NHL - Team News

Pittsburgh - Injuries will require both the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins to make changes to their respective lineups when they meet Saturday at Consol Energy Center. Pittsburgh will be without forward James Neal for the first time this season, as he will sit with an upper-body injury. Neal played in the Penguins' 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils Thursday night, but left after 3:49 of ice time. He will be replaced on the second line with Evgeni Malkin and Jussi Jokinen by 21-year-old forward Beau Bennett. Bennett competed against Jokinen for the spot alongside Malkin and Neal through training camp, but skated next to Brandon Sutter and Chuck Kobasew to begin the season.

Buffalo - Defenseman Henrik Tallinder suffered an upper-body injury in Buffalo's 1-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators Friday night and will sit tonight. Jamie McBain is projected to be paired with Tyler Myers in place of Tallinder. The Carolina Hurricanes traded McBain to the Sabres during the 2013 draft along with their second-round pick in exchange for Andrej Sekera. McBain said he was disappointed with his performance last season and is looking forward to a fresh start, starting against Pittsburgh. Buffalo is also likely to start goalie Jhonas Enroth with Ryan Miller playing against Ottawa. Miller is listed as questionable with a lower-body injury, but was likely to miss the start regardless.

Montreal - Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty will miss Saturday night's game against the Philadelphia Flyers with a left arm injury. Pacioretty hurt his arm midway through the first period of Montreal's season opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs when he was hit along the boards by Colton Orr. Pacioretty missed the rest of the first period and the first few shifts of the second before coming back to finish the game. Pacioretty participated in Montreal's practice Friday, but said afterward that he couldn't guarantee he would be able to play in Saturday's game. Coach Michel Therrien said Saturday after the team's morning skate that he considered it "too risky" to put Pacioretty in the lineup. Pacioretty's absence, coupled with that of George Parros (concussion), ensures that rookie Michael Bournival will make his NHL debut while Ryan White will make his season debut after both sat out Tuesday's game. Both the Canadiens and Flyers held optional skates Saturday morning, so there were no indications given as to the makeup of the two lineups, but goaltenders Carey Price and Ray Emery are confirmed as the starters.

Toronto - The big news out of Toronto on Saturday concerns forward Nikolai Kulemin. Coach Randy Carlyle says the Russian winger has a chip in his ankle that will keep him out of action for at least two weeks. Rookie Spencer Abbott has been called up from the Toronto Marlies to take his place. The Leafs will have to hope Abbott's high-scoring ways from his time at the University of Maine can translate to the NHL. The news of Kulemin's injury managed to overshadow the news of 2012 first-round pick Morgan Rielly making his NHL debut tonight. With Mark Fraser on long-term injured reserve with a knee injury, it opens up the opportunity for Rielly to jump into action. He was paired up with Jake Gardiner during the morning skate. James Reimer started in Toronto's season-opening victory over the Montreal Canadiens and is expected to start Saturday. He will bring a sterling 8-1-1 record against Ottawa into the game. As for the Ottawa Senators, they're coming off a 1-0 victory Friday night over the Buffalo Sabres that saw Craig Anderson stand on his head, stopping 35 shots for the shutout. He'll be back in the net against Toronto but there will be a couple of changes from last night's lineup otherwise. Joe Corvo will take Eric Gryba's spot on the blue line while Matt Kassian will play in place of Stephane DaCosta.

Vancouver - New Canucks coach John Tortorella's reliance on blocking shots generated plenty of discussing around the hockey world. That isn't likely to change now that top-line wing Alexandre Burrows will miss at least two weeks with a lower-body injury. Burrows was hurt blocking a slap shot while killing off a 5-on-3 during the Canucks' season-opening 4-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night. He finished the game but was spotted limping out of the locker room, and hasn't been back on the ice since. On Saturday, he was spotted wearing a walking boot. Burrows averaged just under 30 goals over the last four full seasons, and led the team with 13 in the shortened 2012-13 season while playing alongside Daniel and Henrik Sedin on the No.1 line. He joins depth center Jordan Schroeder, who broke his foot blocking a shot in the preseason, on the injured list. The Canucks, who averaged less than 12 blocks a game last season, blocked 22 shots in the season opener against the Sharks. Zack Kassian, who started the preseason in Burrows' spot on the top line, is suspended for the first five games of the season. So the Canucks don't have any extra forwards for Saturday night's game against the Edmonton Oilers. Tortorella said they won't call one up from the American Hockey League, instead dressing one of their two extra defensemen on a fourth line that barely played in the opener. Defenseman Andrew Alberts, who was scratched in the first game, played on the fourth line a couple of times last season. Tortorella would not reveal who will play with the Sedin twins. Following an optional morning skate, it's a guessing game as to whether David Booth, who finished the San Jose game with the twins, or Jannik Hansen, who played there in the preseason, will get the promotion.

Dallas - The Dallas Stars are still looking to get new head coach Lindy Ruff his first win behind their bench. And in Saturday's game with the Washington Capitals at American Airlines Center, the Stars will see Rich Peverley for the first time in a Dallas uniform. Peverley, 31, was acquired in the July 4 trade with the Boston Bruins that sent Loui Eriksson and two others to Boston for Peverley, Tyler Seguin and defenseman Ryan Button. However, the veteran center was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat before the start of training camp and missed the entire preseason before returning to full practice for the first time Friday morning. On Saturday, he will debut on the Stars' fourth line alongside Antoine Roussel and Ryan Garbutt, and he couldn't be happier to finally be back in the mix with his new club. Ruff said the Stars are easing Peverley back into things and will see how he fares in Saturday's game to properly gauge where he's currently at with his timing and ability to be a steady contributor on the ice. Plugging Peverley into the fourth line is the only lineup change Ruff will make from the group that lost 4-2 to the Florida Panthers to open the season on Thursday. But one Dallas player is especially looking forward to seeing the Capitals. Center Cody Eakin was drafted by Washington in the third round of the 2009 NHL Draft and played 30 games for the Capitals in the 2011-12 season before coming to the Stars in a draft-day trade that sent Mike Ribeiro to the nation's capital.

Washington - The Crapitals beat the Calgary Flames 5-4 in a shootout on Thursday to even their record at 1-1-0 and it appears Capitals coach Adam Oates will only make one change to his lineup from Thursday's win with either Steve Oleksy or Alexander Urbom coming in for Jack Hillen alongside Connor Carrick on Washington's third defensive pairing. Hillen, who suffered a lower-body injury against the Flames and had to be hospitalized, had surgery on Friday and is expected to miss the next 4-6 months.

Chicago - It's only the second game of the season, but Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville is quickly dipping into his team's depth prior to playing the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday night at United Center. Defenseman Michael Kostka will draw into the starting lineup for the first time with Chicago, likely playing with Nick Leddy on the third pairing, while 25-year-old forward Ben Smith will make his first start of the season playing right wing on the third line. It's an opportunity for both to make a good impression on Quenneville, who isn't afraid to stray from the regular lineup and give his entire roster a chance to play. The 5-foot-11 Smith is replacing 6-foot-6, 221-pound winger Jimmy Hayes and has scored four goals and no assist in his NHL career. He hass also battled some injury issues and has ridden the so-called "Rockford Shuttle" quite a bit between Chicago and the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League. Kostka came to the Blackhawks under different circumstances. After playing five seasons in the AHL following his collegiate career at the University of Massachusetts, the 27-year old defenseman finally broke into the NHL by playing 35 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs last year, registering no goals and eight assists. He signed a one-year deal with the Blackhawks in the off-season as an unrestricted free agent and made the team out of training camp to give Quenneville eight defensemen starting out. Quenneville first took notice of Kostka while watching the Maple Leafs on television last season and still liked what he saw in person during camp. He was particularly taken by the prospect of having another puck-moving defensemen who might even see some time on the power play.