NHL Hockey Player News

Varlamov was pulled after he allowed six goals on 35 shots in the Islanders loss in New York on Monday. Thomas Greiss gave him the night off on Tuesday but he’ll get another crack at the Rangers tonight on home-ice. He is 7-3-3 with a 2.74 GAA and .913 SV% at home and the Rangers come in on a four-game road losing streak.

Merzlikins stopped all 34 shots that he faced in the Blue Jackets shutout win over the Bruins on Tuesday. He has posted back-to-back shutouts, stopping the last 61 shots that he has faced. He has gone 6-2-1 with a 1.64 GAA and .950 SV% since taking over as their starter but draws a rough assignment with the high-powered Hurricanes in town.

Binnington allowed two goals on 23 shots in the Blues win over the Rangers on Saturday. Binnington has been outstanding for over a month, winning nine of his last 10 starts (9-1-0) while posting a 2.51 GAA and .909 SV%. Tonight he faces a Flyers team that has been terrible on the road, going 2-7-1 while scoring 2.60 goals for per game in their last 10 road outings.

Crawford allowed three goals on 28 shots in the Blackhawks loss to the Predators last Thursday. Crawford has lost six of his last seven starts (1-6-0) while posting a 3.58 GAA and .889 SV%. Tonight he starts in his hometown against a Canadiens team that he has dominated in his career, going 9-2-2 with a 1.54 GAA, .954 SV% and two shutouts in 13 career starts.

Jones has spent time between the AHL and NHL this season, scoring three goals with 11 points in 14 games in Bakersfield and three assists in 23 games with the Oilers. Jones projects to be a third-pairing defenseman heading into 2020-21, so this is a great cap-hit for the Oilers.

Crawford allowed three goals on 28 shots in the Blackhawks loss to the Predators last Thursday. Crawford has lost six of his last seven starts (1-6-0) while posting a 3.58 GAA and .889 SV%. Tonight he starts in his hometown against a Canadiens team that he has dominated in his career, going 9-2-2 with a 1.54 GAA, .954 SV% and two shutouts in 13 career starts.

Lindgren allowed four goals on 30 shots in the Canadiens loss in Detroit on January 7th. Since coming up from the AHL, Lindgren has lost both of his starts while allowing a combined six goals on 65 shots (.908 SV%). Tonight he'll take on a Blackhawks team that played last night but they've won five of their last six road games while averaging 4.17 goals for per game.

Georgiev allowed two goals on 34 shots in the Rangers win over the Islanders on Monday. It was another strong outing for Georgiev, who is now 3-1-0 with a 1.21 GAA, .957 SV% and one shutout in four career outings vs. the Islanders. He comes into Thursday at 8-4-0 with a 3.01 GAA and .919 SV% on the road.

Samsonov stopped all 23 shots that he faced in the Capitals shutout win over the Hurricanes on Monday. Samsonov has won four in a row with a 1.24 GAA .958 SV% and one shutout and now leads the NHL with a 2.11 GAA and is seventh in with a .925 SV%. In his first game against New Jersey, he stopped 24 of 27 shots in a 6-3 win in a 6-3 win in his first game against them this season.

Kivlenieks served as Elvis Merzlikins' backup and did not appear in a game during his call-up. He swaps spots with Veini Vehvilainen and heads back to the AHL where he has gone 7-6-2 with a 3.04 GAA and .894 SV% in 15 games.

Vehvilainen is in his first year in North America, going 8-10-1 with a 2.22 GAA and .918 SV% in 19 games. Matiss Kivlenieks didn't appear in a game during his call-up, so expect Vehvilainen to serve as Elvis Merzlikins backup as well.

Carlsson has been a healthy scratch for the last five games and gets sent back to the AHL to make room for Andrew Peeke to be activated from IR. The 23-year-old blueliner has nine points (1G / 8A) in 28 AHL games.

Peeke has missed the last 13 games with a broken finger but is set to return to the lineup on Thursday. The 21-year-old defenseman had one assist in his first seven NHL games while averaging 1.7 hits and 1.3 blocks per game. To make room for him, the Blue Jackets have reassigned Gabriel Carlsson to Cleveland (AHL).

MacInnis appeared in seven games during his call-up but was a healthy scratch for the last five games. His demotion made room for Cam Atkinson (ankle) to be activated from IR. He returns to Cleveland, where he has 15 points (3G / 12A) in 28 games.

Atkinson has missed the last 12 games with a sprained ankle but is set to return to the lineup on Thursday. To make room for Atkinson, the Blue Jackets reassigned Ryan MacInnis to Cleveland (AHL). Atkinson has not had the season he was expecting to have after posting a career-high 41 goals and 69 points in 2018-19. He has nine goals (8.0 SH%) and 12 assists (21 points) in 35 games this season.

Carter Hart will miss 2-to-3 weeks with an abdominal strain and that affected their cap situation. Farabee had to be sent down in order to call-up Alex Lyon to serve as Brian Elliott's backup on Wednesday. Chris Stewart was also placed on waivers, so expect Farabee to be recalled tomorrow once Stewart is claimed or clears waivers (most likely).

Lyon will serve as Brian Elliott's backup for at least two weeks because Carter Hart is out with an abdominal strain. The 27-year-old, who has 13 games of NHL experience, has gone 9-11-2 with a 2.56 GAA and .916 SV% in 23 AHL games this season.

Hart left Tuesday's practice early and was evaluated after the session. On Wednesday, the Flyers announced that their No.1 netminder will miss at least two weeks with an abdominal strain. With Hart out, Brian Elliott takes over as their starter and Alex Lyon was recalled from Lehigh Valley (AHL) to serve as the No.2.