Bernier stopped all 26 shots that he faced in the Maple Leafs shutout won over the Kings on Saturday. It was an impressive way for Bernier to record his first win of the season. Bernier has had a brutal year, but maybe Saturday will jump start his season. Despite coming off of a win, he draws a tough matchup against a suddenly surging Avalanche team that has won five in a row.
Tinordi has not appeared in an NHL game since February 26th, 2015, but will make his season debut tonight with Jeff Petry sidelined with an upper-body injury. Tinordi had two assists in six games with St. John’s earlier in the year and has just six assists in 43 career NHL games.
Petry suffered a upper-body injury in Saturday’s loss in Dallas and it will keep him out of Monday’s game in Nashville. With Petry out, Jarred Tinordi will make his season debut. Petry is also questionable for Tuesday’s game in Minnesota and likely won’t play until after the Christmas break.
Tokarski stopped all four shots that he faced after replacing a struggling Mike Condon on Saturday. Without Carey Price, the Canadiens have struggled as of late, but Tokarski will be back in goal in Nashville. Tokarski has gone 1-2-0 with a 2.95 GAA and .893 SV% with the Habs this season—he will face a Predators team that has lost six of nine.
Lehtonen surrendered three goals on 27 shots in the Stars loss to the Flames on Thursday. Lehtonen is 2-1-0 with a 2.86 GAA and .898 SV% in December and tonight he will face the Wild for the second time—he was victorious in the first meeting and he comes in with a 7-0-0 record, 2.00 GAA and .931 SV% on the road this season.
Talbot allowed four goals on 37 shots in the Oilers’ 4-0 shutout loss in Chicago last Thursday. Anders Nilsson struggled again on Saturday, so it will be Talbot tonight vs. the Jets. Talbot has allowed six goals on 86 shots (.930 SV%) in his last two starts. Tonight he will take on a Winnipeg team that is 4-3-0 in December.
Rinne allowed two goals on 22 shots in the Predators win over the Wild on Saturday. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Rinne, who is now 3-4-2 with a 2.46 GAA and .903 SV% in December. Despite his recent struggles, Rinne makes for an excellent start tonight. He will face a Canadiens team that has lost seven of their last eight games.
Davidson was the victim of a hard cross-check in Saturday’s loss in Colorado and it will force him to sit out the Oilers final game before the Christmas break. With Davidson out, the Oilers recalled Mark Fayne, who will play on Monday. Davidson will be reevaluated after the break.
Fayne struggled with the Oilers earlier in the year, so he was sent down to Bakersfield, where he collected one assist in five games. He will be back in the Oilers’ lineup on Monday, paired with Andrej Sekera. He has just one assist in 24 games with Edmonton.
Tokarski stopped all four shots that he faced after replacing a struggling Mike Condon on Saturday. Without Carey Price, the Canadiens have struggled as of late, but look for Tokarski to get back in goal in Nashville. Tokarski has gone 1-2-0 with a 2.95 GAA and .893 SV% with the Habs this season—he will face a Predators team that has lost six of nine.
Allen allowed one goal on 28 shots in the Blues win over the Predators on Thursday. Allen has won four of his last five outings while posting a 1.41 GAA and .946 SV%. After Brian Elliott started on Saturday, the Blues will go back to Allen tonight in Philly. Allen comes in at 6-2-1 with a 2.33 GAA and .927 SV% on the road this season.
Varlamov stopped 39 of 40 shots in Colorado’s win over the Oilers on Saturday. Varlamov has won six straight starts while posting an impressive 0.99 GAA, .970 SV% and one shutout. The 27-year-old has turned things around in a big way, leading all NHL goalies with seven wins in December. Tonight he will go for a career-high seven-game winning steak against the 11-13-7 Maple Leafs.
Kuemper allowed two goals on 31 shots in the Wild’s win over the Canucks last Tuesday. When Devan Dubnyk got hurt, Kuemper impressed, going 2-0-2 with a 1.48 GAA and .938 SV% in four starts. Dubnyk started last night, but it looks like Kuemper will wrap up the Wild’s pre-Christmas schedule tonight against the sliding Canadiens.
Dubnyk allowed three goals on 39 shots in the Wild’s loss in Nashville on Saturday. Dubnyk has gone 1-1-0 with a 2.53 GAA and .919 SV% since returning from a groin injury. Tonight he will make his third consecutive start and his second start against Dallas this season—he allowed three goals on 36 shots in an overtime loss in Dallas on November 14th.
Bourque has missed the last 12 games, but will replace Nick Foligno (undisclosed) in the lineup on Monday. Bourque has recorded just one assist with a minus-5 rating in 15 games this season.
Johnson missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, but will be back in the lineup tonight in Pittsburgh. Johnson has not registered a point and has posted a minus-6 rating in his last five games. With Johnson back in, Kevin Connauton will come out of the lineup.
Foligno will be scratched on Monday because of an undisclosed injury. With Foligno out, Rene Bourque will be back in the Blue Jackets lineup. Foligno’s absence also suggests that Brandon Saad could be back on the top line. Consider Foligno as day-to-day.
Korpisalo made 30 saves on 32 shot attempts in the Blue Jackets win over Philadelphia on Saturday. It was his first win of his NHL career and it was done in impressive fashion. He has posted a 2.94 GAA and .909 SV% in three starts and tonight he will face a Penguins team that will be without Sidney Crosby and that has lost five in a row while averaging just 1.20 goals per game.
