NHL Hockey Player News

Hofer gave up three goals on 37 shots in the Blues' loss to the Avalanche on Tuesday. Despite the loss, it was another strong outing for Hofer, who is 9-2-2 while ranking second in GAA (1.82) and first in SV% (.941) since the Olympic break. He's a must-start on Saturday against a Blackhawks team that has lost seven of their last eight games and nine of their last 11.

Heiskanen suffered a lower-body injury vs. the Wild on Thursday and will be shut down for the rest of the regular season. The Stars are hopeful that he'll be ready for Game 1 of the postseason.

Hunt will play for the first time since March 1st, replacing Jared Spurgeon, who is one of three regulars getting the night off. Hunt has five assists in 29 games this season and no goals in 42 career NHL games.

Sturm has been scratched for eight straight games, but he will play Saturday with Joel Eriksson Ek getting the night off. Sturm has picked up just 11 points (5G / 6A) in 47 games this season, playing primarily in a fourth line role.

Brink was a healthy scratch in Dallas on Thursday but will replace Mats Zuccarello in the lineup on Saturday. Brink has picked up two goals and two assists (four points) in 10 games since being acquired by the Wild.

Spurgeon will be one of three players sitting out Saturday's game in Nashville. Daemon Hunt will replace Spurgeon in the lineup and skate wth Jeff Petry at 5v5.

Zuccarello will be one of three players sitting out Saturday's game in Nashville. Bobby Brink will replace Zuccarello in the lineup, but Vladimir Tarasenko will replace him on the first line.

Eriksson Ek will be one of three players sitting out Saturday's game in Nashville. Nico Sturm will replace Eriksson Ek in the lineup, but Danila Yurov will replace him on the second line.

Joseph has been a healthy scratch for the last three games but he'll replace Jeff Malott (undisclosed) in the lineup on Saturday. Joseph has not registered a point in his first five games with the Kings.

Oettinger allowed four goals on 31 shots in the Stars' win over the Wild on Thursday. Oettinger comes into Saturday's game riding a three-game winining streak, allowing seven goals on 73 shots (.904 SV%). The Stars are still playing for home-ice advantage in Round 1 vs. the Wild, so Oettinger should be a reliable start on Saturday vs. the Rangers as -181 home favourites.

Wallstedt allowed two goals on 27 shots in the Wild's win over the Kraken on Tuesday. Wallstedt hasn't been the most consistent this season, but he's played very well since the start of March, going 3-2-2 with a clean 1.96 GAA and .929 SV%--those splits both rank third in the NHL over that time. Tonight he'll face a desperate Nashville team who have lost five of their last eight games.

Lankinen has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury but will start Saturday in San Jose. Lankinen has giving up three-plus goals in five straight games, going 1-3-0 with an ugly .869 SV%. One of those games was against the Sharks, who he'll face again tonight. He played just 5:55 and gave up three goals on six shots in that game.

Ingram allowed two goals on 10 shots before leaving Wednesday's game in San Jose with an injury. Despite getting banged up a few days ago, Ingram will start Saturday in Los Angeles. Ingram has been the better of the two goalies as of late, coming into Saturday at 4-1-0 with a .909 SV% in his last five starts.

Forsberg stopped 24 of 25 shots in the Kings win over the Canucks on Thursday. Forsberg has emerged as the Kings' No.1 netminder at a crucial time of year, and comes into Saturday's game having won three in a row and stopping 87 of the last 91 shots (.956 SV%) that he's faced. He'll look to stay hot against an Oilers team that is without Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Jason Dickinson. The Kings are -116 home favourites.

Gudas has missed the last five games with a lower-body injury, but was on the ice for Saturday's practice and will be a game-time decision on Sunday. The Ducks went 1-4-0 in those five games without Gudas.