Rychel played 10:10 and did not record a point in his only game during his most recent call-up. With the addition of Jeremy Morin on Monday and Fedor Tyutin ready to be activated from IR, Rychel has been squeezed back to the AHL.
Morin will skate on the Blue Jackets third line with Nick Foligno and Brian Gibbons. With Morin entering the lineup, Kerby Rychel will come out of the lineup.
Ward surrendered two goals on 27 shots in the Hurricanes loss to the Lightning on Thursday. Ward has lost his last three games with a 2.39 GAA and .892 SV%. Tonight he draws a tough matchup in Montreal. Ward is a rough 3-7-0 on the road this season.
According to coach Bill Peters, McClement is battling gastrointestinal issues and may not be in the lineup tonight. If McClement can’t go expect Jay Harrison will dress and the Hurricanes to go with seven defensemen.
After a two-game absence over the weekend, DeKeyser will be back in the lineup tonight vs. the Blue Jackets. DeKeyser will skate with Kyle Qunicey on the second pairing. He has one goal and 10 assists in 29 games this season.
Head coach Mike Babcock said on Monday that he expected to have Abdelkader back in the lineup tonight and he will return after missing the last seven games with a separated shoulder. Abdelkader will skate on the Red Wings’ top line with Henrik Zetterberg and Gustav Nyquist. He has 15 points (7G / 8A) in 24 games this season.
Luongo stopped 29 of 31 shots in the Panthers 3-2 shootout win over the Red Wings on Friday. He was given Saturday night off, but he will be back in tonight vs.the Capitals. Luongo enters play tonight having won three of five with a 2.51 GAA and .912 SV%.
Barkov has missed the last six games with a hand injury that he suffered on December 1st. With Barkov returning, Vincent Trochek is expected to take a seat and could be headed back to San Antonio. Barkov has had a slow start, posting just two goals and two assists in 19 games.
Upshall has been out of the lineup since November 24th with an ankle injury. With Upshall returning, Brandon Pirri is expected to come out of the lineup. Upshall has seven points (3G / 4A) in 17 games this season.
Luongo stopped 29 of 31 shots in the Panthers 3-2 shootout win over the Red Wings on Friday. He was given Saturday night off, but it looks like he will be back in tonight vs.the Capitals. Luongo enters play tonight having won three of five with a 2.51 GAA and .912 SV%.
This was foreshadowed by Franzen missing Monday’s practice and this morning’s game day skate. GM Ken Holland confirmed that he will not play tonight and Daniel Cleary will remain in the lineup.
Weiss will miss his second straight game tonight. They have placed him on IR to make room for Xavier Ouellet to stay with the club. There is still no timetable for Weiss’ return, but his placement on IR means he will miss at least tonight’s game, but he is eligible to return on Thursday.
Tatar missed Monday's practice with an illness, but he is back on the ice for the this morning's gameday skate, so he should be good to go tonight vs. the Blue Jackets.
Franzen missed Monday’s practice and is not on the ice this morning, which puts his status for tonight’s game in jeopardy. Expect an update from coach Mike Babcock following the morning skate. If he can not go, Daniel Cleary will remain in the lineup.
Bernier allowed one goal on 28 shots in the Leafs 4-1 win over the Red Wings on Saturday. He has won his last three starts with a 1.34 GAA and .963 SV%. Bernier has been red-hot as of late, winning seven of his last nine outings entering play tonight. Tonight he will take on a Ducks team who have won seven in a row.
Mason stopped 25 of 26 shots in the Flyers 5-1 blowout of the Hurricanes on Saturday. Mason is off to a 2-1-2 start to December—he has posted a 2.17 GAA and .926 SV% over that span. Tonight he draws a tough matchup with the Lightning in town, but he catches a break with Ben Bishop sidelined with a lower-body injury.
Nordstrom, 22, registered two assists in 10 games with the Blackhawks this season. In 17 games with Rockford he had eight goals and five assists (13 points). The trading of Jeremy Morin moves Nordstrom up one-spot on the depth chart.
Weber is expected to be out until after Christmas after having his knee scoped last week. They placed him on IR to make room to recall Mikhail Grigorenko from Rochester.
Grigorenko, 20, has recorded seven goals and 12 assists (19 points) in 27 games with Rochester this season. He has struggled to find his way in his first two attempts to stick with the Sabres, recording just eight points (3G / 5A) in 43 games. The 2012 first rounder (12th overall) will look to impress during his recall so he doesn’t go back to the minors.
Ben Bishop suffered a lower-body injury in Monday’s loss to the Penguins, so Vasilevskiy, 20, has been recalled and is expected to back-up Evgeni Nabokov tonight. Vasilevskiy was the 19th overall pick in 2012 and he has gone 8-3-3 with a 2.34 GAA and .918 SV% with Syracuse—this is his first season in North America.
