Mason turned aside 30 of 31 shots in a 2-1 win over the Rangers on Thursday. It was just his second win of the season, despite having a 2.17 GAA and .930 SV%. He will face the Islanders who are on the tail-end of a back-to-back and are starting their backup, Kevin Poulin. Mason should be a fine start tonight.
He was skating on the fifth line in Panther's practice this morning. It appears he will be a healthy scratch despite being the Panthers leading goal scorer, four goals in 11 games.
It is highly unlikely that Lupul will be in the lineup for the second straight game. Carter Ashton was recalled this morning and will replace him in the lineup.
There is no word as to why Kane is absent from the skate, we will await an official word from the Jets.
Pavelec allowed three goals on 33 shots in another loss to the Predators on Thursday. He will face the Stars tonight, he gave up four goals on 32 shots in a start vs. Dallas on October 11th. On a busy Saturday, you can probably do better than Pavelec.
Grabner will return to the Islanders lineup after serving his two-game suspension for a hit on Nathan Gerbe. Grabner has two goals and six assists in eight games.
Saturday will be Poulin's second start of the season, he hasn't played since October 11th. With the Islanders in the second game of a back-to-back Poulin will face a struggling Flyers squad who rank 29th in the NHL in scoring - He is a solid spot start candidate.
Morin has four goals and four assists (eight points) in eight games with the Rockford IceHogs (AHL). He has five career points in 13 games with the Blackhawks.
Mills has scored one goal and one assist in 31 career NHL games with the Devils.
Burns has missed the last two games and will likely miss tonight as well. This is a tough break for the Sharks defenseman turned forward who has four goals and four assists in eight games.
Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said Schneider is “sore”, but they don’t consider his injury to be serious. He also said Brodeur would have started tonight even if Schneider was healthy.
Lindback has been limited to three appearances with the strong start that Ben Bishop has had. Just as important is the rough time Lindback has had. He has allowed nine goals in two starts and one relief effort. His GAA sits at 3.80 while his SV% is an ugly .839. The matchup with the Panthers is good, making him a decent last ditch effort at goalie stats on Sunday. The early confirmation will help you jump on his today.
Leivo was a minus-1 in 7:40 while replacing Joffrey Lupul last night.
Bishop was busy on Thursday, facing 43 shots - he stopped 38 of them. Despite allowed five goals to the Blackhawks, he had a ton of goal support winning 6-5 in OT. He should be in for an easier game tonight with the Sabres in town. Buffalo's 1.42 G/G and 25.3 shots/G are the lowest in the NHL
Ashton has one assist while averaging 6:06 TOI in seven games with the Leafs.
Reimer hasn't started since being run into by a teammate on October 17th. In his last full start he allowed just one goal on 37 shots in a win vs. Minnesota. He will be in tough tonight against a great Penguins team.
Dallas came out on the wrong end of the deal in 2011 when they sent James Neal and Matt Niskanen to Pittsburgh for Goligoski. He has really come out of the gate on a sour note posting no point and a minus-10 rating through eight contests. He will be paired with Jordie Benn this evening.
Rask extended his winning streak to three with a 38 save performance in a 2-1 win over the Sharks on Thursday. The Bruins were outshot 39-17 but Rask stood on his head to earn his sixth win of the year. He will make for another good start tonight against a 1-5-4 Devils team.
Kinkaid is 2-1-1 with a 1.97 GAA and .912 SV% with Albany (AHL), he will back-up Martin Brodeur today.
Weber was spotted walking around the Sabres facility with his left thumb wrapped--up. No update yet on how long he will be out. He has no points and a minus-12 rating in 11 games.
