Victor Hedman is one of the NHL's most talented defensemen, but he can throw down, too.

The Tampa Bay Lightning blue-liner stuck up for teammate Ben Bishop after the goaltender exchanged words with Buffalo Sabres forward Marcus Foligno at the end of the second period.

Hedman appeared to be coming out on the losing end after taking a series of blows from Foligno, but he responded with a slew of punches of his own before the officials broke up the bout.

At least Foligno didn't try to fix his hair during the fight this time.

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There was no shortage of nost-Hall-gia at Rexall Place on Thursday night.

The Edmonton Oilers saluted New Jersey Devils forward Taylor Hall with a video featuring highlights from the dynamic scorer's time as a member of the Oilers.

He was making his highly anticipated return to Edmonton following last June's trade that sent him to the Garden State in exchange for defenseman Adam Larsson.

The fans in Edmonton gave Hall an ovation after the video was played in the arena Thursday night, and he stayed on the ice and raised his stick to acknowledge the crowd.

Hall spent six seasons with the Oilers after they selected him first overall in 2010. He scored 132 goals and racked up 328 points in 381 games with the club.

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Breaking news: Nathan MacKinnon is incredibly fast.

You probably already knew that, but the Colorado Avalanche forward showcased his greatest asset once again Thursday night, burning multiple Anaheim Ducks defenders before depositing a pretty backhand.

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Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask was forced to leave Thursday's game in Nashville after taking a Roman Josi slap shot off the mask.

Rask was replaced by Zane McIntyre, and was unable to return for the second period.

The Bruins offered the following update during the middle frame.

The Bruins have one win in 11 games without Rask this season.

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Boston Bruins forward Anton Blidh was given a five-minute major Thursday night following a late hit on Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi.

Here's the play:

Josi had moved the puck and began to turn up ice when Blidh made contact.

The Predators' blue-liner left the game following the collision, and the club announced Josi won't return, diagnosed with an upper-body injury.

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Every once in a while, Dale Weise shows he's got game.

The Philadelphia Flyers forward displayed tremendous focus and hand-eye coordination against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night, batting the puck out of midair after it deflected off his skate, setting up a goal by Travis Konecny.

Here's the goal in its entirety:

(Courtesy: NHL.com)

It was Konecny's seventh goal of the season, but for Weise, it was only his third assist and fifth point in 39 games.

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Joe Sakic has a plan.

The Colorado Avalanche general manager is indeed set on making changes to a roster that sits 30th in the overall standings through 39 games this season.

This according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun, who relayed information gathered from a conversation with Sakic during Thursday's 'Insider Trading' segment:

I chatted with (general manager) Joe Sakic on Thursday, and the bottom line is this: they are going to reboot this thing to some measure, and he wants to get younger and faster.

Now some of that will come internally from a number of kids they like in San Antonio (AHL) who will get promotions next season, but there's no question, as he said, they're talking to other teams about some of their players.

LeBrun added Sakic would not divulge names, but the sense is any player not named Nathan MacKinnon or Mikko Rantanen could be had, if the price is right.

First-round draft pick Tyson Jost from the 2016 class would likely be on that list as well, while A.J. Greer - a second-round pick in 2015 - currently leads the AHL club in scoring.

So while much of the talk in recent weeks has revolved around Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Duchene, few are safe in Colorado, it would seem.

As a reminder, the NHL's trade deadline is set for 3 pm EST on March 1.

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For the first time in his career, Taylor Hall is set to step onto the ice in Edmonton as a visiting player.

The New Jersey Devils, to whom Hall was traded this past offseason, visit the Oilers on Thursday, giving Hall the opportunity to reacquaint himself with the Edmonton faithful.

It's a reunion he believes will be free of emnity.

"I think I’ll get a good applause," Hall said, per Jim Matheson of The Edmonton Journal. "In the past when guys have come back and played they’ve always been gracious to them. I don’t think it’ll be any different.

"That’s the kind of people that are here in Edmonton. I really enjoyed my time here and the way they treated me."

At the same time, Hall admits there won't be much to celebrate.

"It’s not like we had Stanley Cup parades in Edmonton. There was a lot of losing, a lot of dark times but through all of that, I really enjoyed my time here," he said.

Hall appeared in 381 games for the Oilers after being selected first overall in 2010, recording 132 goals and 196 assists for a point per game average of 0.86.

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Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock has offered an alternative to this season's implemented bye week.

The Maple Leafs bench boss - whose team will return to action on Friday after enjoying their five-day break - insists he would prefer a less condensed schedule over a week off.

"I'd rather have four less back-to-backs, but that's the way life is," Babcock said, according to NHL.com's Dan Rosen.

Earlier in the month Babcock admitted that he felt that the bye week was dangerous for players. Meanwhile on Wednesday, Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall called the bye-week schedule "the most asinine thing" he's ever seen as the Flyers will play a set of back-to-back games prior and upon returning from their bye week.

The Maple Leafs will have played on back-to-back nights for a league-high 18 times when the season concludes.

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(Warning: Video contains NSFW language)

Carolina Hurricanes players decided to have some fun at defenseman Ryan Murphy's expense Thursday by filling his car with styrofoam peanuts.

Teammate Justin Faulk caught Murphy's reaction on camera, and based on the number of F-bombs he dropped, it's safe to say he wasn't too pleased.

Murphy also got stuck cleaning up the mess.

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