NHL Hockey Player News

Meloche did not play a game during his call-up and returns to the AHL, where he has just six assists in 38 games this season.

Vasilevskiy gave up seven goals on 41 shots in the Lightning’s loss in Arizona on Saturday. Vasilevskiy has started struggling out of the blue, giving up 12 goals on the last 74 shots (.838 SV%) that he’s faced. In his first start vs. the Maple Leafs, Vasilevskiy stopped 25 of 28 shots in a 7-3 win in early-October.

Varlamov stopped 29 of 30 shots in the Islanders win over the Sharks on Sunday. Varlamov has won two straight while stopping 50 of the 52 shots (.962 SV%) that he’s faced. Tonight he faces the Rangers for the third time this season—he is 0-2-0 while giving up nine goals on 63 shots (.857 SV%) in the first two meetings.

Hart allowed two goals on 29 shots in the Flyers win over the Jets on Saturday. Since returning from injury, Hart has gone 4-1-0 with a 2.02 GAA and .929 SV% in five starts. He’s been outstanding on home-ice all season, going 16-2-3 with a 1.64 GAA, .942 SV% and one shutout and is a must-start vs. the Sharks.

Holtby allowed three goals on 35 shots in the Capitals win over the Penguins on Sunday. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Holtby, who is 3-3-1 with a 3.21 GAA and .899 SV% in February. Tonight he faces a Winnipeg team that has lost four of their last seven (3-4-0) while scoring 2.86 goals per game.

Bernier surrendered three goals on 30 shots in the Red Wings loss to the Flames on Sunday. Bernier's numbers have fallen off a bit lately, going 1-5-0 with a 3.27 GAA and .896 SV% in his last seven games (six starts). In his first two starts vs. the Devils, Bernier is 0-2-0 while giving up eight goals on 59 shots (.864 SV%).

Letunov had one goal in three games with the Sharks earlier this season. During his time in the AHL, the 24-year-old has scored 12 goals with 22 assists (34 points) in 43 games.

Bergmann has spent most of his first season in North America with the Barracuda, where he's scored eight goals with nine assists (17 points) in 31 games. He's appeared in eight NHL games, tallying one assist.

Merzlikins was hurt in a collision with Anthony Duclair midway through the second period and as taken out of Monday's game. The Blue Jackets announced that he will not return. Luckily, they just got Joonas Korpisalo back and he entered the game for the rookie netminder.

The Hurricanes were busy on trade deadline day to they had to make some room and they did so by moving Dougie Hamilton to LTIR. To help make up for the loss of Hamilton and most recently Brett Pesce, the Hurricanes used the cap space to acquired Brady Skjei and Sami Vatanen.

Gudbranson has been out for the last eight games and the updated timetable suggests he'll miss at least seven more. Brendan Guhle has been bumped into a top-4 role.

Fowler has missed the last three games but will likely miss at least seven more games. With Fowler out Michael Del Zotto has been playing over 20 minutes per game and seeing second power-play unit time.

Sending Lindstrom makes him eligible to play in the AHL playoffs, which is where the Red Wings will want him once the NHL season is over. He could be recalled before Tuesday's game but Cody Goloubef is also expected to make his Red Wings debut.

Cernak suffered a lower-body injury in Arizona on Saturday but head coach Jon Cooper said he could play as soon as Tuesday. Monitor his status during the morning skate but the Lightning can't afford to have him miss a pivotal game while they're already without Ryan McDonagh and Jan Rutta.

Rutta has already missed the last nine games and will likely miss at least seven more. The Lightning went out and added Zach Bogosian on Sunday, so he'll fill in for Rutta moving forward.

Both Angello and Sam Lafferty were returned to the AHL on Monday after the Penguins added a trio of forwards at the deadline. Angello returns leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with 16 goals and nine assists in 45 games.