NHL Hockey Player News

Niklas Backstrom is dealing with abdominal soreness and will not be available tonight, so Gustafsson will back-up Darcy Kuemper.

Richardson missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury. With Henrik Sedin out once again, Richardson could be asked to play a larger role. He has 17 points (8G / 9A) and was playing an average of 17:49 while Sedin was out originally.

Higgins missed Tuesday's game in Boston with an undisclosed injury, but will return tonight in Montreal. Higgins has been on of the Canucks most consistent offensive producers this season. He has totalled 31 points (15G / 16A) in 56 games.

Tarasenko has not been completely ruled out, but it does not sound like he will play. With the Olympics on the horizon and Tarasenko playing for Russia, it will be no surprise if he is held out. Dmitrij Jaskin will slide into the lineup for Tarasenko.

Sedin returned to the Canucks lineup on Monday in Detroit after missing the previous six games. Sedin also played on Tuesday in Boston, both nights he played more than 20 minutes, but was held off of the scoresheet. "We are shutting Henrik down for next 2 games. He wants to play, but he's not as effective as we need him to be right now," said Canucks head coach John Tortorella.

Luongo allowed three goals on 32 shots in a loss to the Bruins on Tuesday. Tonight he is expected to go head-to-head with his Team Canada teammate Carey Price. Winner is the starter in Sochi? Doubt it. But Luongo should make for a strong start as the Canadiens rank in the bottom one-third of the league in scoring.

Green will miss his fourth consecutive game and it looks more and more like he will not be back until after the Olympics. WIth Green out, Julien Brouillette will make his NHL debut tonight.

Timonen missed the last two games with a foot injury, but will return to the lineup toning vs. Colorado. He will play alongside Brayden Coburn and also man the point on the top power-play unit. He has two goals and 17 assists (19 points) in 55 games this season.

This season has been a struggle for Backstrom. He has not played well and he has had to deal with multiple injuries throughout the first four months of the season. Johan Gustafsson has been recalled and will serve as Darcy Kuemper's back-up. Backstrom will likely be held out until after the Olympic break.

Datsyuk has not played since the Winter Classic on January 1st. The Red Wings are slowly starting to get healthy and they are still sitting in the last WIld Card spot in the East despite playing most of January with an AHL dominant roster. Datsyuk will centre a line with Darren Helm and Daniel Alfredsson tonight in Florida.

Varlamov allowed five goals on 43 shots in a 5-1 loss to the Rangers on Tuesday. This loss was more on the rest of the Avs and less on Varlamov. They were badly outplayed all night and Varly was hung-out to dry. They will look to bounce back tonight in Philadelphia. Varlamov stopped 29 of 30 shots in a 2-1 win the first time he faced the Flyers on January 2.

Kuemper stopped 34 of 35 shots in Tuesday's win over the Lightning. It was Kuemper's best performance in two weeks, as he moved to 7-3-2 with a 2.20 GAA and .931 SV% since being recalled. He has been hot and you should continue to enjoy this surge of success tonight vs. the Predators.

Enroth gave up three goals on 28 shots in yet another loss on Monday vs. the Oilers. Enroth is still stuck with one win (1-11-5) and remains as risky of a spot-start as there is in the NHL right now. Tonight it looks like he will meet a Senators team for the first time this season. Ottawa has won three of five while averaging 3.00 G/PG over that span.

Neuvirth stopped 27 of 28 shots in a 1-0 loss to the Islanders on Tuesday. The Caps were unable to put one by Evgeni Nabokov, so Neuvirth was the tough-luck loser. In his three consecutive starts he went 1-1-1 with a 2.90 GAA and .913 SV%. Tonight he will run into a Jets squad who have been a completely different team under Paul Maurice (9-2-0).

Pavelec stopped 28 of 29 shots in a 2-1 win over the Hurricanes on Tuesday. It marked his 18th victory of the season and his seventh in his last nine starts. His recent stretch of strong goaltending has brought his GAA (2.95) and SV% (.902) to points of acceptability. He draws a good matchup vs. the Capitals tonight. I know they have Ovi, but go look at their lines, you've probably never heard of a couple of their current roster players.

Bernier stopped 44 of 47 shots but walked away on the wrong side of a 4-1 final on Tuesday vs. Florida. Tuesday was the eighth time that Bernier has made 40-plus saves in a game this season. The Maple Leafs are still getting outshot on a regular basis and forcing their backstop to stand on his head. Things will not get any easier tonight when Bernier faces the Lightning.

Anderson stopped 46 of 48 shots in a 3-2 OT loss to the Penguins on Monday and then was given Tuesday night off. It looks like he will be back in the crease tonight with the lowly Sabres in town. He has taken advantage of Buffalo this season going 2-0-0 with a 0.50 GAA and .987 SV% in two starts.

Talbot gave up four goals on 36 shots in a loss to the Islanders in his last start back on January 21. What once looked like a goalie controversy, but was never really a goalie controversy, is not even close to a goalie controversy now. Henrik Lundqvist is the unquestioned number-1 and Talbot can be used as a strong matchup spot-start. Tonight he has a good matchup with the Oilers coming into MSG.

Talbot gave up four goals on 36 shots in a loss to the Islanders in his last start back on January 21. What once looked like a goalie controversy, but was never really a goalie controversy, is not even close to a goalie controversy now. Henrik Lundqvist is the unquestioned number-1 and Talbot can be used as a strong matchup spot-start. Tonight he has a good matchup with the Oilers coming into MSG.

Bishop allowed two goals on 26 shots in a 2-1 loss in Minnesota on Tuesday. Bishop has won five of his last 10 starts while posting a 2.39 GAA and .925 SV%. Tonight he looks for his 28th win as he takes on an inconsistent Maple Leafs team coming off of a bad loss to the Panthers on Tuesday.