Bobrovsky made 24 saves on 25 shots in the Blue Jackets’ win over the Hurricanes on Tuesday. It was a nice return to the crease for Bobrovsky, who has won 16 of his last 17 starts entering play on Thursday. Bobrovsky will face a Senators team that has won three of their last four—Bob is 16-3-0 with a 1.79 GAA and .940 SV% on home ice.
Saros turned away 35 of 36 shots in the Predators’ win over the Bruins last Thursday. Saros has been excellent in his eight starts, going 4-3-1 with a 1.25 GAA, .957 SV% and one shutout. If he continues to play well, he’ll see more playing time and that starts tonight in Calgary—Saros is 2-2-0 with a 1.01 GAA and .963 SV% on the road.
Khaira left Wednesday’s game with an upper-body injury and will be re-evaluated over the weekend. Khaira will not play on Friday, but could always draw in on Saturday if he is good-to-go. Khaira has one goal on four shots in three games since being called up.
Pedan, 23, never appeared in a game during his call-up and will swap places with Jordan Subban as he heads back to Utica. Pedan has two goals and one assist (three points) in 22 games with Utica.
Subban, 21, was a fourth round pick in 2013 (115th overall) and this is his first NHL call-up. The brother of PK and Malcolm has picked up nine goals and 13 assists (22 points) in 34 games with Utica this season and could make his NHL debut this weekend.
Bennett has not recorded a single point in 10 games and has just two goals in his last 16 games. The second-year forward has struggled to improve on last year’s pace and will come out of the lineup as a healthy scratch tonight. Michael Ferland (lower-body) will take his spot up-front.
Hanzal will miss his second straight game while he deals with a personal matter. The Coyotes’ centre won’t play tonight, but is expected to return on Saturday, so monitor his status leading up to that meeting with the Ducks.
Smith has missed the last seven games with a knee injury, but returned to the ice on Thursday. Despite his return, Smith is likely a few weeks away from returning to the lineup. Look for the Red Wing defenseman to return after the All-Star break.
Bailey has failed to record a point in four games with Ottawa this season. During his time in Binghamton, the 25-year-old has scored 10 goals with five assists (15 points) in 33 games.
Gibson allowed one goal on 28 shots in the Ducks’ win over the Lightning on Tuesday. The 23-year-old netminder has gone 6-1-1 with a 1.36 GAA ad .957 SV% in eight starts in January and tonight he faces the Avalanche for the second time this season. He stopped 33 of 34 shots in 4-1 win in Colorado just last Thursday.
Lundqvist was pulled after he allowed seven goals on 27 shots in the Rangers’ loss to the Stars on Tuesday. Lundqvist has struggled mightily in January, going 2-4-0 with a 4.91 GAA and .841 SV% in five starts and one relief appearance. One of those losses came against the Maple Leafs, who he’ll face again tonight—that evening he allowed four goals on 27 shots in a 4-2 loss.
Domingue stopped all four shots that he faced after replacing Mike Smith in the Coyotes’ loss in Winnipeg last night. Domingue has made two starts this month and has stopped 47 of 50 shots (.940 SV%). Despite a nice couple of games, Domingue has struggled on the road this season, going 2-7-1 with a 4.17 GAA and .873 SV%.
Holtby allowed five goals on 26 shots before being pulled from Monday’s game in Pittsburgh. The game ended up going to overtime, so Holtby wasn’t stuck with the loss—he remains 6-0-0 with a 1.74 GAA, .939 SV% and three shutouts in January. In his first game against the Blues, Holtby turned aside 18 of 21 shots in a 4-3 win back in November.
Mrazek allowed two goals on 25 shots after replacing Jared Coreau in the Red Wings’ miraculous comeback shootout win over the Bruins on Wednesday. Mrazek has struggled this season, but Wednesday’s performance may have been just what he needed to turn things around. In his first start vs. the Sabres, Mrazek allowed four goals on 22 shots in a 4-3 loss.
Darling stopped 39 of 40 shots in the Blackhawks’ 2-1 win over the Hurricanes on January 6th. Corey Crawford has started the last five games, but head coach Joel Quenneville said he wanted to get Darling a start on the father’s trip. The 28-year-old has not faced the Bruins this season, but has gone 4-2-1 with a 2.83 GAA and .901 SV% on the road.
Nilsson was held off of the ice on Thursday because of an illness, which required the Sabres to recall Linus Ullmark from Rochester (AHL). With Nilsson ill, expect Ullmark to remain with the team and backup Robin Lehner on Friday.
Ennis returned to the lineup on Monday, but was scratched in the second half of the back-to-back to ease him back into action. He was back on the first line this morning and heads into Friday with two goals and one assist in 13 games.
Johnson allowed two goals on 22 shots in the Flames’ win over the Panthers on Tuesday. Johnson has won three of his last five starts while posting a 1.83 GAA and .936 SV%. Johnson will take on a Predators team that has won three of their last four and rank 17th in the NHL in goal scoring (2.68 GF/PG).
Claesson has been a healthy scratch for the last four games, but will get back into the lineup tonight in Columbus. Claesson will replace someone who is sick, but the Senators would not reveal who that defenseman is. Claesson has no points and has averaged 10:27 TOI in eight games this season.
Nedeljkovic, 21, played 30 minutes after replacing Cam Ward and stopped all 17 shots he faced in his first taste of the NHL. Nedeljkovic returns to Charlotte where he has gone 5-12-0 with a 3.30 GAA and .884 SV% in 18 games this season.
