroit, where the Wings have won four in a row after an early-season slide. Franzen has five goals and nine points during the winning streak, including an assist and the game-winning goal in Saturday’s 5-2 victory against Dallas.

Daniel Sedin — The reigning NHL scoring champion is off to another fine start. He has a goal and six assists in his last three games and is second in the NHL with 22 points. His 16 assists are two more than twin brother Henrik, usually regarded as the passer in the family, and more than anyone in the League so far.

a0db3 8470657 Seguin, Chara have defending champs back on track

Jimmy Howard — Howard often flies below the radar on the star-studded Red Wings, but he’s been a major reason (along with Franzen) for Detroit’s four-game winning streak. Howard has been in goal for all four games, allowing just four goals and posting two shutouts.

Zdeno Chara — Boston’s captain has been piling up assists during his team’s five-game winning streak — eight of them, to be exact, with four two-assist games, after getting just four points in the Bruins’ first 10 games. He’s also plus-8 during the five-game streak.

Mike Smith — The Coyotes signed Smith after Ilya Bryzgalov left during the summer, an so far, it’s hard to notice the difference. Smith had a 31-save shutout in San Jose on Saturday and is 5-0-1 in his last six starts while allowing only 11 goals.

Five down — Five players who are struggling:

Blake Comeau — Eleven games, no points and a minus-5 rating. That’s the season in a nutshell for Comeau, who scored 24 goals in 2010-11 but is among several New York Islanders who’ve contributed little offensively this season.

Mathieu Darche — The 34-year-old was a solid third-line contributor last season (12 goals, 26 points in 59 games), but is contributing nothing offensively this season. He’s gone 10 games since recording his only point of the season, a goal on Oct. 20.

TJ Galiardi — Like Darche, Galiardi has only one point (a goal) and has gone 10 games since scoring it. He’s also minus-5 in that span, though he average ice time has actually gone up to about 14 minutes during the last five games.

Rene Bourque — After back-to-back 27-goal seasons, Bourque is off to a slow start with the Calgary Flames. His five goals have been scored in only three games, he hasn’t had an assist all season and he’s gone eight games without a point.

a0db3 8471851 Seguin, Chara have defending champs back on track

Matt D’Agostini — St. Louis is relying on D’Agostini, a 21-goal scorer in 2010-11, for secondary scoring, but so far he’s not delivering. D’Agostini has gone seven games without a point and has managed only nine shots on goal in that span.

Injuries, news and notes — Friday was a tough night for defensemen and hand injuries. Anaheim’s Lubomir Visnovsky broke a finger blocking a shot in the Ducks’ 4-3 win against Vancouver and is expected to miss four weeks, while Dallas’ Alex Goligoski could miss about the same amount of time due to a broken thumb — also after blocking a shot.

Out — Toronto center Tim Connolly is back on the injured list with an upper-body injury. He missed the season’s first eight games, also with an upper-body problem. … Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller left after two periods of Saturday’s game in Boston following a collision with onrushing Bruins’ forward Milan Lucic with what the team called a sore neck … Minnesota forward Guillaume Latendresse left Thursday’s game with a concussion and is out indefinitely. …. Florida forward Scottie Upshall left Thursday’s game with an upper-body injury and won’t play Sunday. …Los Angeles forward Dustin Penner missed Saturday’s game with a hand injury. Another forward, Scott Parse, was placed on IR after leaving Tuesday’s game with a lower-body injury. … Washington defenseman Mike Green returned Friday from an ankle injury, but was injured again in the first period and didn’t play Saturday. Another defenseman, Roman Hamrlik, left Saturday’s game after a cross-check. … Nashville defenseman Teemu Laakso is out after having a cyst removed from his back. … Boston forward Daniel Paille hasn’t played since leaving Monday’s game after taking a slap shot in the face. … Chicago forward Dave Bolland has missed two games with a foot injury after blocking a shot on Tuesday. … Detroit’s Todd Bertuzzi hasn’t played for four games due to a sinus infection. ..

Returning — Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson returned Friday after missing five games following a hit to the head on Oct. 29. … Calgary activated center Mikael Backlund off the injured list on Friday; he hadn’t played this season because of a broken finger. … Winnipeg activated goaltender Chris Mason off IR after he missed seven games with a groin problem. … Carolina forward Jussi Jokinen was back in the lineup Friday after missing three games with a leg injury. … Columbus forward Jared Boll made his season debut Thursday; he hadn’t played since breaking a thumb during training camp. Center Jeff Carter returned Saturday after missing 10 games with a broken foot.

a0db3 8467463 Seguin, Chara have defending champs back on track

Still out — Florida is still without forward Mikael Samuelsson, who has yet to play for the Panthers as he tries to work his way back from a groin problem. … New Jersey forward Ilya Kovalchuk sat out Friday and Saturday games against Washington and hasn’t played since leaving the Devils’ Nov. 3 game in Philadelphia with a leg injury. … Calgary placed center Brendan Morrison on IR; he’s having trouble rehabbing his knee after offseason surgery. The Flames also placed defenseman Anton Babchuk on IR with a hand injury. … Vancouver forward Mason Raymond, who suffered a fractured vertebra in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, returned to practice last week, though there’s still no time frame for his return.

The week ahead — It’s a balanced week — four teams play four games, four play twice and the other 22 all have three games.

Games to watch:

New York Rangers at New York Islanders (Nov. 15) — The Rangers, winners of six in a row, come to Long Island for the second time this season; the Islanders won 4-2 exactly a month ago but have won just once since then.

Washington at Nashville (Nov. 15) — The Caps come to Music City for the third year in a row, unusual for East-West rivalries. The last four meetings between the teams have gone past regulation, with Washington winning all four.

Anaheim at Los Angeles (Nov. 16) — It’s the first of this season’s six editions of the Freeway Faceoff — and the opener of a home-and-home series that concludes in Anaheim on Thursday.

Detroit at San Jose (Nov. 17) — The Wings come to HP Pavilion for the first time since losing Game 7 of their second-round playoff series to the Sharks last spring.

Philadelphia at Winnipeg (Nov. 18) — The Flyers pay their first visit to Winnipeg in 15 years as the teams play for the first time since the Jets’ wild 9-8 win in Philadelphia last month.

Tough week ahead:

Chicago Blackhawks — If this is mid-November, it must be time for the “Circus Trip.” The Hawks play the first half of their annual early-season trip next week with a swing through Western Canada.

Detroit Red Wings — The Hawks’ biggest Central Division rival also hits the road this week. The Wings make a stop in St. Louis before heading to California for stops in San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim in a four-day stretch.

Washington Capitals — After their home-and-home series against New Jersey, the Caps hit the road for a trip that takes them to Nashville and Winnipeg before ending with a Saturday night game in Toronto.

Easy week ahead:

Calgary Flames — The Flames are home for their only two games of the week, with Ottawa and Chicago coming into the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Edmonton Oilers — After a tough six-game Eastern swing, the surprising Oilers are back home and alternate opponents with the Flames, hosting Chicago and then Ottawa.

Vancouver Canucks — The Canucks returned from a six-game trip with a game against the Islanders on Sunday — and they, too, will get their crack at the Hawks and Senators in their only two games of the week.