The St. Louis Blues are running through the gamut of injuries at the moment and will have at least one new face in the lineup when they begin a three-game road trip against the Boston Bruins on Thursday (6 p.m.; FDSNMW, ESPN 101.1-FM).

But there will be some reinforcements also as Pius Suter, who has missed the past two games with a lower-body injury, will be back in the lineup and centering a line with Dylan Holloway and Jordan Kyrou, a line that got plenty of looks during training camp and preseason.

“Suter looks really good,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said after Wednesday’s practice. “He’ll be a player for us tomorrow.”

Also Robert Thomas, who did not skate during an optional practice or Wednesday’s full practice, will be in the lineup.

“Just maintenance,” Montgomery said after Wednesday’s practice. “He’ll be a player tomorrow.”

The Blues are down three forwards (Jimmy Snuggerud, left wrist; Alexey Toropchenko, leg burns; and Nathan Walker, upper-body injury), and they’ve had to recall Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, who will make his NHL debut Thursday, and Matt Luff

- - -

Montgomery will be facing the Bruins for the first time since he was fired there on Nov. 19, 2024.

The Blues faced the Bruins twice last season but they both were among the final games Montgomery coached Boston, on Nov. 12 in St. Louis (a 3-2 Bruins win, Montgomery’s last win there) and Nov. 16 in Boston, a 3-2 Blues win in overtime.

Montgomery, who was coach of the Bruins for two-plus seasons, was part of the greatest regular-season team in NHL history when the Bruins were 65-12-5 in his first season of 2022-23 but bounced in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Florida Panthers in seven games. He was fired after going 8-9-3 to begin the 2024-25 season; the Blues hired him five days later on Nov. 24.

Montgomery was 130-41-23 in his time as Bruins coach.

“Personally and professionally, it was a great time for my family,” Montgomery said. “We really enjoyed Winchester (a suburb north of Boston) where we lived. Still have tremendous friends that live in the area. Professionally, it’s a bag of mixed emotions. Some great times and some very, very disappointing times.”

- - -

Per the team, Jordan Binnington will get the start in goal on Thursday, three days after being pulled from a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks in which the goalie allowed two goals on five shots and had a verbal spat with Montgomery upon being pulled from the game.

Binnington addressed the situation on Tuesday and considers the situation done and will get a shot at redemption.

- - -

Blues Projected Lineup:

Brayden Schenn-Robert Thomas-Jake Neighbours

Dylan Holloway-Pius Suter-Jordan Kyrou

Aleksanteri Kaskimaki-Dalibor Dvorsky-Pavel Buchnevich

Mathieu Joseph-Oskar Sundqvist-Nick Bjugstad

Philip Broberg-Colton Parayko

Tyler Tucker-Justin Faulk

Cam Fowler-Logan Mailloux

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Joel Hofer will be the backup.

Healthy scratches include Matthew Kessel and Matt Luff. Jimmy Snuggerud (wrist), Alexey Toropchenko (leg burns) and Nathan Walker (upper body) are all out long-term.

- - -

Bruins Projected Lineup:

Alex Steeves-Elias Lindholm-Morgan Geekie

Casey Mittelstadt-Pavel Zacha-Viktor Arvidsson

Tanner Jeannot-Fraser Minten-Mark Kastelic

Marat Khusnutdinov-Sean Kuraly-Michael Eyssimont

Hampus Lindholm-Andrew Peeke

Nikita Zadorov-Jonathan Aspirot

Mason Lohrei-Victor Soderstrom

Joonas Korpisalo will start in goal; Jeremy Swayman will be the backup.

The healthy scratch includes Jeffrey Viel. David Pastrnak (undisclosed), Charlie McAvoy (upper body), Jordan Harris (ankle), Matej Blumel (lower body), Henri Jokiharju (undisclosed) and Michael Callahan (lower body) are all out.

Blues Recall Another Forward From SpringfieldMatt Luff called up for reinforcements amidst injuries to Snuggerud, Toropchenko, Walker up front

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

Can the Nashville Predators rattle off back-to-back wins for just the third time this season? 

That is the task at hand as they travel to Sunrise to face the Florida Panthers on Thursday at 6 p.m. CST. 

The Predators have seemingly begun to turn things around, winning three of their last four, including a 5-1 victory over the Calgary Flames at home on Tuesday. However, Nashville has not defeated Florida since the 2023-24 season. 

Here is everything you need to know ahead of tonight's game. 

Game info

Who: Nashville Predators (9-13-4, 8th Central) at Florida Panthers (12-12-1, 8th Atlantic)

When: 6 p.m. CST 

Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, Florida 

TV: FanDuel Sports Network South 

Radio: 102.5 The Game 

Line (via BetMGM): Predators (+1.5) Panthers (-1.5). Over/under 6 (-115/-105)

Future on display 

A pair of Predators rookies has milestone performances in the win over the Flames. In just his third NHL game, Reid Schaefer scored his first career goal and recorded his first career fight. 

Not long after that, after 23 games played, Ozzy Weisblatt scored his first career goal and recorded the second fight of his career. After scoring the goal, Weisblatt paid homage to his late brother, Orca, by pointing to the sky in his celebration. 

Weisblatt and Schaefer aren't the only rookies to have scored the first goals of their careers this season. Matthew Wood netted his first NHL goal against the Flyers on Oct. 30. He has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) on the season. 

Stammer beginning to heat up 

After a slow start to the season, Steven Stamkos is slowly beginning to find his mojo. 

He has five points in the last four games, which included multi-point performances in wins over the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks. Stamkos has not had back-to-back multi-point performances since March 8. 

Stamkos' goal against the Flames was also the 1200th point of his career, which averages out to about a point per game over the 1190 games he's played in his 18 seasons in the league. 

Seeing Stamkos beginning to find a rhythm is huge, as it could be the shove the Predators need to finally get their offense going. He had seven points through 13 games played in November, but four of those points have come in the last nine days. 

Cat scratched 

The Predators have not beaten the Panthers in 623 days, a 3-0 victory that extended Nashville's point streak to 16 games. It was a very different time. 

Their last meeting, an 8-3 loss on Nov. 24 in Nashville, was the Predators' worst loss of the season and the biggest blowout since losing to the New Jersey Devils, 5-0, on Feb. 23, 2025. 

It was a game with a lot of offense, seeing six combined goals in the first period, that the Predators lost control of. The Panthers took a 5-2 lead into the third period before Nick Blankenburg scored in the first two and a half minutes to make it a two-goal game.

The wheels fell off for Nashville as Florida scored three unanswered goals to push the game way out of reach. Six Panthers players had two goals or more. 

Things have not been ideal for the defending Stanley Cup champions either, as they have lost three straight and are in last place in the Atlantic Division. However, nine points separate first from last place in the Atlantic and Florida is only six points out of a Wild Card spot. 

Meanwhile, Nashville is 22 points behind Central Division leader, Colorado, and is seven points outside of a Wild Card spot. 

Inactive players 

Nashville: Cole Smith (upper body, injured reserve), Zach L'Heureux (lower body, injured reserve), Nick Perbix (upper body, day-to-day), Justin Barron (lower body, day-to-day), Michael McCarron (lower body, day-to-day) 

Florida: Matthew Tkachuk (groin, injured reserve), Aleksander Barkov (knee, injured reserve), Dmitry Kulikov (upper body, injured reserve), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body, injured reserve), Eetu Luostarinen (lower body, week to week), Tomas Nosek (knee, injured reserve), Cole Schwindt (arm, injured reserve) 

Philip Broberg is set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season, and he's once again having a solid campaign. Despite that, the St. Louis Blues have not begun contract negotiations. 

Teammates and coaches rave about the play of their 24-year-old defenseman, but a recent report from The Athletic suggests that the Blues are willing to take their time in extension talks. 

Through 27 games this season, Broberg has notched two goals and 10 points, but the value he brings at both ends of the ice is where he shines. Despite standing 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, Broberg is an excellent skater who utilizes his feet to help him defend and jump into the play. His foot speed allows him to start transition offense and make efficient first passes. He can then jump into the rush and create offense.

Defensively, his skating allows him to defend top-end players off the rush, and his size allows him to win puck battles and protect the front of his net. Broberg has developed into a workhorse, all-around defenseman and the Blues are taking notice. 

“He’s been incredible for us this year,” coach Jim Montgomery said. “If our record was better, I think people would be talking about him a lot more in the league. If we were playing really good hockey, he would be talked about in the league a lot more. He has been a tremendous hockey player from the start of the year.”

Broberg has been the Blues' best defenseman this season, both by the eye test and analytically. According to Natural Stat Trick, Broberg has been on the ice for 21 Blues goals at 5-on-5 and 19 goals by their opponents. He has the second-highest goals for percentage on the team, trailing just Robert Thomas. 

Montgomery is of the belief that those numbers could and should be higher for Broberg.

“But with a little more finishing touch, or a little bit better puck luck, he might have eight goals already,” Montgomery said. “Then you’re really talking about him as an offensive defenseman.”

With all that being said, GM Doug Armstrong has previously illustrated that there is no rush with his contract negotiations, and the team is still demonstrating patience in December. 

“There’s no rush with that,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said in October, referring to contract talks with both Broberg and Holloway. “We’re going to try and get them signed as quick as we can. If not, they’re restricted free agents. We’ll make sure that we leave enough space available to get those guys signed. The cap’s going up. It’s nice to know, with (other) guys signed, what we can do moving forward. And we can always create space.”

Although patience can pay off, with a young, blossoming defenseman, patience may mean they have to pay him more. He's averaging nearly three minutes more of ice time this season and leads the Blues in average ice time with 23:15. 

Thomas Harley signed an eight-year, $10.587-million contract earlier this season with the Dallas Stars, and other defenseman Broberg has been compared with have all eclipsed $8 million. The Blues will likely have to hand out a hefty contract to Broberg, but so far, he's showing he's deserving of it. 

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

The Chicago Blackhawks are taking on the Los Angeles Kings for the second time this season. The first was a 3-1 victory for LA at the United Center on October 26th. Both teams have come a long way since then. 

The Blackhawks dropped their most recent game in a shootout to the Vegas Golden Knights, but this game against the Kings is their chance to make it a three-game point streak. 

The Blackhawks are one point (28) below the playoff line with a record of 11-9-6. Los Angeles is in third place in the Pacific Division with a 12-7-7 record for 31 points. It is tight on the bubble in both Western Conference divisions. 

Scouting Los Angeles 

The Los Angeles Kings have been one of the best teams in the Western Conference over the last handful of years, but they haven’t won a playoff series since winning the Stanley Cup in 2014. Like the Blackhawks, they want to end this type of drought soon. 

LA has lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the first round in each of the last four seasons. This year is all about finding a way to get it done, no matter who is in their way. That includes the Blackhawks on Thursday night.  

Moore - Kopitar - Kempe

Fiala - Byfield - Armia

Kuzmenko - Danault - Laferriere

Malott - Turcotte - Perry

Anderson - Edmundson

Dumoulin - Clarke

Moverare - Ceci

Kuemper

Forsberg

Everything to do with the Los Angeles Kings is centered around their captain, Anze Kopitar. He has been their franchise player for his entire career, which is coming to an end with the conclusion of this season. 

Adrian Kempe, Quinton Byfield, and Kevin Fiala all have the ceiling of stars in the NHL and can make a difference in any game. Their depth is great, led by former Blackhawks center Philipp Danault, who is one of the best checking centers you’ll find. 

Future Hall of Famer Drew Doughty is injured, which leaves a hole in Los Angeles’ defense, but this group has mostly gotten the job done this year. 

In goal, Darcy Kuemper is their main guy, and he’s been excellent during his entire tenure there. He has a Stanley Cup ring as a starter, so there is plenty of pedigree in his game. Former Hawk Anton Forsberg serves as a decent enough backup. 

Projected Lines, Defense Pairs, & Goalie For Chicago

The Chicago Blackhawks have been running with an 11/7 lineup almost all season long. Their 11 forwards have undergone some changes in lines, with certain players coming in and out of the lineup, but their defense has remained mostly the same, consisting of the same 7. 

Greene-Bedard-Burakovsky 

Moore-Nazar-Bertuzzi

Teravainen-Dickinson-Mikheyev 

Dach-Donato

Vlasic-Crevier

Kaiser-Levshunov

Grzelcyk-Murphy

Rinzel

Knight

To say Connor Bedard has been elite this season would be an understatement. He is amongst the league’s leading scorers, and he makes an impact every single day. Having a superstar at the top of the lineup will keep any team in most games, and that has been the case for Chicago with Bedard. 

Multiple forwards will make up for the empty spot on the fourth line, including Bedard. This allows the defenders to be much fresher, as most of them are early in their careers. 

Expect Spencer Knight to be the starter in this one. With the Kings being a playoff-caliber team and no back-to-back situations, it makes more sense to go with the number one goalie.  

How To Watch

The game can be heard locally on AM 720 WGN in the Chicagoland area. To view this game, it can be streamed on ESPN+ and Hulu. The puck will drop shortly after 9 PM. 

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

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

The Philadelphia Flyers redeemed themselves Wednesday, trouncing the Buffalo Sabres 5-2. 

They set the stage for a statement game Sunday against the Stanley Cup favorite Colorado Avalanche, a team that (gulp) has points in 25 of its 26 games.

In their previous game, the Flyers dropped a 5-1 decision to the arch-rival Pittsburgh Penguins, a defeat made worse because they lost right winger Tyson Foerster, their co-leading goal-scorer, for two to three months because of a suspected shoulder injury.

The Sabres, however, helped cure their frustrations.

The Flyers scored three times in a 59-second span in the first period, erasing a 1-0 deficit and coasting to a win at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Buffalo has been bad forever, so this wasn't a surprising victory.

That said, the Sabres have been playing better lately – six wins in their last nine games before Wednesday. 

But Philly (15-8-3), one of the NHL's most surprising teams, couldn't afford two straight losses heading into Sunday's game against the Avs. They couldn't afford to start a tailspin that could wipe out their impressive start.

And they couldn't get into a woe-is-me feeling because of Foerster's injury.

"He's a tough guy to replace, for sure," Trevor Zegras said, "so we all have to do a little more."

Flyers Officially Decide on Tyson Foerster Injury ReplacementsThe <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers">Philadelphia Flyers</a> are set to be without top forward Tyson Foerster for at least two months, and with the injury confirmed, Foerster's two injury replacements have already been selected.

Here's the thing: even with Foerster and his 10 goals before Wednesday, the Flyers haven't been an offense juggernaut. Au contraire.

They entered the night 26th out of 32 teams, averaging just 2.76 goals-for per game.

And then five different players scored – Travis Konecny, Zegras, Bobby Brink, Noah Cates and Owen Tippett – five players contributed two points apiece, and the Flyers fired 35 shots in their league-leading 11th comeback win of the season. 

The Flyers moved up to third in the Metro, just three points behind division-leading Washington, which has played two more games.

Philadelphia scored four of its goals from the dirty areas near the net. Tim Kerr and Gary Dornhoefer would have been proud.

"It has to be habitual," said coach Rick Tocchet, who had no update on defenseman Cam York after he left the game with an unspecified injury. "You have to do it all the time."

It was good to see the offense erupt, the power play (2-for-5) click and the penalty kill go 1-for-6. 

Tocchet, who continues to push the right buttons, went back to most of the players on his original No. 1 power-play unit – Konecny, Tippett, Matvei Michkov, Zegras and Jamie Drysdale – and it paid dividends.

Now the real test comes Sunday afternoon, when the Flyers host a 19-1-6 Colorado team that is averaging 4.08 goals per game and allowing 2.04 goals. Both figures lead the league.

Some of the Flyers didn't yet want to talk about facing the Avs. Tippett wasn't one of them.

He said it was a good primer for Colorado.

"Obviously, we wanted to have a bounce back after last game, and it’s a good start," said Tippett. "Obviously, with a couple days we can fine-tune some stuff in practice, but that was a good start."

Against Colorado, the Flyers will need to be at their best just to be competitive. They can't let down for any stretch as they did for a 21-minute span Wednesday, when Buffalo outshot them 16-6 in parts of the first two periods, but goalie Sam Ersson stood tall.

It will take 60 minutes of excellence on Sunday if the Flyers want to stay in the game.

Wednesday, though not perfect, was a nice building block.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.

After Wednesday night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets, the Montreal Canadiens announced that they had sent Florian Xhekaj and Adam Engstrom back down to the Laval Rocket.

The two players were healthy scratches for the game, and given that the Rocket has a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday against the Belleville Senators, while the Canadiens have a day off on Thursday, sending them down last night made sense. They’ll get to practice with Pascal Vincent’s team on Thursday before taking on Belleville on Friday.

Canadiens: The General Finally Got His Send-Off
Canadiens: Dobes Shines In Big Win
NHL Trade Rumors: Canadiens Linked To Canucks Forward

In five games, Xhekaj put up one point, took four shots, spent seven minutes in the penalty box, had a minus-one differential and landed nine hits. As for Engstrom, he played two games, was held off the scoresheet, took two shots and landed a hit.

Hilarious reaction of mom and family as 🇦🇱Florian Xhekaj beats the opponent on the ice rink 🏒 pic.twitter.com/wZabXGCMya

— Epirote Report 🌕 (@EpiroteReport) December 2, 2025

This means that Jarred Davidson, who played on Wednesday, remains with the Canadiens for now at least. The 23-year-old has now played six games with the Habs and has yet to register a point, but he has landed 13 hits, spent six minutes in the sin bin and has a minus-two differential.

While the news will no doubt come as a disappointment for Xhekaj and Engstrom, it makes sense to send them back down if they’re not going to play. At this stage of their career, they are still developing and need as much ice time as possible.

It will be interesting to see how things unfold for the Canadiens now. Over the last couple of weeks, there have been so many scouts at the Bell Centre that one can wonder who they might have been observing. Did the Canadiens want to show what Engstrom could do at the NHL level? Or were they taking stock in readiness for the decisions that will no doubt have to be made about the blueline sooner or later?

When everyone is healthy, Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble share the sixth defenseman role, but when youngsters from Laval are ready for the NHL, someone will have to be moved. David Reinbacher and Engstrom are both close to being NHL-ready, and when they are, something will have to give.

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.

Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.

Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.

Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. 

The Vancouver Canucks' willingness to entertain trade offers for their UFA-eligible players has made Kiefer Sherwood one of the most notable names in the rumor mill.

Before this season, the 30-year-old Sherwood was a little-known checking-line forward. After spending his first six NHL seasons with the Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche and Nashville Predators, he enjoyed a career-best 19 goals and 21 assists for 40 points last season with the Canucks.

Sherwood currently leads the Canucks with 12 goals, putting him on pace to reach 36 goals this season. He's in the final season of a two-year contract with an affordable $1.5-million cap hit.

Given the limited number of sellers thus far, the NHL trade market is thin on quality talent. That's made Sherwood an enticing trade target for playoff contenders. While his production has cooled lately, his feisty style of play is tailor-made for the physical grind of post-season hockey.

TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported Tuesday the Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Stars were among a long list of teams to inquire about Sherwood. Sportsnet's Ryan Dixon looked at the impact Sherwood could have with the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reported the Columbus Blue Jackets had contacted the Canucks about Sherwood. Meanwhile, NHL.com's Dan Rosen suggested the Pittsburgh Penguins might be a good fit. The Buffalo Sabres, Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings have also surfaced as potential destinations for Sherwood.

LeBrun indicated that the Canucks aren't in any rush to move Sherwood, preferring to take their time to explore the trade market. He also wondered if any of those interested clubs would want to sign the veteran winger to a contract extension, as that would raise his trade value for the Canucks.

It's understandable why the Canucks would prefer to remain patient, as it could drive up the return for Sherwood. However, that stance also carries the risk of injury or a decline in his production.

Three Potential Trade Fits For Canucks' Kiefer SherwoodKiefer Sherwood is among the Canucks' top trade candidates, and these three teams should consider trying to acquire the hard-hitting forward.

Turning to the Islanders, they could use someone like Sherwood to offset the loss of right winger Kyle Palmieri to a season-ending knee injury. That would explain why they were mentioned among the clubs linked to the Canucks right winger.

The Hockey News' Russell Macias says the Islanders have a depth-scoring crisis. And Ethan Sears of the New York Postbelieves they could use another scoring forward and some physicality among their checking lines.

Those traits would make Sherwood an enticing option for the Isles.

Sears also felt that they must improve their defense corps, pointing out the loss of left-shot blueliner Alexander Romanov, plus they never fully replaced Noah Dobson on the right side after trading him to Montreal last summer.

However, Sears cautioned that Isles management should avoid hasty decisions that would sacrifice their future first-round picks or top prospects for a short-term replacement for Palmieri.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.