Hanzal will miss his second straight game while he deals with a personal matter. The Coyotes’ centre won’t play tonight, but is expected to return on Saturday, so monitor his status leading up to that meeting with the Ducks.
Smith has missed the last seven games with a knee injury, but returned to the ice on Thursday. Despite his return, Smith is likely a few weeks away from returning to the lineup. Look for the Red Wing defenseman to return after the All-Star break.
Bailey has failed to record a point in four games with Ottawa this season. During his time in Binghamton, the 25-year-old has scored 10 goals with five assists (15 points) in 33 games.
Gibson allowed one goal on 28 shots in the Ducks’ win over the Lightning on Tuesday. The 23-year-old netminder has gone 6-1-1 with a 1.36 GAA ad .957 SV% in eight starts in January and tonight he faces the Avalanche for the second time this season. He stopped 33 of 34 shots in 4-1 win in Colorado just last Thursday.
Lundqvist was pulled after he allowed seven goals on 27 shots in the Rangers’ loss to the Stars on Tuesday. Lundqvist has struggled mightily in January, going 2-4-0 with a 4.91 GAA and .841 SV% in five starts and one relief appearance. One of those losses came against the Maple Leafs, who he’ll face again tonight—that evening he allowed four goals on 27 shots in a 4-2 loss.
Domingue stopped all four shots that he faced after replacing Mike Smith in the Coyotes’ loss in Winnipeg last night. Domingue has made two starts this month and has stopped 47 of 50 shots (.940 SV%). Despite a nice couple of games, Domingue has struggled on the road this season, going 2-7-1 with a 4.17 GAA and .873 SV%.
Holtby allowed five goals on 26 shots before being pulled from Monday’s game in Pittsburgh. The game ended up going to overtime, so Holtby wasn’t stuck with the loss—he remains 6-0-0 with a 1.74 GAA, .939 SV% and three shutouts in January. In his first game against the Blues, Holtby turned aside 18 of 21 shots in a 4-3 win back in November.
Mrazek allowed two goals on 25 shots after replacing Jared Coreau in the Red Wings’ miraculous comeback shootout win over the Bruins on Wednesday. Mrazek has struggled this season, but Wednesday’s performance may have been just what he needed to turn things around. In his first start vs. the Sabres, Mrazek allowed four goals on 22 shots in a 4-3 loss.
Darling stopped 39 of 40 shots in the Blackhawks’ 2-1 win over the Hurricanes on January 6th. Corey Crawford has started the last five games, but head coach Joel Quenneville said he wanted to get Darling a start on the father’s trip. The 28-year-old has not faced the Bruins this season, but has gone 4-2-1 with a 2.83 GAA and .901 SV% on the road.
Nilsson was held off of the ice on Thursday because of an illness, which required the Sabres to recall Linus Ullmark from Rochester (AHL). With Nilsson ill, expect Ullmark to remain with the team and backup Robin Lehner on Friday.
Ennis returned to the lineup on Monday, but was scratched in the second half of the back-to-back to ease him back into action. He was back on the first line this morning and heads into Friday with two goals and one assist in 13 games.
Johnson allowed two goals on 22 shots in the Flames’ win over the Panthers on Tuesday. Johnson has won three of his last five starts while posting a 1.83 GAA and .936 SV%. Johnson will take on a Predators team that has won three of their last four and rank 17th in the NHL in goal scoring (2.68 GF/PG).
Claesson has been a healthy scratch for the last four games, but will get back into the lineup tonight in Columbus. Claesson will replace someone who is sick, but the Senators would not reveal who that defenseman is. Claesson has no points and has averaged 10:27 TOI in eight games this season.
Nedeljkovic, 21, played 30 minutes after replacing Cam Ward and stopped all 17 shots he faced in his first taste of the NHL. Nedeljkovic returns to Charlotte where he has gone 5-12-0 with a 3.30 GAA and .884 SV% in 18 games this season.
Leighton went down to get some playing time with Charlotte, because no one but Cam Ward is seeing time in Carolina. Leighton will return as the Hurricanes’ backup on Friday.
Price allowed four goals on 26 shots in the Canadiens’ loss to the Penguins on Wednesday. The 29-year-old has struggled big time this month, going 3-4-0 with a 3.40 GAA and .881 SV% in his first seven starts in January. Tonight he faces the Sabres on home-ice, where he’s gone 15-5-2 with a 2.19 GAA and .926 SV% on the season.
Montoya allowed four goals on 27 shots in the Canadiens’ win in Winnipeg on January 11th. Montoya has won his last three starts while posting a 2.99 GAA and .912 SV%. He’ll start the first game of the Canadiens back-to-back in New Jersey. It will be his 13th start of the season and he comes in with a 5-4-2 record, 3.25 GAA and .896 SV% on the road.
Gunnarsson has been a healthy scratch for the last seven games, but will replace Joel Edmundson in the lineup on Thursday. Gunnarsson has two assists and just 15 shots on goal in 29 games so far this season.
Lehtonen stopped all 12 shots that he faced after he replaced Antti Niemi in the Stars’ win over the Rangers on Tuesday. Lehtonen wasn’t awarded the win on Tuesday and is still 0-2-1 with a 3.73 GAA and .882 SV% in four starts and two relief appearances in January. Tonight he will face an Islanders team that is eighth in the NHL in scoring (2.83 GF/PG).
Ward was pulled after he allowed four goals on 19 shots in the Hurricanes’ loss in Columbus on Tuesday. The loss snapped a four-game losing streak for Ward, who will make his 39th start of the season tonight. Ward comes in ranked 12th in wins (18), tied for 16th in GAA (2.42) and tied for 27th in SV% (.912) in 2016-17.
