Yakupov returns for Friday Night Hockey

Nail Yakupov will make his return to the Sarnia Sting lineup when the team visits the Ottawa 67's on Friday Night Hockey.

Yakupov hasn't played since suffering a knee injury in the gold-medal game of the world junior hockey championship. He competed in full-contact practices earlier in the week and was cleared to join the lineup on Friday. Yakupov last suited up for Sarnia on Dec. 17, before joining the Russian world junior team.

"Nail is a game-breaker," said head coach and general manager of the Sting Jacques Beaulieu. "He's pretty dynamic -- a special kid. He changes the momentum of the game. Sometimes, we're missing that without him where we don't have a guy that can make that rush to get the team going and create good scoring chances."

Catch Nail Yakupov and the Sting as they battle Tyler Toffoli and the 67's on Sportsnet East, Ontario, West and Pacific at 7 p.m. ET

In his absence, the Sting went 4-7. They continue to hold down a home playoff spot, in spite of a rash of injuries that far exceeds the 11 games the Sting played without Yakupov.

"It hasn't stopped," Beaulieu said. "It's been awful. It's been something I've never gone through as a coach. One-hundred, eighty man games out of our lineup. We've never, ever had a full lineup since we started training camp. Not once this year."

The 67's continue to hold down the top spot in the Ontario Hockey League's Eastern Conference. Ottawa head coach and general manager Chris Byrne made his team three lines deep with the additions of John McFarland and Mike Cazzola at the trade deadline.

"It just gives us more depth up front and more options when we're putting lines together," Byrne said. "We're not as easy to play against because teams can't key in on one line for us. I think it spreads us out a little bit."

Can Yakupov make a difference in his first game back?

There's no question he's a difference-maker when he's healthy. After missing the better part of a month, Yakupov will face a very talented opponent in Ottawa. He's averaging more than two points per game this season after concluding his rookie campaign with 101 last year.

The 67's will certainly be aware of his presence.

"A lot of our focus is on how we play and what we do," Byrne explained. "But, definitely, he's a special player. We wish him the best (in recovering from injury), we were just kind of hoping he might be ready to play one week later."

Will Tyler Toffoli outshine Yakupov?

Just as valuable as Yakupov is to Sarnia, Toffoli is to Ottawa. The 67's sniper leads the league in scoring with 74 points in 42 games after finishing tied for first in scoring with 108 points last season.

Although the 67's are a deep team offensively, as is Sarnia, much of their offence comes from their game-breaker.

"He's deadly," Beaulieu cautioned. "Every time he's on the ice, he's looking to score. He's a pure shooter. He shoots from bad angles, he surprises goalies. We clipped video to show his tendencies. We're going to keep a close eye on him. We're going to have a checking line against that line and we'll be ready to go against these guys. Structurally, we're going to have to be 100 percent."

How critical is the man advantage?

If parallels are being drawn between these two teams, it's in their offence and their potent power-plays. The Sting boast the league's third-best man advantage ratio at 21.6 per cent, while the 67's trail in seventh-place at 19.6 per cent.

Sarnia's power-play will surely get a shot in the arm with the addition of Yakupov, and Beaulieu is expecting a higher percentage than the season's already impressive overall total.

"If we get four power-play chances, we have to score one goal," he said. "That's been our goal the whole season."

"They move the puck well -- one of the better power-plays in the league," said Byrne, who spent part of Wednesday dissecting Sarnia's man advantage traits. "We're definitely not going to be able to take any needless penalties."

Will the goalies steal the show?

For all the offence both teams possess, each is also blessed with a good goaltender. Although Byrne would only go so far as to say Czech goaltender Petr Mrazek is "probable" to start, Beaulieu announced J.P. Anderson as his starter.

In Mrazek, Beaulieu sees a goalie his team will need to force into lateral movements to create openings.

"Mrazek is a very good goalie," he said. "We have to get in front of him and create some havoc and find seams to get pucks to the net."

The 67's will be familiar with Anderson, the former starter of the Eastern Conference's Mississauga St. Michael's Majors. Beaulieu is hoping Anderson's experience getting to last year's MasterCard Memorial Cup will help lead his team.

"He's won 25 playoff games so far in his career," Beaulieu said. "He never gets rattled. He gives us an opportunity to win every night and that's about all we can ask from him.

"Either one of (Mrazek and Anderson) can get it done on Friday night."

Our next broadcast comes on Wednesday, Feb. 1 for the Home Hardware CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.