Jokiharju’s rookie season is off to a great start and he was moved to the top power-play unit on Tuesday, but he’s questionable for Thursday’s game vs. the Wild. Keep an eye on his status during Thursday’s morning skate.
Raanta stopped 19 of 20 shots in the Coyotes 1-0 loss to the Ducks on Saturday. Despite stopping 41 of 45 shots (.911 SV%) in his first two starts, Raanta sits at 0-2-0. Raanta should be a strong starting option tonight against a Ducks team that is missing five of their top-9 forwards.
Kesler was surprisingly skating on the Ducks second line in Wednesday’s morning skate and is officially listed as a game-time decision. Kesler has not been medically cleared to play, but that could come later today. Keep an eye on Kesler’s status as the Ducks hit the ice for warmups at 9:30pm ET.
The Red Wings are still waiting for Ericsson to make his season debut and it does not look like it will come until next Monday at the earliest. With Ericsson and Trevor Daley both still out, Libor Sulak and Joe Hicketts will remain on the blueline vs. the Maple Leafs.
Daley was injured early in Monday’s game in Los Angeles and missed Tuesday’s game in Anaheim. The veteran defenseman has been ruled out of Thursday’s game vs. the Maple Leafs and Saturday’s game in Boston. Libor Sulak and Joe Hicketts will remain in the lineup with both Daley and Jonathan Ericsson out.
Kovar signed with the Islanders this summer after spending the last five years in the KHL. Kovar did not make the team out of training camp and was sent to Bridgeport (AHL). Kovar refused to report to Bridgeport, so the Islanders will terminate his contract and he will likely return to the KHL.
Dunn has been featured on the Blues top power-play to start the season, but is expected to sit tomorrow with Joel Edmundson set to make his season debut. With Dunn out, Alex Pietrangelo will take his spot on the top power-play unit.
Edmundson said he wants to get through tomorrow’s morning skate before making a decision but it looks like he will play. Vince Dunn is expected to sit for Edmundson, meaning that Alex Pietrangelo will move to the top power-play and Colton Parayko on the second. Edmundson had 17 points (7G / 10A) in 69 games a season ago.
Dzingel was a game-time decision on Monday, but ended up playing and scoring two goals. He was not on the ice again this morning, so he’s questionable for tonight’s meting with the Flyers. It sounds like it is a very similar situation to Monday and the young winger should be expected to play.
Johnson missed the Lightning’s season opener vs. the Panthers last Saturday but will play on Thursday barring a setback in the morning skate. Johnson is expected to skate on the Lightning’s second line with Yanni Gourde and Brayden Point and should see some time on the power-play as well.
Kronwall missed the first three games of the season but will draw in for Dennis Cholowski (upper-body) tomorrow vs. the Maple Leafs. Kronwall will likely be limited to third pair minutes with some power-play time in his first game back.
Cholowski has been great for the Red Wings so far, scoring one goal with two assists while averaging 22:10 TOI/GM in his first three NHL contests. There’s no word when the rookie defenseman suffered the injury, but he will be replaced by Niklas Kronwall vs. Toronto on Thursday.
Eakin has missed the first three games of the season but will replace Paul Stastny (lower-body) in the lineup tonight vs. the Capitals. Eakin had 11 goals and 16 assists (27 points) in 80 games for Vegas a season ago. He is expected to skate with Ryan Carpenter and Oscar Lindberg tonight.
Stastny suffered a lower-body injury during the third period of the Golden Knights’ loss to the Sabres on Monday. The veteran centre will miss the rest of the road-trip and be re-evaluated when Vegas returns home. Cody Eakin will return to the lineup and make his season debut with Stastny out.
Copley went 15-17-4 with a 2.91 GAA and .896 SV% in 41 starts with the Hershey Bears (AHL) last season. Now that Philipp Grubauer is in Colorado, Copley takes over as the Capitals’ backup and will make his Washington debut tonight in New Jersey. Copley has allowed six goals on 35 shots in two NHL relief appearances.
Holtby surrendered seven goals on 41 shots in the Capitals 7-6 overtime loss in Pittsburgh last Thursday. Holtby started on back-to-back nights, posting a shutout in his first start and then Thursday’s debacle. Tonight he will face the Golden Knights, who have started the season 1-2-0 while averaging just 2.00 goals per game and 3.33 goals against.
Stastny got dumped late in the third period of Monday’s loss to the Sabres and appeared to come up lame. Stastny was cut-down low and didn’t practice on Tuesday, so his status for Wednesday’s game is up in the air. If Stastny is out, Erik Haula is expected to move to centre and Tomas Nosek will play on the second line.
Aberg played 13:47 TOI and was a minus-1 with two PIMS in his Ducks debut but was placed on waivers shortly after. The former second-round pick has had a hard time sticking around in the NHL, so he returns to the AHL where he has 35 goals and 23 assists (58 points) in his last 60 games.
Campbell allowed two goals on 38 shots in the Kings win over the Red Wings on Sunday. Campbell played very well in his first start of the season and will likely be leaned on heavily while Jonathan Quick (lower-body) is on IR. Campbell is 3-0-2 with a 2.25 GAA and .931 SV% in five starts and two relief appearances in his Kings career.
