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The Montreal Canadiens are gearing up for a big contest against the Detroit Red Wings on Jan. 10. With the Canadiens and Red Wings being tied at the top of the Atlantic Division standings at 55 points, this game will certainly be one to watch. 

The Canadiens will also be getting one of their very important defenseman back for the contest.

The Canadiens have confirmed that blueliner Kaiden Guhle will be back in the lineup against the Red Wings. 

It's been a long road back for Guhle, as he has not played since the Canadiens' Oct. 16 contest against the Nashville Predators. With this, he has missed each of Montreal's last 39 games. Yet, with today's news, Guhle is set to return for the Original Six club. 

With Guhle being one of the Canadiens' key defensemen, there is no question that his return is good news. This is especially so when noting that the Canadiens are looking to remain one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference as the season rolls on. 

Guhle paired with Arber Xhekaj at the Canadiens' morning skate. With this, Jayden Struble is not expected to be in the lineup against Detroit. 

RETOUR AU JEU POUR KAIDEN GUHLE CE SOIR

KAIDEN GUHLE RETURNS TO PLAY TONIGHT#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/VzToJON7kQ

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 10, 2026

In five games this season with the Canadiens, Guhle has recorded one goal, one assist, 16 hits, and a plus-1 rating. This is after he had six goals, 12 assists, 18 points, 104 hits, and 124 blocks in 55 games for Montreal this past season.

The Chicago Blackhawks will play the second half of a back-to-back on Saturday night in Nashville. This comes one night after a tough 5-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday night.

This loss to Washington snapped a four-game winning streak for Chicago, but the lineup was compromised in the defeat. What head coach Jeff Blashill called a “stomach bug” is floating around the locker room, causing players to either miss or play under the weather. 

They have a chance for a quick turnaround against the Nashville Predators on Saturday night, but the stomach bug doesn’t seem to have fully left them yet. It will likely be another game that the guys who do play have to battle extra hard. 

Scouting Nashville

The Nashville Predators had a horrific letdown year in 2024-25. After signing veterans like Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei, they expected to take their playoff team from the year prior and elevate it to a Stanley Cup contender. Instead, they were a lottery team. 

This season, it looked like they would be a lottery team once again at the start of the year. They couldn’t buy a win early. Lately, however, they have been hot enough to get themselves back in the Western Conference playoff race. Nashville is 7-3-0 in its last 10 games, 20-19-4 overall, and sits three points outside of a playoff spot. 

This team that once looked like a lock to trade all of its stars now has an eye on a different prize. With that, the Blackhawks are next on their list of potential victims. Nashville came to Chicago on November 28th and beat them at the United Center 4-3. 

Forsberg - O'Reilly - Stamkos

Bunting - Haula - Evangelista

Jost - Svechkov - Wood

Schaefer - McCarron - Smith

Josi - Perbix

Skjei - Wilsby

Hague - Blankenburg

Saros

Marchessault is dealing with something that has him listed as day-to-day. That leaves Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly, and Steven Stamkos as their big guns offensively. 

On defense, Roman Josi leads the way, along with goalie Juuse Saros. To break through, the Blackhawks just need to continue their effort on the forecheck. The Predators have been playing well lately, but this is a team the Blackhawks have the firepower to overcome, as long as they have their legs going.

Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago

The Chicago Blackhawks called up goalie prospect Stan Berezhnoy ahead of the game. That means that Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom are not yet better as they deal with the stomach illness that forced Drew Commesso into action on Friday night. 

Bertuzzi-Greene-Burakovsky

Bedard-Moore-Lardis

Teravainen-Dickinson-Donato

Dach-Foligno-Slaggert

Vlasic-Murphy

Kaiser-Levshunov

Korchinski-Grzelcyk

Berezhnoy

This is how the Blackhawks lined up their forwards and defense on Friday night against the Capitals. It is unclear if the illness has hit anyone else, but Berezhnoy was the only call-up to this point. Commesso and Korchinski, who were call-ups on Friday, may be dressed on Saturday as well. 

Jeff Blashill said that Ilya Mikheyev will travel to Nashville and likely play. If that's the only change to the skaters, expect Slaggert to come out and for Mikheyev to go back in. We won't know the changes this causes for the lines until warmups. 

How To Watch

The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. To view this game, it can be found locally on CHSN. The puck will drop shortly after 7:00 PM CT. 

Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks team site to stay updated on the latest news, game-day coverage, player features, and more.

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The Buffalo Sabres are hoping to keep their red-hot pace to start a very busy homestand of five games in eight days against the Anaheim Ducks at KeyBank Center on Saturday night. The Sabres have won 12 of the last 13 games, but are still on the outside looking in on the Eastern Conference playoff race, trailing the Washington Capitals by two points and the Pittsburgh Penguins by one point for the two wildcard spots. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen is expected to get the start for the Sabres. 

Head coach Lindy Ruff spoke to the media after the club’s morning skate:

What is the status of defenseman Michael Kesselring?

(He's) progressing? I think (Sunday is) an off day for him. Monday, we'll get him involved in some physical stuff and see how he reacts to that. Midweek will hopefully have a decision on whether he can play or not…….There's only one person (when it) gets to a point with anybody's situation, that only they know how they feel. So he'll let us know when he feels well enough. I think once he's cleared, seeing him on the ice today means he's cleared to probably 90%. We get Monday, Tuesday and it's how he reacts to more physical stuff, where you have to push off more, you have to grind more, you have to battle more, than just skating around shooting pucks.

How will injured players get their work in to get back into the lineup?

Let's be realistic. There's not a lot of practice time for us, with the way the schedule is going to unfold. It's more about playing and getting rest with the number of games we've got in the short period of time coming up…….They'll be ready. Those guys get their work in. They're putting a lot of work on the ice, put a lot of work off the ice. I think you've seen where guys have stepped in and played well. Look what our boys have done when they've stepped in. Our job is to have these guys ready when they're called and a guy like (Tyson Kozak), if you stuck him in tonight, he's ready to go.

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 What do you attribute the offensive spike from Mattias Samuelsson to?

I don't know. I've said in the past, he should talk really well. I think you saw an example that on that shorthanded(goal in New York), he's got a real hard shot, and he's put himself in a lot of good situations. Look at the the first goal we scored, he ripped the wrist shot that broke the guy's stick, recovered the puck, and then set Doan in. He's been able to put the puck past the goaltender when he's got himself in good position.

What has been the secret to the improved penalty killing this season?

It's a lot of things. We've had big saves at big times. We have a lot of pucks to go through us. We've stayed away from the seem plays where teams can expose you and go back door. We're a lot better at getting the puck down the ice. Last year, we got burned a lot of times where failed clears would hurt us. So it really isn't just one thing. I think it's a combination of three or four things that have improved from day one at camp, and those are probably the major things.

Follow Michael on X, Instagram  @MikeInBuffalo

Forward Maxim Tsyplakov will return to the New York Islanders' lineup on Saturday night when they battle the Minnesota Wild. 

Tsyplakov, in his second NHL season, has played in only 23 of the Islanders' 44 games, with 1 goal in an average of 9:49 per game. 

He last played on Jan. 3, a 3-2 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

But, despite finding himself out of the lineup more often than not after signing a two-year extension this past summer worth $2.25 million annually. 

Where Things Stand Between Tsyplakov & Islanders Tsyplakov filed for player-elected salary arbitration on July 7.

“We have a lot of players that are playing well," Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche said on Thursday morning. "He had a tougher start to the year, and now if you look at our record, a lot of guys are playing well. Are we perfect? By no means. Is everybody playing outstanding every game? No.

"It’s not that he forced us to take him out — it’s just that the other guys have been a bit better. But I still believe in Tsyplakov. He still has the ability. When he gets the opportunity, he has to take it and force us to keep him in the lineup. Right now, it’s not that he forced us to take him out — the other guys have forced us to keep them in.”

It is worth mentioning that Tsyplakov sustained an injury during training camp, which forced him to miss all but one of the preseason games, playing in the finale against the New York Rangers. 

The notion that Tsyplakov isn't an NHL-caliber player is false. Does he fit the Islanders' system to a tee? No. Would he likely be better suited in a different system, one that allows for more East-West work than just going North, like head coach Patrick Roy wants? Yes.

But the reality of the situation is that he is with the Islanders, and with forward Kyle Palmieri out for the season with a torn ACL and no one having yet won that job, there's still an opportunity for Tsyplakov to leave his mark.

Is there any bigger momentum booster than your general manager having your back?

Tsyplakov will skate alongside Casey Cizikas and Marc Gatcomb against the Wild. 

#Isles HC Patrick Roy had a convo with Maxim Tsyplakov:

"We want him to be physical & we think that he has the game to play against these guys. Foligno & Tarasenko, they're very physical, so we think that'd be a good time for him to play."

(H/t @NYIslanders)

— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) January 10, 2026

The Florida Panthers will have their work cut out for them on Saturday night in Ottawa.

Star forwards Brad Marchand and Matthew Takchuk will not play against the Senators, and young forward Sandis Vilmanis will make his NHL debut for Florida.

Marchand missed Thursday’s loss in Montreal after being held out of the third period on Tuesday in Toronto, also a loss, with an undisclosed injury.

Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said it was not a major injury, but something Marchand has been battling for much of the season, and that he wanted to give it time to heal.

That time has stretched into Saturday.

Tkachuk, meanwhile, has been getting closer and closer to making his regular season debut, participating in the past few Panthers practices without wearing a non-contact jersey.

He’s expected to play sometime during Florida’s six-game road trip, which will have three games left after they play the Sens on Saturday: Monday in Buffalo, Friday in Carolina and Saturday in Washington.

"They will not play tonight," Maurice said regarding Tkachuk and Marchand. "That's about it. Nothing has changed."

As for Vilmanis, the 21-year-old will crack an NHL roster for the first time on the heels of a strong season in Charlotte.

Vilmanis co-leads the team in points with 19 in 31 games (also with 19 points on the Checkers are Wilmer Skoog, who leads the team with 11 goals, and Gracyn Sawchyn, who has logged a team-leading 13 assists).

A fifth round selected of the Panthers back at the 2022 NHL Draft, Vilmanis was also named as a member of Team Latvia for the 2026 Winter Olympics earlier this week, so it’s been quite a few days for the youngster.

"I'm super excited," he said after the morning skate. "A lot of mixed emotions, to be honest. With the Olympics and this, it's just crazy. I'm super excited to be here, super excited to start (my NHL career)."

He skated on a line with Luke Kunin and Jack Studnicka during Florida’s morning skate in Ottawa, which is likely where he lines up for the game.

While Marchand and Tkachuk were on the ice for the skate, they will both remain out of the lineup as the Cats hope to get in the win column for the first time on the road trip.

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Photo caption: Forward Sandis Vilmanis skates in a game with the Charlotte Checkers against the Toronto Marlies on Nov. 19, 2025 at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte. (Source: Charlotte Checkers)