Howard made 36 saves on 38 shots in the Red Wings 5-2 win over Edmonton on Monday. He has won three of his last four starts while posting a 2.34 GAA and .923 SV%. Tonight he will face the Blue Jackets for the third time this season—he has posted two shutouts, winning one and losing on in a shootout in the first two meetings.
Krejci is nearly three weeks into a 4-6 week timetable. Today was the first time he has skated since the injury, which is a great sign for the Bruins. The Bruins are sitting in a playoff spot right now, so they will not rush him back, to make sure he is ready for the postseason.
Luongo will miss his third straight game with a shoulder injury. He has been skating on his own, but is not ready to join his teammates for practice. He will likely need to be cleared for practice if he is going to be available for Saturday’s game in Carolina.
Ellis allowed three goals on 28 shots in the Panthers 4-3 shootout win over the Islanders on Saturday. He has gone 1-1-0 with a 2.77 GAA and .900 SV% since being recalled. Tonight he will take on a Jets team who have alternated losses and wins in their last seven games.
Lindback allowed two goals on 22 shots after replacing Matt Hackett in the Sabres loss in Washington on Saturday. Lindback has gone 0-2-0 with a 3.33 GAA and .915 SV% in Buffalo. Lindback has gone 2-0-0 with a 1.33 GAA and .948 SV% in his career against the Maple Leafs.
Backstrom missed Tuesday’s practice and Wednesday’s morning skate because of an illness, but is expected to play tonight vs. the Rangers. Backstrom has five assists in his last four games.
Orpik missed Tuesday’s practice and Wednesday’s morning skate but there is still a chance that he plays tonight. He will be a game-time decision, but will be replaced by Cam Schilling if he can’t play.
Green took part in the Capitals morning skate, but he was ruled out of tonight’s game vs. the Rangers. With Green out, Nate Schmidt will be in the lineup. Green is day-to-day.
Helm was back at practice for the first time since suffering an oblique injury, but he left the skate midway through, so he seems doubtful to be in the lineup on Thursday vs. Columbus.
Holtby made 16 saves on 17 shots in the Capitals dominant 6-1 win over the Sabres on Saturday. Holtby has won three of his last four while posting a 1.51 GAA and .945 SV%. He will take on a Rangers team who are 11-1-2 in their last 14 games—over that span, New York has averaged 3.43 goals per game.
Kadri was scratched from Monday's game against the Islanders and he will also be a healthy scratch in tonight's game vs. Buffalo and Friday's game in Calgary. It was speculated that Kadri was scratched because he was late for a team meeting, but Leafs president Brendan Shanahan said "there's more to this [then being late for a meeting]."
Bernier allowed four goals on 43 shots in the Jets 4-3 overtime loss to the Islanders on Monday. He has dropped three in a row while posting a 4.63 GAA and .879 SV%. However, he has a good chance to snap that losing skid with the Sabres in town—he posted a 10-shot shutout in his first start against Buffalo this season.
Talbot made 29 saves on 30 shots in the Rangers 2-1 win over the Islanders last night. The 27-year-old has been sensational since the Rangers lost Henrik Lundqvist. In his last eight starts, Talbot has gone 6-1-1 with a 1.61 GAA and .946 SV%. Tonight he will take on a Capitals team who have won three of four while averaging 4.00 goals per game.
The Maple Leafs had just five healthy defensemen on their roster, so they have recalled MacWilliam, who is expected to make his NHL debut tonight.
Brooks Orpik is questionable for tonight’s game, so the Capitals have recalled Schilling. The 26-year-old has appeared in three NHL games with the Capitals this season. Schilling recorded 13 points (2G / 11A) and 44 penalty minutes in 48 games with Hershey this season.
The Islanders do not practice until tomorrow, so they likely won’t confirmed the report until tomorrow. If he misses two weeks, he would miss about five games, which isn’t too bad. Expect Brian Strait to have a permanent spot on the Isles’ blue line with Leddy out.
Palat took a shot off of the foot and was forced to leave yesterday’s win over the Canadiens. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said the X-rays “looked okay” but Palat will be reevaluated. Monitor his status leading up to Thursday’s game in Boston.
Quick allowed one goal on 18 shots in the Kings 1-0 OT loss to the Penguins on Saturday. Quick has gone 2-1-1 with a 2.65 GAA and .875 SV% in four starts in March. Tonight will be his second start of the season against Colorado—he made 42 saves in a 4-1 win in their first meeting.
Eakin was a late scratch for disciplinary reason. There is no word on what Eakin did to warrant being a healthy scratch, but Brett Ritchie will be in the lineup for the Stars pivot.
Demers was a game-time decision and was a late scratch because of an illness that forced him out of the morning skate. Consider him day-to-day and monitor his status leading up to Thursday’s game in Carolina.
