NHL Hockey Player News

Jones was banged up when he blocked a shot in last night’s win over the Bruins. He will be replaced by Matt Stajan tonight vs. the Red Wings. Jones is day-to-day.

Hiller allowed five goals on 37 shots in the Flames loss to the Ducks back on February 20th. Karri Ramo has started the last five games, but Hiller will get back between the pipes tonight in Detroit. He went 4-3-1 with a 2.89 GAA and .908 SV% in February. Tonight he will go up against a Red Wings team who have won five of their last seven while averaging 3.14 goals per game.

Puempel will shuffle back into the lineup after serving as a healthy scratch on Wednesday. He has no points, a minus-1 rating and five shots on goal while averaging 8:40 TOI in his first four games.

Rissanen, 23, has registered 11 points (1G / 10A) and 69 PIMS in 52 games with Charlotte (AHL) this season. He will make his NHL debut on the Hurricanes second pairing with John-Michael Liles.

Ericsson missed Thursday’s practice as a precaution, but was on the ice for the Red Wings’ morning skate and will play tonight vs. the Flames. Ericsson has just one assist in his last 12 games.

Khudobin allowed one goal on eight shots after replacing Cam Ward in the Hurricanes 5-2 loss to the Blackhawks on Monday. He will make his first start since February 27th—Khudobin went 1-3-1 with a 3.26 GAA, .877 SV% and one shutout last month. He has been impressive at PNC Arena, going 4-4-0 with a 1.89 GAA and .928 SV%.

Dubnyk allowed a single goal on 25 shots in the Wild’s win over the Capitals last night. He will start on back-to-back nights for the third time with the Wild—he has gone 0-1-0 with a 3.94 GAA and .864 SV% in the first two. With that said, he remains a strong option having won six of his last seven with a 1.42 GAA, .943 SV% and one shutout.

MacKinnon’s broken foot likely ends what has been a disappointing sophomore season for the 19-year-old. After a 63 point rookie season, Mackinnon registered just 38 points (14G / 24A) in in 64 games this season. The Avalanche sit nine points out of the playoffs, so this injury all but derails any hope they had for the postseason. Despite an average season, MacKinnon remands as an excellent keeper option.

Howard stopped 39 of 40 shots that he faced in the Red Wings 2-1 overtime win over the Rangers on Wednesday. After a couple of rough outings, Howie has stopped 59 of 62 shots (.952 SV%) to earn back-to-back wins. He will look to make it three in a row and earn his 20th win of the season tonight vs. the Flames. Howard has gone 12-4-6 with a 2.11 GAA and .920 SV% at home this season.

Hammond’s wild ride continued on Wednesday, stopping 35 of 36 shots in the Senators 3-1 win over the Jets. Since being recalled he has gone 6-0-1 with a 1.35 GAA and .957 SV%. He might start regressing, but that shouldn’t be expected tonight vs. Buffalo.

Khudobin allowed one goal on eight shots after replacing Cam Ward in the Hurricanes 5-2 loss to the Blackhawks on Monday. He will make his first start since February 27th—Khudobin went 1-3-1 with a 3.26 GAA, .877 SV% and one shutout last month. He has been impressive at PNC Arena, going 4-4-0 with a 1.89 GAA and .928 SV%.

Smith, 23, was set to become a restricted free agent in the offseason. After a breakout season in 2013-14, Smith has regressed a little bit, but has still managed to register 12 games and 23 assists (35 points) in 63 games.

Krug, 23, was set to become a restricted free agent in the offseason. Krug is on-pace to set a career-high with 41 points. So far he has 11 goals and 20 assists (31 points) in 59 games.

Jones played just 2:44 before retiring to the dressing for the evening. He was hit by a slapper and hobbled off of the ice. Flames head coach Bob Hartley did not have an update on Jones’ status after the game.

Ovechkin was considered a game-time decision, but was held out of last night’s game vs. the Wild. He is considered day-to-day, so monitor his status prior to Saturday’s matchup with the Sabres.

Quick allowed two goals on 23 shots in the Kings 5-2 win over the Oilers on Tuesday. The win snapped a small two-game losing streak for Quick, who will look to record his 27th win of the year tonight vs. Montreal. Quick is 18-6-5 with a 2.08 GAA and .923 SV% at the STAPLES Center this season.

Tokarski allowed three goals on 38 shots in the Canadiens loss in Ottawa on February 18th. Tokarski went 5-5-2 with a 2.70 GAA and .914 SV% this season. Tonight he will take on a Kings team who have gone 7-3-0 while averaging 2.70 goals per game in their last 10 contests.

Lehtonen stopped 35 of 37 shots in the Stars win over the Islanders on Tuesday. It was a big win for Lehtonen, who had allowed a combing 14 goals in his previous three games. Tonight he will look to repeat what he did the first time he faced the Panthers—in February he posted a 37 save shutout in a 2-0 win.

Bishop was slated to start Tuesday’s game, but did not take any shots in warmups and ended up not starting vs. the Sabres. Tonight he will face the struggling Maple Leafs—he has won four of his last five while posting a 1.81 GAA and .935 SV%.

Rask made 31 saves on 32 shots in the Bruins 4-1 win over Arizona on Saturday. The Bruins had four days off in between games, so they should be well rested to take on a Flames team without Mark Giordano. Rask went 3-5-2 with a 2.45 GAA and .916 SV% in February.