West Notes: Little, Avalanche, Domingue, Kopitar

Winnipeg center Bryan Little is making progress as he continues to recover from his lower body injury sustained in the first period of the season opener.  He told Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press that he’s hoping to get back into the lineup soon, potentially some time next week:

“I feel good. It’s gotten a lot better in the last couple weeks. A lot stronger. There’s not much more that I can do besides getting into a full-contact practice and then I think I’m ready to come back. It’s just a matter of the doc taking a look at it in Winnipeg and trying to get through a practice with some bumps… hopefully not much longer.”

Dating back to last year, Little hasn’t had much luck with injuries recently. Last season, he missed the final 25 games due to a neck injury so in the last nine months, he has played just 2:48 of regular season action.

Little’s eventual return will give the Jets some much-needed good news from the infirmary as they have been hit hard with injuries this season.  Winnipeg is currently without centers Mathieu Perreault and Shawn Matthias, right winger Joel Armia, plus defenseman Tyler Myers while fellow blueliner Toby Enstrom is currently on a personal leave of absence.

[Related: Jets Depth Chart]

More news and notes from the West:

• Colorado goaltender Semyon Varlamov is dealing with an upper body and won’t play on Saturday, writes Terry Frei of The Denver Post. He adds that the team is likely to recall prospect Spencer Martin to serve as the backup goalie against Vancouver.  Frei also reports that left winger Gabriel Landeskog skated in a non-contact sweater but isn’t expected to play tomorrow night.
• Arizona has recalled goaltender Justin Peters on an emergency basis, notes Sarah McLellan of The Arizona Republic. Backup netminder Louis Domingue is dealing with a lower body injury so Peters will back up Mike Smith tonight against the Oilers.  Head coach Dave Tippett doesn’t believe the injury is serious but they will re-evaluate Domingue on Saturday.
• The Kings are experimenting with playing center Anze Kopitar on the left wing, Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider writes. The captain will be playing in his second game since coming back from an upper body injury tomorrow and was only able to take faceoffs on one side on Wednesday.  By placing him on the wing, they can ease him back in and make sure the upper body issue is completely healed before asking him to shoulder the extra load down the middle.