Chara suffered left knee ligament damage on Thursday night and will miss at least one month, at which time the Bruins will evaluate Chara's knee and determine if he needs surgery or not. This is a massive loss for the Bruins, who are already without Kevan Miller and who traded Johnny Boychuk in the preseason. Expect Zach Trotman to be recalled and for Torey Krug and Dougie Hamilton to take on a larger power-play roles.
Quick allowed a single goal on 41 shots in a win over the Wild on Sunday. He had an iffy start, but Quick has been unreal in his last three games. He has stopped 114 of 116 shots (.983 SV%) while winning all three. Tonight he is an absolute must start at home against the Sabres.
Svedberg stopped all 32 shots that he faced in a 4-0 win over the Sabres on Saturday. He has had a great start to the year, stopping 62 of 64 shots (.969 SV%). He will go tonight, so that leaves Tuukka Rask for Saturday vs. the Maple Leafs. It is not the best spot-start situation, seeing as how the Islanders are second in the NHL with a 3.50 goals per game.
After getting back into the lineup last night, Reinhart will be back in the pressbox tonight for the second time in three games. However, Reinhart will be back in the lineup on Saturday against the Sharks. With Reinhart coming out of the lineup, the Sabres will put Nikita Zadorov in the lineup and go with seven defensemen.
Greiss, 28, went 10-8-5 with a 2.29 GAA and .920 SV% as Mike Smith's backup in Arizona last season. He should have a lot more goal support this year in Pittsburgh, but won't seem many starts behind Marc-Andre Fleury. He has a solid matchup tonight against a Red Wings team who have just 2.00 goals per game this season.
Witkowski, 24, was recalled but never appeared in a game for the Lightning. His return to the AHL means that Radko Gudas will be good to go for Friday. He had one assist in four games with Syracuse before being called up.
Antti Raanta will get the start tonight as Crawford remains in Chicago, day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Coach Joel Quenneville said he still considers Crawford’s injury to be short term.
Enroth gave up four goals on 36 shots in the Sabres loss to the Bruins last Saturday. It is going to be a long year for Buffalo netminders and they are only fantasy worthy when they have good matchups; which is not at all what they have tonight in Los Angeles.
Niemi allowed four goals on 32 shots in a loss to the Bruins on Tuesday. The loss snapped his three-game winning streak, but was good enough to earn him the first back-to-back starts for a Sharks netminder. He will go head-to-head with Sergei Bobrovksy in what should be a great goaltending dual.
Havlat was not on the ice for the Devils' practice this morning, so it looks like he will take Friday off, which means that Jacob Josefson will be in the lineup and Damien Brunner will skate on the second line.
Despite being a healthy scratch again, head coach Todd McLellan said that Mueller is "not going anywhere." The 19-year-old defenseman has one assist in his first five NHL games, while averaging 18:36 per night. When the head coach says that you are here to stay, that has to help boost the young defenseman's confidence. Expect to see him back on the blueline real soon.
Killorn practiced with the team this afternoon, but is still a little bit away from returning to the lineup. The Lightning have a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday, so if he isn't available for tomorrow, there is a good chance he won't be ready for Saturday either.
Gaborik was not on the ice this afternoon but was around the Kings' facilities. The belief is that Gaborik will begin skating on his own early next week and work his way towards joining the team by the end of the week. So by the sounds of things, expect Gabo to miss another 10-14 days.
The Flames continue to rotate Hiller and Karri Ramo, so it is Hiller's turn in the rotation. He stopped 34 of 35 shots in a win over the Jets on Sunday. He has faced more shots per game (39) than any other goalie so far and despite that he is rocking a .942 SV% which is good for sixth among goalies who have started at least two games.
Bobrovsky stopped 17 of 18 shots after replacing Curtis McElhinney when he was injured las Saturday. With so many days off between games, Goalie Bob will be back between the pipes against San Jose. He has three wins in four starts with a 2.00 GGA and .931 SV%.
Ward allowed three goals on 26 shots in a loss to the Sabres last Tuesday. It has been a rough start to the year for Ward which led to Anton Khudobin get back-to-back starts on Thursday and Tuesday. Ward will look to get his first win against an up-start Flames team tonight.
Jones has been sidelined since October 9th because of an upper-body injury. The Flames said that he is progressing well and is expected to play on their current home-stand, which has three games remaining after tonight.
Kane has been out since the season opener when he suffered a leg injury after playing just 1:24. The Jets announced Thursday that Kane is progressing well and are expecting him to start skating this weekend. The original timetable was "at least two week" and today marks the two-week point. The Jets could definitely use him back in the lineup but he is still at least one week away.
Ward allowed three goals on 26 shots in a loss to the Sabres last Tuesday. It has been a rough start to the year for Ward which led to Anton Khudobin get back-to-back starts on Thursday and Tuesday. Ward will look to get his first win against an up-start Flames team tonight.
Niemi allowed four goals on 32 shots in a loss to the Bruins on Tuesday. The loss snapped his three-game winning streak, but was good enough to earn him the first back-to-back starts for a Sharks netminder. He will go head-to-head with Sergei Bobrovksy in what should be a great goaltending dual.
