Penguins center Jordan Staal's availability for Saturday's Winter Classic is in a state of flux. Pittsburgh general manager Ray Shero told ESPN.com that Staal has been medically cleared to play, but Staal missed training camp and the first 39 regular-season games, making his conditioning a concern. "Considering the fact that it's his first game coming up and hasn't had a training camp and has gone through the injuries, it maybe makes it more difficult versus if he'd been at training camp, played 20 games and you know missed 15," coach Dan Bylsma told reporters. "It's tough to figure out where to put a guy back in who hasn't had a training camp and hasn't played, confidence level with the injuries that he's had and you know that he's coming off of are issues," he said.

A Canadian team coached by NHL great Mark Messier lost to SKA St. Petersburg 4-3 Friday in the final of the Spengler Cup. Maxim Sushinsky scored twice for the Russians, who escaped after a finish featuring three goals in the last 90 seconds. Messier, in his first major coaching stint, had a team mainly of Canadian players based in Europe.

Saturday's Winter Classic has been pushed back to 8 p.m. EST because of a rainy forecast in Pittsburgh. The game was originally scheduled to be played at 1 p.m. ET. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals will hold morning practices at Consol Energy Center.

The Stars have signed defenseman Trevor Daley to a six-year contract extension worth $19.8 million. Daley's new contract is worth $3.5 million in each of the first four years before dropping to $3.1 million in 2015-16 and $2.7 million on 2016-17. He could have become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

The Ducks have placed forward Ryan Getzlaf on injured reserve after he was diagnosed with multiple nasal sinus fractures. Getzlaf was hit by a puck on the forehead during Monday's game against Phoenix. A CT scan on Wednesday revealed the damage. He has 37 points in 40 games this season.

Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews will miss two weeks with an upper-body injury. He suffered the injury in a 3-1 loss to the Blues on Tuesday. Toews left the game favoring his shoulder after taking a hit from Matt D'Agostini along the boards in the first period. He has 15 goals and 18 assists and is second on the team with 33 points.

U.S. goalie Jack Campbell made 14 saves before being replaced by Andy Iles with nine minutes left in a 4-0 victory over Germany in preliminary-round play Thursday night in the World Junior Hockey Championships. "Everything's all right," Campbell said. "It was to give Andy a chance. He's been working hard and he deserves to play. To share [the shutout] with such a great teammate, I couldn't ask for anything more." The U.S. (3-0) remained undefeated with one game remaining in the preliminary round. The Americans will face Switzerland (2-1) on Friday night in a game that could decide the winner of Group A and an automatic bid in the semifinals.

The Winter Classic will be played on Saturday as scheduled. "We're going to play," NHL chief operating officer John Collins said Thursday at a news conference. Weather forecasts for Saturday's Winter Classic at Heinz Field continue to be gloomy, calling for rain showers. Collins, the brains behind the Winter Classic, shrugged off the scary forecasts. "Weather is part of the game's DNA," Collins said. "I mean, it's an outdoor game. Like the World Series, weather gets involved in it. We're going to play. We're planning to play at 1 o'clock. We've got maximum flexibility to do what needs [to be done] to get that game in on Saturday."

Dan Craig's ice at Heinz Field for the Winter Classic has received excellent reviews. "I usually watch how the really good players move their feet and how they shuffle with the puck in their feet, so I wasn't watching too many feet out here," Craig said with a laugh. "I really take a look at skate cuts and really see once everything is said and done how everything pulls together." Overcast skies that draped overtop the media skate coupled with the mid-30 degree temperatures were ideal conditions for the game. "If we can play a game like with what we have right now, I would drop the puck right now," he said. "I would bring the machines out and then we would drop the puck and go."

Rangers GM Glen Sather announced today that Erik Christensen has suffered a second degree sprain to the medial collateral ligament in his right knee, and will be sidelined four to six weeks. Christensen was examined by Dr. Anthony Maddalo and had an MRI performed earlier today. He sustained the injury during a 3-1 win at New Jersey last night. Christensen has registered six goals and eight assists for 14 points, along with 12 penalty minutes in 37 games this season.