Blue Jackets winger Miles Wood will be in the lineup versus the Sabres on Tuesday, head coach Dean Evason said. It’s Wood’s first outing in over two weeks after leaving an Oct. 13 game against the Devils because of a stick to the eye. He never landed on injured reserve, in part due to Columbus carrying a bare-bones roster to start the year, but was ruled out for at least a week by the team anyway at the time of the injury. It was a significant injury that caused Wood to experience remarkably inhibited vision for multiple days due to blood in his eye. However, he underwent testing last week after it cleared, which indicated he avoided any permanent damage.
The 30-year-old had a goal and two hits in his first three games as a Blue Jacket after he was acquired from the Avalanche over the summer. Zach Aston-Reese will be scratched to accommodate Wood re-entering the lineup alongside Isac Lundeström and Yegor Chinakhov, Evason said. It will be Aston-Reese’s first scratch of the young season; Chinakhov started the season as the extra forward before Wood’s injury created an opening for him in the lineup.
There are more injury notes from around the league:
- Wild defenseman Zach Bogosian’s status has been downgraded from day-to-day to week-to-week, head coach John Hynes said Tuesday (via Joe Smith of The Athletic). Minnesota already placed Bogosian on injured reserve last week, so he’s eligible to return at any time, but it doesn’t appear they’re going to need to worry about activating him soon. After a decent start to the season in bottom-pairing duties, the 15-year veteran sustained a lower-body injury against the Capitals on Oct. 17 and has now missed five games. Bogosian posted a plus-three rating with nine blocks and six hits in five games before landing on IR, controlling 48.2% of shot attempts at even strength in the process.
- Maple Leafs star William Nylander remains a game-time decision ahead of tonight’s game against the Flames, per head coach Craig Berube (via Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun). Nylander was banged up with a lower-body issue last Friday against the Sabres and was a late scratch for the second half of their back-to-back with Buffalo after taking warmups. The 29-year-old, now in his 11th season, still leads the team with 11 assists, 14 points, and five takeaways through eight games.