DeSmith will be looking to pick up his first win of the 2021-22 season in a milestone game Wednesday, as it is the five-year veteran's 100th career game played. The 15% rostered Pittsburgh backup sports a solid .913 SV% and 2.97 GAA in his three starts even though he holds a 0-2-1 record. He will face a hot Buffalo team who ranks second in the NHL in goals-for-per game with 4.1.
After it was announced Wednesday that Alex Stalock will be out indefinitely due to a concussion, the Chicago Blackhawks signed goaltender Dylan Wells to a one-year, $750,000 contract. In three games with Rockford of the AHL, he is 1-1-0 with a 4.27 GAA and an .862 SV%.
Blackwell will retreat to the press box for the first time this season after it was announced he will miss Tuesday's game for Chicago as a healthy scratch. In nine games with the Blackhawks, the 29-year-old has two assists and a -2 plus/minus rating while playing 12:03 TOI nightly.
Heiskanen has missed the Stars' last three games due to an upper-body injury and will be a game-time decision Tuesday vs. the Kings as well as he continues his recovery. Dallas' star defenseman has two goals and three points through his first six games while posting a +6 plus/minus.
The Stars' starter was removed from the second period of Dallas' game Saturday vs. New York due to a lower-body injury. Jim Nill has confirmed the goaltender will be out for at least a week before being re-evaluated. It will be a massive loss for the Stars as Oettinger was having his best season to date, amassing a 5-1-0 record to go along with his 1.40 GAA and .952 SV%.
Lybushkin missed the Sabres' previous outing Saturday vs. Chicago and will miss Buffalo's game tonight vs. the Red Wings. In six games since joining the Sabres in the offseason, Lyubushkin has one assist and is a +2 rating while playing a modest 15:01 TOI per night.
Pete DeBoer said after the Stars' game Saturday that Jake Oettinger is currently seeing doctors for tests and we will know more about the injury that took him out of their game against New York, Sunday.
Heiskanen is considered day-to-day and head coach Pete DeBoer said he hopes to have him return Tuesday vs. LA.
Oettinger takes the crease for the Central-leading Stars coming off a 26 save (.929 SV%) 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins. He has had a very successful start to the season, as indicated by his 4-1-0 record alongside his .953 SV% and 1.40 GAA. He takes on Washington Thursday, who have won two straight games averaging five goals during both victories.
Heiskanen will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury. Heiskanen is listed as day-to-day, so consider him questionable for Saturday's game vs. the Rangers.
Oettinger takes the crease for the Central-leading Stars coming off a 26 save (.929 SV%) 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins. He has had a very successful start to the season, as indicated by his 4-1-0 record alongside his .953 SV% and 1.40 GAA. He takes on Washington Thursday who have won two straight games averaging five goals during both victories.
Oettinger will start the second of the Stars' back-to-back after stopping 32 of 34 shots (.941 SV%) in his previous start against Montreal to move his unbeaten record to 4-0-0. The Stars dropped their first regular season games of the season Monday in their 4-2 loss to Ottawa with Oettinger on the bench. They will head to Boston to take on the 5-1-0 Atlantic-leading Bruins who rank third in the NHL in GF/GP (4.33).
