NHL Hockey Player News

Blackwood will return to the Sharks' crease on Thursday for the first time since December 23rd. Blackwood was sidelined for two games with an illness, though he was healthy enough to serve as Kaapo Kahkonen's backup for each of the last two games. Blackwood had a start to forget his last time out, surrendering six goals on 25 shots as the Sharks fell to the Canucks by a score of 7-4. His record now sits at 4-14-12 on the season to go along with an .889 SV% and a 3.92 GAA. Things won't get any easier for him on Thursday with the Sharks currently being heavy home underdogs at +225 to the Jets.

Carlile will get his first taste of NHL action on Thursday after spending each of the last three seasons with the Syracuse Crunch (AHL). The 23-year-old defenseman has three goals and six assists in 31 AHL games this season.

Fleury will start the third straight game with Filip Gustavsson sidelined for the foreseeable future with a lower-body injury. Fleury has played well over the last several weeks, allowing three or fewer goals in six of his last seven appearances (3-3-0), posting an impressive .922 SV%. Minnesota is a +107 home underdog on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have lost three of their last four games (1-3-0), outscored 15-9.

Vasilevskiy will be hoping to snap a personal three-game losing streak when he tends the twine for the Lightning on Thursday. The 2018-19 Vezina Trophy winner has endured a rocky season since returning from injury, posting a .900 SV% and a 2.94 GAA across 16 appearances. He's been particularly poor of late, allowing 11 goals on just 79 shots (.861 SV%) across that three-game slide. Despite his struggles, he's a decent bet to get back into the win column on Thursday with the Lightning being -125 favourites in Minnesota.

Johansen was not present at practice on Wednesday as he battles an illness and was a game-time decision against the Dallas Stars on Thursday. In Tuesday's 5-4 victory over the New York Islanders, Johansen was held off the scoresheet and recorded a -1 plus/minus rating in 14:11 time-on-ice. He has three points (1G / 2A) in his last three games.

DeSimone will check back into the lineup on Thursday as Jordan Oesterle is the odd-man out. DeSimone has one goal and four assists in 15 games this season.

Oesterle will be the odd-man out on Thursday as Nick DeSimone draws back into the lineup. Oesterle has no goals and two assists in 12 games this season.

It's the fifth time this season the Canucks have made Kuzmenko a healthy scratch, who has fallen a long way from his 39-goal season a year ago. He has eight goals and 11 assists in 32 games this season.

Wedgewood will get the nod in goal for the Stars for the eighth consecutive game on Thursday. Wedgewood has started every game since Jake Oettinger went down with a lower-body injury on December 15th, and the Stars couldn't have asked for anything more from their backup netminder. Despite a a couple of rocky appearances, Wedgewood has been solid enough to deliver a 5-2-1 record in Oettinger's absence, and appears to have the full confidence of head coach Peter DeBoer as the interim starting goalie. He'll have his hands full on Thursday as the Stars welcome the Avalanche to town.

Georgiev will start for the Avalanche in a matchup against their division rivals, the Dallas Stars. The Avalanche are +113 road underdogs against a Stars team they defeated 6-3 in mid-November when Georgiev allowed three goals on 28 shots (.893 SV%). The 27-year-old netminder allowed four goals on 22 shots (.818 SV%) in his last outing, a 5-4 overtime win over the New York Islanders, but, despite winning five of his last six (5-0-1), owns an unimpressive .899 SV% during that stretch.

Saros will return to the crease on Thursday after recording his second shutout of the season in his previous outing. Saros saved all 21 shots he faced in a 3-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, snapping his three-game losing streak (0-2-1) that saw him allow 13 goals and post an uncharacteristically low .829 SV%. The Predators will search for their third straight victory as -114 home favourites against a Calgary Flames club that has won two straight.

Vladar will get the surprise nod in Nashville on Thursday, making his first appearance since Jacob Markstrom returned from a finger injury on December 18th. Vladar was solid his last time out, stopping 31 of the 33 shots he faced enroute to a 4-2 victory over the Lightning. This presumably sets Vladar up to start a pair of games this weekend as the Flames are set to play a back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday. He draws a difficult matchup on Thursday with the Flames being slight underdogs at +105 in Nashville.

Lauko will be the odd-man out on Thursday as John Beecher re-enters the lineup in his place. Lauko has no goals and three assists in 27 games this season.

Beecher will slide back into his usual spot on the fourth line as Jakub Lauko is the odd-man out on Thursday. Beecher has four goals and two assists in 34 games this season.

Olofsson is expected to skate alongside Peyton Krebs and Zemgus Girgensons on the Sabres' fourth line. He has four goals and eight assists in 30 games this season.

Provorov was a game-time decision due to an illness on Thursday. Provorov is pacing for the best offensive season of his career, scoring 21 points (2G / 19A) through 39 games.

Chinakhov was a game-time decision on Thursday due to an illness. Chinakhov has 17 points (10G / 7A) in 27 games this season, playing predominantly alongside Dmitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko.

Swayman will tend the twine for the Bruins on Thursday as they search for their fifth straight victory. Over his last two games (2-0-0), Swayman has saved 52 of 56 shots faced (.929 SV%). The Bruins have outscored their opposition 18-7 over their last four games (4-0-0) and are -142 home favourites against a Pittsburgh Penguins club that is coming off a 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals but has won three of their last four games (3-1-0).

Deslauriers was a healthy scratch for the Flyers' previous contest but will draw back into the lineup Thursday on the fourth line. The 32-year-old grinding left-winger has yet to score in 2023-24, but has three assists, 34 SOG, 39 PIMs and a -6 plus/minus in 36 games played.

Not much changes about Terry's return status but he was placed on the Injured Reserve Thursday with an upper-body injury retroactive to December 30th. The 26-year-old right winger had been enjoying a so-so beginning to his 2023-24 campaign, with nine goals, 22 points, 83 SOG, 14 PIMs and his -7 plus/minus through 35 games.