TORONTO — Toronto Maple Leafs forward Joe Thornton will miss at least four weeks because of a fractured rib.
He was hurt during Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Oilers and has been placed on long-term injured reserve, a move that helps the team’s salary-cap situation.
JETS: Winnipeg placed forwards Patrik Laine and Nate Thompson on injured reserve.
Laine has missed the last three games because of an upper-body injury. The second overall pick in the 2016 draft, Laine had two goals and an assist in the season opener before being sidelined.
Thompson suffered a lower-body injury Thursday in a win over the Ottawa Senators. He has been held pointless through four games.
BLUE JACKETS: Coach John Tortorella and Pierre-Luc Dubois tried to turn down the heat on a growing rift that led to the star center’s benching in a loss to Tampa Bay.
One thing they agree on is that the play of the 22-year-old Dubois has been lacking. Days before camp opened, Dubois signed a two-year contract worth $10 million but also ruffled feathers by making it clear he wants to be traded.
Tortorella, unhappy with Dubois’ effort in the first four games of the season, took him off the ice after five shifts in the first period Thursday night and kept him on the bench for the rest of the 3-2 overtime loss to the Lightning.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
PENGUINS 4, ISLANDERS 3: Kris Letang scored in the final round of a shootout to lift Pittsburgh to a win at home.
Bryan Rust and Jared McCann collected their first goals of the season for Pittsburgh, which has won three straight following an 0-2 start. Teddy Blueger also scored, and Jarry finished with 31 saves.
Filip Chytil, Adam Fox and Kaapo Kakko scored for New York, which blew a 3-1 lead.
CAPITALS 4, SABRES 3: Jakub Vrana had a goal and an assist, Vitek Vanecek made 24 saves through overtime and Washington won its home opener.
Nicklas Backstrom and Nic Dowd also scored for the Capitals in the first of four games they must play without captain Alex Ovechkin, center Evgeny Kuznetsov, defenseman Dmitry Orlov and goaltender Ilya Samsonov because of pandemic protocols.
MAPLE LEAFS 4, OILERS 2: John Tavares broke a tie on a power play midway through the third period to help Toronto win at home.
WILD 4, SHARKS 1: Zach Parise scored his first goal of the season to break a second-period tie, spurring Minnesota past visiting San Jose.
BLACKHAWKS 4, RED WINGS 1: Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, and host Chicago got its first win of the season.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
