NHL Hockey Player News

Manning played 13:23 TOI on Wednesday but will be replaced by Joel Persson on Friday night. This will be the fourth time in five games that Manning has sat as a healthy scratch.

Persson was a healthy scratch on Wednesday but will replace Brandon Manning in the lineup on Friday. Persson is still looking for his first career point, collecting just nine shots on goal and a minus-1 rating while playing 15:20 ATOI in eight games this season.

Koskinen allowed three goals on 24 shots in the Oilers loss to the Coyotes on Monday. The Oilers continue to rotate their goalies, so tonight is Koskinen's turn and he draws the Devils on the tail-end of a back-to-back. The 31-year-old is 3-0-1 with a 2.57 GAA and .917 SV% on home-ice and New Jersey is 2-4-0 while averaging just 1.83 goals per game on the road.

Koskinen allowed three goals on 24 shots in the Oilers loss to the Coyotes on Monday. The Oilers continue to rotate their goalies, so tonight is Koskinen's turn and he draws the Devils on the tail-end of a back-to-back.The 31-year-old is 3-0-1 with a 2.57 GAA and .917 SV% on home-ice and New Jersey is 2-4-0 while averaging just 1.83 goals per game on the road.

Maroon has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury that he suffered in a fight in New York on October 29th. Maroon has been limited to a fourth-line role for much of the season so far, resulting in just three points (1G / 2A) and 10:39 ATOI in 11 games.

The Lightning are in Sweden to face the Sabres in the Global Series, so Hedman will enjoy a homecoming in his return to the lineup. Hedman missed just two games with a lower-body injury and will look to build off of a strong month of October, where he tallied two goals and seven assists (nine points) in 11 games.

Bernier gave up two goals on 11 shots after replacing Jimmy Howard in the Red Wings blowout loss to Nashville on Monday. In his last five starts and two relief appearances, Bernier has gone 0-4-1 with a 3.85 GAA and .879 SV%. The Red Wings are struggling mightily, so neither of their goalies should be rostered and Bernier especially isn't an option against a Bruins team that has the highest Points% (.800 -- 11-2-2) in the NHL.

McElhinney allowed six goals on 42 shots in the Lighting's win in New Jersey on October 30th. With Andrei Vasilevskiy starting yesterday, McElhinney will showcase what he can do in Sweden. McElhinney is 1-1-2 with a 3.94 GAA and .899 SV% this season and faces a Sabres team that is on a four-game losing skid, averaging just 1.25 goals per game during that stretch.

Vasilevskiy gave up four goals on 25 shots in the Lightning's loss to the Islanders last Saturday. He has looked very un-Vasilevskiy in his last four appearances, going 1-3-0 with a 3.82 GAA and .884 SV%. Today he faces the Sabres in Sweden, a team he is 3-0-1 against in the last two seasons and a team that is 17th goal-scoring (2.93 GF/gm) and 22nd in shots on goal (30.0 SOG/gm).

Ullmark gave up six goals on 34 shots in the Sabres loss in Washington last Friday. It was an ugly outing for Ullmark, who will start in his native country on Friday afternoon. He has allowed at least three goals in four of his six starts and has a tough assignment vs. the Lightning, who are averaging 3.31 goals per game (10th in the NHL) through their first 13 games.

Rinne stopped 23 of the 24 shots that he faced in an easy win over the Red Wings on Monday. It was a nice bounce-back game from the veteran netminder, who allowed six goals on 27 shots in his previous outing. He is 2-0-0 while stopping 56 of 59 (.949 SV%) in his only two road starts of the season and faces an Avalanche team without two of their top forwards and No.1 netminder.

Andersson was a healthy scratch vs. the Red Wings last night but will play Thursday in Carolina. Andersson has been limited to a fourth-line role this season and he has turned it into just one assist and seven shots on goal in 12 games.

Lundqvist stopped 35 of 36 shots in the Rangers win over the Red Wings last night. It was his first start since October 27th, so he should be better equipped to start on back-to-back nights than most netminders. Still, a road matchup vs. the Hurricanes is as bad as it gets right now, so you can leave Lundqvist on your bench tonight.

Mrazek allowed four goals on 28 shots in the Hurricanes loss in Philadelphia on Tuesday. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Mrazek, who will make his 11th appearance of the season on Thursday. He catches a fantastic matchup with the Rangers coming in on the tail-end of a back-to-back. Additionally, Mrazek is undefeated on home-ice (6-0-0), posting a 1.97 GAA, .925 SV% and one shutout.

Gambrell missed the last three games with a hand injury but was on the ice for today's morning skate and will be a game-time decision vs. the Wild. Gambrell has one goal and three assists in 12 games this season.

Rask allowed five goals on 31 shots in the Bruins loss in Montreal on Tuesday. If there is a team you'd expect him to struggle against, it's Montreal, but a matchup vs. the Red Wings is one you'd expect him to thrive in. He is 2-1-0 with a .904 SV% on the road this season but the Red Wings are the worst team in hockey right now (4-12-1) and rank last in goal-scoring (2.06 GF/gm).

Varlamov stopped all 27 shots that he faced in the Islanders shutout win in Buffalo last Saturday. Varlamov has won five in a row while posting a 1.58 GAA, .947 SV% and one shutout. On Thursday, he will face a Penguins team that is 3-3-0 despite averaging 4.17 goals per game on the road this season.

Blackwood stopped 32 of the 33 shots that he faced in the Devils win in Winnipeg on Tuesday. Blackwood will be making his fourth straight start tonight after going 2-0-1 with a .923 SV% in the previous three. A road meeting with the Flames is a tough assignment though, especially for a goalie with a .885 road SV% so far this season.