NHL Hockey Player News

Lehtonen will return to the Stars net tonight and will look to pick up where he left off before the injury. He was one of the NHL's hottest goalies at the time of the injury. He has a decent matchup tonight against an Edmonton team still trying to find their offense. However they have tons of skill and can pour it on at any time so be skeptical about Lehtonen tonight.

Niemi wasn't too busy in his last start stopping 25 of 27 in a shootout win over the Avalanche. Tonight the Sharks take on the Red Wings coming off of a crushing late loss to the Kings last night. This will mark Niemi's seventh straight start tonight however he's only won two of his last six. His 1.95 GAA and .930 SV% are great he just needs some help from the offense.

Reimer hasn't played since February 11th when he suffered a knee injury. He will be back between the pipes tonight when the Maple Leafs take on the Islanders. Reimer had been playing great before going down with the injury so he will look to pick up where he left off. This is a pretty good matchup for him as long as the Leafs can slow down New York's dynamic duo of John Tavares and Matt Moulson.

Varlamov played great stopping 39 of 41 shots he faced vs. San Jose on Tuesday but still lost in a shootout. He will face a weak Flames team tonight so he should make for a pretty good start. He sees a lot of rubber so his SV% will be good on most nights, it is his GAA that is worrisome.

Miller snapped his four game losing streak stopping 30 of 31 shots he faced vs. Tampa Bay. Miller has a good chance to make it two in a row tonight when the Sabres take on the Panthers. Millers numbers (2.83 GAA and .916 SV%) are solid he just needs his team to play better in front of him and the wins will come.

Ward has only won one of his last four starts. The Hurricanes have struggled to find offense lately, but get a big boost tonight having Jeff Skinner return to the lineup. They also have Jamie McBain and Tim Gleason returning to their blueline tonight which is a positive for Ward. He has a tough matchup tonight vs. the Penguins.

Hedberg has lost his last three starts and has not played well. In those three starts he's given up 14 goals resulting in a 4.75 GAA and .837 SV%. The Devils are a good team with Brodeur between the pipes but starting Hedberg in fantasy is risky.

Lehner was 18-10-2 with a 2.12 GAA and .938 SV% in the AHL this season and is 4-6-0 in his NHL career. This will be Lehner's first start this season and the matchup can't get any harder for the 21 year old. Ottawa takes on Tuukka Rask and the Bruins who are 12-2-2 this season. However Lehner did post a 32-save shutout vs. Boston last season.

This will be Pavelev's ninth consecutive start, and has won four of his last five starts. He will face the Devils tonight who he just beat on Sunday. Pavelec hasn't been a great fantasy option this season but the Jets are hot right now so he could be worth a start vs. a Devils team missing Martin Brodeur.

McDonagh will return to the Rangers blueline tonight after sitting out their last game. McDonagh has 32 points and was a +25 last season but has struggled to produce offensively this season. He only has two goals and three assists in 17 games this season. McDonagh will return to the Rangers top-pair with Daniel Girardi.

This would be huge for the Rangers who have struggled without Nash. The Rangers are 23rd in the NHL in scoring right now so Nash will need to step into the lineup and make an impact right away. He missed the Rangers last four games and had three goals and nine assists in 14 games before getting hurt.

Skinner hasn't played since February 14 when he suffered a concussion. He will be back in the lineup tonight when Carolina takes on Pittsburgh. Skinner will be back on a line with Jordan Staal who is making his return to Pittsburgh tonight. Skinner had seven goals and seven assists in 13 games before getting injured.

Clemmensen relieved Jose Theodore on Tuesday after he gave up four goals on 19 shots. Clemmensen came in and stopped all 15 shots he faced and recorded the win vs. a tough Pittsburgh team. He will face the Sabres tonight who sit last in the Eastern conference right now and he will likely be opposed by Ryan Miller who can steal a game, so Clemmensen will need to be good to give the Panthers a chance.

Rask has won his last four starts in convincing fashion (1.33 GAA and .959 SV%). It would be tough to find a more reliable fantasy goalie option right now. Boston takes on a Senators team who against all odds continue to find ways to win. However Boston is just too big and too strong for Ottawa making Rask a great start tonight.

Nabokov has won two of his last three starts while posting a 1.98 GAA and .941 SV%. The Islanders are competitive right now and a lot of it has to do with John Tavares, Matt Moulson and Nabokov. With his recent stretch of strong play Nabby has his GAA under 3.00 now (2.92) and his SV% above .900 (.904).He has a decent matchup vs. the Maple Leafs tonight. The one thing working against him is the game is on Long Island, where the Islanders are 2-8-0 this season.

The Rangers are a mess right now, they came into this season as one of the favorites in the East but have not looked like it at all this season. The Rangers are currently 11th in the East (8-8-2), they are 23rd in the league in scoring and their 11.1% on the power-play is tied for last in the NHL with Buffalo. Lundqvist has played well this season, he just needs some help. Tampa Bay is starting Mathieu Garon so it is safe to say New York should have the upper-hand between the pipes.

Gustavsson was supposed to make a start last week but was forced to miss it because he tweaked his groin earlier in the day. He is set to make another start tonight when the Red Wings face San Jose. Gustavsson could be worth a spot start tonight but it is tough to put faith in a goalie who has barely played this season.

Dubnyk has found himself on the bench in 3 of the Oilers last 7 games, but with Khabibulin going on IR, he picks up a ton of value, even though he doesn't have the greatest numbers. Should be a relatively safe start against the Stars

Kesler will be out long-term. He missed the start of the season with an injury and was only able to play in 7 games before getting hurt again.

Rinne allowed four goals in back-to-back games for the first time this season. You don't see Rinne allowing that many goals on a regular basis, so look for him to bounce back tonight. He has a tough matchup vs. Viktor Fasth and the Ducks. Rinne is a must-start in all formats.