NHL Hockey Player News

Lehtonen was pulled after he allowed five goals on 30 shots in the Stars loss to Carolina last Tuesday. Antti Niemi started the last two games, but it looks like it will be Lehtonen tonight vs. the Blue Jackets, who are on the tail-end of a back-to-back. It was the first time this season that Lehtonen allowed four-plus goals—he did that 18 times (28% of his starts) in 2014-15.

Lack allowed four goals on 29 shots in the Hurricanes win in Arizona on Saturday. He won both games of the back-to-back, stopping 56 of 61 shots (.918 SV%). Coach Bill Peters tends to go with the goalie coming off of a win and Lack was the first goalie off this morning, so it looks like he will start in Philadelphia. He would face a Flyers team that has lost three of their last four.

Smith underwent successful core muscle surgery and will miss at least two months. With Smith out, the Coyotes will turn to Anders Lindback as their starter, but they announced that they will likely explore trade options to bring in an outside goalie to help them through the next 8-10 weeks.

Rinne allowed three goals on 25 shots in the Predators loss to the Avalanche on Saturday. Rinne has lost four of his last five starts while posting a 2.84 GAA and .897 SV%. His struggles have been well documented and he will be in tough tonight against a surging Flames squad that has won five consecutive games.

Varlamov stopped 42 of 43 shots that he faced in Colorado’s win in St. Louis on Sunday. Varlamov has won three straight contests while posting a 1.31 GAA and .960 SV%—he comes in at 4-1-0 in December, but tonight he will face a Blackhawks team that has won four of five while averaging 2.80 goals per game.

Fleury sustained a concussion in Monday’s loss to the Capitals and will miss at least one week. With Fleury out, Jeff Zatkoff will be promoted to starter and Matt Murray will likely be recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Allen made 15 saves on 17 shots in the Blues loss to Colorado on Sunday. Allen has gone 2-3-0 with a 2.17 GAA and .909 SV% in five December starts and comes in at 5-2-1 with a 2.24 GAA and .928 SV% on the road this season. Tonight he will face the Jets in Winnipeg, where they are 8-4-1 this year.

Bennett will miss at least one month with an upper-body injury that he suffered in Monday’s loss to the Capitals. With Bennett out, the Penguins only have 11 active forwards, so expect Bennett to go on IR and for Pittsburgh to recall a forward.

Fleury reportedly didn’t feel right after Monday’s loss to the Capitals and he is undergoing concussion protocol to see if he indeed sustained a concussion. Expect an update on Fleury’s status in the next 24 hours.

Miller allowed three goals on 29 shots in the Canucks loss in Chicago on Sunday. The loss snapped a brief two game losing streak for Miller, who is 2-2-0 with a 2.30 GAA and .930 SV% in December. Tonight he will take on a Minnesota team that has won four out of six—Miller stopped 31 of 33 shots in a win in Minnesota on November 25th.

Scuderi was traded to the Blackhawks on Monday and will replace David Rundblad in the lineup on Tuesday. Trevor Daley did not fit in Chicago, but they’re hoping that Scuderi will help on their third pair and penalty kill. He will start his Blackhawks career with Michal Rozsival as his D-pair.

Berglund was expected to miss four months after undergoing shoulder surgery in October, which wouldn’t put him back in the lineup until early February. His return to practice on Tuesday is a good sign that Berglund is making progress and should continue to practice, unless he suffers a setback.

Klinkhammer has been sidelined with a lower-body injury since October 27th, but could return to the lineup tonight vs. the Rangers. Klinkhammer has just one goal and a minus-3 rating in seven games this season.

Jagr missed Monday’s practice with an illness and that will keep him out of the lineup tonight vs. the Islanders. With Jagr out, the Panthers have recalled Rocco Grimaldi and he is expected to be in the lineup tonight. Consider Jagr as day-to-day.

In Vasilevskiy’s last start, he was pulled after allowing two goals on 10 shots. He is 2-4-0 with a 2.76 GAA and .910 SV%w with the Lightning this season, but recently returned from the AHL where he went 0-1-1 with a 3.47 GAA and .892 SV% in two starts. He has struggled this year, but draws a nice matchup tonight in Toronto.

Kassian who has not played yet this season after being entered into the Substance Abuse program in the preseason has been placed on waivers for purpose of assignment to the AHL. The former 1st round pick has not lived up to expectations, but a team in need of a big body, that believes in second chances, could elect to take a flier on Kassian.

Stoll was in his first season with the Rangers and led the team with 57.9% face-off percentage but had just one goal and two assists in 29 games this season. He will provide the Wild with some bottom-6 depth and face-off prowess.

Nilsson gave up five goals on 36 shots in the Oilers win over the Rangers last Friday. It wasn’t pretty, but the Oilers offence did just enough to get him the W. Cam Talbot started last night, so Nilsson will go tonight in New York. He comes in riding a five-game winning streak while posting a 2.52 GAA and .927 SV%.