Rask allowed four goals on 25 shots in the Bruins’ loss to the Oilers on Thursday. Rask has lost his first two starts of 2017 while allowing a combined six goals on 50 shots (.880 SV%). Despite his recent struggles, tonight he will face the Panthers for the fourth time this season—he has gone 3-0-0 with a 1.66 GAA and .947 SV% in their first three meetings.
Holtby stopped all 29 shots that he faced in the Capitals’ shutout win over the Blue Jackets on Thursday. Holtby put an abrupt stop to the Blue Jackets’ winning streak and will start again in Ottawa. Despite a terrible outing vs. the Maple Leafs, Holtby sits at 2-0-0 with a 1.71 GAA, .934 SV% and one shutout in his first three starts of the 2017 calendar year.
Tanev suffered an upper-body injury early in Friday’s game and will come out of the lineup tonight. Tanev will be replaced by Alex Biega and is listed as day-to-day.
Smith has missed the last two games with an abdomen injury, but will play tonight vs. the Capitals. Smith has picked up 15 points (8G / 7A) in 35 games this season.
Bjugstad suffered a lower-body injury early in last night’s game vs. the Predators. Bjugstad will miss at least one week after being placed on IR this morning. Expect Shawn Thornton to get back into the Panthers’ lineup with Bjugstad out.
Brittain, 24, has gone 15-5-0 with a 2.62 GAA and .911 SV% in 22 games in the ECHL. Brittain has been recalled to backup James Reimer after Roberto Luongo was injured in warmups last night.
Reimer stopped 28 of 29 shots in the Panthers’ win over the Predators last night. Roberto Luongo was scheduled to start, but was hurt in warmups. With Luongo out, Reimer will start again tonight vs. the Bruins. Reimer has gone 2-2-1 with a 2.37 GAA and .927 SV% on home ice this season—but he lost his first start vs. the Bruins.
Price allowed one goal on 23 shots in the Canadiens’ win in Nashville on Tuesday. Al Montoya started on Wednesday, so Price will start tonight in Toronto. Price has gone 2-0-0 with a 1.00 GAA and .971 SV% in his first two starts vs. the Maple Leafs this season. He has also gone 5-2-2 with a 2.28 AA and .922 SV% on the road this season.
Lehner allowed three goals on 28 shots in the Sabres’ loss in Boston on New Year’s Eve. Anders Nilsson has started the last two games, but Lehner will get back in goal tonight vs. the Jets. Lehner has lost four of his last five starts (1-3-1) while allowing a combined 14 goals on 180 shots (.922 SV%). Lehner has gone 3-7-2 with a 2.41 GAA and .922 SV% on home ice this season.
Andersen allowed two goals on 32 shots in the Maple Leafs win in New Jersey last night. Despite starting yesterday, Andersen will go again tonight vs. the Canadiens. Andersen has won five of his last six starts while posting a 2.44 GAA and .930 SV%. Despite posting a 2.07 GAA and .933 SV%, Andersen is 0-2-0 against the Canadiens this season.
Bjugstad played just 4:18 TOI before retiring to the dressing room last night. Panthers’ head coach Tom Rowe did not have an update on Bjugstad after the game, so considering him questionable for Saturday’s game vs. the Bruins. This would be a big loss for a team already without their top centre Aleksander Barkov.
McElhinney stopped all four shots that he faced after replacing Sergei Bobrovsky in the Blue Jackets’ loss in Washington on Thursday. McElhinney will make his first start since December 20th—he stopped 44 of 46 shots in a win over the Kings. Tonight he will take on the Rangers on home-ice. The veteran has gone 2-0-2 with a 1.90 GAA and .939 SV% this season.
Luongo was slated to start last night vs. the Predators, but suffered an upper-body injury during warmups and James Reimer got the nod. The Panthers play again tonight, so Luongo is doubtful to start, which means Reimer will likely go again and a goaltender will be recalled from Springfield (AHL).
Luongo allowed four goal on 39 shots in the Panthers’ loss to the Jets on Wednesday. Luongo was peppered by Winnipeg and ended up losing his third straight game and has posted a 2.86 GAA and .924 SV% over that stretch. Tonight he faces the Predators on home ice where he is 8-5-2 with a 2.29 GAA and .926 SV%.
Elliott allowed one goal on 18 shots in the Flames’ win over the Avalanche on Wednesday. Elliott has now won five in a row while posting a 1.80 GAA and .922 SV%. One of those wins came against the Canucks two weeks ago—he stopped 13 of 14 shots in a 4-1 victory. He makes for a strong start tonight.
Hellebuyck allowed one goal on 32 shots in the Jets’ win in Florida on Wednesday. Hellebuyck has gone 5-2-0 with a 2.56 GAA and .920 SV% in his last seven outings and tonight he will start his 29th game of the season. He will take on a Buffalo team that has lost seven of their last nine (2-4-3), but the 23-year-old is 6-7-0 with a 2.96 GAA and .899 SV% on the road this season.
