NHL Hockey Player News

Grubauer stopped 25 of 26 shots in Colorado's win in Ottawa on Thursday. Grubauer has won four of his last five starts while posting a 2.02 GAA, .922 SV% and one shutout. Grubauer is 8-6-2 with a 2.69 GAA and .914 SV% on the road this year but the Blue Jackets are on a six-game home winning streak.

Binnington allowed three goals on 24 shots in the Blues loss to the Jets on Thursday. Binnington has now given up at least three goals in six straight starts, going 2-3-1 with a 3.68 GAA and .860 SV% over that stretch. In his first start vs. the Stars, Binnington allowed two goals on 29 shots in a 3-2 win (Oct.5).

Varlamov allowed three goals on 31 shots in the Islanders win over the Stars on Tuesday. Thomas Greiss started Thursday but they'll come back Varlamov tonight in Tampa Bay. Varlamov is 8-3-1 with a 2.19 GAA, .926 SV% and one shutout on the road this year but the Lightning come in on an eight-game winning streak on home ice.

Fehervary played 19:55 TOI on Tuesday but was sent back in between games. The 20-year-old defenseman has no points in his first four NHL games but has 14 points (4G / 10A) in 45 AHL games this season.

Sbisa was hurt Thursday after blocking a David Perron shot and will not be available for Saturday's afternoon clash with the Senators. With Sbisa out, Anthony Bitetto will draw back in.

Head coach Jon Cooper updated McDonagh's status following Saturday's morning skate and it wasn't good. Cooper said that McDonagh is "more than day-to-day" and that they will "circle back in a couple of weeks to see how much progress" he makes.

With both Ryan McDonagh and Jan Rutta out, Gaunce comes up to serve as the Lightning's seventh defenseman. The 29-year-old has scored four goals with 24 assists (28 points) in 47 AHL games this season.

McDonagh left Thursday's game after blocking an Evgeni Malkin shot and did not return. McDonagh was reportedly seen in a walking boot postgame but head coach Jon Cooper said he didn't believe it was very serious. Luke Schenn is expected to replace him on Saturday.

Vasilevskiy stopped 29 of 31 shots in the Lightning's win over the Penguins on Thursday. Vasilevskiy can't lose right now, going 14-0-1 with a 1.92 GAA and .938 SV% in his last 15 starts. In his first start v.s the Islanders, Vasilevskiy allowed four goals on 25 shots in a 5-2 loss but that was back when he wasn't playing well.

Merzlikins stopped all 16 shots that he faced inn last night's shutout win over the Red Wings. Yet another shutout for Merzlikins, who is 8-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA, .967 SV% and five shutouts in his last eight starts. Even with a rough matchup with the Avalanche in town, Merzlikins is too hot to fade right now.

Holtby stopped 29 of 31 shots in the Capitals win over the Kings on Tuesday. It was a much-needed performance for the veteran netminder, who has played much worse than Ilya Samsonov over the last month and a half. He has gone 1-1-0 while stopping 54 of the 58 shots that he has faced in two games vs. the Flyers this season.

Blackwood stopped all 46 shots that he faced in the Devils shutout win in Philadelphia on Thursday. It was an impressive performance for Blackwood, who had been struggling prior to that game. He has gone 5-7-7 with a 3.07 GAA and .892 SV% one home ice this season and gets ready to face a Kings team that is 1-7-1 in their last nine games.

Borowiecki and his wife are expecting a baby soon so he stayed back in Ottawa while Andreas Englund was recalled from Binghamton (AHL) and travelled to Winnipeg. Expect Borowiecki to be back in the lineup when the Senators host the Coyotes next Thursday.

Namestnikov missed Thursday's game with an undisclosed injury but was back at practice on Friday, only to take a puck in the face and putting his status for Saturday's game in jeopardy. Head coach D.J. Smith wasn't sure if he would play but monitor his status during warmups at 1:30 pm ET.

Dubnyk allowed six goals on 34 shots in the Wild’s loss to the Bruins last Saturday. Alex Stalock started the last two games but they’re expected to come back to Dubnyk in the second-half of a back-to-back. Dubnyk is 3-8-0 with a 3.80 GAA and .887 SV% on the road this season and faces a Stars team that is 4-2-0 with 3.00 goals per game their last six home games.