With Rasmus Dahlin returning to the lineup, Pilut will be the defenseman that sits in New York. The rookie defenseman has not registered a point while playing 16:39 ATOI in 10 games this season.
Hutton was pulled after allowing five goals on 13 shots in the Sabres loss to the Avalanche on Tuesday. The high from winning his first game in months did not last long and now he's tasked with starting in New York, where the Rangers are 7-3-0 while averaging 4.20 goals per game in their last 10 home games.
Marino will be sidelined indefinitely with a broken cheek that he suffered while taking a Steven Stamkos shot in the face on Thursday night. Marino filled in admirably when the Penguins were banged up and turned himself into a reliable top-4 defenseman this season, so this is a huge loss for the Penguins.
Merzlikins stopped all 32 shots that he faced in the Blue Jackets shutout win over the Panthers on Tuesday. Merzlikins is now riding a seven-game winning streak, posting a 1.14 GAA, .965 SV% and four shutouts. His numbers since Joonas Korpisalo went down are absolutely mind-blowing and he is the obvious top goalie tonight with the Red Wings in town on the tail-end of a back-to-back.
Head coach Jeff Blashill said that Helm will miss tonight’s game in Columbus but did not disclose what type of injury that veteran is dealing with. Look for Brendan Perlini to replace him in the Red Wings’ lineup.
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.
Brossoit allowed two goals on 25 shots in the Jets loss to the Bruins on January 31st. Brossoit has gone 1-3-0 with a 3.76 GAA and .875 SV% on home-ice this season and gets set to face an Ottawa team that has lost eight of their last nine road games (1-4-4).
Following the trade of Jack Campbell to the Maple Leafs, Petersen makes his return to the NHL. Petersen appeared in 11 NHL games last year, going 5-4-1 with a 2.61 GAA and .924 SV%. He hasn't had the same level of success in the AHL this year, going 17-15-4 with a 3.43 GAA and .906 SV%. Tonight he'll make his season debut vs. a Devils team that is on a five-game point streak, going 2-0-3 over that span.
Ekman-Larsson has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury but is expected to travel on the Coyotes upcoming road trip. Monitor his status prior to Saturday's game in Boston.
Demers is going on IR with an oblique injury and is expected to be out a while. This is a tough break for the Coyotes, who have been without Oliver Ekman-Larsson for a few games as well.
Elliott was pulled after he allowed four goals on 17 shots in the Flyers 5-0 loss to the Devils on Thursday. In his last four starts, Elliott has two shutouts but has given up a combined eight goals on just 37 shots in the other two games. Elliott has a strong record (9-4-2) on the road this year but the other numbers aren't as pretty (3.12 GAA | .895 SV%).
Farabee reportedly lost a lot of weight while battling illness, so the Flyers will give him a few more days to build back up some strength. Scott Laughton moved into the Flyers' top-6 in Friday's practice to replace Farabee.
Weegar missed Thursday's game with an illness and is listed as day-to-day heading into Saturday's game. Josh Brown will remain in the lineup tomorrow if Weegar can't go.
Dahlin missed the last two games with an upper-body injury but will play tonight in New York. Dahlin has posted nine points (1G / 8A) in his last 10 games.
Barkov missed the last three games with a lower-body injury but head coach Joel Quenneville said that "he looks good" and will play vs. the Penguins on Saturday. The Panthers went 1-1-1 while being outscored 11-to-7 in the three games without Barkov, who has two assists in two games vs. the Penguins this season.
Moore has been a healthy scratch for the last five games but will replace Brandon Carlo (personal) in the lineup on Saturday. Moore has scored two goals with one assist in 19 games this season.
Carlo has returned home to attend to a personal matter, so he won't play Saturday but is expected to re-join them in Detroit for Sunday's game. John Moore is expected to replace Carlo vs. the Coyotes.
Rask stopped all 25 shots that he faced in the Bruins shutout win over the Canucks on Tuesday. Rask has been stellar in his last five outings, going 4-0-0 with a 1.24 GAA and .963 SV%. He is a great option whenever he gets the nod on home ice, where he is 11-0-6 with a 2.08 GAA, .929 SV% and three shutouts.
With Cody Ceci landing on IR, Liljegren will play alongside Rasmus Sandin on an all-rookie D-pair tonight vs. the Ducks. The 20-year-old, former first-round pick (No.17 in 2017) has 29 points (5G / 24A) in 38 AHL games this season.
Kukan has scored one goal with four assists (five points) in 33 games this season. It's the first full NHL season for the Swiss defenseman, who has averaged 1.6 shots, 0.7 hits and 0.9 blocked shots per game.
