Weber missed Monday's practice and Tuesday's morning skate but head coach Claude Julien still expects him to play vs. the Blue Jackets. This is great news for Montreal because Weber has been scorching hot as of late, scoring five goals with six assists (11 points) in his last 11 games while playing 22:46 ATOI.
Maroon has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury that he suffered in a fight in New York on October 29th. Maroon has been limited to a fourth-line role for much of the season so far, resulting in just three points (1G / 2A) and 10:39 ATOI in 11 games.
Wagner has been a healthy scratch for the last two games but will replace Carl Grundstrom in the lineup on Thursday. Wagner has two goals and one assist in 11 games this season.
Wagner played in 10 straight games but Tyler Toffoli will draw back into the lineup and replace him on Saturday. Toffoli brings a lot more offence to the table than Wagner, who has just three points (2G / 1A) in 11 games this season.
Brossoit allowed one goal on eight shots after replacing Connor Hellebuyck in the Jets loss in Anaheim on Tuesday. Brossoit has not played very well this season, posting a .852 SV% in three appearances. To make matters worse, he will be taking on a Vegas team that is very good on home-ice. On a positive note, he will go head-to-head with Malcolm Subban instead of Marc-Andre Fleury.
Donato played just 6:59 TOI last night and has produced just two helpers in 11 games this season, so with Kevin Fiala healthy, the Wild won’t hesitate to change up a losing lineup.
Maroon was hurt in a fight on Tuesday night and will come out of the lineup for Wednesday’s game in New Jersey. Alexander Volkov was summoned from the AHL and will make his NHL debut in Maroon’s place.
Khudobin stopped 11 of 12 shots after replacing Ben Bishop in the second period of Tuesday's come-from-behind win over the Wild. Khudobin has won back-to-back games while stopping 30 of the 32 shots (.938 SV%) in his last two outings and will make his fifth start of the year on Friday. He is 0-2-0 with a 3.56 GAA and .892 SV% in his first two road starts.
Maroon suffered an upper-body injury in a fight with Michael Haley early in the first period of Tuesday's game. It seems unlikely that Maroon will be available for Wednesday's game in New Jersey, so expect someone to be called up from Syracuse (AHL) to replace him if Anthony Cirelli (undisclosed) can't play again.
Sanford has been a healthy scratch for the last four games but will replace Sammy Blais (thumb) on Thursday. Sanford has no points in four games this season and will skate on the third line with Tyler Bozak and Robert Thomas.
Murphy suffered a groin injury in Tuesday's shootout loss to the Golden Knights and his move to LTIR provides the Blackhawks with some cap relief but also means he'll miss at least 11 games. Dennis Gilbert was recalled from Rockford (AHL) and either he or Slater Koekkoek will replace Murphy. This also helps explain the trade for Ian McCoshen on Tuesday as the team looked to address organizational depth on the back-end.
Bjork made his season debut vs. the Maple Leafs on Tuesday but gets sent back to the AHL because the Bruins are off until Saturday. How the injured Bruins recover over the next few days will determine whether or not Bjork will return for the weekend.
Bjork has enjoyed a great start to 2019-20, leading Providence and tied for fourth line league scoring with eight points (3G / 5A) in seven games. Bjork will likely draw into the Bruins lineup vs. Toronto and comes up with five goals and 10 assists (15 points) in 50 career NHL games.
Khudobin allowed three goals on 32 shots in the Stars loss in Pittsburgh on Friday. Ben Bishop's house was hit by a tornado on Sunday night (he and his family are fine) and he missed the morning skate, so Khudobin will start vs. the Senators. Khudobin has lost all three of his starts while posting a 3.42 GAA and .888 SV% but he is a fantastic spot-start option with a home-matchup vs. a Senators team ranking 28th in offence (2.29 GF/gm).
Welinski started the season on IR with a lower-body injury but was activated and waived on Monday. The 26-year-old had 19 points (8G / 11A) in 27 AHL games with San Diego (AHL) last year. Waiving Welinski and sending him down opened up the cap-space and roster spot for the Flyers to sign Chris Stewart.
Brossoit gave up four goals on 33 shots in the Jets loss to the Islanders last Saturday. Brossoit has allowed four goals in each of his two starts, posting an .889 SV% in the process. With Connor Hellebuyck starting on Saturday, it left Brossoit to start game-two of the back-to-back on Sunday. The Penguins are banged up but they’ve won two games in a row and are 3-2-0 to start the season.
Khudobin's only other start this season was a 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Red Wings on October 6. He allowed four goals on 33 shots. He draws a difficult assignment tonight against the high-scoring Capitals. Khudobin posted a 16-17-5 record in 41 appearances last season, registering a 2.57 GAA and a .923 SV%.
