Grossmann has missed the last seven games with a lower-body injury, but skated among the regulars in Tuesday’s practice which suggests that he will play on Wednesday vs. the Ducks. Grossmann has just two goals and one assists in 13 games this season.
Smith missed Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury, but will be available to play tonight vs. the Ducks. Smith has won three of his last four starts while posting a 2.50 GAA and .915 SV%.
Samuelson had five shots and two penalty minutes while averaging 15:51 TOI in three games with the Coyotes during his call-up. He heads back to the AHL with Nicklas Grossmann (lower-body) set to return on Wednesday.
Domingue was recalled to back-up Anders Lindback while Mike Smith was out, but Smith is available for Wednesday’s game, so Domingue heads back to Springfield.
Jeffrey had one assist in his only game with the Coyotes this season. Jeffrey has dominated the AHL and deserved to be back with the big club—he has posted seven goals and 11 assists (18 points) in 16 games with Springfield. Jeffrey could be back in the lineup on Wednesday.
Nilsson allowed one goal on 30 shots in the Oilers 1-0 loss in Washington on Monday. Nilsson’s teammates couldn’t find a way to get the puck past Braden Holtby at the other end, but it is a positive sign that he has allowed just two goals on 50 shots (.960 SV%) in his last two starts. Tonight he starts in Carolina—he is 2-3-0 with a 2.39 GAA and .931 SV% on the road.
Smid has been a healthy scratch in the last five games and has only appeared in four games this season and has only averaged 9:55 TOI per night. Smid has fallen behind Deryk Engelland on the depth chart and will go to Stockton for a maximum of two weeks to get back up to speed.
Allen allowed one goal on 25 shots in the Blues’ 2-1 win in Buffalo on Monday. It was a strong matchup and Allen did what he was supposed to do, earning his 10th win of the season. Allen has been great as of late, going 6-2-1 with a 1.97 GAA and .933 SV% in the month of November. Tonight he will face the Pens for the first time this year—he is 5-2-0 with a 2.00 GAA and .935 SV% on the road.
Tanguay has been out since November 6th with a knee injury, but he was back on the ice with a small group of teammates on Tuesday. Tanguay was never given a definitive timetable to return, he was simply expected to miss “an extended period” of time. Tanguay’’s return to the ice is obviously a positive sign, but don’t expect to see him back in the lineup until December.
Varlamov made 20 saves on 21 shots in a win his return to the crease on Monday. Varlamov was struggling mightily before he got hurt and maybe some time off was just what he needed. Obviously one start doesn’t mean he is back and he will face a much stiffer test tonight with the Senators in town. Ottawa has won three in a row and have outscored their opponents 14-4 over that span.
Crawford allowed five goals on 19 shots in last Saturday’s 6-3 loss in Vancouver. The Blackhawks road trip continues tonight in San Jose and Crawford comes in at 4-3-1 with a 3.53 GAA and .883 SV% in the month of November. It has been a struggle recently and tonight he faces a red-hot Sharks team and Crawford has been terrible on the road—3-4-0 with a 3.33 GAA and .893 SV% this season.
Dubnyk stopped all 23 shots that he faced in the Wild’s 4-0 shutout win over the Predators on Saturday. It was a nice way to end a three-game losing skid for Dubnyk, who will start his 18th game of the season tonight. Dubnyk makes for a good start tonight vs. the Canucks at home, where he is 8-1-0 with a 1.90 GAA and .928 SV%.
Anderson allowed four goals on 37 shots in the Senators 7-4 win in Dallas last night. The Sens were up 5-1 and then Anderson got a little leaky, but either way, he registered his ninth win of the year. With Andrew Hammond (concussion) still out, Anderson will start again tonight in Colorado. The matchup isn’t that intimidating, but starting on back-to-back nights after traveling from Dallas to Colorado is frightening.
Lehtonen entered Tuesday’s game in relief of Antti Niemi but only lasted 8:32 before being forced from the game after colliding with John Klingberg. Niemi struggled big time last night and Lehtonen has been great this season, so this would be a tough loss for the NHL leading Stars to handle. Expect an update on Wednesday.
Niemi stopped all 22 shots that he faced in the Stars shutout win over the Sabres on Saturday. Niemi has won each of his last two starts while stopping 46 of 47 shots (.979 SV%). Niemi’s had an inconsistent season so far, but it has resulted in an 8-3-0 record, 2.41 GAA and .917 SV%. Tonight he will face a Senators team that has gone 5-1-3 while averaging 2.89 goals per game in November.
Lindholm missed Saturday’s game with a minor upper-body injury, but will be back in the lineup tonight vs. the Flames. Lindholm has enjoyed a solid start to the year, having posting two goals, four assists and 43 shots on goal in 20 games.
Elias has missed the first 20 games of the season, but skated on the Devils third line on Tuesday and said he could play on Wednesday vs. the Blue Jackets. Monitor his status during the morning skate, but the veteran winger will provide some extra offence for a team that ranks 22nd in the NHL in scoring.
Schneider allowed two goals on 38 shots in the Devils win in Vancouver on Sunday. If Schneider wasn’t already considered one of the best goalies in the NHL before this season, he is now. With a mediocre team in front of him, Schneider has gone 10-5-1 with a 2.05 GAA and .928 SV% in 16 starts this season. He is as dependable of a fantasy netminder as you will find, but will be in tough tonight vs. a surging Blue Jackets team.
Hudler was listed as questionable after Monday’s practice, but he will sit tonight, which means that Mason Raymond will continue to skate on the Flames’ top line. After tonight the Flames are off until Friday, so look for Hudler to play then.
Kane missed Tuesday’s practice and the Sabres have listed him as day-to-day. Kane has played just three games since returning from a knee injury and at this time there is no word whether or not he re-aggravated that injury. He is in danger of missing Wednesday’s game, but monitor his status during the morning skate.
