NHL Player News

Makar scored two goals, one on the power play, in Monday's 3-2 win over the Flyers.

The superstar blueliner potted the first two tallies of the night in the second period. Makar has failed to get onto the scoresheet only three times in 19 contests to begin the season, racking up eight goals and 27 points in the process -- including three goals and 13 points with the man advantage. The one blemish on his line so far is a minus-5 rating, an uncharacteristic performance for a player who has never finished with worse than a plus-12 mark in his career.

Matheson recorded an assist, one shot on net and one block with a plus-3 rating in Monday's 3-0 win over the Oilers.

Matheson's harmless-looking shot from the boards was redirected by Brendan Gallagher to give Montreal a 1-0 lead with 29 seconds remaining in the second period. It was the third time in the last four outings that Matheson has made the scoresheet. He's tied for the team lead with 12 assists. Repeating last season's career-high 62 points may be too much to expect, but the blueliner is on pace to reach 50.

Savard had three blocked shots and finished with a plus-1 rating in Monday's 3-0 win over Edmonton.

Savard, who missed Saturday's game due to an upper-body injury, took regular shifts on the second pair and sacrificed his body. The three blocks leaves him tied with Mike Matheson for the team lead at 48 through 18 appearances.

Guhle scored a goal on four shots and blocked two shots in Monday's 3-0 win over Edmonton.

Guhle missed some shifts in the first period after taking a shot off his left arm, but the defenseman returned to action in the second and scored an insurance goal in the third. The Canadiens were nursing a one-goal lead early in the third when Guhle finished a tic-tac-toe sequence with Jake Evans and Cole Caufield. The arm looked fine when he beat Edmonton's Calvin Pickard to the short side from left faceoff dot. The tally was the second for Guhle, who has six points, 18 shots, 19 hits, 40 blocks, eight PIM and a plus-1 rating through 14 outings.

Brown had two hits and two PIM in Monday's 3-0 loss to Montreal.

Brown was called up over the weekend after Darnell Nurse (upper body) suffered an injury during Saturday's game against Toronto. Edmonton announced a 5-10 day timeline for Nurse, so Brown could stick around for the rest of the week.

Vaakanainen (upper body) won't suit up Monday against Dallas.

Vaakanainen will miss his second straight contest, and it's not yet known if he's close to returning. The 25-year-old has collected an assist through five appearances this season. Drew Helleson will make his second appearance of the season on the third defensive pairing.

DeSimone was recalled from AHL Utica on Monday.

DeSimone spent over a week with the Devils before being assigned to Utica on Sunday, but he didn't appear in any games during that stint in the NHL. He'll rejoin the Devils a day after being sent down, but it seems likely that he'll continue to serve mainly as a seventh defender.

Heinola (ankle) was activated from injured reserve and assigned to AHL Manitoba on Monday for a conditioning assignment.

Heinola will get into his first game action of the 2024-25 season at the minor-league level after recovering from ankle surgery. The 23-year-old rearguard registered 10 goals and 27 points across 41 AHL regular-season appearances in 2023-24. Once Heinola returns to the big club, he could compete for playing time with the Jets. However, earning a spot in the lineup will be difficult because of the team's success in 2024-25.

Reilly will undergo a procedure on his heart Tuesday and will be sidelined indefinitely.

Reilly had been dealing with a concussion recently, and even though he's been cleared from that issue, he'll miss time due to his heart condition. The condition was discovered when he underwent routine testing as part of his concussion recovery. General manager Lou Lamoriello said Monday that Reilly's recovery process from his procedure could take several months, but the defenseman is expected to be able to play again at some point.

Romanov (upper body) will be a game-time decision versus the Flames on Tuesday.

Romanov hasn't played since Nov. 1 versus Buffalo, a stretch of seven games on the shelf due to his upper-body injury. With Mike Reilly (chest) out indefinitely and Adam Pelech (jaw) yet to resume skating, the Islanders would certainly benefit from getting the 24-year-old Romanov back into the lineup.