Vatanen was injured in Thursday’s win in Philadelphia and will miss at least the next three games with a lower-body injury. With Vatanen on IR, Eric Gryba was recalled from the AHL, but Yegor Yakolev will draw into the lineup.
Darling allowed two goals on 35 shots in the Hurricanes win over the Blackhawks on Monday. Darling has played well in his last three starts, going 2-0-1 while stopping 97 of 105 shots (.924 SV%). He will look to string a pair of wins together tonight vs. a red-hot Blue Jackets team—3-0-1 in their last four.
Johnson allowed three goals on 18 shots in the Blues loss to Minnesota last Sunday. Johnson started all three games last week, going 2-1-0 while stopping 86 of 90 shots (.956 SV%). One of those wins came against the Sharks, who he’ll face again tonight—he stopped all 33 shots that he faced in the 4-0 shutout win last Friday.
Price made 43 saves on 45 shots in the Canadiens win in Calgary on Thursday. Price snapped a three-game losing streak in impressive fashion, moving to 3-1-2 with a 2.49 GAA, .922 SV% and one shutout on the road this season. He will look to string wins together tonight vs. a Canucks team that has lost four in a row.
Sparks allowed five goals on 34 shots in the Maple Leafs loss in Boston last Saturday. Sparks is 2-1-0 with a 4.00 GAA and .879 SV% in three starts this season, making him a risky option whenever he gets the nod. Tonight he faces a Ducks team that is 5-3-3 on home-ice this season.
Petersen stopped 15 of 16 shots after replacing Peter Budaj in the Kings 5-1 loss to the Maple Leafs on Tuesday. With Budaj sick, Petersen will likely make his first career start tonight in Chicago. The 24-year-old has a career .903 SV% in 51 career games with the Ontario Reign (AHL).
Kuemper stopped 45 of 46 shots in the Coyotes 2-1 win over the Predators on Thursday. It was a much different performance than the one we saw in Detroit, when he was pulled. Kuemper has lost four of his last six starts (2-3-1) while posting a 3.52 GAA and .899 SV%. He is too inconsistent to trust every night, but tonight he gets a Bruins team on a back-to-back.
Spooner signed a two-year deal with the Rangers this offseason, that carries a $4.0M cap-hit. The Rangers will be retaining $900K. Spooner has terrible possession numbers, posting a 39.4 CorsiFor% and -7.1 CF% rel and has picked up just two points (1G / 1A) in 16 games this season. Spooner will likely slide into the Oilers bottom-6, where Strome was.
Strome signed a two-year contract that carries a $3.1M AAV cap-hit. Strome has significantly better possession numbers than Spooner, posting a 53.5 CorsiFor% and +3.2 CF% rel with the Oilers this season. However, Strome has had a really difficult time producing offence, picking up just two points (1G / 1A) in 18 games this season.
Hertl missed Thursday’s game vs. the Maple Leafs and is not expected to play on Saturday. When head coach Pete DeBoer was asked about Hertl’s status for Saturday’s game, he said “probably not.”
Steen missed the Blues morning skate and will not play Friday in Vegas. Steen is day-to-day, so he will be replaced by Brayden Schenn.
Despite being placed on IR on Thursday, Schenn will play tonight in Vegas. Schenn’s move to IR was retroactive to November 3rd, so he is eligible to be activated before tonight’s game. Schenn is expected to skate on a line with Tyler Bozak and Robby Fabbri and returns to the lineup with nine points (3G / 6A) in 12 games this season.
Rittich stopped all 21 shots that he faced in the Flames shutout win in Los Angeles last Saturday. Rittich has been way better than Mike Smith this season and could finally be handed the job as the Flames’ No.1 netminder. He comes in on a three-game winning streak, stopping 61 of the last 65 shots (.939 SV%) that he has faced.
Vasilevskiy was placed on IR on Thursday and sent to Tampa Bay to be re-evaluated. The original report of a fractured foot was confirmed and the Lightning’s No.1 netminder will miss at least one month. Louis Domingue is expected to take on a heavy workload until at least mid-December.
Allen allowed one goal on 19 shots in the Blues loss in Chicago on Wednesday. It was a solid outing for Allen, who was on the verge of losing his starting job last week. He will make his second straight start tonight in Vegas, who he stopped 31 shots against in a win on November 1st.
The Ducks were originally listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, but have narrowed it down to back spasms and placed him on IR retroactive to November 9th.
Kinkaid stopped all 29 shots that he faced in the Devils shutout win in Philadelphia on Thursday. Kinkaid has played well in his last two outings, going 2-0-0 while stopping 58 of 60 shots (.967 SV%). The 29-year-old has gone 6-1-1 with a 1.99 GAA and .933 SV% on home-ice this season.
