NHL Hockey Player News

Schwartz was expected to miss the entire month of October, but it looks like Schwartz could return earlier than expected. Monitor Schwartz’s status as the week progresses.

Craig Anderson started the first two games of the season, but it looks like they will turn to Andrew Hammond in Detroit. Hammond has three career appearances against the Red Wings (two starts, one relief) and has gone 2-0-0 with a 0.78 GAA and .966 SV%. Hammond gets the first game of the back-to-back and could be a sneaky spot-start against a struggling Red Wings team.

Hellebuyck gave up four goals on 27 shots in the Jets’ overtime win over the Hurricanes on Thursday. Michael Hutchinson started Saturday, but it looks like they will go back to Hellebuyck tonight vs. the Bruins. The Jets are the worst possession team in the NHL through two games, which doesn’t bode well for Hellebuyck on Monday.

McIlrath was a healthy scratch in the first two games of the season, but with Daniel Girardi out of the lineup with a groin injury, McIlrath will step in. The 24-year-old had two goals and two assists (four points) in 34 games last year.

Fleury allowed two goals on 36 shots in the Penguins win over the Ducks on Saturday. Fleury is off to a great start to the year, winning each of his first two starts while stopping 73 of 77 shots (.948 SV%). Tonight he will face an Avalanche team that beat the Stars 6-5 in their season opener on Saturday.

Fleury allowed two goals on 36 shots in the Penguins win over the Ducks on Saturday. Fleury is off to a great start to the year, winning each of his first two starts while stopping 73 of 77 shots (.948 SV%). Tonight he will face an Avalanche team that beat the Stars 6-5 in their season opener on Saturday.

Henrik Lundqvist started the first two games of the season, but the Rangers will turn to Raanta tonight vs. San Jose. Raanta was one of the best backups in the NHL last year, going 11-6-2 with a 2.24 GAA and .919 SV%. Raanta’s first start of 2015-16 also came at home vs. San Jose—he stopped all 22 shots that he faced in a 4-0 shutout win.

Henrik Lundqvist started the first two games of the season, but it looks like they will turn to Raanta tonight vs. San Jose. Raanta was one of the best backups in the NHL last year, going 11-6-2 with a 2.24 GAA and .919 SV%. Raanta’s first start of 2015-16 also came at home vs. San Jose—he stopped all 22 shots that he faced in a 4-0 shutout win.

Mrazek allowed three goals on 37 shots in the Red Wings’ 4-1 loss in Florida on Saturday. Mrazek has faced an average of 36 shots per game and has posted a 4.06 GAA and .889 SV% in his first two starts. Mrazek’s numbers don’t tell the whole story. Detroit has left him out to dry and if it weren’t for Mrazek, the Lightning and Panthers would have had eight goals a piece.

Buchnevich has recorded one assist and four shots on goal while averaging 14:52 TOI in his first two career NHL games. With the rookie out, Rick Nash is expected to move into the top-6, Jesper Fast to the third line and Josh Jooris is expected to make his Rangers debut. Buchnevich is listed as day-to-day.

Girardi is listed as day-to-day with a groin strain that he suffered on Saturday in St. Louis. It was originally called a hip flexor injury, but the Rangers announced this morning that he is dealing with a groin injury. With Girardi out, look for Dylan McIlrath to make his season debut.

Gibson allowed four goals on 20 shots in the Ducks’ season opening loss. Jonathan Bernier started last night in Pittsburgh, so look for Gibson to go tonight vs. the Islanders. The Ducks are off to an ugly 0-2-0 start to the season, but so are the Isles, so something has to give tonight. Gibson was 4-8-2 with a 2.74 GAA and .896 SV% vs. the Eastern Conference last season.

Okposo missed the season opener with a bruised knee, but will be in the lineup tonight in Edmonton. Okposo is expected to make his debut on the top line with Sam Reinhart and Ryan O’Reilly. Okposo had 22 goals and 42 assists (64 points) in 79 games last year.

Kulikov missed the Sabres’ season opener, but will be in the lineup when they take on the Oilers tonight. Kulikov will take Casey Nelson’s spot in the lineup and is expected to play on the third pairing with Cody Franson. The 25-year-old had one goal and 16 assists (17 points) in 74 games a season ago.

Beauvillier had one assist in 10:52 in his NHL debut on Thursday, but was a healthy scratch in last night’s game vs. the Capitals. With Shane Prince getting injured and going on IR, Beauvillier will re-enter the lineup on Sunday.

Quine sat out of the first two games of the season but will replace Mathew Barzal in the lineup on Sunday. Quine has one goal in two career NHL games and had 48 points (19G / 29A) in 56 AHL games last season.

Barzal played 10:10 during his NHL debut on Saturday, but he will come out of the lineup in favour of Alan Quine on Sunday.

Ryan Miller started the Canucks’ season opener last night, so Markstrom will start tonight as the Canucks host the Hurricanes. The 26-year-old had a nice 2015-16 season, going 13-14-4 with a 2.73 GAA and .915 SV%, but he will need to be better than that if he want to surpass Miller as the starter in Vancouver.

Prince played just 9:27 on Saturday before leaving the game with a lower-body injury. The Islanders wasted no time moving him to IR which indicates he will miss at least one week. Either Anthony Beauvillier or Alan Quine will replace Prince on Sunday.