Nielsen was listed as questionable after missing Friday’s practice due to illness but was officially ruled out of Saturday’s afternoon tilt in Philadelphia. Nielsen will be replaced by Tyler Bertuzzi, who makes his return to the lineup after missing time with a concussion.
Lehner allowed three goals on 22 shots in the Islanders loss in Buffalo on Tuesday. Lehner has been alternating games with Thomas Greiss, who has been red-hot as of late, but it looks like Lehner will start Saturday vs. the Oilers. Lehner has gone 2-2-0 with a 2.51 GAA and .911 SV% in four games in February.
Murray allowed one goal on 39 shots in the Penguins win over the Oilers on Wednesday. Murray has been outstanding in his last two starts, stopping 88 of 90 shots (.978 SV%) to earn back-to-back wins. The 24-year-old stopped 38 of 39 shots in a 9-1 win in his first start against the Flames this season.
Ennis has been sidelined since breaking his ankle on December 22nd but was activated from IR on February 10th and has sat as a healthy scratch for the last three games. Ennis will replace Andreas Johnsson, who is out with a leg injury, and comes into play with seven goals and four assists (11 points) in 33 games this season.
Johnson was forced to leave Thursday’s game in Vegas, after scoring a goal in just 5:32 TOI, due to a leg injury and it will keep him out of Saturday’s game in Arizona. Connor Brown will replace him on the Maple Leafs’ third line and Tyler Ennis will replace him in the lineup.
Nilsson allowed three goals on 29 shots in the Senators loss in Detroit on Thursday. Nilsson has lost two straight while surrendering a combined seven goals 65 shots (.908 SV%). Nilsson has faced the Jets twice this season (once with VAN and once with OTT),going 1-1-0 with a 3.01 GAA and .923 SV%.
Stolarz is set to become a restricted free agent this summer but provides the Oilers with over $3.4M AAV in cap savings this year by replacing Talbot. The 25-year-old netminder is a former second-round pick but has had two knee surgeries in the last two seasons and has only played in 21 professional hockey games over that stretch as a result. This season, Stolarz is 4-3-3 with a 3.33 GAA and .902 SV% and will basically be trying out for Mikko Koskinen’s backup job for next season during the final 25 games of the season.
The Oilers needed to shed some cap-space so that they could activate defenseman Andrej Sekera and Talbot is in the final year of a three-year deal that carries a $4.166M AAV cap-hit and Stolarz’s $761K AAV provides them with over $3.4M in savings. Since his breakout year in 2017, Talbot has struggled—tying for 39th in the NHL in SV% (.903) and 43rd in GAA (3.13). Talbot has ties to rookie netminder Carter Hart, as they train together in the summer, so bringing in a quality veteran to help Hart along the way is the reason the Flyers made this deal. If Talbot plays well, Philly may re-sign him and make Hart-Talbot their 1-2 punch in net for the next couple of seasons.
Boyle stopped all 35 shots that he faced in the Ducks shutout win over the Canucks on Wednesday. It was an impressive first career start for Boyle, who has posted impressive AHL numbers throughout his career. Boyle has now stopped 59 of 61 shots (.967 SV%) since being called-up.
Kinkaid allowed eight goals on 39 shots in the Devils loss in St. Louis on Tuesday. Kinkaid has lost seven of his last nine (2-7-0) while posting a terrible 4.14 GAA and .877 SV%. He draws a quality matchup against a Wild team that has lost six of their last seven (1-4-2) but Kinkaid isn’t playing well enough to be considered tonight.
Neal was forced to leave Thursday’s game in Florida with an upper-body injury and will not play Saturday against his former team. Neal had been heating up recently, scoring one goal with six assists (seven points) in his last 12 games.
Smith allowed two goals on 32 shots in the Flames loss in Florida on Thursday. It was a strong outing for the veteran netminder, earning him another start on Saturday afternoon. He draws a rough road matchup vs. the Penguins, who are 16-10-2 on home-ice so far this season. Smith is 6-6-1 with a 2.85 GAA and .904 SV% on the road.
Schenn played in eight games with the Ducks earlier this season but has been in the AHL since being traded to the Canucks. Since the trade, Schenn, who is not known for his offence, has five points (1G / 4A) in seven games. He should make his Canucks debut on the weekend with both Chris Tanev and Alexander Edler out.
Howard stopped 40 of 42 shots in the Red Wings win over the Senators on Thursday. Howard has won two in a row while stopping 72 of the last 76 shots (.947 SV%) that he faced. This afternoon he takes on a Flyers team that has won 10 of their last 12 (10-1-1) on the road, where he has gone 6-9-1 with a 2.95 GAA and .909 SV% this season.
Nielsen missed Thursday's practice with a stomach bug and is questionable to play Saturday in Philadelphia. Tyler Bertuzzi will return after a seven-game absence and will replace Nielsen if he can't play.
Bertuzzi has missed the last seven games with a concussion but will play Saturday in Philadelphia. Bertuzzi could replace Frans Nielsen, who is questionable due to an illness. Bertuzzi has 13 goals and 15 assists (28 points) in 49 games this season.
Kulikov has missed the last four games with an upper-body injury but is set to return to the lineup on Saturday. Kulikov will replace Joe Morrow, who is out for 2-3 weeks.
