Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (shoulder) was cleared for contact so it appears his return is imminent.

Jason Garrison (ankle) is feeling good enough that he's expected to play tonight.

Joffrey Lupul missed practice yesterday with an ankle injury but he will play tonight.

I missed this yesterday but apparently Sean Couturier missed Thursday night's game with a lower body injury.

The Wild placed Mikko Koivu on IR. Still not sure when he'll be back but at least you can stash him for now.

In yesterday's Injury Updates, I commented that the Avalanche would likely not dress Erik Johnson (back) as a precautionary measure. Well I was wrong as he did dress and recorded an assist and plus-3. Guess he's fine.

Bryan Murray said of Craig Anderson: "As soon as he can handle a stick, he'll be back on the ice, probably as early as next week". He went on to say "there's no time frame". I guess this is an upgrade from the original 6-8 week time frame but I wouldn't keep my fingers crossed.

Returning to action last night: James Wisniewski, Tomas Plekanec, Travis Hamonic, Alex Ovechkin