NHL Hockey Player News

Kopitar was on the ice for the Kings morning skate, but sated as an extra. With Kopitar out, Mike Richards will move up to play between Dwight King and Dustin Brown, but the Kings will have to play with just 11 forwards and six D because Kopitar is out and they are strapped up against the cap because Slava Voynov essentially counts as a healthy scratch despite being suspended indefinitely. Kopitar is likely out for the first two games of the road trip.

Darling allowed just one goal on 33 shots in a 2-1 win over the Senators in his NHL debut on Sunday. It was a nearly perfect debut for the 25-year-old netminder who will get the call again tonight vs. Anaheim. The Ducks are a much more dangerous team than the Senators are, so Darling makes for a scary spot-start.

Fleury stopped all 25 shots he faced in the Penguins 3-0 win over the Predators on Saturday. Fleury has alternated wins and losses in each of his last five starts and has posted a 2.34 GAA and .920 SV% on the season. It has been a great start to the year and he should make for a good start tonight against a Devils team he was 2-2-0 with a 1.76 GAA and .940 SV% against last year.

Pavelec held the Avalanche to one goal on 23 shots in a 2-1 win on Sunday. Despite only recording three wins in seven starts, Pavelec holds a respectable 2.45 GAA and .906 SV% in the first month of play. However, you really never know which Pavelec is going to show up from one start to the next. He has the high-powered Islanders to deal with tonight.

Kopitar, who suffered an upper-body injury on Sunday is on the ice for the Kings morning skate, but he is skating with Marian Gaborik as an extra---a good indication that he will not be in the lineup tonight. Stay tuned.

Lehtonen gave up two goals on 27 shots in the Stars win over the Devils on Friday. He took a seat on Saturday, but Anders Lindback was lit up so naturally Lehtonen will be back in the crease tonight vs. the Blues. He has won four of his six starts while posting a 2.74 GAA and .915 SV% so far. Lehtonen went 2-1-1 with a 2.60 GAA and .897 SV% vs. St. Louis last season.

The Blackhawks said that Crawford could start this week and since he has been skating since Saturday and he is on the ice for the A.M skate, he could be back in the crease tonight, stay tuned.

Ward surrendered five goals on 24 shots in a loss to the Flames last Thursday. Well, Ward has picked up where he left off last year, but that is not in a good way. He has a 4.25 GAA and .829 SV% in three starts, but the return of Eric Staal tonight should help out the entire team. Regardless, until he proves he can keep the opposition under three goals, he can't be trusted.

This is positive news for the Lightning and Callahan owners. The day-to-day tag should lead to more frequent and detailed updates on Callahan's status and could see him return this week. He will not play tonight vs. Arizona and even Thursday vs. Philly seems unreasonable, but potentially Saturday vs. the Capitals. Monitor his progress as the week goes along.

Bailey was not on the ice for the Islanders morning skate and obviously won't play on Tuesday, but traveling with the team is another encouraging sign that he fractured hand is not as serious as it was originally believed to be. He will likely return to the ice at some point during the road-trip.

Hamonic was on the ice for the Islanders morning skate but will not play on Tuesday against the Jets. However, he will accompany the team on their west coast road-trip which indicates he is not far from returning to the Isles blueline.

Atkinson missed Sunday's game after being cut by a skate near his eye on Saturday, but he said his vision is good and he is ready to go tonight vs. the Senators. With Nick Foligno sidelined with a neck injury, Atkinson will go back to the top-line with Ryan Johansen.

Bishop allowed three goals on 14 shots after replacing Evgeni Nabokov in Saturday's blowout loss to the Wild. It was a rough night for the entire team but it was only the second time this season Bishop has allowed more than two goals, so expect him to get back on track tonight vs. the Coyotes.

Rask turned aside 32 of 33 shots in the Bruins 4-1 win over the Maple Leafs on Saturday. After facing an average of just 22 shots in his first four starts and posting an .852 SV%, Rask has faced 33.5 shots per game in his last two games and posted a .940 SV%. Maybe the heavy workload helps him? Hopefully so because that trend should continue with Zdeno Chara out of the lineup.

Halak was pulled after he allowed five goals on 23 shots in a loss to the Maple Leafs last Tuesday. He took a seat for the next two games as the Isles went with Chad Johnson, but he returns to the crease tonight vs. the Jets. Halak started the season with three straight wins, but now sits at 3-2-0 with a 3.39 GAA and .893 SV%.

There was a chance that Darcy Kuemper could have started both games, but he imploded in the third period allowing five goals in the 5-4 loss, which all but guarantees that Backstrom will start tonight. Backstrom stopped 14 of 16 shots in his first start and makes for a risky start tonight in Boston.

Price sat the first game of the Habs' back-to-back but gets the nod tonight in Calgary. He stopped 34 of 35 shots in a win over the Rangers in his last start and enters play tonight riding a four-game winning streak; while stopping 118 of 126 shots (.937 SV%). He is a must-start every night he is between the pipes.

This is the first time that Callahan has skated since suffering a lower-body injury last Monday. Callahan is listed as week-to-week so there are no daily updates on his status, but this is a positive sign that he won't be out long.

Bernier was pulled after he allowed four goals on 25 shots in the Maple Leafs loss to the Bruins on Saturday. Despite the rough outing, he will get a chance to bounce-back right away and it should not be that difficult with the Sabres in town. Bernier holds a 3.38 GAA and .904 SV% entering Tuesday.

Bennett has not played yet this season because of a lower-body injury he suffered in training camp. He has had some brutal luck with injuries over the last three years, but his availability for the morning skate is a good sign that he is nearing his season debut. With Blake Comeau currently playing in the Penguins' top-6, Bennett seems destined for a top-6 role when he is healthy.