Gardner did not have a point in seven games with the Stars earlier in the year and has picked up six points (3G / 3A) in nine games with Texas. His call-up suggests that Cogliano will not play on Thursday after suffering an injury in Calgary on Wednesday.
Halak allowed two goals on 29 shots in the Bruins loss to the Flyers last Sunday. The loss snapped a brief two-game winning streak for Halak, who is 4-1-2 with a 2.67 GAA and .918 SV% on the season. He has not lost in regulation on home-ice (2-0-1) but Washington hasn't lost in regulation on the road in their last eight games (7-0-1).
Rask surrendered four goals on 29 shots in the Bruins overtime loss to the Panthers on Tuesday. The Bruins blew a 4-0 lead in the third period and extended Rask’s losing streak to three games. During the skid, Rask has allowed a combined 12 goals on 91 shots (.868 SV%). The 32-year-old stopped 28 of 30 shots in a 4-2 win in his first start vs. the Maple Leafs.
With Marco Scandella return from injury, the Sabres will scratch Miller against the Hurricanes. Miller has not recorded a point in the last nine games and has just four assists in 17 games this season.
Kotkaniemi has missed the last six games but will play either Friday in Washington or Saturday vs. New Jersey. The Canadiens don't want the second-year centre to overdue it in his return from injury but it's a good sign that he'll play in at least one of the two games.
Haula missed the last four games but will draw back into the lineup in Buffalo. Lucas Wallmark and the third line played well while Haula was out, so he will return on the fourth line with Brian Gibbons and Brock McGinn. Haula has eight goals and three assists (11 points) in 14 games this season.
Hart stopped 35 of 36 shots in the Flyers shootout loss to the Capitals on Wednesday. Hart had a tough finish to October but has been brilliant in November, going 4-0-1 with a 1.72 GAA and .939 SV%. The Senators have surprised a lot of people lately and have won three in a row on home-ice but Hart is still one of the best options on the slate.
Price allowed two goals on 35 shots in the Canadiens win over the Blue Jackets on Tuesday. Price has won three of his last four starts (3-0-1) with a 2.70 GAA and .919 SV%. Despite playing well, he has a tough road assignment in Washington. The Capitals have not lost in regulation in over a month, going 11-0-2 with 4.38 goals per game in their last 13 games.
Mrazek stopped 27 of 29 shots in the Hurricanes win over the Senators on Monday. The win snapped a brief two-game losing skid for Mrazek, who heads to Buffalo with a 1-2-1 record, 3.44 GAA and .883 SV% on the road this season. The Sabres have scored 3.57 goals per game and are 5-1-1 in seven games at the KeyBank Center.
Weegar did not play in Boston on Tuesday and will likely miss another week. Weegar was struck in the head by a puck in New York on Sunday and will continue to be replaced by Keith Yandle on the top-pair.
Dubnyk stopped 32 of 34 shots in the Wild's loss to the Kings on Tuesday. Despite losing for the fourth time in five outings, it was another solid outing from Dubnyk and another sign that he is finding his game after a tough month of October. He'll be in tough on Thursday when they host a Coyotes team that is 5-0-1 while scoring 3.50 goals per game in their last six road games.
Bobrovsky was pulled after he allowed four goals on 23 shots in the Panthers come-from-behind win in Boston on Tuesday. Despite Samuel Montembeault playing very well in relief, the Panthers will stick with their $70 million dollar man on Thursday night. The Jets are struggling mightily to score goals right now so maybe this is an opportunity to get Bob back on track.
Johansson returned from Sweden with an upper-body injury and will miss the rest of the week. Curtis Lazar was recalled from Rochester (AHL) on Wednesday and will replace Johansson in the lineup on Thursday.
Abdelkader was expected to be out at least three weeks anyway, so his move to IR is a formality to open up a roster spot. Look for Abdelkader to return in late-November/early-December.
Abdelkader was expected to be out at least three weeks anyways, so his move to IR is a formality to open up a roster spot. Look for Abdelkader to return in late-November/early-December.
Nemeth was believed to miss Tuesday's game with an illness so it's strange to see him landing on IR. With Nemeth out, veteran Jonathan Ericsson was called up from Grand Rapids to take his spot on the roster.
Hutton allowed five goals on 40 shots in the Sabres loss in Tampa Bay in the second game in Sweden last Saturday. He'll also get the first game back in Buffalo, where he is 4-1-1 with a 1.96 GAA, .927 SV% and one shutout. Carolina comes in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) on the road while averaging just 1.80 goals per game.
With Danny DeKeyser, Trevor Daley and now Patrik Nemeth injury, Ericsson makes his return to the NHL. Ericsson was assigned to the Griffins after clearing waivers on October 23rd and has picked up two assists in 10 AHL games. He may replace Dylan McIlrath or Alex Biega and make his season debut in Los Angeles.
