Blackwood allowed two goals on 35 shots in the Devils loss in Washington last Friday. Blackwood has gone 0-3-0 since being recalled from the AHL despite posting a rock-solid 1.71 GAA and .950 SV%. Tonight he faces the Flames for the second time this season—he allowed two goals on 35 shots in a 2-1 loss in New Jersey on February 27th.
Landeskog will likely miss the rest of the regular season after suffering an upper-body injury in Dallas on Thursday. This is a huge blow for the Avalanche, who are just four points out of the last playoff spot in the Western Conference right now. With Landeskog out, the Avalanche split Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen up at Friday’s practice. Derick Brassard and J.T. Compher were with MacKinnon and Colin Wilson and Carl Soderberg were skating alongside Rantanen.
Blackwood allowed one goal on 30 shots in the Devils 1-0 loss to the Bruins last Saturday. Since Keith Kinkaid was traded and Blackwood was recalled, the 22-year-old has gone 0-2-0 despite stopping 62 of the 65 shots (.954 SV%) that he faced. He has been solid this season but draws a tough assignment tonight—the Capitals have won five straight while averaging 4.60 goals for per game.
Cogliano is expected to miss his third straight game with an upper-body injury, but he practiced on Monday and is expected to return to the lineup on Thursday. The 31-year-old has just three points (1G / 2A) in 17 games since being acquired by the Stars.
The Devils traded Keith Kinkaid to the Blue Jackets on Monday morning, so Blackwood should be with the Devils through the rest of the season and is expected to backup Cory Schneider against the Canadiens.
Nichushkin was back in the Stars lineup on Tuesday but played just 7:42 TOI and will come back out of the lineup on Thursday.
Nichushkin has been a healthy scratch for the last three games but will replace Dennis Gurianov on Tuesday. Nichushkin has been disappointing since returning from the KHL, failing to score a goal with seven assists in 39 games.
Nichushkin has been in the lineup for the last two games but will be replaced by Jason Dickinson, who returns from a lower-body injury.
Blackwood allowed three goals on just 14 shots in the Devils 3-2 loss to the Ducks on January 19th. Blackwood’s had some great games since being recalled but has lost three of his last five while allowing a combined 18 goals on 145 shots (.876 SV%). He comes into Saturday at 1-3-0 with a 2.86 GAA and .922 SV% in five starts on the road.
Nichushkin has been a healthy scratch for the last three games but will replace Jason Dickinson in the lineup on Friday. Nichushkin, who is expected to skate with Jason Spezza and Andrew Cogliano, has seven assists but no goals on 51 shots in 37 games this season.
