NHL Hockey Player News

Staal did not travel to San Jose because of a death in his family, so look for Gerald Mayhew or Victor Rask to draw back into the lineup on Thursday.

Gallagher missed the morning skate with an illness and is a game-time decision tonight in Tampa Bay. The Canadiens are already without Tomas Tatar (upper-body) so they will dress seven defensemen if Gallagher can't play.

Vatanen was nearing his Hurricanes debut but head coach Rod Brind'Amour doesn't expect him to play "any time soon" after suffering a setback on Thursday.

Tanev missed Tuesday's game vs. the Senators and Wednesday's practice but remains a game-time decision tonight in Buffalo. Tanev would likely replace Sam Lafferty on the fourth line with Teddy Blueger and Evan Rodrigues.

Bjugstad underwent core-muscle surgery in mid-November and missed the last 46 games. Bjugstad, who has one goal in 10 games this season, is expected to skate on the third line with Jared McCann and Patric Hornqvist.

Dries leads the Eagles with 21 goals while adding 14 assists (35 points) in 49 AHL games this season. He has six points (3G / 3A) in 43 career NHL games.

Khudobin surrendered two goals on 27 shots in the Stars loss to the Oilers on Tuesday. Khudobin has lost two straight but will start his third consecutive game tonight in Nashville. Khudobin is 10-6-3 with a 2.57 GAA and .925 SV% on the road this year. One of those wins came in Nashville in mid-December, when he stopped 37 of 38 shots in a 4-1 win.

Smith stopped 27 of 30 shots in the Oilers win in Nashville on Monday. Smith has won two in a row and is on a six-game point streak (4-0-2) while posting a 2.62 GAA and .911 SV%. He gets set to face a Chicago team that is 4-2-0 while scoring 3.67 goals per game in their last six games.

Crawford stopped 37 of 39 shots in the Blackhawks win over the Ducks on Tuesday. Crawford is on an impressive three-game winning streak, stopping 111 of the 117 shots (.949 SV%) that he's faced. Tonight he faces the Oilers for the second time this season--he stopped 27 of 28 shots in a 3-1 win in the first meeting.

Varlamov allowed two goals on 14 shots after replacing Thomas Greiss in the Islanders' loss to the Canadiens on Tuesday. Since mid-January, Varlamov has gone 2-4-1 with a 2.41 GAA and .919 SV% in nine games (seven starts). Tonight he faces a Senators team that is 4-2-0 while averaging 3.50 goals per game in their last six games in Ottawa.

Connauton has appeared in just one NHL game this season but has played terrific in the AHL, ranking second among Eagles defensemen with 27 points (5G / 22A) in 38 games.

Kaut played in eight straight NHL games, scoring two goals on 11 shots (18.2 SH%) and one assist in 10:03 ATOI. He returns to the AHL, where he had 16 points (5G / 11A) in 31 games before being called up.

Murray allowed three goals on 26 shots in the Penguins win over the Senators on Tuesday. Murray has given up at least three goals in four straight games, going 1-3-0 with a 3.56 GAA and .859 SV%. Tonight he'll face the Sabres for the first time since the season opener, a night where he allowed three goals on 41 shots in a 3-1 loss.

Georgiev allowed two goals on 21 shots in the Rangers loss to the Blues on Tuesday. Since Igor Shesterkin got hurt, Georgiev has gone 2-2-0 with a 3.01 GAA and .914 SV%. He comes into Thursday's game at 3-9-1 with a 3.13 GAA and .895 SV% in 12 starts at Madison Square Garden. He'll face a Capitals team that is 1-4-0 while scoring just 1.80 goals per game in their last five road games.

Vejdemo has picked up 19 points (9G / 10A) in 46 AHL games this season but has no points in his first four career NHL games. With Tomas Tatar dealing with an upper-body injury, Vejdemo returns to the AHL where he will likely slot in on the fourth line on Thursday.

Tatar suffered an upper-body injury early in Tuesday's game against the Islanders and is not expected to play in Tampa Bay. Artturi Lehkonen moved up to the top line after Tatar got hurt and Lukas Vejdemo was recalled from the AHL to take his spot in the lineup.

Nedeljkovic stopped 18 of 19 shots after replacing Anton Forsberg in the Hurricanes loss in Montreal last Saturday. Nedeljkovic struggled in his first start of the season, allowing four goals on 16 shots in a 4-1 loss to the Stars. Tonight he faces a Flyers team that is on a seven-game home winning streak while scoring 4.57 goals per game.

Duclair has missed the last four games with an ankle injury but will draw back into the lineup tonight vs. the Islanders. Duclair will replace Artem Anisimov, who is out with an upper-body injury, and will skate on the third line with Nick Paul and Jayce Hawryluk.

Johansson allowed four goals on 30 shots in the Sabres loss in Arizona on Saturday. In his first four careers starts, Johansson has gone 1-2-1 with a 2.68 GAA and .899 SV%. Things don't get any easier tonight with the Penguins in town. They haven't been great on the road recently but are starting to get healthy and looked really dangerous Tuesday.