Crosby took part in the Penguins morning skate and could return tonight after missed three games with mumps. He skated on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist; a line that is sure to bring a ton of offence. Monitor Crosby’s status during pre game warmups starting at 6:30 PM ET.
Fleury allowed two goals on 30 shots in the Penguins win over the Lightning on Monday. He was not expected to play tonight, but after testing negative for mumps, he will make his 24th start of the season. Fleury has gone 4-0-1 with a 1.78 GAA and .938 SV% in December. He takes on an Avs’ team who have lost five of six.
Lazar, 19, has recorded one goal and six assists in 27 games with the Senators this season. Lazar represented Team Canada last year as well—he recorded three goals and four assists in seven games in the tournament.
Eller was cleared for contact on Wednesday and was in the morning skate, but it remains to be seen if he will return after missing the last four games with an upper-body injury. If Eller is not available, Eric Tangradi will play.
Semin took part in the Hurricanes’ morning skate but will not play tonight vs. the Leafs. Coach Bill Peters is hopeful that Semin will return to the lineup this weekend vs. the Rangers.
Staal missed the skate because of some “soreness”, but he will play tonight vs. the Leafs. Staal has just one goal in his last seven games and 16 points (7G / 9A) in 25 games this season.
Ward allowed four goals on 29 shots in the Hurricanes loss to the Canadiens on Tuesday. Despite losing four in a row with a 2.80 GAA and .883 SV%, the Hurricanes will start Ward again tonight vs. the Maple Leafs. Toronto is red-hot right now and the Canes are clearly struggling, so look elsewhere tonight.
Originally it was Marc-Andre Fleury who was being tested for mumps and Greiss was ready to start tonight vs. Colorado. Well, Fleury is mumps free and now expected to start and Greiss is in isolation as he gets tested for the virus.
This is a crazy situation. Originally Greiss had been the scheduled starter with Fleury being tested for mumps. Fleury's tests came back negative and was cleared to play tonight. Now Greiss is being tested for mumps and is in isolation, which leaves Fleury to start tonight with Jeff Zatkoff as his backup.
Thomas Greiss had been announced as the Penguins starter when Fleury was expected to be out. Now that Fleury has been cleared to play, we will see if this changes the starting goalie situation. Either way this is excellent news for the Penguins.
With Brad Stuart returning to the lineup tonight vs. the Penguins, the Avs had to make a roster move to make room for the blue liner, so Rendulic heads back to Lake Erie.
Stuart has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since November 4th, but will return to the lineup tonight in Pittsburgh. He has yet to record a point and carries a minus-4 rating through 19 games this season. Tonight will be his 1,000th career NHL game.
Pickard allowed three goals on 42 shots in the Avs’ 3-2 OT loss to the Blues on Saturday. With four days off between games, Pickard will start tonight and he will also start both games of the back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday. He makes for an excellent waiver wire addition because he is the clear number-1 net minder with Semyon Varlamov out.
Jaskin, 21, has recorded four goals and 11 assists (15 points) in 17 games with Chicago this season. He has been recalled because Jaden Schwartz is week-to-week with a foot injury.
It is believed that Schwartz suffered the injury while blocking a Drew Doughty shot in the Blues win over the Kings last night. He will be out until after Christmas. The Blues have recalled Dmitrij Jaskin from Chicago (AHL).
Krejci has been sidelined with a lower-body injury since November 18th, but will return to the Bruins lineup tonight. The injury continued to linger and held the playmaking centre out longer than expected, but he should provide a big offensive spark for the B’s. He has 10 points (3G / 7A) in 11 games this season.
Svedberg allowed a single goal on 34 shots in a 2-0 loss to the Kings on December 2nd. After a heavy workload for Tuukka Rask last night, Svedberg will be in goal tonight in Minnesota. It will be the battle of the backups with Niklas Backstrom going for the Wild.
Gibson has been sidelined with a groin injury since October 30th. Since then, the Ducks signed Ilya Bryzgalov to be Frederik Andersen’s backup, which pushes Gibson back to the minors. Whether or not he gets back to the NHL this season will be decided on how he performs in Norfolk and how Bryz does with Anaheim. Regardless, returning to the minors is probably best for the 21-year-olds development.
Backstrom allowed four goals on 38 shots in the Wild’s loss to the Blackhawks last night. He was not the scheduled starter, but with Darcy Kuemper getting sick, he will start both games of the back-to-back set. Backstrom is 5-3-1 with 2.43 GAA and .903 SV% this series. He made 25 saves in a 4-3 win over the Bruins in October.
