NHL Hockey Player News

Bachman did not see any action during his recall. With Viktor Fasth ready to return from a groin injury, Bachman is no longer needed as Ben Scrivens back-up.

Gazdic missed the entire preseason while he was recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. He has been medically cleared to play, so he heads to the AHL where he will get back up to speed before returning to the Oilers. He is eligible to stay with OKC for a maximum of two weeks.

Fasth has been out since October 14th due to a groin injury he suffered vs. the Kings. He has been cleared to play, but his absence has him firmly behind Ben Scrivens, who is 4-1-0 with a .928 SV% in his last five starts. Look for Scrivens to start Saturday vs. Vancouver, but Fasth should make his return next week during a back-to-back vs. Boston and Buffalo on Thursday and Friday.

Miller has been sidelined with a dislocated shoulder since October 18th, but is progressing well according to Claude Julien. The Bruins blueline is without Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara tonight, so getting Miller back on the ice is important for the B's.

Varlamov stopped 49 of 51 shots in the Avalanche's 3-2 shootout loss to the Sharks on Tuesday. Despite averaging 33.8 saves and posting a .933 SV% in his last five starts Varlamov is 1-1-3 over that stretch. Besides a seven goal explosion vs. the Canucks, the Avs have not scored in front of Varly so far, but that could change tonight against an Isles team averaging 3.44 goals against per game.

Maroon's original timetable was four weeks, but he is coming along better than expected which means he could potentially be back by next week. With Dany Heatley back and Matt Beleskey playing well, the Ducks likely won't rush Maroon, but sounds like he will be joining them in practice shortly.

Booth took a spin on the ice this morning for the first time since he fractured his foot in late September. His original timetable was four weeks and he is already past that mark. The Leafs later said it would be more like six weeks, but by the sounds of coach Carlyle's comments, it could be even longer than that.

Dwyer has missed the last six games with a lower-body injury he suffered on October 11th vs. the Islanders. He took regular line rushes on the Hurricanes' fourth line which is a good sign he will be back on Saturday. Head coach Bill Peters said he would be "shocked" if he isn't in the lineup vs. the Coyotes.

Gerbe was on the ice for Hurricanes practice this morning and took line rushes in Jiri Tluty's spot on the second line. Likely not an indication of where he will play when he returns, but coach Bill Peters said he would be shocked if Gerbe can't play this weekend after a four-game absence.

Johnson allowed five goals on 31 shots but came away with the win against the Stars on Saturday. After a rough showing by Jaroslav Halak on Tuesday, Johnson will be back between the pipes on Thursday in Colorado. It will be an interesting battle between a team who can't keep the puck our of their net vs. a team struggling to score.

Hamonic has missed the last three games and was not expected to play tonight, but his availability for the morning skate suggests that he could suit up tonight. Even if he doesn't it is a good sign that he is close.

Briere has two goals and one assist in 10 games this season. He played a season-low 6:31 on Tuesday and will be replaced by Dennis Everberg tonight vs. the Islanders.

Gibson stopped all 38 shots that he faced in the Ducks 1-0 win over the Blackhawks on Tuesday. It was an excellent game for the young netminder who has now won back-to-back starts while stopping 54 of 55 shots (.982 SV%). He should be safe to deploy tonight vs. a Blues team without Backes, Stastny or Oshie.

Niemi allowed two goals on 33 shots in a shootout win over the Avalanche on Tuesday. It was his second straight win which has earned him a third consecutive start tonight in Minnesota. It is not a great matchup given the Wild are averaging 3.38 goals per game, but Niemi is hot right now so he might be a better option than your other netminders.

Foligno was on the ice for the Blue Jackets practice this morning and took line rushes, which is a good sign that he could be available on Friday. This would be rather impressive considering he was stretchered off of the ice less than a week ago. His return would definitely help an extremely depleted Blue Jackets lineup.

Coach Maclean would not elaborate on why Boroweicki will not play tonight, but Patrick Wiercioch will enter the lineup for the the unavailable defenseman.

Weiss' conditioning stint did not last very long… He will head back to Detroit and likely be placed on injured reserve to make room for Johan Franzen who is set to be back this weekend. Weiss can not stay healthy and should be considered in any fantasy format until he can play in consecutive games.

Heatley made his Ducks debut on Tuesday and played just 13:26 with one shot on goal. In practice this morning he skated with Ryan Kesler and Devante-Smith Pelly while Matt Beleskey skated with Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf. It still is not a bad line, but his production would likely be higher on the top-line.

After just one game the Ducks have already moved Dany Heatley off of the top-line and replaced him with Beleskey. The big winger has five goals in the first 10 games of the season. He is averaging 2.7 shots per game and firing at 18.5% right now.

Veilleux, 32, is the Wild's go to recall whenever they need a bottom-6 forward. He has yet to record a point with Iowa this season and had just three goals in 34 games with Minnesota last season.