Paul Maurice has resigned as head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, the team announced Friday.

Assistant coach Dave Lowry will take over duties on an interim basis. Winnipeg is 13-10-5 this season.

Maurice's departure is a personal decision, reports TSN's Darren Dreger.

He will address the media Friday morning, followed by Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff.

The 54-year-old took over as Jets head coach in 2014. He's overseen 600 games for the franchise, accumulating a 315-223-62 record and five postseason appearances.

Maurice ranks sixth in NHL history with 775 victories.

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The NHL has postponed Saturday's marquee matchup between the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins, the league announced Friday.

A makeup date hasn't been confirmed, but the Canadiens are scheduled to play on Dec. 20 versus the New York Islanders. Montreal played at home Thursday without fans due to rising COVID-19 cases.

The Bruins are dealing with an ongoing outbreak that's sidelined superstars Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, among others. Boston could only dress 17 skaters in its loss to the Isles on Thursday.

The NHL has postponed several games in recent weeks as there has been an increase in players landing in COVID-19 protocol.

The Bruins haven't visited Montreal since November 2019. The longtime archrivals met once this season in Boston, with the home side taking a 5-2 victory.

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Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe believes top defenseman Morgan Rielly has developed into a more well-rounded player this season.

The veteran rearguard has seen an uptick in penalty-kill assignments, and Keefe thinks Rielly is starting to thrive defensively.

"Confident. Reliable on both sides of the puck. I think he's got more to offer us here offensively, and it's on us to as a team to get him engaged more, get more happening on the rush where he can get involved. But he's defended really well," Keefe said, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox.

Keefe continued, "The defensive ability that he's added here on both five-on-five and the penalty kill has really come a long way - and he's really embraced that. We're just seeing a more complete version of Morgan."

Rielly, viewed as an offense-first blue-liner for much of his career, has kept his production up this season. The 27-year-old has 26 points in 30 games, good for fourth among NHL defensemen. He's notched 22 points in 22 contests since signing a monster eight-year, $60-million contract extension in October.

"He's an elite defenseman in the league, and I think elite defensemen in the league should be contributing to your team in all facets. That's a really important thing," Keefe said.

Toronto drafted Rielly fifth overall in 2012. He's recorded 331 points in 602 games.

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Washington Capitals star Nicklas Backstrom is expected to make his season debut Wednesday night versus the Chicago Blackhawks after being activated from the injured non-roster list, the team announced.

Backstrom has been recovering from an offseason hip injury, beginning the 2021-22 campaign on long-term injured reserve.

The 34-year-old is likely to center the Capitals' top line, as Evgeny Kuznetsov is unavailable Wednesday due to COVID-19 protocol.

Backstrom notched 53 points in 55 games last season. Washington has fared well without the veteran playmaker, sitting atop the Metropolitan Division through 28 contests.

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The Calgary Flames' outbreak continues to grow, with the team placing 17 members in COVID-19 protocol Wednesday.

The Flames added seven players, seven support staff, and three coaches, including head coach Darryl Sutter, to the COVID-19 list. Johnny Gaudreau, Jacob Markstrom, and Rasmus Andersson are among the more notable players entering protocol.

The NHL postponed three Flames contests this week after six players were put in protocol Monday.

Calgary sits second in the Pacific Division with a 15-7-6 record.

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Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron is in COVID-19 protocol, the team announced Wednesday.

Teammates Brad Marchand and Craig Smith were already added to the list Tuesday, alongside 16 players from other NHL teams.

The league has faced a concerning uptick of outbreaks over the last few days, forcing some of this week's games to be postponed.

Bergeron has notched 23 points in 25 games this season. The Bruins' next game is on Thursday versus the New York Islanders.

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Pittsburgh Penguins star winger Jake Guentzel is week-to-week with an upper-body injury, head coach Mike Sullivan announced Wednesday.

Guentzel has been scorching hot, notching 12 goals in his past 12 games. The 27-year-old leads the Penguins in scoring this season with 27 points through 24 contests.

Pittsburgh has been decimated by injuries to key players all year, but the team currently holds the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 29 points and a 7-2-1 record in its last 10 showings.

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Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau hopes deploying Elias Pettersson on the penalty kill will provide an offensive jolt for the young superstar.

Pettersson has struggled to produce this season, registering just 13 points in 26 games. In Boudreau's debut behind the bench on Monday, Pettersson logged 39 seconds on the kill - a modest amount but still more than usual.

The veteran coach believes change can be a good thing.

"You look at good teams, a lot of their best offensive players are also better killers," Boudreau said, according to NHL.com's Kevin Woodley. "They get more ice time and they feel more into it, so it's a good thing as long as they're committed to doing the right things defensively."

Pettersson has only played 10:24 shorthanded in his career, but Boudreau thinks the responsibility of an expanded role can help rebuild the confidence his star has been missing this season.

"It's like a do-over," Boudreau said. "Sometimes new coaches come in and they put you in different positions, different roles, and it works for you."

The Canucks own the NHL's worst penalty kill this season, operating at a paltry 65.5%. They return to the ice Wednesday night against the Boston Bruins.

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Florida Panthers superstar Aleksander Barkov is back in the lineup for Tuesday's clash with the St. Louis Blues after missing eight games with a lower-body injury, the team announced.

Defenseman Gustav Forsling is back as well.

Barkov has been sidelined since taking a knee-on-knee hit from New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield on Nov. 16.

The first-place Panthers went 6-2 without their captain.

Barkov's been his typical dominant self so far this season, registering 17 points in 15 games while averaging nearly 21 minutes per contest.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without forward Mitch Marner and defenseman Rasmus Sandin for the foreseeable future.

Marner will miss three-to-four weeks with a shoulder injury after colliding with teammate Jake Muzzin in practice last week, head coach Sheldon Keefe said Tuesday, according to ESPN's Kristen Shilton. Sandin is expected to miss two-to-three weeks after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk on Sunday. Pionk earned a two-game suspension for the collision.

Sandin avoided structural damage to his knee, but he's on crutches, Shilton adds.

The Leafs recalled defensemen Alex Biega and Kristians Rubins as well as forward Alex Steeves from the AHL. Toronto is also likely to be without forward Jason Spezza for a few games, as he faces an in-person hearing with the Department of Player Safety on Tuesday for his retaliatory hit on Pionk.

Here's how the shorthanded Leafs lined up at practice prior to Tuesday's tilt with the Columbus Blue Jackets:

Marner and Sandin have been key contributors for the Leafs this season. Marner's racked up 21 points in 24 games, while Sandin's logged a career-high average of 16:15 per contest.

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