NHL

Nugent-Hopkins was sidelined for 13 games due to a sprain shoulder before returning on Feb. 4. Unfortunately, he only lasted two games before his shoulder injury sidelined him again. "They got to be so careful with his kid. ' And if it was me, I wouldn't have any problems shutting him down," Kypreos said. He went onto add, "Do you want this guy having shoulder problems the rest of his career? He's got to get physically stronger going into next September." The Oilers stated on Tuesday that Nugent-Hopkins would be out for up to 10 days due to his latest setback. Nugent-Hopkins has been great this season and if it weren't for his injury troubles, he'd probably be the clear frontrunner for the Calder Trophy. As it is, he still might win the award.

Jones has 12 goals this season and is still contributing to the Oiler cause as he fought and defeated Justin Abdelkader of Detroit Wednesday. "You have to play hard and battle and sometimes the result in that is a confrontation that tests you in other ways," said coach Tom Renney who was not happy that more Oilers aren't playing as truculent as Jones. "You have to stand up for yourself and not just through Jonesy, but as a team, we have to get equated with that as a team and understand that every game is a battle. Teams are going to look at us and not just going to hand us two points, they're going to go get them. We have to make sure we understand that first and foremost and we have to get after that, too."

Renney required stitches after he was struck in the head by a puck during Monday's morning skate. He wasn't able to be behind the bench Monday.

It was Khabibulin's first start since being pulled in a game against the Calgary Flames on Jan. 21. Devan Dubnyk had started in net for the Oilers in the team's previous six games. Khabibulin hasn't picked up a win since Dec. 22.

The Oilers lost, however, by a score of 4-2 to the Red Wings in Detroit. It was Detroit's 18th home triumph in a row. Gagner's goal total for the season increased to 13.

It will mark his first start since being pulled on Jan. 21 against Calgary, as Devan Dubnyk had played in six straight contests. "Having not played in a while, I'm going to go out and keep it simple," said Khabibulin. "I want to get a couple shots early." He will also be searching for his first win since Dec. 22.

It was Gilbert's first game since Jan. 2. "It was better than I expected," said Gilbert. "Just the pace of the game, especially a team like that, which I didn't know were going to be such a fast team, there were just a couple of pivots that were a little bit slow. But that's bound to happen. It felt even better in practice (Tuesday) and it should be even better in the game (Wednesday)." Gilbert logged 18:57 minutes, which is nearly five minutes below his season average, but there's a good chance he'll break the 20 minute mark on Wednesday.