NHL notebook: Lightning's Stamkos eyes Game 1 return

Stamkos missed the final three games of the regular season due to the injury.
He was a full participant in practice Monday, centering a line between Nikita
Kucherov and J.T. Miller.

"It felt nice to be back out on the ice," Stamkos said. "Definitely a step in
the right direction. I felt pretty good, all things considered. It was good to
be out there with the guys. The fun time of the year starts right now."

Stamkos had 27 goals and 59 assists in 78 regular-season games. His 86 points
were second on the team, behind Kucherov's 100.

--Ilya Kovalchuk is close to returning to the NHL for the first time since
leaving to play in the Russian KHL five years ago, according to reports.

Sport-Express reported the 34-year-old Kovalchuk was near a contract with the
New York Rangers, which would mark his return to the NHL for the first time
since 2013.

The terms of that agreement would need to be hashed out by league officials
because of the complex terms under which Kovalchuk left the United States and
New Jersey Devils. Kovalchuk retired in June 2013 with 12 years and $77
million remaining on a 15-year deal signed in 2010. Because he was designated
to the voluntary retirement list, Kovalchuk's rights belong to the Devils
until he turns 35. Kovalchuk's 35th birthday is April 15.

--The NHL will be moving the events of 2019 All-Star Weekend up a day, the
league announced.

The All-Star Game, which usually takes place on Sunday, will instead be played
on Saturday, Jan. 26 next season. As a result, the skills competition, usually
a Saturday event, will be held Friday, Jan. 25.

When NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced in January that the San Jose
Sharks will host the 2019 NHL All-Star Game at SAP Center, the game was
originally scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 27, with the skills competition a day
prior. San Jose last hosted the event in 1997.

Three seasons as a member of the struggling Buffalo Sabres have taken their
toll on center Ryan O'Reilly.

As Sabres players cleared out their lockers Monday after yet another
last-place finish (62 points) in the NHL standings, the 27-year-old lamented
what he believes is a culture of losing in Buffalo and noted that it's caused
him to lose his love for the game.

"We're stuck in this mindset of just being OK with losing," O'Reilly told
reporters, via NHL.com. "I feel, too, I think it's really crept in with myself
and, over the course of the year, I lost myself a lot and where you just kind
of get through and being the guy and being OK with making a mistake and that's
just not winning hockey at all and it's crept into all of our games."

--Field Level Media