NHL Hockey Player News

Justin Falk will play his first game since December 29th with Girardi resting. This will be the first game that Girardi has missed this season.

McDonagh was on the ice for the morning skate, but will not play. He was reportedly taking wristers while the rest of the team were taking slappers which could be a sign that McD's shoulder is not quite there yet. McDonagh will miss his fifth straight game and is not guaranteed to be ready for game 1.

Talbot stopped all 26 shots that he faced in a win over the Oilers on March 30th. He was a spectator in the last five games, but will get the call tonight vs. the Habs. Talbot posted a 22-save shutout in his first career start against Montreal. His 1.67 GAA and .940 SV% on the season make him a great spot start option whenever he's in goal.

Rask allowed three goals on 24 shots in a loss to the Wild. Rask has been a little inconsistent down the stretch, but never let that deter you from getting him in the lineup vs. the Sabres. Consider this a fantasy hockey gift from Claude Julien.

Tokarki, 24 was 2-0-0 with a 1.84 GAA and .946 SV% in his brief time with Montreal this season. While with Hamilton he has gone 20-15-3 with a 2.36 GAA and .920 SV%. Tokarski will likely spend another season in the AHL before moving up to be Cary Price's backup when Peter Budaj's contract is up at the end of next season.

Hanowski, 23, had two assists in 11 games with the Flames. He will return to the AHL where he has 12 goals and 15 assists (27 points) in 51 games.

Boychuk played 15:34 on the Hurricanes top-line in Detroit last night. His reutrn suggests that ALex Semin will be able to play in the season finale tonight.

LeBlanc, 26, has 12 goals and 16 assists in 65 games with the Hershey Bears this season. With Marcus Johansson out on Sunday, LeBlanc will likely make his NHL debut.

Johansson left Friday's game after taking a Nicklas Backstom shot off of the wrist and did not return. He will miss the final game of the regular season and with the Capitals out of the playoffs, we won't see him until 2014-15. Peter LeBlanc has been recalled from Hershey with MJ90 out.

Hackett stopped 28 of 30 shots in a loss to the Rangers on Thursday. He has gone 1-5-1 with a 3.02 GAA and .912 SV% since being recalled, which really is not that bad when you look at this Sabres' roster. Unless the Bruins rest everyone and recall the Providence Bruins to play today, don't start Hackett.

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.

Bobrovsky turned aside 33 of 34 shots in a 3-1 win over the Stars on Wednesday. He extended his winning streak to three games and notched his 31st win of the season. The Jackets close out the regular season tonight and if they have a chance to leap over the Flyers to play the Ranger, but with a loss they could stay put and play the Penguins, or fall to play the Bruins.

Smyth has played most of 14 of his 18 year career with Edmonton. The 38-year-old was drafted sixth overall in the 1994 NHL Draft and went on to score 386 goals and 456 assists (842 points) in 1,269 regular season games. Smyth also had 59 points in 93 playoff games, but never won a Stanley Cup. He came close in 2005-06, but the Oilers were downed by the Hurricanes in the finals. He won six gold medals while representing Team Canada. One at the Olympics (2002), two World Championships (2003/2004), one World Cup (2004), and one at the World Juniors (1995) and at the 2012 Spengler Cup. Happy Retirement Captain Canada.

Greiss allowed two goals on 23 shots in a 2-0 loss to the Predators on Thursday. Greiss' losing streak has hit six games and now the Coyotes have officially been eliminated from the playoffs. With Smith on the shelf, Greiss will likely close out the season for Phoenix, and that means he starts tonight vs. his former team. He has yet to face the Sharks this season, but has posted a modest 2.43 GAA and .907 SV% during the six-game slide.

The Coyotes have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, so Smith will probably be done for the rest of the season. There is no sense rushing him back for a meaningless game. Look for Thomas Greiss to close out the season for the Coyotes.

"We are aware of the situation concerning Ryan Malone this morning," general manager Steve Yzerman said in a statement. "Ryan will not travel with the team to Washington today, but beyond that we cannot comment further at this time." According to a Hillsborough County Sheriff's report, Malone, 34, was arrested at 5:40 Saturday morning, but there were no other immediate details. Malone was being held on $2,500 bond. It has been a difficult season for Malone, who has just five goals, 15 points in 57 games, has been demoted to a fourth line and has been a healthy scratch in the past three games.

Extremely late confirm by the Hurricanes will make it impossible to start Ward, unless he was already in your lineup.

Semin will be replaced by Zach Boychuk, who was recalled this morning.

Expect Purcell to be replaced by BJ Crombeen.

Filppula will be replaced by Cedric Paquette. Consider him day-to-day.