NHL Hockey Player News

Demko surrendered five goals on 49 shots in the Canucks loss in Florida on January 9th. He hasn't played a lot lately but has lost his first two outings in January while giving up eight goals on 65 shots (.877 SV%). Tonight he faces the Sharks for the second time this season, he stopped 24 of 26 shots in a 5-2 win in San Jose in early-November.

Balcers has played in seven straight games but will be scratched in favour of Mikkel Boedker on Saturday. Balcers had one assist while averaging 10:15 ATOI in those seven games.

Boedker was a healthy scratch for the last five games but will replace Rudolfs Balcers in the lineup on Saturday afternoon. Boedker has appeared in just seven games this season, posting just one assist and five shots on goal.

Pageau was a late-scratch on Thursday and will miss his second straight game with a sore neck on Saturday afternoon. Artem Anisimov will move up with Brady Tkachuk and Anthony Duclair while Pageau is out.

Williams has sat out the first few games while he gets back up to speed but skated with Lucas Wallmark and Brock McGinn in Saturday's practice and is expected to make his debut tomorrow vs. the Islanders. Williams had a terrific 2019 campaign, scoring 23 goals with 30 assists (53 points) in 82 games.

Krejci was not on the ice for Saturday's practice and will miss his second straight game on Sunday. Par Lindholm is expected to remain in the lineup while Krejci is sidelined.

Grubauer stopped all 27 shots that he faced in Colorado's shutout win over the Sharks on Thursday. The win snapped a brief two-game losing skid for Gruabuer, who is 3-1-1 with a 2.40 GAA, .915 SV% and one shutout in his first five starts in January. In his first three starts against the Blues, Grubauer has gone 1-2-0 with a 3.35 GAA and .884 SV%.

Binnington allowed four goals on 21 shots in the Blues overtime loss to the Flyers on Wednesday. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Binnington, who will make his 35th start of the season this afternoon. He has gone 2-1-0 with a 3.45 GAA and .885 SV% in his first three starts against the Avalanche.

Hogberg allowed three goals on 30 shots in the Senators loss to the Blackhawks on Tuesday. He was given Thursday night off but will make his fourth start in five games today vs. the visiting Flames. Hogberg has gone 1-0-3 with a 3.11 GAA and .900 SV% on home-ice and Calgary comes in having won six of their last seven while scoring 2.71 goals per game.

Raanta has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury but will return to the crease today in Edmonton. In his last outing, Raanta stopped 25 of 30 shots before leaving their 3-0 loss in Carolina last Friday. He comes in at 4-5-2 with a 3.06 GAA and .915 SV% on the road while the Oilers have won four of their last five with 4.20 goals for per game.

Faksa will miss his third straight game with a lower-body injury but has been moved to IR to make room for Stephen Johns (head) to be activated.

Johns missed the first 47 games of the season with post-traumatic headaches but has been activated from IR and will replace Miro Heiskanen, who is in concussion protocol. Johns had 15 points (8G / 7A) while averaging 2.7 hits and 2.1 blocked shots per game in 75 games last year.

Heiskanen was forced to leave Thursday's game vs. the Sabres with an "upper-body injury" that he suffered when he was kneed in the head. Heiskanen is in concussion protocol, so he'll be replaced by Stephen Johns on Saturday.

Khudobin stopped 24 of 26 in the Stars loss in San Jose last Saturday. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Khudobin, who has gone 7-5-1 with a 2.36 GAA and .930 SV% on the road this year. Tonight he'll face the team that originally drafted him, who have lost four of their last six home games while scoring just 2.17 goals per game.

Smith stopped 30 of 32 shots in the Oilers win over the Predators on Tuesday. Smith has won four straight games while posting a rock-solid 2.26 GAA and .936 SV%. He will look to stay hot against a Coyotes team that has lost five of their last six road games while scoring just 1.50 goals per game.

Sikura has played in the last two games but will come out of the lineup in Toronto with Brandon Saad returning from a 12-game absence due to an ankle injury.