NHL Hockey Player News

Lowry is still dealing with an upper-body injury that forced him out of the lineup on Sunday. With Lowry out, Jack Roslovic will remain in the lineup for the second consecutive game.

Smith allowed two goals on 29 shots in the Flames win over the Ducks on Saturday. Smith has won three straight while allowing a combined eight goals on 97 shots (.918 SV%). Smith will make his third start against Minnesota this season—he has gone 0-1-1 with a 1.93 GAA and .925 SV% in the first two meetings.

Seabrook has had a tough season, collecting just 11 points (1G / 11A) in 41 games this season. The veteran defenseman as been held pointless in nine straight games, posting a minus-4 in the process. The Blackhawks will give him a breather, but his contract is looking worse by the day—Seabrook has six years beyond this season remaining on his deal with a $6.875M AAV.

After a difficult first half of the season because of injury, Stempniak’s season debut will have to wait until later in the week. The veteran will sit as a healthy scratch tonight but will appear in one of the Hurricanes back-to-back games on Thursday/Friday.

Aho was hurt over the weekend but practiced on Monday and took part in today’s morning skate. Head coach Bill Peters said that Aho “should be good to go” so look for the talented second-year forward to play in Tampa Bay. Aho has six goals and four assists (10 points) in his last seven games.

Gustafsson, 25, has picked up three goals and 14 assists (17 points) in 25 games with the IceHogs this season. There is no word whether or not Gustafsson will make his season debut this week, but if Cody Franson couldn’t get into the lineup then Gustafsson will likely have a tough time as well.

Franson has had a nice year in Chicago but the emergence of Jordan Oesterle made him disposable to the Blackhawks. However, clearing waivers increases his trade value for a team interested in acquiring him because now he can be assigned to the AHL if need be. Don’t be surprised if he gets traded in the next few days.

Forsberg stopped 32 of the 33 shots that he faced in the Blackhawks win over the Oilers on Sunday. After ceding the crease to 32-year-old rookie Jeff Glass, Forsberg had a nice outing vs. Edmonton and will get a second straight start tonight. Forsberg makes for an interesting spot-start option against a struggling Senators squad.

Allen allowed five goals on 38 shots in the Blues loss in Philadelphia on Saturday. Allen has won three straight while posting a 3.67 GAA and .891 SV%. Despite his recent struggles and Carter Hutton’s great season, Allen will get back in the crease tonight after getting Sunday off. Allen allowed five goals on 38 shots in a 5-2 loss in his first start against the Panthers.

Ward stopped all 21 shots that he faced in the Hurricanes shutout win in Pittsburgh last Thursday. Ward also stopped both shots that he faced in Boston after replacing Scott Darling in the blowout loss on Saturday. Ward has won seven of his last nine starts while posting a 2.18 GAA, .917 SV% and one shutout, but is in really tough tonight in Tampa Bay.

Mason allowed five goals on 29 shots in the Jets loss in Brooklyn on December 23rd. Connor Hellebuyck started the last six games, but Mason will give him a breather tonight in Buffalo. Mason has gone 2-4-1 with a 2.84 GAA and .917 SV% on the road this season, but you have to at least consider spot-starting him tonight given his matchup.

Claesson has been a healthy scratch for the last two games and four of the last five but he will replace Johnny Oduya (lower-body) tonight vs. the Blackhawks. He has just one goal and one assist in 32 games this season so he bring nothing to the table in terms of fantasy hockey.

The Senators called Ceci questionable on Monday but he put the question marks aside when he took part in this morning’s gameday skate. Ceci has been held pointless in seven straight games and has just eight points (5G / 3A) in 40 games this season.

After being listed as questionable on Monday, Oduya stepped on the ice for the Senators morning skate, only to leave early. He will be scratched tonight which means that Frederik Claesson will be back in on the blueline.

Duchene was listed as questionable on Monday and remains that way as he tries to get over the flu. Duchene missed the morning skate, which isn’t a good sign for his availability but the Senators will see how the afternoon goes. If he can’t play, look for Mark Borowiecki (concussion) to replace him as a seventh defenseman.

Pouliot has played well since joining the Canucks but has been held pointless with a minus-4 rating in his last seven games, so he will take a seat with Alex Biega drawing back in.

Gaunce has just one goal and one assist in 26 games this season and he will come out of the lineup tonight in favour of Nikolay Goldobin.

Biega has been out of the lineup for the last four games but will replace Derrick Pouliot tonight in Washington. Biega has just five assists in 21 games this season.

Goldobin was a healthy scratch in Montreal on Sunday but will replace Brendan Gaunce tonight in Washington. Goldobin has picked up just two goals and two assists (four points) in 12 games this season.

Tanev will miss his second straight game after being hit in the face by a shot in Saturday’s game in Toronto. Tanev did however skate this morning with a full cage on, so he might be ready for Friday’s game in Columbus.