NHL Hockey Player News

Budaj stopped 24 of 25 shots in the Kings 1-0 loss in St. Louis last night. It was a strong performance for Budaj, but Jake Allen was just a little bit better. Budaj has won four of five starts while posting a 1.99 GAA and .913 SV% since taking over as the Kings’ No.1 starter. He’ll be in tough on a back-to-back against Chicago.

Greiss allowed three goals on 29 shots in the Islanders loss to Montreal on Wednesday. Jaroslav Halak started on Thursday, but it will be Greiss who starts vs. Toronto tonight. When you face the Maple Leafs you have a good chance to record a win, but also a good chance of giving up a lot of goals. Toronto comes into play tied for ninth with 3.13 goals per game through their first eight games.

Ouellet has been a healthy scratch for the last five games, but will replace Ryan Sproul in the lineup on Sunday. Ouellet has one assist in four games this season, he will play with Brendan Smith.

Sproul played in five consecutive games, but will come out of the lineup tonight. Sproul, who will be replaced by Xavier Ouellet, had two assists and 11 shots while averaging 15:14 TOI in those five contests.

Neuvirth allowed two goals on 14 shots after replacing Steve Mason in the Flyers’ loss to the Penguins last night. Neuvirth has not recorded a win since the season opener and has an ugly 4.16 GAA and .847 SV% in four appearances this season. Tonight he will start against a Hurricanes team that is 2-3-2 while averaging 3.00 goals per game (t-11th).

Mrazek allowed one goal on 32 shots in the Red Wings’ shootout win in St. Louis on Thursday. Mrazek has won four games in a row while posting a 1.71 GAA and .945 SV%. Mrazek has been busy this season, facing an average of 33.3 shots per game, but he has been equal to the task. He allowed three goals on 37 shots in a loss in his first start vs. Florida.

Vanek will miss his third straight game with a lower-body injury and is expected to miss all of next week (three games) as well. This is a tough brea for the Red Wings and Vanek owners, because he was off to a hot-start, picking up eight points (4G / 4A) in seven games.

Anderson stopped all 22 shots that he faced in the Senators’ shutout win in Vancouver on Tuesday. He briefly left the team because his wife was diagnosed with cancer, but re-joined the team on Saturday and will be in goal tonight in Edmonton. Anderson has won four of his five starts with a 2.95 GAA and .903 SV%.

Hutchinson stopped all 37 shots that he faced in the Jets’ shutout win in Colorado on Friday. Hutchinson has alternated wins and losses to start the season and carries a 2.77 GAA and .918 SV% into this afternoon’s game vs. Buffalo. In his only start on home-ice, Hutchinson allowed four goals on 40 shots in an overtime win over the Maple Leafs.

Conacher made his season debut on Saturday, but his return to Syracuse this afternoon suggests that Ryan Callahan could be ready to return for Sunday’s game.

Baptiste, 21, appeared in two games with the Sabres earlier in the year, scoring one goal. He has picked up five points (3G / 2A) in five games with Rochester and will be in the Sabres lineup for Nicolas Deslauriers, who is out with a lower-body injury.

Deslauriers did not make the trip to Winnipeg after sustaining a lower-body injury on a hit to the knee late in Saturday’s win over the Panthers. With Deslauriers out, Nick Baptiste has been recalled from Rochester (AHL).

Lehner allowed two goals on 20 shots in the Sabres loss in Vancouver on October 20th. Lehner has missed the last three games with an illness, but will return to the crease today in Winnipeg. Lehner has posted a 3.01 GAA and .892 SV% in four starts this season and is a risky start against a solid Winnipeg offence.

Elliott allowed two goals on 33 shots in the Flames win over the Senators on Friday. Elliott lost three straight games to start the season with a 4.72 GAA and .839 SV%, but has rattled off three straight wins in a row with a 1.63 GAA and .944 SV% since. This is a lot more like the Elliott we’ve grown accustom to seeing, but he will be in tough tonight vs. Washington.

Bishop allowed two goals on 25 shots in the Lightning’s win in Montreal on Thursday. Andrei Vasilevskiy started last night, so Bishop will go tonight in New York. It has been an inauspicious start to the season for Bishop, who carries a 3.22 GAA and .891 SV% into tonight’s meeting with the Rangers. The Rangers are 5-3-0 and lead the NHL in scoring, with 3.63 goals per game.

Kreider will miss his fourth consecutive game with a neck strain, but he could be back on Tuesday. It is good news that his injury is not going to keep him out much longer, but the Rangers will take on the Lightning without Kreider.

Raanta allowed four goals on 31 shots in the Rangers win over San Jose on October 17th. Henrik Lundqvist started and lost on Friday, so Raanta will get his second start of the season on Sunday. Raanta is often a strong spot-start option, but he draws a rough matchup against the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning (5-3-0).