NHL NOTEBOOK

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis will play his first game in nearly a year after being sidelined by injury and blood clots. He’s expected to play Thursday against Dallas. The 36-year-old Dupuis has been limited to 55 games the past two seasons because of a torn ACL and separate bouts with blood clots. He missed the first month of this season with a lower-body injury unrelated to his history with blood clots. Last season, working his way back from an ACL tear, he scored six goals in 16 games. But he missed the final five months of the season because of the career-threatening blood clots. He worked his way back to score a goal in four preseason games this season prior to his lower-body injury. The Colorado Avalanche have reassigned struggling rookie forward Mikko Rantanen to San Antonio of the American Hockey League. The team announced the move Thursday on Twitter. Rantanen, the 10th-overall pick in the 2015 draft, had no points in six games for the Avs this season. Colorado recalled forward Dennis Everberg to take Rantanen’s place on the roster. Everberg had three goals and nine assists in 55 games with the team in 2014-15.