The Flyers begin their march toward the playoffs in earnest Tuesday night against the Jets, and they'll have one of their top players back from injury. Jaromir Jagr, who missed the Flyers' past two games because of a groin injury, will return to the Philadelphia lineup. "It's always good to get guys back on the ice," coach Peter Laviolette said.

Penguins star Sidney Crosby continues to make progress toward a comeback this year, according to an ESPN.com report on Friday. Crosby is back on the ice, recently skating on his own in both Atlanta and Los Angeles as he eyes a second return this season from concussion-related symptoms.

The Jets received a major loss to their top forward line with the news that left wing Evander Kane has a concussion. Kane leads the Jets with 18 goals, and his prognosis remains to be seen for the immediate future, according to an NHL.com report.

The Blue Jackets have placed center Jeff Carter on injured reserve because of a separated shoulder he suffered Sunday. Carter, a major offseason acquisition by the Blue Jackets, is listed as week to week. The 27-year-old has 10 goals and seven assists in 30 games.

Hurricanes star Jeff Skinner says he's "getting real close" to returning from a concussion that has kept him out for 15 games. Carolina coach Kirk Muller said after Friday's practice that it's possible the NHL rookie of the year could be in the lineup Saturday night against Boston, but "I'm not going to put him in unless I get that gut feeling and everyone says he's ready to go." Muller says if that's Saturday, then "great (but) if not, we'll keep him out until we feel it's the right time."

Kings center Anze Kopitar left Thursday's 5-4 shootout loss in the third period with an upper-body injury. He was checked head-first into the boards by Stars captain Brenden Morrow and did not return. Kopitar barely moved as he lay on the ice for several minutes. Meanwhile, teammate Mike Richards instigated a fight with Morrow, costing the Kings a four-minute power play.

Patrick Sharp was passed over Thursday for the NHL All-Star Game, but the Blackhawks winger would have made the team if he weren't sidelined with a hand injury, according to a source with knowledge of the situation

Wild forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard has been diagnosed with another concussion. Bouchard was scratched from Tuesday night's game against San Jose and will be out indefinitely. He missed all but one game of the 2009-10 season because of a head injury and didn't return until 24 games into last season. Minnesota general manager Chuck Fletcher said Bouchard's symptoms this time are "nowhere near as severe" as two years ago.

Red Wings leading scorer Pavel Datsyuk is sitting out against the Islanders because of an undisclosed lower body injury that doesn't appear to be serious. Datsyuk was injured Sunday against the Blackhawks in a game in which he scored the winning goal in overtime. The decision to keep him out of Tuesday night's game was a bit of a surprise and largely precautionary.

Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp left Sunday's 3-2 overtime loss against the Red Wings after the first period with an upper-body injury and didn't return. Chicago announced Sharp was done for the night at the start of the third period. "He's got an upper-body (injury)," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said after the game. "We're going to do some tests. We'll know more tomorrow."