NHL Hockey Player News

Johnson was originally listed as questionable for Saturday's game, but will not play in the Lightning's season opener. Johnson has been practicing, so he figures to be back next week. With Johnson sidelined, Cory Conacher will play on the fourth line and Mathieu Joseph will be bumped to the third line.

Hutton had an inauspicious Sabres debut, allowing three goals on 25 shots in the 4-0 loss to the Bruins on Thursday. Things might get a little easier tonight against a Rangers team that also lost their first game of the year.

Vasilevskiy led the NHL with 44 wins and eight shutouts last season, posting a 2.62 GAA and .920 SV% along the way. The Lightning are one of the most dominant teams in the NHL, which will allow Vasilevskiy to challenge for the league-lead in victories again. He was 3-1-0 despite posting an ugly 4.24 GAA and .891 SV% vs. the Panthers last season.

Murray allowed six goals on 36 shots, but still walked away with a win vs. the Capitals on Thursday. It wasn’t a great start to the season for the young netminder, but there should be better days ahead. He is a must-start tonight vs. a Montreal team that is expected to finish in the bottom-third of the league this season.

Georgiev spent most of last year in Hartford (AHL), where he went 14-13-2 with a 2.98 GAA and .918 SV% in 37 starts. During a short time with the Rangers, the 22-year-old was 4-4-1 with 3.15 GAA and .918 SV% in 10 starts. He will serve as Henrik Lundqvist’s backup this season and make his first start against a Hurricanes team that has four goals in two games.

Lundqvist allowed two goals on 32 shots in the Predators 3-2 loss to the Predators on Thursday. The veteran netminder looked sharp in his first start of the season, but didn’t get a lot of help from the Rangers offence. Lundqvist owners should get used to this.

Ward gave up three goals on 25 shots in the Hurricanes overtime win in Ottawa on Thursday. It was a decent start to the year for the veteran netminder, who is filling in for an injured Corey Crawford. He draws a more difficult task tonight against a Blues team that is looking to bounce-back from a 5-1 opening night loss.

Kinkaid appeared in a career-high 41 games last season, going 26-10-3 with a 2.77 GAA and .913 SV%. With Cory Schneider out to star the season, Kinkaid will start the Devils season opener in Sweden. He draws a difficult matchup against Connor McDavid, but is a solid No.3 fantasy option while Schneider is out.

Talbot was excellent in 2017, but struggled to a 3.02 GAA and .908 SV% in 67 starts last year. Talbot is probably not as good as he was in 2017 or as bad as he was in 2018, making him a solid No.2 fantasy option. He is a decent option in Sweden as the Oilers take on the Devils.

Quick has been a rock-solid fantasy option over the last eight seasons. The Kings play a sound defensive game and limit the chances against, making Quick’s job relatively easy on most nights. The veteran netminder was 17-14-2 with a 2.29 GAA, .922 SV% and three shutouts in 33 starts on home-ice last season.