Yanni Gourde is back in the Lightning lineup tonight in Winnipeg, a welcome sight for Tampa Bay after the veteran forward spent the summer recovering from hip surgery.
The team’s media relations staff first reported the news, and Gourde will return on the second line with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel. The 34-year-old was initially expected to miss time until December, but he’s back much earlier than that as he begins Year 12 in the league.
Gourde’s path has been a long one. He went from the ECHL to becoming a two-time Stanley Cup champion and a proven top-six contributor, then spent 3 1/2 seasons with the Kraken before coming back to Tampa.
Last season, he played all 82 games and finished with 28 points. He also crossed the 100-hit mark for the fourth time, finishing with 115.
Tampa Bay’s 11-3-2 start has reflected the roster upgrades made over the offseason. Even with Gourde out, the Lightning have stayed deep up front, and the group got a little more interesting when uncertainty suddenly surfaced around Nikita Kucherov. Whatever comes next there, the Bolts still have one of the league’s strongest top-nine forward groups.
Winnipeg, meanwhile, will again have to wait on Josh Morrissey. The defenseman was considered a game-time decision and seemed close to returning, but Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press reported he’ll need more time. Haydn Fleury is in the lineup despite leaving last Thursday’s game with an injury.
Morrissey has been out since suffering a wrist injury against Colorado in early October. Last season, he averaged nearly 25 minutes per game, and the Jets have felt that absence.
Neal Pionk has taken on a bigger load, skating more than 24 minutes a night for the first time in his career while also rediscovering the strong two-way play that had marked his earlier years. In 17 games, he’s already at 12 points, and one more tonight would match his full-season total from last year across 51 games.
The Jets have won two straight after a rough 1-8-2 stretch, a run highlighted by their comeback win over Montreal last week. With Morrissey still sidelined, they’re hoping he can be back by Tuesday against New Jersey.
In Pittsburgh, the Penguins’ decision to recall Rutger McGroarty earlier in the day had pointed toward a forward being unavailable. That turned out to be Ville Koivunen, who is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, according to the team.
Koivunen played 12:50 in yesterday’s win over Los Angeles and picked up an assist, though it isn’t clear when the injury happened. He has appeared in 15 of Pittsburgh’s 17 games, posting six points while averaging 13:54, mostly on the third line.
His scoring pace is below the expectations that followed his surprising eight-year extension in August, but he has also seen meaningful power-play time. The 23-year-old remains a name to watch as the Penguins continue leaning on younger players, and he should be on track to return by Wednesday in San Jose.
In Other News...
Penguins Already Face An Uncomfortable Trade Deadline Reality
Early in the 2026-27 season, the Penguins have already found themselves in an uncomfortable spot as the standings start to sort out across the Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh is part of a broader group of teams, along with the Flyers and Maple Leafs, that have stumbled out of the gate, and that has pushed the trade deadline conversation up the calendar. On Daily Faceoff LIVE, analysts began sketching out which clubs could eventually drift into seller territory if the results do not improve.
For the Penguins, the chatter is especially awkward because it comes before the season has even fully settled in. Columbus also came up in the discussion, but Pittsburgh is the one drawing the kind of attention that usually comes with deadline speculation, not October uncertainty. If the early slide continues, the Penguins could find themselves in a familiar but unwanted position, with rival teams watching closely to see which direction the front office chooses to take. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Trade Deadline Tension Now Centers On Their Aging Core
The Penguins trade deadline conversation is starting to sound less like a simple sell-off and more like a delicate negotiation with the roster they already have. Sportsnets Elliotte Friedman reported that the team is weighing whether to move some veteran players in an effort to add youth, a direction that puts the spotlight on an aging core and the reality that not every contract is easy to move.
Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell and Evgeni Malkin are among the names in the mix, and each comes with some form of trade or no-movement protection that could shape what Pittsburgh can actually do. For the Penguins, the next stretch will matter as much as the deadline itself, because their performance and the players willingness to go along with any move may end up deciding how far the front office can push this reset. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Rough Night In Anaheim Brings Immediate Lineup Fallout
A rough night in Anaheim left the Penguins with more than just a lopsided result to sort through. The performance drew plenty of scrutiny on its own, but the immediate fallout also included a roster tweak as the team dealt with another injury concern and turned to its depth for help.
Ville Koivunen is day-to-day, and Pittsburgh responded by recalling Rutger McGroarty on Sunday after he played back-to-back games for Wilkes-Barre and then traveled to Los Angeles. For a team trying to steady itself after an uneven showing, the timing of the move underscores how quickly the Penguins may need to adjust as they look for a better answer in the days ahead. [Read more 🡒]