Raffl was injured in the Flyers’ loss to the Blackhawks on Tuesday and could miss up to two weeks. Thankfully for the Flyers, Brayden Schenn has served his suspension and can take Raffl’s spot on the top line.
Letang left Tuesday’s game with an upper-body injury and did not return. The Penguins did not give much of an update on Letang, other than to call him day-to-day. Letang has had a difficult time staying healthy throughout his career, so add this to a lengthy list. Monitor his status during Thursday’s morning skate.
Bergeron missed the first three games of the season, but was skating between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak at Wednesday’s practice and is “on track to play tomorrow” according to head coach Claude Julien. With Bergeron back, David Backes will move to the wing on the second line.
Price reportedly lost five-to-seven lbs. because of the flu, but he is feeling better and hopes to make his season debut on Thursday. Monitor Price’s status during the Canadiens’ morning skate for confirmation that he will start.
Petr Mrazek started the first three games of the season, but Howard will make his season debut tonight in New York. Howard was 14-14-5 with a 2.80 GAA and .906 SV% in 37 games last year. Howard has played great vs. the Rangers over the last three seasons, going 2-3-2 with a 1.84 GAA and .945 SV%.
Hutchinson surrendered four goals on 31 shots in the Jets’ loss in Minnesota on Saturday. The Jets’ netminders have split the first three games of the season and the rotation will continue tonight with Hutchinson facing the Maple Leafs. Toronto has scored four goals in each of their first two games, making Hutchinson look like a risky start.
Klein missed the first three games of the season with back spasms, but will make his season debut tonight vs. the Red Wings. Klein will replace Dylan McIlrath and skate on the second pairing with Marc Staal. Klein had 26 points (9G / 17A) in 69 games last year, including two points (1G / 1A) in three games against Detroit.
Lundqvist allowed three goals on 18 shots in the Rangers’ loss in St. Louis on Saturday. Antti Raanta started on Monday, so Lundqvist will start tonight vs. the Red Wings. Last season, King Henrik was 1-0-1 with a 1.44 GAA and .954 SV% in two games against Detroit and he should be a solid start tonight against a Red Wings team that is 0-2-0 while being outscored 10-5 on the road this year.
Raffl left Tuesday’s game after just 9:36 and did not return. He is reportedly dealing with an abdominal pull and there is no word on how long he will be sidelined with the injury.
Schenn’s three-game is done and he is set to return to the Flyers’ lineup on Thursday. Schenn is coming off of a career-year and will take his spot on the Flyers’ top line with Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds back from Michael Raffl, who was injured last night.
Smith suffered what appeared to be a left-leg injury in the third period of Tuesday’s loss in Ottawa. Smith was trying to scramble across the net to make a save before getting all tangled up in the cage. The severity of Smith’s injury has yet to be determined, but lengthy injuries are nothing new to the Yotes’ netminder. Expect an update within the next 24 hours.
Lundqvist allowed three goals on 18 shots in the Rangers’ loss in St. Louis on Saturday. Antti Raanta started on Monday, so expect Lundqvist to start tonight vs. the Red Wings. Last season, King Henrik was 1-0-1 with a 1.44 GAA and .954 SV% in two games against Detroit and he should be a solid start tonight against a Red Wings team that is 0-2-0 while being outscored 10-5 on the road this year.
Allen allowed two goals on 21 shots in the Blues; win over the Wild last Thursday. Allen won each of his first two starts in easy fashion. He has only faced 40 shots so far this season and has turned aside 36 of them (.900 SV%). Tonight Allen is a must-start against a Vancouver team that has gotten off to a surprise 2-0-0 start, but should be beatable tonight.
Zatkoff allowed four goals on 30 shots in the Kings’ loss to Philadelphia in the Kings’ first game since Jonathan Quick got hurt. With Quick out, Zatkoff will continue as their No.1 starter, but remains a low-end No.3 fantasy option at best right now. Tonight he will face a tough Wild team that comes in at 1-1-0 while averaging 3.00 goals per game to start 2016-17.
Smith gave up three goals on 30 shots in the Coyotes’ overtime win over the Flyers in their season opener. It was a good start to the year for Smith, who is expected to start again tonight in Ottawa. Smith has a very young team in front of him so there will be rough nights, but tonight he faces a Senators team that is giving up 4.00 goals per game to start the season.
Fleury allowed four goals on 31 shots in the Penguins overtime loss tot he Avalanche last night. Despite the loss and the back-to-back, the Penguins will not turn to Mike Condon and will start Fleury for the fourth straight game. Fleury comes into play with a 2.60 GAA and .926 SV% this season and was 2-1-0 with a 2.31 GAA and .929 SV% vs. Montreal last season.
Allen allowed two goals on 21 shots in the Blues; win over the Wild last Thursday. Allen won each of his first two starts in easy fashion. He has only faced 40 shots so far this season and has turned aside 36 of them (.900 SV%). Tonight Allen is a must-start against a Vancouver team that has gotten off to a surprise 2-0-0 start, but should be beatable tonight.
Miller will sit out of Tuesday’s contest all together due to muscle tightness. University of British Columbia netminder Matt Hewitt will be the Canucks emergency backup with Miller out.
Lehtonen allowed one goal on 13 shots after replacing Antti Niemi in the Stars’ loss in Colorado on Saturday. Lehtonen almost led the Stars to a come from behind win, but the effort fell just short. Tonight he makes his first start of the season and it comes on the road, where he was 12-4-2 with a 2.76 GAA and .912 SV% a season ago.
Martin Jones has started the first three games of the season, including last night, when he was lit up for five goals on 22 shots, so Dell will make his NHL debut on Tuesday. The 27-year-old was undrafted and paid his dues in the ECHL and AHL before becoming the Sharks’ backup this season. Del was 17-16-6 with a 2.42 GAA and .922 SV% in 40 games with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL) last season.
