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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Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jason Spezza and Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk will both have hearings for kneeing, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced Monday.

Spezza's hearing will be in-person, meaning the league can suspend him more than five games. Pionk's hearing will be over the phone Monday.

Both players threw controversial hits in Sunday's chippy affair. Pionk caught Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin with a knee, and Spezza retaliated while Pionk was in a vulnerable position soon after.

Sandin left the game unable to put weight on his leg. There's been no update on his status to this point.

Maple Leafs forward Wayne Simmonds also received a $2,500 fine for cross-checking Jets forward Jansen Harkins.

Winnipeg won the contest 6-3.

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The Philadelphia Flyers have fired head coach Alain Vigneault, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Philadelphia has also dismissed assistant Michel Therrien, while Mike Yeo will take over as head coach on an interim basis, according to The Athletic's Charlie O'Connor.

The Flyers lost their eighth straight game Sunday, suffering an embarrassing 7-1 defeat on home ice to the Tampa Bay Lightning. They've been outscored 37-13 during their skid.

Philadelphia hired Vigneault in 2019, signing him to a five-year contract worth $5 million annually, according to CapFriendly. He led the Flyers to the playoffs in his debut season behind the bench, but they failed to qualify in 2020-21.

Vigneault previously had stints with the Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers, reaching the Stanley Cup Final with both teams. The 60-year-old won the Jack Adams Award as the league's top head coach in 2007.

The Flyers currently sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division with an 8-10-4 record. They take the ice Monday night versus the Colorado Avalanche.

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Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion met with media Saturday and conveyed his disappointment in his club's substandard first quarter of the 2021-22 campaign.

"I've had a few sleepless nights," Dorion said, according to Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch. "The buck stops with me. We're going to battle through this. ... We've got to get out of this together."

The Senators were widely expected to take a step forward this season, but they sit dead last in the NHL with a 5-15-1 record through 21 games.

Ottawa enjoyed a late surge in the all-Canadian North Division to close out the 2020-21 season, leading many to believe the club was on the upswing. Dorion expressed personal confidence in the team's progress in September, proclaiming its rebuild over.

He reneged on that statement Saturday.

"What I should have said is all the core pieces are in place," Dorion said.

Injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak have affected the Senators' performance, but their numbers don't suggest a quick turnaround is imminent. Ottawa ranks near the bottom of the league in several key areas:

The Senators' next contest comes Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche.

(Advanced stats source: Evolving-Hockey)

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Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, the team announced Friday.

Getzlaf exited Tuesday's contest versus the Los Angeles Kings after logging only 2:48 of ice time, and he was unavailable for Wednesday's clash versus the Vegas Golden Knights.

The 36-year-old is off to a terrific start this season, recording 20 points in 23 games while ranking fourth in the NHL with 19 assists.

The Ducks sit third in the Pacific Division with a 13-8-3 record.

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