Krebs draws back into the Sabres lineup after being a healthy scratch for Buffalo's last two games. the 21-year-old prospect is yet to score his first goal of the season but has one assist and four PIM across four games so far in 2022-23.
Rasmus Asplund will be the odd man out Thursday as Buffalo continues their rotation of two in, one out, with Peyton Krebs and Jack Quinn. Through six games this season, the 24-year-old has three assists and is +6 with six SOG.
Oettinger takes the crease for the Central-leading Stars coming off a 26 save (.929 SV%) 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins. He has had a very successful start to the season, as indicated by his 4-1-0 record alongside his .953 SV% and 1.40 GAA. He takes on Washington Thursday who have won two straight games averaging five goals during both victories.
Montembeault stopped 26 of 28 shots (.929 SV%) for his first victory of the season his last time out vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins 10 days ago. His two starts have gone up and down as he is 1-1-0 with a 2.48 GAA and a .912 SV%. His Canadiens take on a much improved Sabres team that had won three straight prior to their previous 5-1 loss to Seattle Tuesday.
Yesterday the Bruins said that Marchand would not play the next two games, but Marchand will be in the lineup vs. Detroit on Thursday. The Bruins said he will not play in the back-to-back set, so he'll sit Friday in Columbus. Marchand will debut on a line with Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk.
Fleury will start his third straight content after standing strong in a 3-1 win over Montreal his last time outl where he stopped 26 of 27 shots (.963 SV%). It has been a rough start to 2022-23 as Fleury has been fighting the puck to a 4.30 GAA and a .869 SV%. He takes on an Ottawa Senators team that is heating up as of late, having won their last four games while averaging five goals for in each of the victories.
Comrie will be looking to bounce back after a horrendous five goals on 24 shots (.792 SV%) led to a 5-1 loss to Seattle his last time out. He has been okay for the Sabres through his four starts, (2-2-0) amassing a .908 SV% while also pitching a 3.50 GAA. His Sabres will host Montreal Thursday who is fresh off a 3-1 loss and ranks 28th in the NHL in GF/GP with 2.43.
Kastelic was a fifth-round pick in 2019 and has been a fixture on the Senators' fourth line this season, collecting two goals in six games.
John Tortorella announced Thursday that star centre Sean Couturier has unfortunately stopped skating as he is not ready to ramp up his workload yet. His timetable to return is still indefinite with him now not expected back anytime soon. The 29-year-old has 460 points (180G/280A) through his first 721 career games.
Jokiharju took a puck to the face in Calgary last Thursday and is week-to-week with a broken bone under his nose. Ilya Lyubushkin and Owen Power have taken on larger roles with both Jokiharju and Mattias Samuelsson out.
Samuelsson went down awkwardly in a collision with Curtis Lazar on Saturday and is expected to miss a few weeks. This is probably the best-case scenario because it looked like the injury may have been serious when it first happened. Owen Power and Ilya Lyubushkin have been skating with Rasmus Dahlin since Samuelsson got hurt.
Holden has appeared in four straight games and five of the Senators' first six games. However, it looks like he'll be scratched in favour of Nikita Zaitsev vs. the Wild.
Zaitsev has been a healthy scratch for the last four games but is set to replace Nick Holden in the lineup on Thursday. Zaitsev has only appeared in one game this season, failing to get on the scoresheet in 12:12 TOI.
Hart was basically unbeatable his last time out stopping 31 of 32 shots in a 3-1 victory over Nashville. If the Vezina were to be presented today, Hart would have a hard time not winning it as he ranks fourth in SV% (.949) and fifth in GAA (1.75) while still yet to lose a game through four starts (4-0-0). He faces Florida at home who lost their last game 4-2 against Chicago on Tuesday and should see their fortunes change as they are 7th in SOG (34.9) but 21st in league goals (3.0).
Forsberg won his third straight start with a 20 save (.909 SV%) 6-2 victory over Arizona his last time out. He has been steady this season, pitching a .904 SV% and 2.83 GAA while starting all but one of Ottawa's games. His Senators will host the Wild at home Thursday who is coming off a 3-1 win over Montreal and is looking to lower and improve their 31st-ranked goals against per game (4.67).
Luff was enjoying a great start in Grand Rapids (AHL) as he had seven points (3G/4A) and a +3 plus/minus rating. In 87 career NHL games he has 13 goals and 10 assists while playing for two different teams prior to the Red Wings.
Sorokin brings his two-game losing streak into Wednesday's start after allowing a season-high five goals on 26 shots (.808 SV%) in his previous time out in a 5-3 loss to Tampa Bay. He has struggled so far in 2022-23, collecting only one win through his first four starts (1-3-0) while pitching a .908 SV% and 2.83 GA. They will be taking on their inner-state rivals the Rangers at home on Wednesday. The Rangers are coming off a hard-fought 3-2 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche the night before.
Gauthier will get the call up to the Rangers Wednesday after scoring two goals in his first four games with Hartford of the AHL. In 96 career games, the 25-year-old has five goals and 18 points to go along with a -14 plus/minus rating.
