NHL Hockey Player News

Mason stopped all 24 shots that he faced to post his first shutout of the season on Sunday in New York. The win snapped a four-game slide for Mason, who finished the month of November with a 2-4-2 record, 2.34 GAA and .920 SV%. There were high expectations after a great 2014-15 season, but Mason has struggled most of the year and tonight he will face the 12-6-5 Senators, who has averaged 4.40 goals in their last five games.

Ullmark was pulled after he allowed three goals on eight shots in the Sabres’ loss to the Predators last Wednesday. After winning four of his first six starts, Ullmark has lost four consecutive starts while posting a 2.58 GAA and .901 SV%. Tonight he faces a Red Wings team that has gone 4-2-3 while averaging 2.44 goals per game in their last nine games.

Crawford allowed two goals on 25 shots in the Blackhawks’ overtime win in Anaheim last Friday. Scott Darling started in Saturday, so Crawford will be back in goal tonight vs. Minnesota. Crawford has won four out of his last five while posting a 2.81 GAA and .901 SV%—the Blackhawks have scored 19 goals in front of him over that span. With that kind of team in front of him, he should make for a good start at home tonight.

It doesn’t appear as if the Canadiens trust Tokarski, which is why he has swapped places with Zach Fucale in advance of Tuesday’s game vs. Columbus. With Fucale now with Montreal, Tokarski become’s St. John’s starter—he has gone 2-2-2 with a 3.45 GAA and .891 SV% in six AHL games this season.

Fucale, a second round pick (36th overall) in 2013, has played very well in his first season in the AHL. The 20-year-old has gone 7-2-2 with a 3.12 GAA and .907 SV% in 12 games with St. John’s and gets a chance to be in the NHL while Carey Price is out. Montreal doesn’t have a back-to-back until next Wednesday—Thursday, so don’t expect to see Fucale until then.

Pateryn has not registered a point in seven games this season. He played 14:57 on Saturday, but will come out of the lineup tonight in favour of Alexei Emelin.

Emelin was a healthy scratch for the las two games, but will replace Greg Pateryn in the lineup tonight vs. the Blue Jackets. Emelin has two assists in 18 games this season.

Condon allowed three goals on 31 shots in the Canadiens’ overtime loss to the Devils on Saturday. With Price out for the next six weeks, attention turns to Condon again. He has gone 2-2-2 with a 3.05 GAA and .879 SV% in his last six starts. Tonight he faces a Blue Jackets team that has won 6-3-0 in their last nine while averaging 2.44 goals per game.

Bobrovsky allowed two goals on 31 shots in the Blue Jackets loss in St. Louis on Saturday. Bobrovsky’s first two months were virtually complete opposites. In October he was 2-8-0 with a 3.97 GAA and .865 SV% but turned things around in November, going 8-3-0 with a 1.82 GAA, .940 SV% and one shutout. On Tuesday he will face the 18-4-3 Habs, who will be without Carey Price.

Bass has registered four assists in 19 games with Milwaukee this season. He has never been known for his offensive ability, he has just five career points (2G / 3A) in 49 career NHL games between the Senators and Blue Jackets. Bass could be filling in for Colin Wilson, who was given a maintenance day on Monday.

Megna was recalled on Monday, but did not play vs. the Hurricanes. He heads back to the AHL, where he has five goals and seven assists (12 points) in 21 games this season.

Virtanen played just 1:45 before heading to the dressing room with an upper-body injury. The Canucks will play the second game of the back-to-back tonight, so Virtanen isn’t expected to play, despite his injury being called “minor.” Expect Sven Baertschi to be back in the lineup with Virtanen out.

Markstrom stopped the only shot he faced after replacing Ryan Miller in last night’s loss in Anaheim. With Miller getting pulled, Markstrom is expected to go tonight in Los Angeles. Markstrom hasn’t played much better the season, going 1-1-1 with a 3.12 GAA and .904 SV% in his first three starts of the season.

Saros allowed three goals on 23 shots in the Predators loss to the Sabres in his NHL debut on Saturday. With Carter Hutton back to 100 percent, the Predators have sent Saros back to the AHL.

Lehtonen has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, but was on the ice for Monday’s practice and is expected to be cleared for game action on Tuesday. Lehtonen is eligible to come off of IR for Thursday’s game and figures to start one of their back-to-back games later in the week.

Miller allowed two goals on 25 shots in the Canucks shootout loss in Dallas on Friday. Miller has played well recently, going 2-0-1 with a 2.27 GAA and .920 SV%. It has been an up-and-down season for Miller, who draws a good matchup tonight vs. a Ducks team who continues to struggle scoring goals.

Maatta is nearly two weeks into a 3-4 week timetable and his return to practice already suggests that he could return at the front-end of that timeline. Maatta will need to get a couple of practices under his belt before he gets back into the lineup.