NHL Hockey Player News

The Red Wings can't better their spot in the standings so they will get rest some key players today vs. St. Louis. WIth DeKeyser out, Xavier Ouellet will play.

The Red Wings can't better their spot in the standings so they will get rest some key players today vs. St. Louis. WIth Kronwall out, Ryan Sproul will make his NHL debut.

Zatkoff allowed four goals on 20 shots in a loss to the Wild on March 5th. He will start the season finale after Marc-Andre Fleury started last night. Despite losing his last two outings, he is 12-6-1 with a 2.66 GAA and .911 SV% in his first NHL season. Should Fleury falter in the playoffs like he has in the last few seasons, Zatkoff will be the guy the Pens lean on.

Varlamov stopped 38 of 40 shots in a win over the Canucks on Thursday. He set the new Avalanche franchise record with 41 regular season wins. Varlamov has been unreal as of late, having won seven of his last eight starts. The Avalanche will give him the nod tonight to try and win the Central Division a season after finishing 29th in the NHL.

Hackett, 24, was scheduled to travel back to Buffalo with the team. "It doesn’t look good right now," Sabres coach Ted Nolan said. "We're going to wrap him up as best as we can and get him back home, get our doctors to look at him, but it doesn't look too good right now."After a delay of about seven minutes, Hackett was replaced by Connor Knapp, who made his NHL debut.

Raanta stopped all seven shots that he faced in relief of Corey Crawford last night. He will start tonight looking for his 14th win of the season. Raanta has won his only start vs. the Preds and has gone 6-4-2 on the road this season.

Mason stopped 38 of 40 shots in win over the Panthers on Tuesday. The W clinched a playoff spot for the Flyers and earned Mason the night off on Thursday. He will likely start today and then get tomorrow off as he heads into the post-season as the Flyers number-1. A win today would be his 34th of the season, which would break his previous career-high set in his rookie season in 2008-09.

Remier allowed two goals on 33 shots in a loss to the Lightning on Tuesday. Ouch, this guy just can win this season. While this game is meaningless in the standings, the battle of Ontario is never meaningless to the Sens and Leafs. Each team will be looking for the W tonight.

Higins will be replaced by Jordan Schroeder.

With Frank Corrado playing the remaining games, a defenseman will come out each game. Garrison was out in the last game, but will be back in and Bieksa will sit tonight.

Alfie will sit out of the Red Wings' season finale but will be ready for game 1 of the playoffs. Joakim Andersson will enter the lineup for Alfredsson.

Howard gave up two goals on 19 shots in a 2-1 loss to the Hurricanes on Friday. The loss and Columbus' win last night guarantees the Wings will play Boston in the first-round of the playoffs. He will start in the season finale this afternoon in St. Louis. Howie was pulled after allowing three goals on 25 shots in the first 30 minutes in their first meeting--but that will not be the Blues team he faces tonight.

Markstrom allowed three goals on 27 shots in a loss to the Avalanche in his first start with the Cancuks. He will get a second chance tonight and draws a much easier matchup in Edmonton. However, it is Ryan Smyth's last NHL game so the Oilers could come out flying for their veteran.

There is no word on what is ailing Orpik, the Penguins could be giving him another rest day with the playoffs around the corner.

Kunitz has been battling a lower-body injury, so today's absence is likely related to that injury. Expect him to be ready for game 1 of the playoffs.

Stewart was only in his third game back from an ankle injury, but lasted just one shift this afternoon. No word on whether he re-aggravated the ankle injury. Stewart likely will not play on Sunday.

Elliott has scored 14 goals with 14 assists (28 points) in 61 games with Lake Erie. He has been recalled because Tyson Barrie was injured on Friday.

Hanzal will miss his third straight game after suffering a lower-body injury on April 4th. With the Coyotes eliminated from the playoffs, don't be surprised if Hanzal does not play on Sunday.

Visentin has gone 14-19-4 with a 3.30 GAA and .901 SV% with Portland (AHL) this season. The 2010 first-round pick (27th) will have a tough matchup in his first NHL game. At this crucial part of the season, Visentin is not a good option.

Barrie played just 7:07 before heading to the dressing room for the night. The Avalanche have recalled Stefan Elliott this afternoon, which suggests that Barrie's injury may be serious.