NHL Hockey Player News

Thomas will miss his sixth straight contest on Thursday. The Panthers hope he returns Saturday at Senators or Sunday at New York Rangers.

Rinne was reportedly dealing with a bacterial infection in his hip, but according to Nick Kypreos, Rinne has an E. Coli infection in his hip. Rinne had surgery on his hip in May and was ready to go to start the season, but had some soreness and a fever following an October 22 game at Minnesota. An MRI revealed the infection, which has turned out to be E. Coli. He started the season 4-4-1 with a 2.31 GAA and .917 SV%.

Lehtonen stopped 33 of 36 shots in a shootout win over the Senators on Sunday. He has now allowed three goals in three of his last four starts, but still holds a strong 1.94 GAA and .936 SV%. Lehtonen has a tough matchup with the Bruins tonight.

Giguere turned aside 29 of 30 shots in a victory over the Canadiens on Saturday. The win moved Giggy to 4-0-0 with a 0.75 GAA and .977 SV%. He is playing extremely well, but won't see as many starts as his owners like as long as Semyon Varlamov continues to play great as well. Giguere is a must-start vs. the Flames on Friday.

Just over 24 hours after being in court last Thursday, Varlamov recorded his third straight win on Friday. He stopped 27 of 29 shots to preserve the victory over the Stars. Varlamov has been great but don't forget the serious charges that he is facing. However as long as he is starting games, you can continue to roll with him.

Luongo was excellent stopping all 21 shots he faced against the Maple Leafs on Saturday. It was Bobby Lu's second shutout of the season and his fourth win in his last five starts. Tonight he faces the Coyotes and their fourth ranked offence and their red-hot goalie - Mike Smith.

Miller lost his sixth consecutive start when allowed two goals on 46 shots vs. the Rangers. Once again, Miller was under siege most of the night. He played very well, but was still on the hook for the loss. Miller has limited value until he gets traded. The Sabres 1.56 goals per game (30th in NHL) average isn't going to help him win games.

Coreau, 22, is 0-1-0 with a 3.82 GAA and .846 SV% in one start with Grand Rapids. He has been recalled for practice purposes, Jonas Gustavsson should be OK to back-up on Thursday.

Mrzaek stopped all 14 shots on Saturday to post his first career NHL shutout. He has been sent down so that he can get some playing time, opposed to serving as Jimmy Howard's backup. Mrazek is 2-2-1 with a 3.14 GAA and .891 SV% with the Griffins.

If it were not for Howard on Monday the Red Wings would have lost a lot worse than 4-2. He was fantastic, stopping 43 of 47 shots - including numerous spectacular glove saves. He will face a hot Dallas team on Thursday.

Arnott, 39, played 1,244 games over 18 seasons recording 417 goals and 521 assists (938 points). He was a one-time All-Star (1997) and he won a Stanley Cup in 2000 as a member of the New Jersey Devils.

Niemi allowed two goals on 30 shots in a shootout loss to the Coyotes on Saturday. It was his second straight loss, but expect him to chalk up the W tonight with the 2-13-1 Sabres in town.

Anderson, 19, was the 95th overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. He is currently a member of the London Knights (OHL) where he has seven goals and eight assists (15 points) in 16 games.

This is a great sign for the Sharks and Burns fantasy owners. Burns will not play tonight, but is nearing a return and should be considered questionable for Thursday.

Klesla missed the last four games after suffering an injury early in a contest vs. the Kings on October 24. Klesla has only appeared in seven of a possible 14 games because of concussion and this upper-body ailments. He is not a fantasy worthy defenseman having scored just 22 points in his last 110 games - stretches over three seasons.

Merrill was injured in his NHL debut and the Devils will continue to do tests to determine if he suffered a concussion. Merrill is out indefinitely until a timetable is released.

This move indicates that either Travis Zajac or Patrick Elias (or both) will be back in the Devils lineup on Thursday.

Jets head coach Claude Noel says that Kane is still day-to-day but he will be reevaluated tomorrow. Monitor his status during Wednesday's morning skate.

Baertschi was also a healthy scratch on October 24 vs. Dallas. He barely saw the ice in the third period of Sunday's win over the Blackhawks. He will come out of the lineup and Lance Bouma enters. Baertschi has one goal and four assists in 13 games.

Billins leads the Abbotsford Heat with five goals in 10 games. He spent last season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, where he posted 10 goals and 27 assists (37 points) in 76 games. He is a smaller defenseman at 5-foot-10 and 175 lbs. but he brings some more offence to the Flames blueline.