NHL Hockey Player News

Howard will not start tonight because of the flu, so Jonas Gustavsson will get the nod for the Red Wings.

Jimmy Howard has the flu and did not practice this morning so Gustavsson will be between the pipes tonight against the Flames. He allowed three goals on 24 shots in his last start vs. the Blue Jackets. Gustavsson has a good matchup vs. the Flames so he could make for a good spot start.

He suffered the injury halfway through the second period yesterday after he tried to hit Brent Burns. Oshie has five goals and 12 assists in 26 games this season. Monitor his status prior to tomorrow's game.

Pyatt suffered an upper-body injury in yesterday's game. He has five goals and five assists in 26 games this season. His status for tomorrow's games is unknown.

Geoffrion suffered a skull fracture and a concussion after taking a hit from Syracuse Crunch defenceman Jean-Philippe Cote during an AHL game in November. Geoffrion was a second round selection of the Nashville Predators, 56th overall, at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft before being traded to the Canadiens in exchange for Hal Gill on Feb. 25, 2012. He has four goals and two assists through 10 games this season with the Bulldogs, and has registered eight goals and five assists with a plus- 3 rating through 55 career NHL games played.

Neuvirth has only started 7 games this season, posting a sub-par .890% SV%. The high-scoring Canes are not a great matchup and with the number of games today, he should probably be benched.

Eager will likely be claimed, but if anything is going to hold him back it is his concussion issues.

Lehner has seen a lot of rubber in his four starts, but has only managed to win one game despite putting up great numbers (1.89 GAA and .947 SV%). He has a tough matchup tonight against the Habs who sit atop the Eastern Conference.

After a great performance in his return to the Flames crease, Kiprusoff had two bad performances in a row. He is now 1-2-0 with a 3.92 GAA and .861 SV% since coming back from injury. He has a tough matchup tonight against a solid Red Wings team who get Valteri Filppula back tonight which solidifies their top-6.

Cormier has 11 points in 32 games in the AHL this season. He is a big, physical player that should bring an edge to the Jets lineup.

Bryzgalov snapped a three game losing streak with an 18 save performance vs. the Sabres on Sunday. He will go up against a Devils team struggling to find wins in the absence of Martin Brodeur.

Ben Bishop was reported to get the start yesterday but Lehner was the first goalie off of the ice this morning, indicating he will get the start. We will consider the likely starter for now and wait for confirmation later in the day. Lehner has seen a lot of rubber in his four starts, but has only managed to win one game despite putting up great numbers (1.89 GAA and .947 SV%).

The 36-year-old free agent, who you may remember as a longtime Colorado Avalanche, has been nearly a point-a-game player for AHL Oklahoma City since the lockout. He has one goal and 16 assists in 18 games and is plus-7. By all accounts, he has been very good. He played the past two years for Tampa Bay, playing 82 games each year and scoring nine goals in 2010-11. He has 45 goals and 185 points in 681 games over parts of 13 years with four NHL teams.

Ullstrom has two goals and three assists in 19 games for the Isles this season. He will likely play on the third line with Joensuu and Aucoin.

Hedberg had the opportunity to be a fantasy gem when Martin Brodeur went down with a back injury. However since Brodeur has been sidelined, he has only won two of his nine consecutive starts. He is 4-7-2 with a 2.97 GAA and .879 SV% on the season and has a decently tough matchup vs. the Flyers.

Price has won each of his last two starts against two teams (CAR and TBL) that rank in the top 5 in the NHL in scoring. in those two starts he posted a 2.50 GAA and .924 SV%. He has a good matchup against a Senators team who have lost five of their last six games. Start him with confidence.

He began the game on a third line with Scott Gomez and James Sheppard. After scoring McLellan gave Burns regular shifts on a line with Joe Thornton and Logan Couture as well as power play time on the blue line.

Blues Head Coach Ken Hitchcock said afterwards that Oshie has an upper-body injury. “We’ll give you a better report sometime around noon (Wednesday),” Hitchcock said.

There was speculation that Bonino was out with the flu, but he apparently suffered an injury during practice on Monday.

Lucic has just 4 goals on the season. He is at least still contributing to the PIMs column.