The Florida Panthers will receive a major boost on Friday night, as forwards Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau have both been cleared to play, the team announced.

"Sasha and Jonathan were cleared for contact earlier this week," president of hockey operations Dale Tallon said in a release. "As of today they have been cleared to return to our lineup and are ready to play. They are two of our young cornerstone players and have been adamant about getting back to game action. It's exciting to have our team returning to full health as we continue our push to the playoffs."

Huberdeau's return has been a long time coming. The 23-year old will make his season debut Friday against Anaheim after missing the entire campaign to date following Achilles surgery.

Meanwhile, Barkov - who remains fourth in team scoring - will return after missing the last 14 games with a back injury.

"I've seen how hard both Sasha and Jonathan have worked to recover from their injuries and I know they can't wait to get back to competing alongside their teammates," head coach Tom Rowe said. "Our medical staff deserves a ton of credit for the work they've done in helping two franchise players through their recovery process. Our organization and our locker room are thrilled to welcome them back to the lineup."

The Panthers are winners of two straight games and sit four points behind the Boston Bruins for third in the Atlantic Division - and a guaranteed playoff spot - with three games in hand.

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Patrick Marleau is both happy and relieved.

San Jose's veteran forward scored the 500th regular-season goal of his career Thursday - all with the Sharks - against the Vancouver Canucks, and more than anything, he's excited about not having to spend a ton of time at 499, which he recorded on Tuesday.

"Yeah, that'll do, getting it right away," Marleau said after reaching the milestone Thursday. "It was good to get it out of the way."

Related: Watch: Marleau becomes 45th NHLer to score 500 goals

Marleau's next goal will make it 20 on the season, the 14th time he's done so in a remarkably consistent career.

"When you hit a mark like this, you just start thinking about everybody who's kind of helped you along the way," he said. "Playing with one club and playing with a lot of guys for a lot of years on this team, it means a lot to share that with them and see how happy they are for you. This are going good right now. We're on a roll. It couldn't come at a better time."

The subject of trade rumors last season, Marleau, 37, is playing out the final season of his contract. He had five goals and eight assists during San Jose's run to the Stanley Cup Final last year, and with the Sharks still in win-now mode, Marleau is gearing up for another shot this spring.

But he will always savor Thursday night.

"The biggest thing for me is just seeing all my teammates and even getting congratulated by some of the other guys on the other team," he said. "It's pretty special."

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The Mike Yeo era in St. Louis is off to a good start.

In his first game since taking over for Ken Hitchcock, Yeo led the Blues to a convincing 5-1 win over the Maple Leafs, prompting captain Alex Pietrangelo to award his new head coach the game puck.

It was a perfect night for Yeo and the Blues, minus a faulty wardrobe decision.

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Seasons can turn on a dime. Or on four-game road trips through the midwest.

The Winnipeg Jets fashioned a three-game win streak for the first time this season Thursday, holding on to defeat the Dallas Stars 4-3. And while the Colorado Avalanche remain a living, breathing, oft-competing NHL entity, a win over the floundering last-place club Saturday will complete a critical four-game sweep inside the division for the Jets, and extend their win streak to nine games over Central foe.

They now sit just one point behind the Calgary Flames for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

Since the recall of Ondrej Pavelec, who made 39 saves Thursday, the Jets have racked up five wins opposed to just two losses. His steadying presence has been important, but what's driving the Jets' surge is an attack that can compare with any in the NHL.

Led by Mark Scheifele, who reached the 25-goal plateau Thursday, the Jets have scored 64 times since the holiday freeze, which is second only to the 80 scored by the Washington Capitals.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Pekka Rinne stopped 31 shots for his 42nd career shutout, leading the Nashville Predators to a 2-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.

Viktor Arvidsson and Ryan Johansen each had a goal and an assist to help Nashville win for the second time in three games.

Cam Talbot made 25 saves for Edmonton, which has lost two straight.

Rinne, who had his second shutout of the season, beat the Oilers for the eighth straight time - including three shutouts.

Arvidsson scored the game's first goal at 1:26 of the second period. He carried the puck up ice and sent a slap shot from the right faceoff dot high to the short side over Talbot's glove for his 13th.

Johansen doubled the Nashville lead in the final minute of the second. With the puck just inside the Edmonton blue line, Filip Forsberg stickhandled past three Oilers players before sending a pass to Arvidsson at the right faceoff dot. There, Arvidsson slid a cross-ice pass to Johansen at the left dot, where he beat Talbot with a one-timer.

Early in the second, Rinne kept the game scoreless, making three consecutive saves on Edmonton defenseman Oscar Klefbom with the final two coming at close range.

Rinne had to be sharp at the start of the third as well, stopping Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on a breakaway at 29 seconds.

NOTES: Nashville D Matt Irwin played his 200th career NHL game. ... Johansen has four points in two games against the Oilers this season. ... Nashville is 16-1-5 when scoring first. ... Edmonton LW Milan Lucic played his 700th career NHL game. ... The Oilers have not allowed a power-play goal against in their last four games.

UP NEXT

Oilers: At Carolina on Friday night.

Predators: Host Detroit on Saturday night.

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Just over two weeks since calling his club's free fall down the standings "disgraceful," Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brian Boyle hasn't changed his tune.

Tampa Bay lost again Thursday, a 5-2 result to the Ottawa Senators, giving the Lightning a 3-5-2 record over its last 10 games.

The Lightning are one point clear of last-place Detroit, shocking positioning for team pegged as Stanley Cup contenders entering the season.

For Boyle, again, it's simply not good enough.

"If you accept losing, then you're a loser," Boyle said following Thursday's decision. "That's the bottom line."

"There's not going to be a flip or switch. It's going to be hard work," Boyle added when asked what it will take to get out of the frustrating slump.

With 30 games remaining, the Lightning have an eight-point deficit to overcome to qualify for the playoffs.

Time to stop being losers.

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Montreal Canadiens forward Andrew Shaw didn't see a single shift after taking an unnecessary interference minor Thursday in a 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

While pivoting on the blue line to remain onside with Montreal in possession, Shaw reached out and needlessly twisted Nick Cousins to the ice.

Claude Giroux tied the game on the corresponding power play, and the Flyers tacked on two more unanswered goals.

Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien had this explanation for keeping Shaw planted to the bench for the remainder of the game.

"We can't accept to take that type of penalty as a team," he said, according to TSN's Dan Robertson. "Pretty simple."

Shaw declined to speak with the media after the game.

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TAMPA, Fla. - Mark Stone had two goals and an assist, Mike Condon made 19 saves and the Ottawa Senators beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2 on Thursday night.

The Senators, second in the Atlantic Division, also got goals from Kyle Turris, Mike Hoffman and Chris Kelly.

Ottawa coach Guy Boucher was behind the bench in Tampa for the first time since being fired by the Lightning midway through the 2012-13 season. He led Tampa Bay to the Eastern Conference finals in 2011.

''It was such a great experience. It was so positive,'' Boucher said, after Thursday's morning skate, about his time with the Lightning. ''For me coming back, it just brings a great smile.''

Tyler Johnson and Brayden Point scored for the Lightning, who have lost 11 of 14 (3-9-2). Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 25 shots.

After Johnson opened the scoring 3:39 into the second, Ottawa went up 2-1 on goals by Stone (6:33) and Turris (11:03) on the power play. Turris has 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in 23 games against Tampa Bay.

Hoffman made it 3-1 early in the third with a power-play goal.

Point's second goal in two games after missing 14 due to a hand-wrist injury midway through the third pulled Tampa Bay to 3-2.

Stone's nifty redirection, coming 1:36 after Point scored, gave Ottawa a 4-2 lead. He has seven goals in 11 games against the Lightning.

Kelly had a late empty-netter.

Condon, who is 4-0 against Tampa Bay, made a pair of strong saves on Nikita Kucherov in the second period.

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