Athanasiou played just 12:21 TOI in Sunday’s win over Dallas, leaving prematurely with an undisclosed injury. If Athanasiou can’t play, look for the Red Wings to call-up a forward from Grand Rapids (AHL).
There is no indication what happened to Nielsen, but he played just 15:31 TOI on Sunday and will not play on Tuesday. With Nielsen out, Jacob De La Rose will move to the Red Wings second line.
Husso has been recalled because Jake Allen was hurt on Saturday, but may not play during his time in St. Louis. Husso has never made an NHL appearance and has gone 1-6-0 with a 3.19 GAA and .887 SV% in seven AHL games this season.
Gunnarsson failed to pick up a point in two games with the Rampage during his conditioning stint. He returns to the Blues where he has failed to top 10 points for three straight years—just 24 points (8G / 16A) in his last 191 NHL games.
Soshnikov had one goal in five games during a lengthy conditioning stint with San Antonio. Soshnikov returns to the NHL, where he’ll fight for playing time on the fourth line. He had two points (1G / 1A) in 12 games with the Blues a season ago.
Fabbri recorded a shorthanded goal and added an assist in three games with the Rampage during his conditioning stint. Fabbri looks ready to play for the first time since February 4th, 2017. The Blues return to action vs. the Golden Knights on Thursday.
Andersen allowed two goals on 24 shots in the Maple Leafs 3-2 win over the Jets on Saturday. Andersen beat the Jets in back-to-back starts and has now won five of his last seven starts with a 2.45 GAA and .921 SV%. Andersen may not have the goal-support he is used to with Auston Matthews sidelined. He comes in at 2-3-0 with a 2.44 GAA and .917 SV% at Scotiabank Arena this season.
Lack has not appeared in a game this season with Keith Kinkaid starting all eight of the Devils games so far. With Cory Schneider back from his conditioning stint, the Devils have three goalies. Lack will get some work in the AHL before the Devils make a decision on what to do with him.
Schneider made three appearances during his conditioning stint, going 1-1-0 with a 2.67 GAA and .897 SV%. Schneider is set to make his season debut this week after a long recovery from hip surgery. Keith Kinkaid has played very well while Schneider was out, so the Devils will likely ease him back into action by splitting starts between the two netminders. The 32-year-old Schneider was 17-16-6 with a 2.93 GAA and .907 SV% last year—one of the worst seasons of his professional career.
Matthews was forced to leave Saturday’s game with an apparent left shoulder injury following a heavy collision with Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba. Matthews missed 20 games last season with two separate “upper-body” injuries and a right shoulder injury that cost him 10 games in March. This is obviously a huge blow to the Maple Leafs lineup as the third-year centre had 10 goals and six assists (16 points) in his first 11 games. Nazem Kadri will step up into a bigger role with Matthews sidelined and this puts added pressure on GM Kyle Dubas to get a deal done with RFA William Nylander.
Smith allowed three goals on 27 shots in the Flames shootout loss to the Capitals on Saturday. It was a slightly better performance than the 9-1 loss to the Penguins on Thursday, but Smith has now lost three straight with a 5.15 GAA and .833 SV%. Tonight he faces a high-powered Maple Leafs team that will be missing Auston Matthews, who suffered a shoulder injury on Saturday.
