Toronto Maple Leafs forward Leo Komarov will play Saturday night against the Winnipeg Jets after missing the last seven games due to a lower-body injury.

Komarov scored 14 and 19 goals, respectively, in the last two seasons, but he's been relied upon less for his offense and more for his checking and penalty-killing abilities this year. In 71 games, he has seven goals and 19 points while averaging a shade under 16 minutes per night.

The Finnish super pest is expected to skate alongside Tomas Plekanec and Kasperi Kapanen on the Leafs' fourth line, with rookie Andreas Johnsson coming out in his place.

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Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo left Saturday's game against the Florida Panthers after losing his balance and falling awkwardly in the corner late in the third period.

Carlo appeared to catch an edge while fighting for the puck with Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov.

Carlo didn't need to be stabilized but did leave on a stretcher, perhaps because he was hurt near the Zamboni doors that lead to the tunnel of the arena.

Nevertheless, a significant injury to the young rearguard would be difficult for the Bruins to swallow.

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The Colorado Avalanche's playoff hopes just took a pair of major blows.

Goaltender Semyon Varlamov is done for the season with an injury the club would only classify as a lower-body ailment, while defenseman Erik Johnson will miss six weeks with a broken kneecap, the club revealed Saturday.

Colorado's No. 1 netminder, left Friday's win over the Chicago Blackhawks late in the third period after Tomas Jurco crashed into him.

Johnson didn't play Friday, and like Varlamov, this won't be his first extended injury absence of the campaign.

Varlamov missed about a month of action between early January and early February, and Johnson also missed a full month between mid-February and mid-March.

The veteran blue-liner leads Colorado in average ice time in 2017-18, having logged more than 25 minutes per night in 62 contests.

Entering Saturday's games, the Avalanche held the same amount of points (92) and regulation-or-overtime wins (40) as the St. Louis Blues, who occupied the second Western Conference wild-card spot.

However, the Blues held a game in hand, so the Avalanche found themselves outside the playoff picture, and it's going to be even more difficult to qualify for the postseason without Varlamov and Johnson down the stretch.

Compounding matters is that Colorado has only four games left in the regular season, and they won't be easy - a road back-to-back against the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings on Sunday and Monday, another away affair against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, and then a meeting with the Blues at home to close out the schedule next Saturday.

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Saturday is a big day for the Vancouver Canucks and Thatcher Demko.

The goaltending prospect is starting against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday afternoon, appearing in an NHL game for the first time in his career.

The 22-year-old netminder was recalled under emergency conditions Friday because Anders Nilsson was ill.

Demko has a .921 save percentage in 42 games for the AHL's Utica Comets this season after struggling in his first go-around with the Canucks affiliate in 2016-17.

Vancouver drafted him 36th overall in 2014.

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Johnny Gaudreau will return to the Calgary Flames' lineup Saturday night after taking a leave of absence to be with his family, the team announced.

Gaudreau left the team - which was in Los Angeles at the the time - on Sunday to return home to New Jersey after his father suffered a cardiac event last weekend.

Luckily, his father is now doing better, and will be watching as Johnny and the Flames take on the Edmonton Oilers.

"He's doing really well," Gaudreau said. "Very excited to watch my brother (Matthew Gaudreau of the ECHL's Worcester Railers) and me play tonight. He told my mom this morning that he's going to take a three- or four-hour nap this afternoon so he can stay up late, cause it's a late one tonight. He's doing really well right now. A scary couple of days there. We're very, very fortunate."

The Flames will certainly be grateful to have Gaudreau back in the fold, as the team struggled mightily in his absence, dropping both games this week (against the Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets) by a combined score of 8-1.

The 24-year-old has already set a career high in points this season with 82 in 76 games.

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The Winnipeg Jets will welcome defenseman Jacob Trouba back into the lineup Saturday for their contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs, head coach Paul Maurice told Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun.

Trouba has missed the last five games after suffering a concussion against the Dallas Stars on March 18 following a crushing hit by Jamie Benn.

Saturday will be just his third appearance since Jan. 25, as the concussion came just two games after the 24-year-old returned from a 20-game absence due to a lower-body injury.

In 52 games this season, Trouba has contributed three goals and 22 points.

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The moment Nashville Predators fans - and many others in the hockey world - have been waiting for has arrived.

Top prospect Eeli Tolvanen will make his NHL debut on Saturday night against the Buffalo Sabres, Predators head coach Peter Laviolette confirmed following the morning skate.

The highly touted winger practiced on Nashville's top line with Viktor Arvidsson and Ryan Johansen, and also got a look on the power play.

Tolvanen terminated his KHL contract and signed his entry-level deal with the Predators earlier this week.

The 18-year-old notched 21 goals and 38 points in 51 games with Jokerit.

Nashville selected him 30th overall in last June's draft.

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Through the remainder of the regular season, we'll take a look at how the night's action impacts the playoff race, highlighting which teams' postseason odds went up or down significantly.

It wasn't an overly busy night in the NHL on Friday, but with four fringe Western Conference clubs all in action, there was a lot of jockeying in the tight race.

Meanwhile, no club in the East saw their playoff chances move by more than half a percent.

Western Conference

The Colorado Avalanche made some slight ground on the St. Louis Blues for the final wild-card spot with a win over the Chicago Blackhawks and the Blues' overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Meanwhile, the Anaheim Ducks moved to within a point of the Los Angeles Kings with an overtime win against the California franchise, and also hold a game in hand over Friday's opponents in the race for third place in the Pacific Division.

To see percentages for the entire NHL, visit Sports Club Stats.

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