The St. Louis Blues will be without captain David Backes and goaltender Jake Allen for the rest of the regular season, the club announced Monday. Both have lower-body injuries.

Allen has struggled with injuries throughout the season, and left injured after one period Sunday, stopping all 11 shots he faced. Backes has yet to miss a game this season. Both will be re-evaluated once the regular season ends.

Backes finishes the season with 21 goals and 24 assists in 79 games. He's a free agent on July 1.

Allen's campaign concludes as the best of his career. He went 26-15-3, finishing with a .920 save percentage and six shutouts - both personal highs.

The Blues have dealt with an absurd amount of injuries throughout the season, so it's no surprise this is the way their 82-game campaign comes to an end. Hopefully, these injuries aren't serious, and shutting down the two players is for precautionary reasons.

The playoffs begin April 13. The Blues will be there.

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New York Islanders head coach Jack Capuano had some choice words for a trio of forwards in advance of Monday's game against Tampa Bay.

In order for his club to secure a playoff spot, Capuano said he needs more from Ryan Strome, Josh Bailey, and Brock Nelson.

"There's no surprises. We need Strome to be better. We need Brock to be better. We need Bailey to be better. We need guys to be better if we're going to have any chance at all," Capuano told reporters Monday. "They see it, it's black and white. The video doesn't lie. It doesn't come down to X's and O's, it doesn't come down to systems. It comes down to how hard you want to compete.

"We've struggled with a few guys, for sure, about their compete level and their work ethic. It has to be better. ... The guys mentioned need to pick their shit up and start playing."

Capuano's roster appears top-heavy as a result of star performances from John Tavares and Kyle Okposo. More was expected from the supporting cast - especially Strome, a fifth overall selection by the Islanders in 2011.

The results, however, leave much to be desired.

Player	Games	Goals	Assists
Brock Nelson	76	25	13
Josh Bailey	76	12	20
Ryan Strome	66	8	18

With five games remaining, the Islanders have a three-point advantage over Boston and two over Philadelphia in the race for the Eastern Conference's wild-card spots.

Capuano's statements come after Tavares himself said Saturday he was embarrassed by the team's effort in a shutout loss to Pittsburgh.

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The Philadelphia Flyers will have to make the playoffs without Andrew MacDonald.

MacDonald won't play Wednesday against the Detroit Red Wings, the club announced Monday. He's considered day to day with an upper-body injury after being hit from behind Sunday. Based on the evidence, it's likely a head injury.

The 29-year-old defender has seven assists in 24 games, playing 20:16 a game. He'll be missed, as the Flyers look to overcome a slow start and qualify for the playoffs.

According to the Flyers' website, "head coach Dave Hakstol will likely return to Evgeny Medvedev, who has been a healthy scratch recently."

Medvedev has three goals and eight assists in 44 games.

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Patrick Roy hates missing the playoffs.

The Colorado Avalanche head coach will be watching the postseason along with the rest of us this spring, and it doesn't sit well with him. After watching Matt Duchene whoop it up for reaching the 30-goal mark in a blowout loss in a must-win game, Roy let the 25-year-old have it.

"Are you kidding me?" Roy asked after the game. "What is that?"

The Avalanche were down 4-0 at the time.

Roy continued after the game, calling out his top players, according to the Denver Post's Mike Chambers.

"Our core hasn't proved that they have the leadership to bring this team to another level," Roy said, though Chambers points out Roy wasn't including captain Gabriel Landeskog in the discussion. "Eventually, we have to admit, (right)? We need more from these guys. These guys need to prove to us that they're capable of carrying this team."

Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon, 20, are the club's leading scorers, with 57 and 52 points, respectively. Landeskog is third with 51, while Carl Soderberg reached the 50-point mark for the first time in his career.

Tyson Barrie is one of the more underrated defensemen in the league, while Francois Beauchemin and Jarome Iginla provide veteran presence. In goal, it has been an up-and-down season for Semyon Varlamov.

The Avalanche can still get into the playoffs by winning their final three games and watching the Minnesota Wild drop their final two in regulation. It's possible, but Roy knows the reality of the situation - the Avalanche simply haven't gotten the job done. Again.

"We need to change the mindset," Roy said. "I think we have a losing mindset right now. I think we have to find ways to believe more in ourselves.

"It's not good enough. At this point of the year, you're supposed to win five out of six, not lose five out of six. It's just not good enough. I don't have the answers right now, but I know one thing: It's not good enough and it's embarrassing what happened out there (Sunday)."

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NEW YORK, N.Y. - Chicago left-wing Artemi Panarin, San Jose defenceman Brent Burns and Pittsburgh goaltender Matt Murray have been named the NHL's three stars of the week. Panarin led the league with eight points (three goals, five assists) a...

John Scott is getting one shot with the Montreal Canadiens, but he's not approaching it as his final act.

Acquired from Arizona in a much-talked-about trade ahead of the All-Star Game and then sent down to the AHL, Scott is set to cap his NHL season by appearing in a single game for the Canadiens, a home date with the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.

"John's been a professional since coming on board with the organization," said head coach Michel Therrien. "We wanted to give him a chance to play a game."

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience to play for the Canadiens. I'm excited to be here." - John Scott #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/MOA0tLcfrF

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 4, 2016

While it would provide Mitch Albom with a tidy ending for the screenplay he's writing about the All-Star MVP's whirlwind season, Scott is hoping more will be added to his story.

John Scott does not consider this game with Habs tomorrow to be his last in the NHL. Remains confident he'll play in the NHL next season.

— Аrpon Basu (@ArponBasu) April 4, 2016

Scott, 33, has appeared in 285 NHL games, with five goals, six assists, and 542 penalty minutes to his credit.

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The only future Pavel Datsyuk's concerned about is his immediate one.

The Detroit Red Wings superstar wouldn't confirm or deny a weekend report stating he'll likely return home to Russia after this season, according to MLive.com's Ansar Khan. The 37-year-old said he's only concerned about his team's final three games.

"It's hard to say," Datsyuk said, according to the Detroit Free Press' Helene St. James. "Never know what's going to happen."

A Saturday report from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman says there's a "legitimate chance" Datsyuk foregoes the final season of his contract and finishes his career in the KHL, which the center has discussed as he's gotten older.

"I hear a lot of rumors," general manager Ken Holland said Saturday night, while Datsyuk's agent didn't tip his hand about his client's future.

What complicates matters for the Red Wings is that Datsyuk's salary will count against the team's cap should he in fact head back to Russia.

Datsyuk has 48 points in 63 games, and will need a big week to ensure Detroit continues its streak of making the playoffs. At 24 seasons, the run is in jeopardy, with the Red Wings holding the third and final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division as of Monday.

On Wednesday, the Red Wings host the Philadelphia Flyers, who hold the wild-card spot, in a massive game before playing an even bigger one Thursday night in Boston. The Bruins are a point behind the Red Wings in the standings as of Monday, with 90, and a win by Boston on Tuesday will put the Bruins back into an Atlantic playoff spot, and bump Detroit back behind the wild-card holders.

It's going to an interesting week in Detroit, and the stakes are even higher now that these may be Datsyuk's final seven days in red and white.

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A heavily bearded defenseman is sandwiched between two fresh-faced rookies in the NHL's three stars of the week ending April 3.

Chicago Blackhawks winger Artemi Panarin, Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks, and Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray earned the honors, the league announced Monday.

Panarin, a likely Calder Trophy finalist, led the league with eight points (three goals, five assists) in three games, helping the defending Stanley Cup champions clinch a playoff berth.

Artemi Panarin (1-3—4) became 1st rookie in @NHLBlackhawks history to record consecutive 4-point performances (also April 1 at WPG: 2-2—4)

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 4, 2016

Burns scored a goal and added six assists, and sits second only to Erik Karlsson in scoring among defensemen.

Filling in for an injured Marc-Andre Fleury, Murray posted a record of 3-0-0 with a 1.95 goals-against average and .929 save percentage, including a shutout win over the New York Islanders - his first at the NHL level.

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NEW YORK, N.Y. - Nazem Kadri won't be playing again for the Maple Leafs this season. The NHL suspended Kadri for Toronto's final four games for his cross-check to the head area of Red Wings centre Luke Glendening. Kadri hit Glendening in t...

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri has been suspended four games for cross-checking Detroit’s Luke Glendening, the NHL's Department of Player Safety announced Monday.

(Courtesy: NHL.com)

The suspension ends Kadri's regular season, as the Maple Leafs have only four games remaining on the schedule.

It also marks his fourth punishment from the league in 2015-16, carrying a hefty hit to the wallet.

Nazem Kadri has now forfeited $396,078.77 in salary for three NHL suspensions, two diving fines and one throat-slash fine.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) April 4, 2016

Kadri appeared in 76 games for Toronto this season, recording 17 goals, 28 assists, and 260 shots.

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