NHL Hockey Player News

Letang suffered a head injury in last night's loss to the Flyers. Derrick Pouliot will return to the lineup with Letang out. He is day-to-day.

Flyers GM Ron Hextall said that Mason is doing better and that he will hopefully start the Flyers first game back on Tuesday vs. the Coyotes. The Flyers have gone 3-3-0 with Mason out of the lineup.

Crawford was given last night vs. Arizona off, presumably to save him for tonight’s game in Pittsburgh. He allowed five goals on 33 shots in a loss to the Stars on Sunday. He comes in having gone 3-4-0 with a 2.89 GAA and .917 SV% in January. He will face an Penguins team who have lost three straight.

Laughton will miss his fourth consecutive game with an upper-body injury that he suffered last Wednesday. There has been very limited updates on Laughton so there is no telling when he will be back. Look for him to return shortly after the All Star break.

Malkin apparently got dinged up in last night’s loss to the Flyers. He did not play after the 15:55 mark of the third period and was not on the ice for the Penguins optional morning skate today. Monitor his status during warmups, which get underway at 7:30 PM ET.

Niemi gave up four goals on 23 shots in the Sharks 4-3 overtime loss to the Flames on Saturday. After going 7-1-1 in December, January hasn’t been kind to Niemi. He is 3-3-1 with a 3.49 GAA and .874 SV% this month. Tonight he will face the Kings, who he is 1-1-0 with a 1.53 GAA and .952 SV% against this season.

Quick allowed two goals on 23 shots in the Kings 2-1 OT loss to the Flames on Monday. Quick and the Kings continue to slide. He has gone 0-2-3 with a 3.74 GAA and .860 SV% in his last six appearances. Tonight Quick will meet the Sharks for the third time this year—he is 1-1-0 with a 3.01 GAA and .898 SV% in the firs two.

Reimer stopped all 18 shots that he faced after replacing Jonathan Bernier in the Leafs’ loss to the Hurricanes on Monday. Tonight he will look to register his first win since December 14th. Reimer has had a ton of success against the Senators in his career—he is 10-2-1 with a 2.06 GAA and .942 SV% in 14 games vs. Ottawa.

Jooris missed five games with an undisclosed injury and serve as a healthy scratch on Monday, but will be back in the lineup tonight in Anaheim. Jooris will centre the top-line with Johnny Gaudreau and Jiri Hudler on his wings. He has 14 points (9G / 5A) in 31 games this season.

Marchand missed the last two games due to a suspension he was handed for slew-footing Derick Brassard of the Rangers last Thursday. Tonight he will get back into the lineup on a line with Patrice Bergeron and Reilly Smith.

Bobrovsky stopped 25 of 26 shots in the Blue Jackets 3-1 win over the Wild on Monday. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Bob, who will likely make his 32nd start of the season tonight. He comes in ranked t-15th in the NHL in Wins (16), 20th in SV% (.915) and 32nd in GAA (2.80).

Whitney, 42, was originally drafted 23rd overall by the Sharks in 1991. He played 22 years with the Sharks, Oilers, Panthers, Blue Jackets, Red Wings, Hurricanes, Coyotes and Stars. He scored 385 goals and 679 assists (1064) in 1330 career NHL games. He had 53 career playoff points (21G / 32A) and won a Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006.

Niemi gave up four goals on 23 shots in the Sharks 4-3 overtime loss to the Flames on Saturday. After going 7-1-1 in December, January hasn’t been kind to Niemi. He is 3-3-1 with a 3.49 GAA and .874 SV% this month. Tonight he will face the Kings, who he is 1-1-0 with a 1.53 GAA and .952 SV% against this season.

Rask made 36 saves on 37 shots in the Bruins 3-1 win over the Stars last night. Rask was excellent last night, like he has been in his last seven starts. In his last seven starts he has gone 5-1-1 with an awesome 1.41 GAA and .954 SV%. He has gone 0-2-1 with a 2.82 GAA and .904 SV% in the second game of back-to-back sets.

Fistric, 28, did not record a point and was a minus-3 in nine games with the Ducks. Fistric is in the first year of a three-year deal, which is likely the reason that he cleared waivers.

Bourque served as a healthy scratch on Saturday, but will be back in the lineup tonight vs. the Flames. He has two goals and four assists in 21 games with the Ducks.

Smith-Pelly has not recorded a point in the last six games and has just 15 points (4G / 11A) in 41 games this season. He will be replaced by former Flame Rene Bourque.

Andersen made 26 saves on 28 shots in the Ducks shootout win over Los Angeles on Saturday. Andersen has won five consecutive starts with a 2.29 GAA and .925 SV%. Tonight he will make his third start of the year against the Flames—he is 1-0-1 with a 2.41 GAA and .906 SV% in the first two meetings.

Lee did not see any playing time during his recall. He likely won’t be recalled now that Mike McKenna is with the Coyotes.

Lessio, 21, has one goal and one assist in nine games with the Coyotes. In Portland he has registered 16 points (9G / 7A) in 26 games.