Edmonton Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom underwent successful shoulder surgery on Thursday and will miss the remainder of the regular season, the team announced.

The 24-year-old will require five-to-six weeks of recovery after which he will be cleared for workouts.

Back on March 14 the team announced that Klefbom was returning to the lineup after a two-game absence, while knowing that he would be having season-ending surgery soon after.

Klefbom had a career high in goals (12) and points (38) in 2016-17, but has put up just five goals and 21 points through 66 games this season.

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The Florida Panthers continue to lend support to nearby Parkland, sending the hockey team from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to the national tournament on a special charter flight.

The NHL team teamed up with Swift Air to send the Eagles to Minnesota in fine fashion, and Shawn Thornton, former NHL forward and Panthers vice president of business operations, was there to send them off Wednesday.

"They're getting the full experience that our team would get when flying on a road trip," Thornton said, according to Hal Habib of the Palm Beach Post.

The Eagles recently won the state championship, less than two weeks after a former student opened fire on teachers and students at the school and killed 17 people.

The 17 players who appeared in the state final brought their medals home and placed them on the memorials set up for those lost in the tragedy.

The Panthers also recently invited the team to practice at the NHL rink, bringing out the Stanley Cup as an added bonus.

"You can't ask for anything more than a team of guys that just understand what you're going through and they're going through the same thing with you," said player Matthew Hauptman. "And everyone's come together and making us even stronger as a team."

The Eagles begin their national title quest Thursday.

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The Winnipeg Jets have avoided a massive injury scare.

Star winger Patrik Laine was forced to leave Tuesday's game against Los Angeles during the second period after blocking a shot with his foot.

Upon further evaluation, the injury was deemed to be a bruise and not a broken bone, head coach Paul Maurice confirmed Thursday.

The Jets play Friday against Anaheim and Sunday against Nashville. Laine won't suit up against the Ducks and is unlikely to be available for the showdown with the Predators.

Laine was red-hot prior to the injury, recording 20 goals and five assists on a recent 15-game point streak.

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St. Louis Blues forward Brayden Schenn will not face supplemental discipline for a hit to the head of Boston Bruins forward David Krejci on Wednesday.

The NHL reviewed the incident and decided it was not an egregious case of charging, noting that Schenn's skates were on the ice at the point of contact, according to The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford.

Furthermore, Schenn's contact with Krejci's head was deemed unavoidable due to the latter's positioning.

Schenn received a minor penalty for charging, and Krejci was not injured on the play.

The Department of Player Safety deliberated on the hit "quite a bit," according to NBC's Joe Haggerty.

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Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews will miss a couple of games with an upper-body injury, head coach Joel Quenneville announced Thursday.

The news comes two days after the Blackhawks were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

Toews has appeared in all 74 games, contributing 20 goals and 32 assists.

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Sidney Crosby's career highlight reel is already one for the ages, and yet he still finds ways to wow.

The latest "how did he do that?" moment came in Wednesday's win over Montreal, wherein Crosby managed to juggle the puck on his stick in front of the net and bat it past none other than Carey Price.

True to form, Crosby was rather humble when talking about how he managed to pull it off.

"I was just trying to follow the bouncing puck," Crosby said, per Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It worked out. It was nice to see one go in."

Watching from the other end of the ice, goalie Casey DeSmith's reaction was more typical of the average fan.

"That was jaw-dropping," DeSmith said. "That’s a world-class player making a world-class play. If that’s not No. 1 on SportsCenter, I don’t know what is. That was one of the cooler things I’ll see."

Don't worry Casey; they noticed.

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The Boston Bruins joined the Tampa Bay Lightning as the only Eastern Conference teams to thus far clinch a spot in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Boston's berth came after it earned a single point against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.

The Bruins qualified for the postseason for the second straight year and for the ninth time in the last 11 years.

They earned their 100th point in the standings Wednesday night and improved to 45-17-10 through 72 contests. The Bruins sit second in the Atlantic Division behind the Lightning, who punched their ticket to the playoffs on Sunday night.

On Friday night, the league-leading Nashville Predators became the first team this season to secure a playoff spot.

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Steve Miller had a tough night at the office.

The NHL linesman endured two separate scares in the second period Wednesday night, first getting run into at the blue line by Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel, and then getting his hand cut later in the frame.

Miller appeared to get cut by the skate of Charles Hudon as the Montreal Canadiens forward was jumping over the boards and coming off the ice, according to TSN's John Bartlett.

The official returned to the game in the third period with his right hand taped up, per The Athletic's Seth Rorabaugh.

Miller was a late add to Wednesday's game. One of the two originally scheduled linesmen, Jonny Murray, couldn't make it in time because of the heavy snow that has been falling in the Pittsburgh area.

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Boston Bruins forward David Krejci was on the wrong end of a huge collision with St. Louis Blues forward Brayden Schenn Wednesday night.

Schenn was assessed a two-minute minor for charging on the play, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility that he could face further discipline for this headshot.

Krejci appeared to be okay, as he remained in the game.

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The NHL Players Association has approved the general mangers' proposed change to goaltender interference video reviews that would give the league's hockey operations department the final call over the on-ice referee.

Unanimous approval from the Board of Governors is still required before the change can be put in place.

"First and foremost, the players want consistency in the application of the rule, and therefore support this proposed change in order to help accomplish that goal," said Mathieu Schneider, NHLPA Special Assistant to the Executive Director.

Botched goaltender interference reviews have been an ongoing subject matter throughout the 2017-18 season, but it appears the league is taking the necessary means to get it fixed before the postseason begins.

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