NHL Player News

Faber racked up three assists, two of them coming on the power play, in Saturday's 4-3 overtime win over the Blue Jackets.

The rookie blueliner added three shots on net and five blocked shots to his ledger in perhaps the best performance of Faber's young career. He led the Wild in ice time with a massive 30:12, and his 21-year-old legs didn't look fatigued when he joined the rush in OT on the play that led to Marco Rossi's game-winner. Faber snapped a six-game point drought with the performance. Through 38 games this season, he's collected two goals and 19 points with 26 hits, 56 shots on goal, 69 blocked shots and a plus-9 rating, emerging as a dark-horse Calder contender in the process.

Savard had an assist, three shots on net and four blocks over 22:19 of ice time in Saturday's 4-3 shootout win over the Rangers.

Savard prevented New York from clearing the zone and initiated a sequence that led to a Brendan Gallagher goal, which opened the scoring. It was the defenseman's first point in six games. Scoring isn't Savard's primary value, as the 32-year-old blueliner is most helpful as a shot blocker. He has 55 blocks in 17 games.

Makar scored an even-strength goal and added a power-play assist in Saturday's 8-4 loss to the Panthers.

The Avalanche fell behind 3-0 in the first period, but Makar kicked off a second-period surge that tied the game with a wicked shot from the faceoff dot to the left of Sergei Bobrovsky. Florida dominated again in the third, however. Since returning from a lower-body injury in late December, Makar has four multi-point performances in eight games en route to a goal and 10 points.

Struble had one shot, one block and two hits while finishing plus-2 over 20:28 of ice time in Saturday's 4-3 shootout win over the Rangers.

Struble had a season-high TOI total, which included important minutes late in the game. He was on the ice to kill a penalty with six minutes left in regulation, then had two even-strength shifts and one long shift in overtime. In six games since Christmas, Struble has the third-most TOI among Canadiens defensemen, behind only the top pair of Mike Matheson and David Savard. While the added responsibilities may not turn into fantasy-relevant production, Struble has quickly earned the trust of head coach Martin St. Louis.

Girard logged an assist, three blocked shots and two PIM over 17:38 of ice time in Saturday's 8-4 loss to the Panthers.

After Girard blocked an attempted pass in the Colorado end, the puck bounded to the neutral zone, where Jonathan Drouin outraced the Panthers and wristed one past Sergei Bobrovsky. It was Girard's second point in four games since he returned from a personal leave.

Manson scored a goal on three shots in Saturday's 8-4 loss to Florida. He added one block and five hits to his line over 16:49 of ice time.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped Manson's slapshot with his blocker, but the puck bounced off Carter Verhaeghe and into the net. The tally was Manson's third over the last seven games, during which the defenseman has five points, 18 shots, 24 hits and seven blocks.

Coach Jared Bednar said Friday that Byram (lower body) will miss between a week and two weeks, Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now reports. "He's going to miss a handful of games here," the coach said. "Lower body. Not serious at this point, so 7-10-14 days, some place in there. We put him on the IR today, so he's going to miss at least seven."

Byram was removed from Thursday's game against Dallas and was absent from the bench in the third period. He was placed on IR on Friday and replaced by Caleb Jones for Saturday's loss to the Panthers.

Miller scored twice Saturday in a 6-4 loss to Vancouver.

Miller fired a slap shot from above the right circle in the second period that beat Thatcher Demko low blocker side. His other goal was much the same - low-blocker side, this time from the top of the left circle. The goals were Miller's first this season (19 games). He's never been able to replicate his brilliant 41-point campaign in Vegas' first year. There's no fantasy value in two goals and two assists in 19 games thus far.

Hughes had three assists in a 6-4 win over New Jersey on Saturday.

It was the 69th multi-point game for Hughes, who passed Alexander Edler for the most ever by a Canucks defenseman. He has 10 points, including nine assists, in his last seven contests. Hughes leads all NHL defenders in scoring with 49 points, two ahead of Cale Makar, and he has sole possession of 10th on the overall scoring list. His game has taken a significant jump this campaign, and should he keep this up, Hughes could contend for both the Norris Trophy and the Hart Trophy by season's end.

Cormier notched a power-play assist in Saturday's 5-2 win over the Islanders.

Cormier made his NHL debut Saturday, logging 19:46 of ice time. His first point was on Jack Eichel's tally just 31 seconds into the third period, which stretched the Golden Knights' lead to 4-1. With injuries mounting on the blue line, Cormier may have a chance to show his progress after a mediocre training camp. He was paired alongside Brayden McNabb in a top-four role Saturday, though Cormier may have to eventually settle for third-pairing minutes.