St. Louis already has won the award twice (2010, ’11), and was a finalist two other times. The 37-year-old ranked second among NHL forwards in total ice time, but was assessed just 14 penalty minutes.

Moulson is a finalist for the second straight season. He had four penalty minutes in 47 games, tied with San Jose’s Logan Couture for the fewest among the NHL’s top 50 scorers.

Kane is a Lady Byng finalist for the first time, after helping Chicago to a Presidents’ Trophy. He played 47 games and averaged 20:03 of ice time, but had just eight penalty minutes.

“Any time you’re up for an award, it’s exciting,” Kane said Thursday. “I thought maybe I had a chance at this one. I think it kind of speaks volumes of where my game has gone since my rookie season. I remember I used to take a lot of penalties that were kind of unnecessary and I kind of got that out of my game a little bit. I’m definitely happy about it. It’s an honor, for sure.”

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Dubinsky, who is available when the club opens a five-game homestand on Tuesday night against Vancouver, was injured in the Blue Jackets’ Feb. 16 game at Phoenix.

The 26-year-old, acquired in the deal that sent Rick Nash to the New York Rangers last summer, has one goal, seven assists and 39 penalty minutes in 15 games this season. He was riding a three-game point streak (1-3-4) prior to suffering the injury.

The Anchorage, Alaska, native has 82 goals and 139 assists in 408 career NHL games.

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Roy, who missed five games with a groin injury, will be available Monday night at Colorado. Nilstorp and defenseman Jordie Benn have been sent to the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League.

Nilstorp’s assignment means Richard Bachman will remain the backup to Kari Lehtonen.

Roy has two assists in four games for Dallas. He came over in an offseason trade with Buffalo. Benn is scoreless with four penalty minutes in eight games for Dallas.

Nilstorp missed four games with a groin injury. He was 0-2 filling in for Lehtonen. Nilstorp appeared in 28 games for the Texas Stars before joining Dallas after the lockout ended.

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Los Angeles at Colorado
When: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), Altitude (Colorado)

Los Angeles allowed four goals in the first 22 minutes of the 5-2 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. Top center Anze Kopitar missed the opener with a knee injury, but said he’ll play Tuesday. The Kings didn’t give up more than three goals in a game during their Cup run. Defenseman Rob Scuderi said the Kings were physically ready, but made mental mistakes. Los Angeles should turn it around on defense, but must be better than it was on offense during the 2011-12 regular season (29th). Mike Richards, Simon Gagne and Dustin Brown were all minus-3 against Chicago. Forward Kyle Clifford had seven hits in 8:52 of playing time in the opener.

Despite ending 2011-12 by hoisting the Cup, the Kings ranked near the bottom of the NHL with 194 goals and averaged 2.9 while going 16-4-0 in the playoffs. Los Angeles managed 21 shots and went 0 for 5 on the power play in the opener.

Colorado scored only 17 goals in its last 10 games last season. The Avalanche hope free-agent acquisition PA Parenteau will help improve the offense, but others will have to step up with O’Reilly still in Russia. Landeskog returns after scoring a team-high 22 goals and leading Avalanche in plus-minus (plus-20). Paul Stastny, David Jones, Milan Hejduk, Steve Downie and Duchene will all be expected to contribute. Defenseman Erik Johnson, 24, could be ready to raise his game to a new level. The Avalanche had 19 penalty minutes against the Wild, allowing two power-play goals.

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The 26-year-old had 11 goals and 38 assists in 82 games with the Canucks last season.

Edler has spent his entire career with Vancouver after being drafted 91st overall in the 2004 draft.

He was set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer.

Edler has 43 goals, 141 assists and 200 penalty minutes in 386 career NHL games since making his debut in the 2006-07 season.

Edler has also been effective for Vancouver in the postseason, with seven goals and 20 assists in 55 playoff games.

The Canucks open the lockout-shortened season Saturday night at home against the Anaheim Ducks.

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The team announced Friday that it has officially suspended the 36-year-old veteran defenseman. Despite conflicting reports whether he would return from Russia to fulfill his contractual obligation with the Islanders, he has not yet arrived for training camp.

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Visnovsky, acquired in June from Anaheim, attempted to have the trade overruled but an arbitrator ruled in December that the deal was valid.

The Islanders open the season Saturday at home against the New Jersey Devils.

Visnovsky has tried to remain with his European club, Slovan Bratislava, in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, despite a rule prohibiting that. The NHL and KHL have a memorandum of agreement that any player with an NHL contract must return to his club once the lockout is lifted.

The KHL is complying and won’t let Visnovsky play in Russia now that the lockout has ended.

The suspension was done in order for the Islanders to officially get down to the 23-man roster needed for opening night.

Visnovsky scored six goals and had 27 points — 10 on the power play — in 68 games with the Ducks last season.

In 771 games over 11 NHL seasons with Los Angeles, Edmonton and Anaheim, Visnovsky has 117 goals and 450 points. He was an All-Star in 2007.

The Islanders also announced on Friday that they claimed defenseman Brian Strait off waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Strait has played in 12 NHL games with the Penguins, notching one assist and four penalty minutes.

Pittsburgh chose him with the 65th pick (third round) of the 2006 draft, but the 25-year-old native of Boston has spent most of his time in the minors. Strait has eight goals and 32 assists in 220 career AHL games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

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