Barring a setback, John Gibson will check back into the Anaheim Ducks' goal before the season expires.

Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said Thursday that his No. 1 starter will return from his lower-body injury at some point over the final nine games on the regular-season schedule.

Veteran backup Jonathan Bernier has been superb with Gibson shelved. He's fashioned a 7-1-1 record with a 1.64 goals-against average and .948 save percentage in nine March starts.

The four-time defending Pacific Division champions have pulled to within two points of the first-place San Jose Sharks with 15 points from their last 10 games.

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No rest for the weary.

Despite the team already punching its playoff ticket, the Columbus Blue Jackets won't use the remainder of the regular season to rest some key players ahead of the postseason.

"We're going to play. We're playing and we're trying to win every game," coach John Tortorella told Tom Gulitti of NHL.com.

The Blue Jackets clinched a playoff berth earlier this month, but are still jockeying for position in the Metropolitan Division.

Columbus has collected 100 points through 72 games, and sits one point back of the Pittsburgh Penguins and two behind the Washington Capitals within their division.

The Blue Jackets have twice qualified for the postseason in franchise history, last making the playoffs in 2014.

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What a difference a year makes.

After racing to the bottom of the league standings in an attempt to get the best draft lottery odds last season, the Toronto Maple Leafs are now in a fight for their first playoff appearance since the 2012-13 season.

It's certainly a nice change of pace as far as forward Leo Komarov is concerned.

"Last year, it was kind of packing your bag already, now you actually have something to play for and it's really nice because this is hockey," Komarov said, according to TSN's Mark Masters.

With a win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night the Maple Leafs jumped over the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division. With just 10 games remaining, the team currently holds an 84.9 percent chance of making the postseason, according to Sports Club Stats.

Suffice to say the Maple Leafs' bags can remain unpacked for the time being.

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The Chicago Blackhawks have rewarded center Tanner Kero with a two-year contract extension which will run through the 2018-19 season, the club announced Thursday.

Financial details are undisclosed.

Kero has made 38 starts since his summoning from Rockford of the American Hockey League in late December. He has provided five goals and 12 points in a bottom-six center-ice role for Joel Quenneville.

The undrafted 24-year-old is among a handful of farmhands to have stepped in to fill holes on the Blackhawks roster this season due to injuries and the club's recurrent salary crunch.

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As expected, the in-arena experience for Vegas Golden Knights home games will be unlike any other in the NHL.

The Golden Knights have entered into a multi-year partnership with the world-renowned entertainment brand, as announced Thursday.

"Cirque du Soleil is an iconic, worldwide entertainment brand and we are thrilled to partner with them in this capacity,” said Golden Knights vice president of global partnerships Michael Mungiello. "Cirque du Soleil has had a significant presence in Las Vegas since 1992 and continues to be one of the most popular entertainment options in town.

"We are always looking for creative ways to enhance the overall fan experience at our home games and this partnership certainly helps advance that objective."

In addition to cross-promotional branding elements, the Golden Knights will host "Cirque du Soleli" nights, which will feature live intermission entertainment.

Cirque du Soleil has seven permanent resident shows in Las Vegas.

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Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has been suspended three games for interference on Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced on Thursday.

The hit in question came during Tuesday's contest where midway through the first period Ristolainen caught an unsuspecting Guentzel with an open-ice hit.

Ristolainen was given a five-minute major for interference and a game misconduct on the play, a decision the Sabres defender agreed with on Thursday.

Related: Ristolainen: Ejection for hit on Guentzel 'probably was the right call'

Guentzel subsequently suffered a concussion on the play.

The suspension means the Sabres will be without Ristolainen until their game on April 2 against the New York Islanders.

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NHL players aren't interested in conceding anything for the opportunity to play in the 2018 Olympic Games.

"I don't know what it can be from the players' perspective,'' NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr told ESPN's Pierre LeBrun on Thursday.

"Obviously the players are not about to engage in collective bargaining in return for getting an opportunity to go to the Olympics for which they aren't being paid, where very valuable things would go elsewhere in return for that.''

Commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday that people should "assume we're not going," when asked about the league's potential Olympic participation in South Korea.

The players' union rejected an offer from the league in December that would have extended the existing collective bargaining agreement in exchange for Olympic participation.

Fehr said Thursday that what was essentially a two-year extension of the CBA wasn't of interest to the union.

Earlier this week, LeBrun reported no Olympic meetings were on the docket, and Fehr confirmed Thursday that there aren't any formal discussions planned in the immediate future.

"Not formally,'' Fehr said. "I talk to (IIHF president) Rene (Fasel) every so often about things, I'm sure Gary or (NHL deputy commissioner) Bill (Daly) does too. There are no meetings scheduled formally yet. Rene has been spending most of his time going to and from South Korea lately anyway. So, we'll see.''

Fehr said there's "no hard and fast deadline for a decision," and that the players would be ready to play if the NHL opts to attend.

"There may well be (a deadline) from the NHL in terms of scheduling and planning and there may be some from the IOC and the IIHF in terms of alerting the federations and if so, they'll make that plain," Fehr told LeBrun.

"But from our standpoint, our job is to keep working at it, and trying, and thinking, and urging, and pleading, and cajoling, and whatever else you do, until we're successful.

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At the end of each of the past 25 NHL seasons, the city of Detroit could count on the Red Wings hosting at least a couple playoff games.

That streak is well on its way to coming to an end, but head coach Jeff Blashill wants to use the remaining 10 games to make sure the postseason miss is a one-off.

"First of all, we have to know this isn’t OK," Blashill said, per Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. "And if you don’t want to be here again, you better make sure that we continue to get better, and we better make sure that our approach is the right way so that the culture maintains."

Detroit won four Stanley Cups during their recent and extended run of success, and the expectations that come with being a perennially competitive team will remain through the offseason and into training camp come September.

"There are organizations where they have lost culture. They have missed the playoffs, and they miss it 10 straight years. We don’t want to be in this position again. This isn’t OK. That is the approach we are taking every day."

The Red Wings will begin playing at Little Caesars Arena next season, where they'll clearly be looking to serve up a hot and fresh slice of playoff hockey as soon as possible.

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It's almost that time of year already.

For those who won't be participating in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, a trip to the World Championship is sometimes an option, but New Jersey Devils forward Taylor Hall seems to have already decided against suiting up for Canada this year.

Hall, who's never tasted NHL postseason action, has played for Canada at three of the past four worlds, winning two gold medals while recording 15 goals and nine assists in 28 games.

During his first season with the Devils, Hall has scored 18 goals to go along with 30 assists while missing ten games due to injury along the way.

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Rasmus Ristolainen didn't initially agree with the decision to toss him from Tuesday's game, but upon further review, he seems to have realized his mistake.

The Buffalo Sabres defenseman was given a five-minute interference major and a game misconduct for leveling Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel less than nine minutes into the contest.

"I tried to hit him. Obviously he didn’t get the puck so that’s unfortunate and too bad he got injured," Ristolainen told reporters Thursday, according to Amy Moritz of The Buffalo News.

"At the moment, I didn’t expect to get thrown out of the game but later on (I saw that) he obviously didn’t have the puck," Ristolainen said. "He didn’t get it. Our player broke the play and he got injured. So, I don’t know what are the rules but it probably was the right call. I’m not aware of the rules."

Guentzel was diagnosed with a concussion as a result of the hit, the intent on which Ristolainen reiterated was not malicious.

"(There was) no elbow because I turned my back and kind of hip-checked," he said. "I don’t know. Maybe he wasn’t ready for it. Like I said, I don’t want to hurt anyone. It’s too bad he got injured."

"I didn’t take any strides," he added. "I tried to give a little bit of time (for Guentzel to) be aware and when I was getting my eyes toward him I tried to look the puck, I tried to find the puck. It never got to him. I didn't see that. So it’s like a half a second there. Tough to react."

Ristolainen will have a hearing with the league's Department of Player Safety on Thursday afternoon, and he now finds himself in unfamiliar territory, having never been suspended.

"I haven't been in this position before," he said. "It's kind of new to me."

The 22-year-old blue-liner ranks fifth among all NHL skaters in ice time, averaging 26:42, leading the Sabres with 39 assists to go along with five goals in 74 games.

Guentzel had been clicking with Sidney Crosby and Conor Sheary on the Penguins' top line, posting 11 goals and 25 points in 35 contests.

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