McDonagh has already been ruled out for the rest of the regular season, but it doesn’t look like he will be ready for the start of the playoffs as he heals a small fracture. He suffered the injury while blocking a shot in Columbus on Monday.
Rinne was pulled after allowing four goals on 29 shots in the Predators loss in Pittsburgh last Thursday. Carter Hutton started on Saturday, but it looks like they’ll come back with Rinne tonight. The Finnish netminder has really struggled recently, losing three straight, being pulled twice and posting a 5.39 GAA and .839 SV%.
Vasilevskiy stopped all 13 shots that he faced after replacing Ben Bishop in the Lightning’s loss in Brooklyn last night. With Bishop struggling last night, Vasilevskiy will start tonight in New York. Vasilevskiy has gone 5-6-0 wit ha 2.55 GAA and .917 SV% on the road this year.
Rask was pulled after allowing four goals on 22 shots in the Bruins loss in Chicago on Sunday. Rask has struggled at the wrong time for the Bruins, losing six of his last eight starts. Tonight he faces a Hurricanes team that he is 1-0-1 with a 1.98 GAA and .941 SV% against this season.
Lundqvist allowed two goals on 29 shots in the Rangers win in Columbus last night. Despite starting last night, the Rangers will go to him again tonight as the Rangers try to stay ahead of the Islanders for third in the Metropolitan Division. The 34-year-old has gone 1-1-0 witha 2.01 GAA and .920 SV% in two starts vs. Tampa Bay.
Gibson, 23, appeared in one NHL game this season, stopping 16 of 17 shots in a relief effort back in January. The former second round pick (2011) has gone 19-11-6 with a 2.70 GAA and .909 SV% in 42 games with Bridgeport (AHL) this season. He will get thrown to the wolves tonight when he faces the NHL’s top ranked team in Washington.
Hutchinson allowed two goals on 19 shots in the Jets loss to the Senators last Wednesday. Hutchinson has lost three straight starts while posting a 2.64 GAA and .901 SV%. Tonight he will face the Ducks for the third time this season—he is 0-1-1 with a 3.40 GAA and .897 SV% in the first two meetings this season.
Andersen will miss his third straight game with a concussion, but the Ducks are expecting to have him back before the end of the regular season. Andersen will not back-up on Tuesday, those duties will be left up to Anton Khudobin.
Despres has missed the last six games with an undisclosed injury, but is set to return tonight vs. the Jets. Despres has battled injuries all season-long, but it appears he is healthy heading into the most important part of the year. Korbinian Holzer is expected to be the Ducks’ healthy scratch with Despres back in.
Tierney is dealing with some “bumps and bruises” so he will be replaced by Michael Haley in the lineup on Tuesday. Tierney has 20 points (7G / 13A) in 77 games this season and is listed as day-to-day.
Gudbranson took a hit to the head last night, so the immediate concern is that he may have suffered a concussion. He missed eight games with a concussion earlier in the season. Alex Petrovic will replace him in the lineup tonight in Montreal.
