Barre-Boulet will be a scratch on Thursday as Lightning head coach Jon Cooper elects to get some fresh legs into the lineup for the tail-end of their back-to-back. Austin Watson will draw into the lineup in place of Barre-Boulet.
Sorokin will return to the crease on Thursday after a solid performance in his last outing. The talented netminder saved 35 of 37 shots (.946 SV%) in a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday, only his second win in his last seven outings. The rested Islanders are -139 home favourites against a Tampa Bay Lighting club that played last night and was defeated 3-1 by the New York Rangers.
Malinski will sit in favour of Jack Johnson on Thursday. Malinski has three goals and seven assists in 23 games this season.
Johnson will take the place of Sam Malinski, who is listed as a healthy scratch. Johnson has two goals and seven assists in 49 games this season.
de Haan will replace the injured Mikhail Sergachev (leg). de Haan has three goals and four assists in 45 games this season.
Watson will play for the first time since January 21st as head coach Jon Cooper looks to get some fresh legs into the lineup for the tail-end of Tampa's back-to-back. Watson has two goals and one assist in 26 games this season.
The Lightning will turn to Johansson on Thursday for the tail-end of their back-to-back after starter Andrei Vasilevskiy got the nod against the Rangers on Wednesday. Johansson has not appeared in a game since January 20th, when he stopped 26 of the 27 shots he faced enroute to a 3-1 victory over the Sabres. It was one of the better starts of the season for the 28-year-old netminder, who owns an .894 SV% and a 3.34 GAA across 22 games with the Lightning.
With Brett Pesce sidelined due to an illness, DeAngelo will get his first opportunity to play since January 5th. DeAngelo has two goals and seven assists in 21 games this season.
Staal is on the ice for warmups and will likely draw in for Ramus Ristolainen, who is listed as a scratch. Staal has one goal and one assist in 17 games this season.
Elliotte Friedman put any trade speculation to rest when he reported Ristolainen is in fact out with an illness, and is not a healthy scratch on Thursday. Marc Staal is expected to draw into the lineup in his place.
Pesce was a late scratch for Thursday's game against Colorado, with the Hurricanes not announcing his absence until the start of warmups. Tony DeAngelo will likely draw into the lineup in his place.
Ullmark will return to the crease for the first time post-All-Star break in a showdown between the Eastern and Western Conference leaders. The Bruins are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday but are -132 home favourites against a Vancouver Canucks squad with points in 12 straight (10-0-2). Ullmark last played on January 27th, saving 35 of 37 shots (.946 SV%) in a 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
After getting the night off on the back end of a back-to-back on Tuesday, Georgiev will return to the crease for the sixth time in the last seven games. Georgiev has been excellent lately, posting a .938 SV% across his last three games (2-0-1) while allowing two or fewer goals in each contest, his first stretch of that calibre since the opening week of the season. That said, the Avalanche are +122 road underdogs on Thursday against a Carolina Hurricanes club that saw their three-game winning streak end with a 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
Vanecek will start for the third straight game on Thursday night when the Devils host the Calgary Flames. Vanecek was terrific in his last outing, snapping a two-game losing skid by limiting the high-scoring Colorado Avalanche to only three goals on 38 shots (.921 SV%) in a 5-3 victory. The Devils enter action as -137 home favourites despite the Flames carrying momentum from a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday.
Forsberg has been out since January 11th due to a groin injury but is expected to rejoin the Senators' lineup on Saturday vs. Toronto as a backup to Joonas Korpisalo. The 31-year-old has had a season to forget in 2023-24, with his 7-8-0 record, 3.35 GAA and .889 SV%.
Hamonic has been out since January 21st due to an upper-body injury and is healthy and ready to go Saturday vs. Toronto. The 33-year-old veteran defenseman has done little to contribute offensively this season, with two goals, five points, 38 PIMs, and 39 SOG through 40 games before his injury.
Even though Anton Forsberg is returning from injury Saturday, Joonas Korpisalo will man the crease for a second straight start after winning his previous contest in a 23-save (.920 SV%) effort. The 29-year-old has struggled in his inaugural season in the Nation's Capital, with his 12-16-2 record, 3.38 GAA and .889 SV%. He will take on Toronto in the battle of Ontario on Saturday, who have won four of their last five contests and are sixth in the NHL in goals per game (3.45).
The Oilers' franchise-best 16-game winning streak ended on Tuesday with a 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, but they will attempt to get back into the win column with Pickard between the pipes on Friday. Pickard has been reliable when called upon between the pipes this season, including a 27-save shutout in his last outing, a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. Pickard and the Oilers have another favourable matchup on Friday as -266 road favourites against the Anaheim Ducks, fourth-worst in the league offensively (2.56 GF / GP).
Faulk had missed the Blues' previous four games due to a lower-body injury and has officially been placed on the Injured Reserve Thursday with expectations that he will be out week-to-week. The 31-year-old had struggled through the first half of the season with two goals, 19 points, 90 SOG, 10 PIMs and a -5 plus/minus through 40 games played.
