NHL Hockey Player News

Rittich allowed seven goals on 26 shots in the Flames loss in Vegas last Wednesday. Jon Gillies started the last three games, but Rittich will start on the tail-end of the back-to-back tonight in Colorado. The 25-year-old comes in at 6-2-2 with a 2.76 GAA and .913 SV% on the road this season.

Howard allowed two goals on 38 shots in the Red Wings overtime win in New York on Sunday. Howard won both games of the Red Wings’ back-to-back over the weekend and continued his hot streak vs. the Rangers. Howard was pulled in his first start vs. the Blues, but St. Louis is struggling mightily right now and come in on the tail-end of back-to-back.

Bishop stopped all 38 shots that he faced in the Stars shutout win over the Flames on Tuesday. The win snapped a bit of a ugly stretch for Bishop and the Stars, who will welcome the Lightning to American Airlines Center tonights. The 31-year-old netminder was lit up by his former team earlier in the season, but he is 19-8-1 with a 2.06 GAA and .933 SV% on home-ice.

Dell’s play has slipped a little bit recently but he has been strong for most of the 201-7-18 season. Overall, the 28-year-old is 25-11-4 with a 2.39 GAA and .920 SV% in his 45-game NHL career. He will continue to share the Sharks’ crease with Martin Jones for at least the next two seasons.

Biega has served as a seventh defenseman for the majority of the season, picking up just six assists in 31 games. The Canucks obviously like him as a depth defenseman and will keep him around for two more seasons.

Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on 30 shots in the Lightning’s win over the Maple Leafs on Monday. Vasilevskiy has won three in a row and four of his last five starts while posting a 2.54 GAA and .922 SV%. It’s surprising that Vasilevskiy will get the front-end of the back-to-back, but he’s a must-start vs. the visiting Sabres.

Berube allowed one goal on 43 shots in the Blackhawks win over the Sharks last Friday. It was an outstanding effort from the 26-year-old, who was 7-8-0 with a 2.37 GAA and .920 SV% in 15 games with Rockford (AHL) prior to his call-up. Tonight he will face the Sharks in San Jose—they are 18-9-3 on home-ice this season.

Highmore, 22, was an undrafted free agent that signed with the Blackhawks after five seasons with the Sant John Sea Dogs (QMJHL). In his first AHL season, Highmore has scored 21 goals with 14 assists (35 points) in 56 games. He’ll get a look down the stretch.

Thorburn was a healthy scratch for the last two games but he will draw in for Patrik Berglund tonight vs. the Red Wings. Thorburn is still searching for his first goal of the season—he has just four assists and 33 PIMS in 33 games this season.

The Blues were absolutely blown out in Minnesota last night but Chris Thorburn replacing Berglund will be the only change to the lineup. Berglund has been held pointless in five games, posting a minus-6 rating in that time.

Aston-Reese was scratched from Tuesday’s lineup despite taking part in the morning skate. Aston-Reese will miss an extended period of time, but that’s not a big hit to the Penguins lineup with Tom Kuhnhackl returning last night.

Green is surprisingly still on the Red Wings roster following the trade deadline and tonight he will miss his seventh consecutive game with a neck ailment. The injury is probably what scared some teams away from Green, which is a bit surprising considering he is already nearing a return.

Varlamov allowed a single goal on 32 shots in Colorado’s win over the Canucks on Monday. Varlamov has three wins his last seven appearances with a 2.81 GAA, .920 SV% and one shutout. With Jonathan Bernier and Andrew Hammond both hurt, Varlamov will continue to carry the torch for the Avalanche. He allowed five goals on 29 shots in a 5-1 loss to the Flames over the weekend.

Hutton allowed five goals on 25 shots after replacing Jake Allen in the Blues blowout loss in Minnesota last night. In his last three appearances, Hutton has surrendered 12 goals on 81 shots (.852 SV%) and the Blues come into Wednesday on a seven-game losing streak. Despite the rough stretch, Hutton has a solid matchup with Detroit in town—he is 9-5-0 with a 1.89 GAA and .937 SV% on home ice.

Howard allowed two goals on 38 shots in the Red Wings overtime win in New York on Sunday. Howard won both games of the Red Wings’ back-to-back over the weekend and continued his hot streak vs. the Rangers. Howard was pulled in his first start vs. the Blues, but St. Louis is struggling mightily right now and come in on the tail-end of back-to-back.

Okposo missed Tuesday’s practice to be with his wife and will be replaced by Seth Griffith tonight in Tampa Bay. Okposo will be back in the lineup on Friday.

Reimer allowed seven goals on 34 shots in the Panthers loss in Winnipeg on February 18th. Roberto Luongo started the last five games but Reimer will start the tail-end of the back-to-back tonight vs. the Sabres. Since returning to the Panthers crease, Reimer has gone 2-1-0 with a 5.01 GAA and .854 SV% in three starts. Despite some recent struggles, Reimer does have an intriguing matchup tonight.