Handzus will miss his second consecutive game with an illness. Jeremy Morin and Joakim Nordstrom were recalled this morning, one of them will fill in for Brandon Pirri who was playing in Handzus' spot.
Shaw was crunched into the boards in the late stages of Tuesday's loss to the Stars. Shaw was slow to get up and will not play Thursday. There is no word on how serious the injury is, but explains why the Blackhawks recalled two forwards this morning, while only sending one down.
Following the MRI the Predators will have a better idea of how long Rinne will remain out of the lineup. We should have a Rinne update and hopefully a timetable tomorrow.
Horton continues to progress towards a return from offseason shoulder surgery. He remains without a definitive timetable, but the one set at the start of the year was roughly late December or early January so it should not be too long before he makes his Blue Jackets debut.
Seguin is not available to the media due to the Stars concussion protocol, at this time there is no official update. Skating this morning is a good sign, as he works his way back in an attempt to be in the lineup tomorrow vs. Toronto. Monitor his status tomorrow morning.
Bachman has not played since November 2 when he was injured in a game vs. Detroit. He could return as the Oilers back-up should Ilya Bryzgalov be out long-term but even then he is not fantasy relevant. He is 14-12-2 with a 2.95 GAA and .903 SV% in his career.
Halak allowed three goals on 23 shots in a loss to the Kings on Monday. In his last six outings he has four wins accompanied by a 1.40 GAA and .945 SV%, not too shabby… He is a must-start at home vs. the Islanders tomorrow.
Fresh off of signing a seven-year $59.5 million dollar deal, Lundqvist will make his first start since last Friday after watching Cam Talbot in the last two games. The contract extension that makes him the highest paid goalie in the league by $1.5 million puts the non-existent goalie controversy to rest. He has a great matchup on Thursday and is a must-start as usual.
Greiss stopped 28 of 29 shots in a win over the Wild last Wednesday. It was a strong performance against a good team, so he should be considered for a spot start tonight against the Flames. He has a 2.06 GAA and .936 SV% in six appearances with the Coyotes.
Backstrom allowed two goals on 25 shots in a loss to the Coyotes last Wednesday. Whether it is the lack of starts or something else, Backstrom just has not been himself this season. A career 2.44 GAA and .916 SV% - he sits at 2-3-2 with a 2.78 GAA and .896 as the Wild's number-2 this season.
Curtis McElhinney will start in Bobrovsky's place. Bobrovsky was injured while making a fantastic save in last night's 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Although he has not had the best first-third of the season, it would be a huge loss for the Blue Jackets if he is to miss an extended period of time.
With Sergei Bobrovsky sidelined with a lower-body injury, McElhinney becomes the Blue Jackets starter for now. He will face the Wild on Friday - which is not the best matchup. When called upon this season, McElhinney is 1-3-1 with a 2.34 GAA and .925 SV%.
Giordano missed 18 games but will suit up tonight with the Phoenix Coyotes in town. This is a huge boost for the Flames who get their captain and heart-and-soul of their blueline back vs. a strong Coyotes offence. Prior to being injured, Giordano was on a tear. He has two goals and seven assists in eight games. He obviously won't keep up the point-per-game pace, he is not Erik Karlsson, but he will post serviceable fantasy numbers. It is reasonable to expect him to finish between 30-40 points.
Harding turned aside all 21 shots he faced on Monday to earn his third shutout of the season. Not a bad way to kick off December, but things get a little more difficult on Thursday with the 20-5-4 Blackhawks coming to town. Harding is an astonishing 11-1-0 with a 1.12 GAA and .949 SV% at home.
The 21-year-old Swedish centre scored his fist career NHL goal on October 11 vs. the Islanders. It was the only point he recorded in eight games before being sent down. While in Rockford he registered five goals and one assist in 15 games.
Morin has appeared in nine games with Chicago this season, recording three assists. In 13 games while in Rockford he has six goals and six assists.
Kostka has only appeared in two games with the Blackhawks this season, he will return to the team when he is 100% ready to return to the lineup.
Pirri posted six goals and five assists and a plus-6 rating while averaging 12:14 in 24 games with the Hawks.
McQuaid re-aggrevated a lower-body injury that forced him out of action for eight games between Nov 11-25. Matt Bartowski is expected to enter the lineup in his spot.
Head coach Randy Carlyle said that "Kessel did not feel good in one part of his body" and asked to be excused from the workout. It does not sound like Kessel is dealing with anything serious, so he should be in the lineup tomorrow vs. the Stars.
