NHL Player News

Nystrom scored his first career goal in Thursday's 4-3 shootout loss to Chicago.

The 23-year-old rookie tied the game at 1-1 midway through the first period, going top shelf on Spencer Knight from the faceoff circle. Nystrom, a seventh-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, has taken advantage of injuries to handle a fairly steady role on Carolina's blue line this season as part of the third pairing. Through 36 games, he's delivered nine points, 42 shots on net, 21 blocked shots and a plus-4 rating.

Pulock (upper body) is day-to-day and questionable for Saturday's clash versus Buffalo, Stefen Rosner of NHL.com reports.

Pulock left Wednesday's game versus Seattle with 4:39 left in the third period and did not return. The blueliner has two goals, 19 assists, 93 blocked shots, 34 hits and 62 shots on goal in 50 games this season.

Ekman-Larsson (lower body) will be in the lineup Friday versus Vegas, Dave McCarthy of NHL.com reports.

Ekman-Larsson left Wednesday's game in the opening period and did not return. It was thought that Ekman-Larsson would miss some time, but he improved immensely Thursday and was on the ice at practice Friday. Ekman-Larsson has eight goals, 23 assists, 62 hits, 41 blocked shots and 72 shots on goal across 50 games this season.

Phillips was sent down to AHL Manitoba on Friday.

Phillips' demotion could be an indication that Neal Pionk (lower body) or Haydn Fleury (upper body) is close to returning to action, though the club could bring Phillips or another defenseman up from the minors prior to Saturday's clash with Detroit. The 24-year-old Phillips has logged just five NHL games over the last two seasons and figures to serve primarily as a healthy scratch even when he is on the NHL roster.

Thrun was elevated from AHL Toronto on Friday.

Thrun's promotion would seem to indicate that at least one of Brandon Carlo (undisclosed) or Oliver Ekman-Larsson (lower body) will not be available to face the Golden Knights on Friday. The 24-year-old Thrun has logged four games for the Leafs this season, failing to register a point while producing four shots, four blocks and three hits.

Hamonic logged an assist, four blocked shots, two hits and four PIM in Thursday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Wild.

This was Hamonic's fourth appearance in the Red Wings' last 26 games, and his first since Dec. 21 versus the Capitals. He got the nod to replace Simon Edvinsson (lower body) for this contest. Hamonic has two helpers, 16 shots on net, 22 PIM, 21 hits, 30 blocks and a minus-11 rating over 20 outings this season. Jacob Bernard-Docker has most often gotten the last spot in the lineup, and Hamonic's not even guaranteed to play in the event of an injury to another blueliner, as Erik Gustafsson is on the roster as well.

Hughes notched three assists, three shots on goal and a plus-2 rating in Thursday's 4-3 overtime win over the Red Wings.

Hughes has a goal and seven helpers over his last four games. His first assist Thursday came on a Kirill Kaprizov power-play tally. The 26-year-old Hughes is up to four goals, 47 points (20 on the power play), 127 shots on net, 55 blocked shots, 18 PIM and an even plus-minus rating across 46 contests between the Wild and the Canucks this season. Hughes remains among the elite point producers from the blue line and should be a fixture in fantasy lineups.

Walman scored a shorthanded goal on three shots in Thursday's 6-2 loss to the Penguins.

Walman is heating up on offense with a point in four straight games (one goal, three assists). His tally Thursday was a shortie to get the Oilers on the board in the second period. The 29-year-old defenseman is up to four goals (two shorthanded), 10 assists, 39 shots on net, 41 blocked shots and a minus-4 rating over 23 appearances. He has some scoring upside for a blueliner, but his bottom-four role could lead to inconsistency.

St. Ivany notched two assists, two hits, two blocked shots and a plus-2 rating in Thursday's 6-2 win over the Oilers.

St. Ivany has logged back-to-back two-assist games. He helped out on tallies by Sidney Crosby and Yegor Chinakhov in this contest. St. Ivany is making a strong case to stay in the lineup once the Penguins' blue line is back to full strength -- the team is still missing Kris Letang (upper body) and Ryan Graves (lower body), though Erik Karlsson (lower body) returned Thursday. Over 16 contests, St. Ivany has seven helpers, 16 shots on net, 40 hits, 22 blocked shots and a plus-7 rating.

Petry's point drought reached 11 games in Thursday's 2-1 shootout win over the Jets.

The Panthers have scored two or fewer goals in eight of those 11 contests during Petry's skid, so it's not like there's been a lot of offense to go around lately. Petry is filling in on the third pairing consistently while Seth Jones (upper body) and Dmitry Kulikov (upper body) are out. Petry has just eight helpers with 38 shots on net, 41 hits, 51 blocked shots, 18 PIM and a minus-10 rating over 47 appearances this season, matching his output from 44 contests with the Red Wings last year.