Nearly a year of worries of whether he was ever going to play again, while he recovered from a blood clot issue, washed away as Buffalo Sabres forward Jiri Kulich scored the go-ahead goal with 6:40 left to secure a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.
Lyle Odelein, a defenseman who won a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens in 1993 and played for several other NHL clubs through the 2005-06 season, has died at 58 years old, it was announced in social media posts by several of the teams he played for.
Panthers center Aleksander Barkov has been placed on long-term injured reserve, meaning the injury to his left leg will keep him sidelined for at least the next 10 games.
Blackhawks defenseman Bowen Byram will miss Saturday's game against the Sabers due to a family matter. Byram was set to make his first return to Buffalo since being traded to Chicago in June.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman believes that no-trade clauses are no longer being used as "originally intended," and instead, players are using them to force moves to specific teams after requesting a trade.
Arizona State has asked a former chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court to lead an independent review of the collapse of hockey player Matthew Mayich during an outdoor workout in August.