NHL Hockey Player News

Neal missed Tuesday’s practice and Wednesday’s morning skate due to illness and will not play tonight vs. the Sabres. With Neal out, Austin Czarnik will skate on the Flames third line.

Rittich allowed three goals on 27 shots in the Flames win over the Panthers last Friday. Rittich has won five in a row despite posting a 3.18 GAA and .902 SV%. Rittich hasn’t been as sharp as he was earlier this season but has been doing just enough to win games. Tonight he gets a Sabres team that has lost seven of their last nine (2-6-1).

Rittich allowed three goals on 27 shots in the Flames win over the Panthers last Friday. Rittich has won five in a row despite posting a 3.18 GAA and .902 SV%. Rittich hasn’t been as sharp as he was earlier this season but has been doing just enough to win games. Tonight he gets a Sabres team that has lost seven of their last nine (2-6-1).

Condra registered just one goal in six games during his call-up, playing a few games on the second line with Jason Spezza. Condra returns to the AHL where he has 14 goals and 21 assists (35 points) in 32 games.

Varlamov allowed three goals on 20 shots in Colorado’s 6-3 win in Toronto on Monday. The win snapped an ugly five-game losing streak for Varlamov and moved him into a tie for 29th in wins (12) on the year. He draws a stellar matchup in Ottawa but is 7-7-1 with a 2.93 GAA, .905 SV% and one shutout on the road this year.

Backes will be replaced by Peter Cehlarik who was called up from Providence (AHL) on Tuesday afternoon. Backes has just one goal and one assist in his last six games.

Cehlarik was called up because Jake DeBrusk was dealing with a lower-body injury but DeBrusk will play. So Cehlarik will replace David Backes, who comes out as a healthy scratch. The 23-year-old winger has four points (1G / 3A) in 17 career NHL games and 29 points (10G / 19A) in 37 games with Providence this season.

DeBrusk is dealing with a lower-body injury but will be available for Wednesday’s game in Philadelphia. The Bruins recalled Peter Cehlarik from Providence (AHL) to replace DeBrusk but with him playing, David Backes will be the healthy scratch up front.

Koskinen was outstanding on Monday, stopping 41 of 43 shots in a 7-2 win over the Sabres. Koskinen was able to put an ugly stretch of games behind him and will look to stay on-track tonight vs. the Canucks. It looks like a nice matchup on paper but Koskinen is 0-2-0 with a 5.37 GAA and .800 SV% in two games vs. Vancouver this season.

Hart gave up four goals on 38 shots in the Flyers win over the Wild on Monday. Hart had a couple of rough starts early-on but has settled in as of late, going 2-2-0 with a 2.55 GAA and .928 SV% in his last four starts. He draws a tough matchup tonight vs. a Bruins team that has won six of their last eight (6-1-1).

Howard allowed two goals on 18 shots in the Red Wings 5-2 win over the Wild on Saturday. It was an easy night for Howie, who is 2-3-0 with a 3.00 GAA and .894 SV% in his first five starts in January. The veteran netminder will look to string a couple of wins together and draws a nice matchup with the Ducks in town—Anaheim is on an 11-game losing streak at the moment.

Binnington stopped 21 of 22 shots in the Blues win in Dallas on Saturday. Binnington earned second star of the week honours in the NHL last week after winning all three of his starts while stopping 74 of the 76 shots (.974 SV%) that he faced. He will look to stay hot against an Islanders team that has won 11 of their last 14 games.

Lehner allowed two goals on 26 shots in the Islanders loss to the Rangers on Saturday. The loss snapped an impressive eight-game winning streak for Lehner, who has a 1.52 GAA and .948 SV% over that nine-game stretch. Tonight it looks like he’ll take on a Blues team that played last night but come in having won four of their last five.