Kuemper stopped 23 of 26 shots as he won his third game in four starts 4-3 vs. Los Angeles his last time out. In his first season with the Capitals, Kuemper has struggled to find his footing, posting a .899 SV% and 3.04 GAA across his first five starts. He takes on Dallas, who is 1st in the Central even though they've lost their last two games.
Cousins will be the odd man out after it was announced Thursday that Eric Staal would be making his Panthers debut. In seven games so far, he has yet to collect a point and is -1 with only five SOG.
Korpisalo will head to Cleveland (AHL) for a conditioning start vs. Syracuse Saturday. From there it is expected that the 28-year-old will head up to Columbus to back up Elvis Merzlikins. Through seven career seasons, he has 76 wins in 164 starts while posting a .902 SV% and 3.04 GAA.
Eric Staal will make his Florida Panthers debut Thursday as they take on the Flyers. Staal's last NHL game was during the 2021 Stanley Cup Final when he played with the Montreal Canadiens. He will join his brother Marc in Florida and brings 1034 points (441G/593A) across 1293 career NHL games played to the lineup when he returns for his 18th NHL season Thursday.
Heiskanen will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury. Heiskanen is listed as day-to-day, so consider him questionable for Saturday's game vs. the Rangers.
Bobrovsky will be looking to bounce back after dropping his previous start 4-2 in an 18-save (.857 SV%) loss Tuesday. He carries a .908 SV% and 2.85 GAA into the start to go along with his 2-2-1 record. The Panthers will take on Philadelphia, who lost their last game 3-0 to the Sharks off the second game of a back to back.
Shaw will make his second appearance for the Wild after last playing against Colorado 10 days ago. He only saw 12 shifts and 5:46 TOI in his debut, while collecting two SOG in his only game.
Jost will be a healthy scratch for the first time in 2022-23 after putting up one assist and six SOG in his first six games for the Wild to start the season. He has struggled defensively as shown by his -5 plus/minus rating prior to being sent to the press box.
Johnson suffered a right ankle injury vs. the Panthers on Tuesday and will miss at least one week after landing on IR. The Blackhawks have not released a timetable for his return. Jujhar Khaira moved up into the Blackhawks' top-6 in Thursday's practice.
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.
Swaymans last start came over a week ago when he allowed six goals on 25 shots (.760 SV%) in a 7-5 loss to Ottawa. The 23-year-old netminder has struggled early on this season, posting a 5.40 GAA along with a .816 SV% while essentially losing the starting goalie battle to Linus Ullmark. He will face a Detroit team who is coming off a 6-2 loss Tuesday to New Jersey but has scored at a very efficient rate this season, ranking fifth in the NHL in GF/GP (3.67).
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.
