Friday's Injury Updates - Vanek, Howard, Cleary, Backstrom

Thomas Vanek practiced yesterday and it sounds like he'll be returning tonight. Very good news for the Sabres and his owners.

In not so good news, Nicklas Backstrom was quoted as saying that he hopes to be ready for the playoffs. That doesn't sound good for the people of fantasy land. If you need an IR spot that he's currently taking up, it's probably safe to make the drop.

Mike Green was on the ice again yesterday and blah, blah, blah. We've heard this before. Wake me up when he gets into a game.

The timetable for Jimmy Howard (finger) is now 7-10 days. That's a whole lot better than 4-6 weeks.

Danny Cleary will miss the next two games with a knee injury.

Tyler Kennedy will miss 4-6 weeks due to a high ankle sprain.

Adam Larsson missed the game last night with a bruised back but it doesn't sound too serious. He shouldn't miss too many more games, if any.

Travis Zajac is out at least another month with his achilles and it wouldn't surprise me if we didn't see him on the ice again this season.

Ryan Johansen had been getting scratched due to illness but apparently he's healthy now and still being scratched. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Jason Arnott (shoulder) missed the Blues game last night.

Ilya Bryzgalov is still sick so he did not start last night.

Jonathan Quick was pulled after allowing only two goals so some people were thinking it was due to injury. After the game it was said to be the coach's decision to pull him so apparently he's fine.

Returning to action last night: Mikko Koivu, Milan Jurcina