Hutchinson allowed three goals on 26 shots in the Jets’ loss in Dallas on Tuesday. The Jets’ goalie rotation will continue with Hutchinson getting his fourth start of the season tonight in Colorado. The 26-year-old netminder is 1-2-0 with a 3.70 GAA and .887 SV% in his first four starts of the season.
Hammond gave up five goals on 25 shots in the Senators’ loss in Detroit on October 17th. With Craig Hammond back in Ottawa to deal with a personal matter, Hammond will start tonight in Calgary. His first start wasn’t pretty, but he was strong on the road last year—5-5-2 with a 2.50 GAA and .924 SV%.
Budaj turned aside 19 of 21 shots in the Kings’ win over the Blue Jackets on Tuesday. Don’t look now, but Budaj has won three in a row and has stopped 67 of the 75 shots (.893 SV%) that he’s faced in four appearances. Budaj won’t post great numbers, but he could rack up wins as long as the Kings continue to limit their opponents to 22 shots per game.
Allen allowed four goals on 27 shots in the Blues’ win in Calgary last Saturday. The win snapped a brief two-game losing streak and now sits at 3-1-1 with a 2.39 GAA and .896 SV%. Allen draws a rough matchup vs. a Red Wings team that has won five in a row while averaging 3.80 goals per game over that stretch.
Fleury allowed two goals on 22 shots in the Penguins’ win over the Panthers on Tuesday. Fleury has won four of his first seven starts while posting a 3.11 GAA and .904 SV%. Despite Matt Murray being back, it looks like Fleury will make his eighth consecutive start tonight vs. the Islanders. Fleury is an impressive 4-0-1 with a 2.36 GAA and .927 SV% on home ice.
Pickard allowed three goals on 31 shots in Colorado’s win over the Penguins on October 17th. With Semyon Varlamov starting last night, Pickard will make his second start of the season tonight in Arizona. Pickard makes for a solid spot-start against a Coyotes team that has lost five of their first seven despite averaging 3.14 goals per game.
Varlamov allowed five goals on 38 shots in Colorado’s loss in Florida last Saturday. The Avalanche have had six days off, so Varlamov should be well rested for tonight’s game vs. the Jets. Varlamov has won two of his first four starts while posting a 3.25 GAA, .902 SV% and one shutout.
Head coach Jeff Blashill called Abdelkader a game-time decision, but Abby said that he will play on Thursday. There is no indication as to who will come out of the lineup for Abdelkader.
Niemi allowed two goals on 30 shots in the Stars win over the Jets on Tuesday. Tonight they will wrap up a home-and-home series in Winnipeg, where Niemi will go for his third win of the season. Given his success on Tuesday, you’d like to think Niemi is trust-worthy but he’s had a tough time stringing two strong starts back-to-back during his time in Dallas.
Jones stopped 19 of 20 shots in the Sharks win over the Ducks on Tuesday. It was an easy night for Jones, who snapped a three-game losing streak and now sits at .500 for the year with a 2.54 GAA and .899 SV%. Tonight, Jones will take on a Blue Jackets team that has started the year off at 2-2-1, but are averaging just 2.60 goals per game—24th in the NHL.
Forsling suffered a lower-body injury in Monday’s game and will miss Friday’s game vs. the Devils. Forsling is reportedly doing better and remains day-to-day.
Jooris left Wednesday’s game vs. the Bruins after separating his shoulder in just three minutes of playing time. Jooris could miss up to one month and he will be replaced by Pavel Buchnevich in the lineup on Friday.
Buchnevich has missed the last five games with a back issue, but will be back in the lineup on Friday. Buchnevich has one assist in two NHL games and will take Josh Jooris’ spot in the lineup.
Spezza is expected to miss his second straight game because of an undisclosed injury. Head coach Lindy Ruff said Spezza is “probably ruled out” for tonight’s game vs. Winnipeg.
Crawford allowed two goals on 31 shots in the Blackhawks’s shootout loss to the Flames on Monday. Crawford is 1-3-1 with a 3.02 GAA and .897 SV% in his first five starts of 2016-17. However, he draws a solid matchup on Friday, versus a Devils team that is averaging just 2.17 goals per game (29th in the NHL).
Lundqvist allowed two goals on 29 shots in the Rangers win over the Bruins on Wednesday. Lundqvist has won three straight starts while posting a 2.00 GAA and .930 SV%. Lundqvist is heating up and tonight he faces a Hurricanes team that has just one win in their first six games of 2016-17.
Budaj turned aside 19 of 21 shots in the Kings’ win over the Blue Jackets on Tuesday. Don’t look now, but Budaj has won three in a row and has stopped 67 of the 75 shots (.893 SV%) that he’s faced in four appearances. Budaj won’t post great numbers, but he could rack up wins as long as the Kings continue to limit their opponents to 22 shots per game.
Driedger, 22, has gone 1-0-1with a 0.96 GAA and .961 SV% in two AHL starts this season. With Craig Anderson heading back Ottawa to deal with a personal matter, Driedger has been recalled to backup Andrew Hammond over the weekend.
Anderson is coming off of a shutout on Tuesday and was likely in line to start Saturday’s game, but has returned to Ottawa to deal with a personal matter. With Anderson back in Ottawa, look for Andrew Hammond to start over the weekend and Chris Driedger has been recalled from Binghamton (AHL).
