NHL Hockey Player News

As suspected, Lauzon was called up to play on Tuesday. He will replace John Moore and comes in with one goal in 17 career NHL games.

Krejci has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury but will be a game-time decision tonight vs. the Golden Knights. With the bye week starting after tonight, it would be surprising to see Krejci play but monitor his status during warmups at 6:30 pm ET. If he plays, Charlie Coyle will move to the third line and Par Lindholm will be a healthy scratch.

Halak gave up four goals on 22 shots in the Bruins loss in Pittsburgh on Sunday. Halak has lost three of his last four outings, going 1-2-1 with a 3.22 GAA and .890 SV%. Halak's play has crumbled recently but tonight he faces a Vegas team that he has dominated since they came into the league--going 4-0-0 with a 1.71 GAA and .951 SV% in four meetings.

With Michael Raffl out with an upper-body injury, Rubtsov will draw in on the fourth line on Tuesday. He has no points in three NHL games this season and has 12 points (2G / 10A) in 28 AHL games.

Raffl was banged up late in Saturday's game and will be held out of the lineup vs. the Penguins. The Flyers are playing it safe before the bye week, so German Rubtsov will draw in on the fourth line and Joel Farabee will move up to the Sean Couturier line.

Kampfer has been a healthy scratch for the last two games, so he'll go to the AHL to open up a roster spot for Jeremy Lauzon to come up.

Head coach Bruce Cassidy was frustrated with his blueline on Sunday, so it seems likely that Lauzon will draw into the lineup on Tuesday. Lauzon figures to replace Matt Grzelcyk and comes up with 13 points (1G / 12A) in 43 AHL games.

With Dominik Kahun out with a concussion, Blandisi returns to the NHL before the bye week. Blandisi has split his season between the AHL and NHL, posting five points (2G / 3A) in 21 NHL games and eight points (4G / 4A) in 16 AHL games.

Vesalainen has scored nine goals with 13 assists (22 points) in 44 AHL games this season. The 2017 first-round pick has one assist in five career NHL games and could make his season debut on Tuesday with Adam Lowry out for at least one month.

Lowry left Sunday's game in Chicago with an upper-body injury that he suffered early on a hit from Drake Caggiula. With Lowry out, Andrew Copp will move back to centre and Jack Roslovic will be bumped back into the top-6.

Howard allowed three goals on 37 shots in the Red Wings loss to the Panthers on Saturday. He was terrific on back-to-back games, stopping 69 of 74 shots (.932 SV%) but was still 0-1-1. Even when he plays well he can't snap his lengthy losing streak and he draws a brutal road assignment in Colorado. Not to mention it's his third start in four nights.

Francouz allowed four goals on 30 shots in Colorado's loss to the Penguins on January 10th. Francouz has lost three in a row while allowing 10 goals on 95 shots (.895 SV%). Despite a few tough outings in a row, he is 11-4-2 with a .926 SV% on the season, so you should be able to trust him this afternoon vs. the last place Red Wings.

Schultz was on the ice for Monday's practice and has not been ruled out for Tuesday's game in Philadelphia. This would be a huge boost to the Penguins blueline, who have seen John Marino and Marcus Pettersson step-up in his absence. Schultz had two goals and six assists (eight points) in 27 games before getting hurt in mid-December.

Simon was forced to leave Sunday's game vs. the Bruins but was able to return to the ice for Monday's practice and is expected to play tomorrow. Simon has been tearing it up since Sidney Crosby returned to the lineup, scoring two goals with two assists (four points) in four games.

Kahun was forced to leave Sunday's game in the second period and did not return. He was not on the ice for Monday's morning skate and head coach Mike Sullivan announced that he has been diagnosed with a concussion. Luckily the Penguins bye week is around the corner, so Kahun could only end up missing about three games.

Toninato was a late-scratch Saturday in Detroit but is expected to play tonight in his home state. He has been playing with quality linemates (Hoffman & Vatrano) lately and comes in with three assists in his last four games.

Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 28 shots in the Panthers win in Detroit on Saturday. It was a strong return to the crease for Bobrovsky, who has now won his last two starts while stopping 57 of 60 shots (.950 SV%). Tonight he faces a Wild team that has lost four of their last six but are coming off of a 7-0 win over the Stars on Saturday.

This isn't surprising with the Islanders in town. Georgiev started both games vs. the Isles last week, going 2-0 while stopping 70 of the 74 shots (.946 SV%) that he faced. He is now 4-1-0 with a 1.40 GAA, .955 SV% and one shutout in his career against the Islanders and makes for a solid option on a quiet Tuesday in the NHL.

Hunt's absence started as a healthy scratch but he's now been sidelined for a few games due to an illness. He was on the ice for Monday's morning skate but will miss his fifth consecutive game.