Palmieri suffered a shoulder injury in the Ducks loss to the Maple Leafs last night. He has been sent back to Anaheim and will miss the remaining two games of the Ducks current road trip. Emerson Etem has been recalled and will skate in Palmieri’s spot on the second line.
Grigorenko was a minus-1 in 16:42 in his season debut on Tuesday. The Sabres are off until Saturday, so there is a good chance that Torrey Mitchell will be ready to return to the lineup. If not, expect Grigorenko to be recalled again.
Elias has missed the last five games with a groin injury, but will be back in the lineup tonight vs. the Senators. Elias will skate on the second line with Travis Zajac and Martin Havlat. He has 11 points (3G / 9A) in 26 games this season.
Schneider allowed four goals on 33 shots in the Devils’ loss to the Stars on Saturday. He was surprisingly given Monday night off, but will be back in goal tonight vs. the Senators. Schneider is 2-4-0 with a 2.67 GAA and .921 SV% through the first half of December.
Larsson has missed the last seven games with the mumps virus, but he is on the ice this morning. Despite taking part in the morning skate, Larsson is skating on the fourth pair so he is not expected to be in the lineup tonight vs. the Senators.
Reinhart had one assist and a plus-2 rating in five games during his recall. His return to the AHL suggests that either Johnny Boychuk or Travis Hamonic will be ready to go on Friday in Detroit.
Gormley has been sidelined with a lower-body injury since November 16th. He heads back to the AHL to get back up to speed, but could be back with the Coyotes in the near future. He had one goal in six games before getting hurt.
Darling was great during his call-up. He started four straight games, going 3-1-0 with a 1.97 GAA and .939 SV%. Antti Raanta started the last two and Corey Crawford is on the verge of returning to the lineup, so Darling heads back to the AHL for the time being.
Head coach Mike Yeo is expected to address the media at 6 PM ET, so we should find out who his starter is then.
Darcy Kuemper was the scheduled starter last night, but Backstrom ended up getting the start because Kuemper came down with an illness. Backstrom allowed four goals on 38 shots in the loss and likely won’t start on Wednesday like originally expected. John Curry was reportedly pulled off of the ice with a 4-1 lead last night, so it looks like he will be on his way to Minnesota for tonight’s game. We will know at 6 PM ET.
Kuemper was scheduled to start last night vs. Chicago, but ended up serving as the backup because he was sick. Michael Russo from the Minnesota Star Tribune said that Kuemper looks like he got “hit by a bus” so he must not be doing very well. He is not expected to be available on Wednesday vs. Boston.
Quick allowed three goals on 31 shots in the Kings shootout loss to the Maple Leafs on Monday. Quick has lost three of his last four starts with a 2.23 GAA and .908 SV%. Quick will make his second start of the year vs. St. Louis. In their first meeting, Quick was excellent he posted a 43-save shutout in a 1-0 shootout win.
Rask stopped 29 of 31 shot attempts in the Bruins shootout loss to the Senators on Saturday afternoon. Rask has dropped four of his last five starts with a 3.37 GAA and .887 SV%. Tonight he draws a tough matchup in Nashville, but the goaltending matchup between Rask vs. Rinne should be excellent.
Gudas will miss his third consecutive game with a stomach virus. He is considered day-to-day.
Drouin has been in and out of the lineup recently and has only averaged 12:58 TOI in 23 games this season. He scored his second goal of the year last night and will bump up to the top line with Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan.
Vasilevskiy will make his NHL debut tonight vs. the Flyers. The 20-year-old net minder was the 19th overall pick in the 2012 draft and he is one of the NHL’s top prospects. He has gone 8-3-3 with a 2.34 GAA and .918 SV% with Syracuse (AHL) this season.
Expect Joakim Lindstrom to be in the lineup for Oshie. He is expected to be back with the team on Thursday vs. the Kings.
Hunwick has served as a healthy scratch for the last three games, but he will be back in the lineup tonight vs. the Flames. He has seven assists in 23 games this season.
Coach Hartley said that he has not decided on who will play on the fourth line tonight, but based on the line rushes this morning, it looks like Brandon Bollig will be in and Raymond will be out. Consider him a game-time decision.
Grigorenko, 20, has recorded seven goals and 12 assists (19 points) in 27 games with the Rochester Americans this season. Grigorenko will centre Drew Stafford and Nicolas Deslauriers on the Sabres’ third line vs. the Jets.