Nathan MacKinnon in the lineup on Thursday? Probably not, but don't count him out for Saturday's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs as Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar suggested the superstar center could return this week -- ahead of his injury timetable.

But it's not soon enough for an Avs team that showed eight defensemen dressed on the box score of Tuesday's game, though some of them played forward. Valeri Nichushkin is on the mend again with an ankle injury and Josh Manson is day-to-day. Heck, even backup goaltender Pavel Francouz didn't make the trip to Arizona.

It's too bad the team isn't healthier because this is a great spot hosting the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. Despite the decent run by Pheonix Copley in the crease for L.A., no team has allowed more power-play goals in the past month. It's definitely a spot to consider a stream of Evan Rodrigues or J.T. Compher, who don't normally get to share power-play ice with the likes of Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen. In fact, Compher has been a standout in the wake of all the injuries. His average ice time in December stands at 23:26, which is second in the entire NHL (Rantanen is first).

This is one of 11 games on a busy Thursday slate. The Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning and Detroit Red Wings are coming off games on Wednesday, while the Florida Panthers are the only club playing again on Friday.

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All times Eastern.

7 p.m., KeyBank Center, Watch live on ESPN+

There is no indication the weather will continue to play with the Sabres schedule, so this is a full-go for some projected scoring action. It's advantage Sabres, who remain first in the NHL for overall goals per 60 and first in the NHL for goals per 60 at five-on-five in the past month. Both teams are tied at 17th in the league for goals allowed per 60 in the past month, so there is room for offense from both sides. Start 'em if you got 'em on the Buffalo side, going as deep as Dylan Cozens and Mattias Samuelsson. For the Red Wings, Michael Rasmussen holds appeal due to a promotion to the top of the depth chart, while Elmer Soderblom has points in his last four games for deep leagues.

8 p.m., Canada Life Centre, Watch live on ESPN+

Thatcher Demko wasn't having the greatest start to the campaign, but boy do the Canucks miss him regardless. It's been almost a month since he was hurt and the Canucks sit 31st for goals against per 60 in the past month. The Jets haven't been super sharp in the crease of late either, showing at 10th in goals against per 60 during the last month (which compares poorly with their rank of fifth for the season). Brock Boeser, available in half of ESPN leagues, has four points in four games, while Ilya Mikheyev (available in 97%) has six in six. Lane Pederson has been playing with Elias Pettersson and could be a super-deep target. On the Jets side, Sam Gagner is still playing with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Kyle Connor as the Jets deal with injuries.

8 p.m., Enterprise Center, Watch live on ESPN+

Neither club has been good at stopping pucks this season, with both clubs ranked 28th or worse in goals per 60 overall and also 27th or worse in five-on-five goals against per 60 in the past month. The Blues offense is middle-of-the-pack, so will have to do some of the heavy lifting here if this is to be a higher-scoring affair. The Blues condensed their key offensive weapons to two lines instead of the usual three against Toronto on Tuesday -- and it almost worked. All of them should be fair game here as it's likely we'll see the same deployment. Colton Parayko also gets a depth chart boost from the injury to Torey Krug on the blue line. For the Blackhawks, Tyler Johnson has been spotted on the top line with Patrick Kane and Max Domi, and could be streamable.

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Carter Verhaeghe, C/W, Florida Panthers (62.3%): Yes, it was fair to drop him in many places with Aleksander Barkov sidelined. But Barkov might be back for this one.

See also:

Michael Rasmussen, C/W, Detroit Red Wings (2.2%): The Sabres may score a lot, but they aren't immune to being scored on. Rasmussen has been getting run on the Wings top line and top power-play unit lately.

Calle Jarnkrok, C/W, Toronto Maple Leafs (0.8%): He's on a run of three goals and five points in three games since returning from injury to find a top-six role awaiting him.

See also:

Morgan Rielly, D, Toronto Maple Leafs (83.0%): Get him back into lineups. Rielly is supposed to return to action on Thursday.

Erik Gustafsson, D, Washington Capitals (10.2%): Really, until John Carlson returns, you can just pencil Gustafsson in as a must-recommend on the Capitals power play.

Colton Parayko, D, St. Louis Blues (59.0%): With Torey Krug sidelined, Justin Faulk moves to the top power-play unit and Parayko slides into Faulk's role on the second unit.

See also:

Justin Barron, D, Montreal Canadiens (0.2%): The AHL leader in power-play goals made his season debut on Wednesday. Maybe the Habs give him some power-play run here?

See also:

Sergei Bobrovsky or Spencer Knight, G, Florida Panthers (58.0% or 44.4%): Who knows which way the Panthers lean for the start in this first game of a back-to-back set. Bobrovsky coughed up seven goals over two consecutive losses, while Knight managed to cough up seven in just a single game in his last outing. There is a chance that Aleksander Barkov could return to bolster the forwards and this is a very winnable game against the Montreal Canadiens. Who ever does get called upon has to get the job done.

Karel Vejmelka, G, Arizona Coyotes (19.7%): The stats say no, but the personal history says yes. Vejmelka has faced the Leafs twice, beaten them twice and stopped 71 of the 74 pucks thrown his way. I'd rather risk the better matchup with one of the Panthers netminders, but this is not as high of a risk as it looks.

Cory Schneider, G, New York Islanders (0.1%): No, don't start him. But I feel obliged to take maybe the only opportunity for the foreseeable future to highlight him. It's not a back-to-back so the Isles have no reason to start him other than the same feeling I have in mentioning him: Throw the guy a bone? Schneider is still grinding and was a top-10 AHL goaltender before he was called up to ride the pine for the injured Semyon Varlamov. They are being visited by one of the weakest offenses in the NHL in the Columbus Blue Jackets (27th in goals for per 60). It might be the only chance for him to start a game this season. Again, even if they announce him early, I don't think I'm starting him. But I'd like to see it happen; for old times' sake.

Samuel Ersson, G, Philadelphia Flyers (0.0%): He allowed five goals in his NHL debut against the most overwhelming offense in the league, so maybe he can do better against a team a little more in the same Corsi ballpark as the Flyers. Already confirmed as the starter for the Flyers in San Jose, here's your locked in high-risk, high-reward stream in any league. The Sharks only have four wins at home this season.

Non-primary New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning: I know Andrei Vasilevskiy started on Wednesday, but this feels like a rare spot where you should let your starter keep rolling despite the consecutive nights. If that's the case and we get Vasilevskiy versus Igor Shesterkin, there doesn't feel like much point in starting the Kappo Kakko, Nicholas Paul, Brandon Hagel or K'Andre Miller types that have been decent streamers lately.

Patrik Laine, W, Columbus Blue Jackets (91.0%): Details are scarce for when Laine will be available after being put into COVID protocol. It doesn't sound like he's making this one.