Gourde committed the hit in the third period of Thursday's game in Edmonton. Gourde was issued a five-minute major penalty for charging on the play. He will be eligible to return to the Kraken lineup for next Friday's game in St. Louis.
Merela will take the place of the scratched Alex Barre-Boulet. Merela is yet to register a point in 14 games this season.
Vasilevskiy will start for the seventh straight game and look to extend his winning streak to four games on Thursday night. After a disastrous performance on January 6th, allowing six goals on 26 shots (.769 SV%) in a 7-3 loss to the Boston Bruins, Vasilevskiy has responded admirably, winning three straight and posting a respectable .917 SV%. Tampa Bay is a -134 home favourite against the Minnesota Wild, who defeated the New York Islanders 5-0 in their last contest.
Vasilevskiy will likely start for the seventh straight game and look to extend his winning streak to four games on Thursday night. After a disastrous performance on January 6th, allowing six goals on 26 shots (.769 SV%) in a 7-3 loss to the Boston Bruins, Vasilevskiy has responded admirably, winning three straight and posting a respectable .917 SV%. Tampa Bay is a -134 home favourite against the Minnesota Wild, who defeated the New York Islanders 5-0 in their last contest.
Sogaard will likely make his first start of the season for a Senators club struggling immensely and is without goaltender Anton Forsberg. Sogaard has had a stellar campaign with the Belleville Senators of the AHL, posting a 2.48 GAA and .920 SV% in 16 games (8-5-2). The 23-year-old Sogaard spent a sizeable portion of the 2022-23 season in Ottawa but struggled to make an impact, posting a 3.32 GAA and .889 SV% in 19 appearances (8-6-3). The Senators, losers of 12 of their last 16 (4-12-0), are +104 home underdogs against a high-scoring Colorado Avalanche club that was defeated 4-3 by the Montreal Canadiens last night.
Crozier was recalled along with fellow defender Philippe Myers on Tuesday, but with Tampa Bay off until Thursday, it is unclear how or if they will decide to utilize them in their lineup. Crozier made his NHL debut in the last Lightning game, playing 13:00 time-on-ice.
Sogaard will likely make his first start of the season for a Senators club struggling immensely and is without goaltender Anton Forsberg. Sogaard has had a stellar campaign with the Belleville Senators of the AHL, posting a 2.48 GAA and .920 SV% in 16 games (8-5-2). The 23-year-old Sogaard spent a sizeable portion of the 2022-23 season in Ottawa but struggled to make an impact, posting a 3.32 GAA and .889 SV% in 19 appearances (8-6-3). The Senators, losers of 12 of their last 16 (4-12-0), are +104 home underdogs against a high-scoring Colorado Avalanche club that was defeated 4-3 by the Montreal Canadiens last night.
Sabourin will draw into the Sharks lineup on Monday in favour of Mike Hoffman, who will be a healthy scratch. Sabourin played his first game of the season with the Sharks last week, recording four penalty minutes and five hits in 11:12 time-on-ice.
This very well could just be a paper transaction as the Lightning are off until Thursday. We'll get a better sense of how they'll lineup for that game against the Wild when they return to practice on Tuesday.
This very well could just be a paper transaction as the Lightning are off until Thursday. We'll get a better sense of how they'll lineup for that game against the Wild when they return to practice on Tuesday.
With news of Anton Forsberg being injured, Mads Sogaard was recalled Friday from Belleville (AHL). The 23-year-old last appeared with the Senators' in 2022-23 and was 8-6-3 with a 3.32 GAA and .889 SV%.
With news that Erik Cernak (upper body) is day-to-day heading into the weekend, Maxwell Crozier has earned his first NHL call up Friday from Syracuse (AHL). The 23-year-old was Tampa Bay's 2019 fourth round pick (120th overall) and is only spending his first full season in the AHL this year after joining the team from Providence (NCAA) in 2022-23.
Cernak suffered an upper-body injury after taking a hit from Nathan Bastian late in the first period of Thursday's game against the New Jersey Devils. Cernak has five points (0G / 5A), 90 hits, and 62 blocks in 39 games this season.
Cernak suffered the injury after taking a hit from Nathan Bastian late in the first period. We should expect to receive an update on the injury and a possible timeline for Cernak's return following the completion of Thursday's game.
After allowing six goals on 26 shots (.769 SV%) in a 7-3 loss to the Boston Bruins, Vasilevskiy responded with a solid performance in his last outing, saving 20 of 22 shots (.909 SV%) in a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. Despite salvaging a 6-6-0 record, Vasilevskiy has failed to record consecutive quality starts since December 4th and 6th, posting a .895 SV% in that stretch. Tampa Bay is a -150 home favourite on Thursday against the New Jersey Devils, who are without several star players, most notably Jack Hughes.
