NHL Player News

Johnson (upper body) won't play Saturday against Tampa Bay, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reports.

Johnson will miss Saturday's contest after suffering the injury in Thursday's win over Chicago. The 35-year-old Johnson has three goals while averaging just 14:11 of ice time through 41 games in his first season with the Sabres. Mattias Samuelsson (upper body) and Henri Jokiharju (undisclosed) are both expected to play against Tampa Bay, which will help to round out Buffalo's blue line.

Cernak (upper body) won't play Saturday against the Sabres.

Cernak will miss a third game after suffering an injury Jan. 11 against New Jersey. Emil Martinsen Lilleberg and Max Crozier will round out Tampa's third pairing. The 26-year-old Cernak has five assists, 90 hits and 63 blocked shots in 39 games this season. It remains to be seen if he will be ready to go Sunday versus Detroit.

Forbort (undisclosed) will be activated from long-term injured reserve ahead of his return Saturday against the Canadiens, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald.

After missing 20 games, Forbort appears ready to go Saturday. It's a significant boost for Boston's blue line, especially with Brandon Carlo expected back as well. The 31-year-old Forbort has four assists, 29 hits and 35 blocked shots in 20 games this season.

Carlo (upper body) will be activated from injured reserve ahead of his return Saturday against the Canadiens, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald reports.

Carlo had missed Boston's last five games after suffering an injury Jan. 8 against Colorado. The 27-year-old blueliner had two goals and 10 points while averaging 20:17 of ice time across 39 games. Carlo should return to the Bruins' second pairing.

Jokiharju (general soreness) is expected to be a game-time decision versus Tampa Bay on Saturday, per Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News.

Jokiharju managed to participate in practice Friday, but he was the seventh defenseman. He played in the Sabres' last two games after being a healthy scratch for two games a week ago. Jokiharju has two goals, seven assists, 41 hits and 45 blocked shots in 37 appearances this season.

Samuelsson (upper body) is expected to be a game-time call Saturday versus the Lightning, Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News reports.

Samuelsson missed the Sabres' last two contests after suffering an injury Jan. 13 against Vancouver. The 23-year-old blueliner has a goal, seven points and a plus-3 rating through 39 games this year. Samuelsson should return to a top-pairing role alongside Rasmus Dahlin once he's cleared to return.

Gostisbehere delivered a power-play assist in Friday's 4-2 loss to the Hurricanes.

Gostisbehere has 24 assists and 31 points through 44 games, which mirrors the running totals set forth by Pittsburgh's stud blueliner Erik Karlsson. For the sake of comparison, Ghost likely remains the more cost-effective option between the two. After all, it's not often you see a blueliner cross 100 points (25 goals, 76 assists) like Karlsson did with the Sharks last year, but fantasy managers shouldn't put a ton of stock in the recency bias. Gostisbehere is more than holding his own in his debut campaign for the Winged Wheel.

Ekblad earned a goal, three assists, and a plus-4 rating in Friday's 6-4 loss to the Wild.

Ekblad was a man on a mission in this home clash, but the Wild manufactured five power-play goals, plus an empty-net tally, to counter the defenseman's fiery attack. This was only the second multi-point game from Ekblad this season, and all of his offensive magic happened during 5-on-5 play. Ekblad has been downgraded to the No. 2 power-play unit, resulting in him netting just three man-advantage points -- with all of them being assists -- so far in 2023-24. Of course, a shoulder injury that required surgery caused Ekblad to get off to a late start to the campaign, and a minor lower-body issue crept up in December as well, so the Panthers are doing their part to manage the star blueliner's workload.

Compher potted a power-play goal in Friday's 4-2 loss to the Hurricanes.

Both teams had just one power-play chance in the contest, and Compher did his part for the Wings courtesy of a snapshot in the middle frame. Compher was held without a point for six consecutive games prior to his goal against the Hurricanes, but the second-line pivot is up 10 markers and 15 assists through 40 outings, which is about the exact pace that resulted in him earning a career-high 52 points with the Avalanche last season.

Jones scored a goal and registered an assist in Friday's 4-3 overtime win against the Islanders.

Jones had the secondary assist on Jason Dickinson's marker early in the third period to put Chicago up 3-1. The Blackhawks frittered away the lead, but Jones saved his team and sent the fans home happy with the winner just 22 seconds into overtime. He finished with a plus-1 rating, two shots on goal, three blocked shots and two hits across a team-high 24:53 of ice time.