Svedberg was pulled after he allowed three goals on 12 shots in the Bruins loss to the Blue Jackets on December 27th. Tuukka Rask started the last five games, but it will be Svedberg tonight vs. the Devils. He is 4-5-0 with a 2.46 GAA and .918 SV% on the year.
Coach Claude Julien does not think that Eriksson’s injury is something that is going to keep him out long-term. He will be replaced by David Pastrnak tonight. Monitor his status leading up to Saturday’s game.
Lehtonen allowed five goals on 28 shots in Sunday’s OT loss to Chicago. The loss snapped a four game winning streak for Lehtonen, who was given Tuesday night off, but will be back in goal tonight. Lehtonen has gone 8-3-1 on the road this year, despite posting a less than stellar 2.95 GAA and .910 SV%.
Rinne allowed two goals on 25 shots in the Predators 3-2 victory over the Hurricanes on Tuesday. It was a nice bounce-back game for Rinne, who gave up six against the Kings. Rinne has gone 7-0-1 with a 2.81 GAA and .906 SV% in his last eight starts. He will make his third start of the season vs. Dallas—he is 2-0-0 with a 1.50 GAA and .943 SV% in the first two.
Bernier allowed five goals on 25 shots in the Maple Leafs 6-2 loss to the Capitals on Wednesday. He is 0-2-0 with a 4.08 GAA and .852 SV% in his first two starts in 2015. He will look to get into the win column tonight vs. Columbus—he made 28 saves in a 4-1 win in his first start vs. the Blue Jackets.
Copley, 22, has gone 6-3-1 with a 2.00 GAA and .921 SV% in 11 games with Hershey (AHL) this season. Justin Peters will go down to Hershey on a conditioning stint tomorrow and Copley is the most likely candidate to be recalled. He will likely backup Braden Holtby vs. Detroit on Saturday.
Braden Holtby will make his 23rd straight appearance tonight, which means that Peters has not started a game since November 29th vs. the Maple Leafs. He will start two games for Hershey (AHL) this weekend before returning to the team next week. That means Holtby will start his 24th straight on Saturday.
Holtby turned aside 31 of 33 shots in the Capitals win over the Maple Leafs last night. That is three straight wins while posting a 2.34 GAA and .930 SV%. Tonight will be his 17th straight start, he has gone 11-2-3 with a 2.17 GAA and .929 SV% in the previous 16.
Kopecky has missed the last four games with an undisclosed injury, but will be back tonight in Vancouver. To make room for the 32-year-old forward, Brandon Pirri will come out of the lineup.
Fleischmann missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury, but will be back in the lineup tonight in Vancouver. Fleischmann will replace Vincent Trocheck.
Gudbranson, who was back at practice earlier this week, will miss his third straight game with an upper-body injury. With Gudbranson out, Shane O’Brien will remain in the lineup.
Methot has only played in two games this season, but will play in his first game since December 6th tonight vs. the Avlanche. The Senators said who he would replace will be a game-time decision but it will likely be Chris Philips or Patrick Wiercioch.
Head coach Willie Desjardins would not confirm if Vrbata would be back in the lineup tonight, but Vrbata did not hesitate to say that he will play after missing Tuesday’s game. Vrbata is expected to skate on the second line with Nick Bonino and Chris Higgins—Vrbata has goals in three consecutive games entering play tonight.
Salomaki, 21, was a second round pick (52nd overall) of the Predators in 2011. The young forward had 50 points (20G / 30A) and 83 PIMS in 75 games in his first year in North America. In his second year with Milwaukee he has five goals and 11 assists (16 points) in 29 games. He will make his NHL debut on the Predators third line with fellow Finland native Olli Jokinen and Swede Calle Jarnkrok.
Holland has missed the last three games and it sounds like he will miss at least the next five with an upper-body injury.
Brittain got to travel and practice with the team for the early part of the week while Al Montoya was with his wife during the birth of their child.
Montoya had been away from the team to be with his wife for the birth of their child, but he returned just in time to serve as Roberto Luongo’s backup tonight.
Richardson left Tuesday’s game early and did not return, but he was on the ice for the Canucks optional morning skate and should play tonight vs. the Panthers. He has eight goals and 11 assists in 38 games this season. Expect Linden Vey to come out of the lineup.
Jets head coach Paul Maurice said it will be months before Clitsome can start skating again, meaning that his season is likely over. However, Maurice is confident that Clitsome will eventually be able to resume his career.
Bogosian, who has missed the last 14 games, will be back in the lineup tonight vs. Arizona. He will be paired with Jay Harrison for the first time this season. Harrison was acquired while Bogosian was on IR. Bogo has eight assists in 25 games.
