NHL Hockey Player News

McNabb has three assists and a plus-3 rating in his last three games, but will take a seat with Jamie McBain coming back into the lineup.

McBain has been a healthy scratch in every games since January 8th vs. the Rangers. He has collected seven points (2G / 5A) in 16 games this season. Look for him to be paired with Robyn Regehr and pick up some power-play time on the second unit.

Smith stopped 30 of 31 shots in the Coyotes 4-1 win over the Blue Jackets on Tuesday. Smith has won two of three with a 2.59 GAA and .908 SV%. While he has played well as of late and draws a strong matchup tonight, Smith is still a risky start in all formats. He made 32 saves in a 3-0 loss in his first start vs. Carolina.

Elliott, 24, will make his season debut tonight vs. Detroit. Replacing Barrie in all situations means that Elliott will play on the Avs’ top-pair with Nate Guenin as well as power-play time, likely on the top-unit. Elliott has 18 points (6G / 12A) in 58 career NHL games. He has 12 goals and 14 assists (26 points) in 40 games with Lake Erie (AHL) this season.

The addition of Adam Clendening has not pushed Corrado back to the AHL yet, but he still won’t be in the lineup tonight while he continues to fight an illness. His next chance to get back into the lineup is Saturday vs. the visiting Penguins.

Tanev was not on the ice for the Canucks morning skate, so he must have suffered the injury on Tuesday vs. the Jets. The team did not specify too much information on Tanev’s status, so consider him day-to-day. He will replaced by Yannick Weber in the lineup tonight.

The Red Wings likely just game Datsyuk the morning off, but he will be between Tomas Tatar and Darren Helm when the Wings take on the Avs tonight. Datsyuk has one goal and six assists in his last eight games.

Niemi allowed four goals on 40 shots in the Sharks shocking loss to Edmonton on Monday. He did not start last night, so it looks like he will face Vancouver tonight. In his first start against the Canucks he allowed three goals on 19 shots in a 3-2 loss. In 18 road starts, Niemi is 10-6-2 with a 2.54 GAA and .921 SV%.

Skinner has no points and a minus-5 rating in his last nine games, but will move to the second line with Viktor Rask and Alexander Semin tonight vs. the Coyotes. Hopefully the move will spark some offence from the former 30-goal scorer, who is on pace for just 17 goals and 15 assists (33 points) this season.

Ward gave up four goals on 37 shots in the Hurricanes 4-1 loss to the Rangers last Saturday. He has not registered a win since January 8th, going 0-2-2 with a 2.91 GAA And .904 SV% over that stretch. He has a great matchup tonight against a Coyotes team he posted a 25-save shutout against in November.

Miller gave up three goals on 19 shots in the Canucks loss to the Wild on Super Bowl Sunday. He was given Tuesday night off, but it looks like he will start tonight vs. San Jose. Miller enters play having lost three of four while registering a 2.84 GAA and .876 SV%. He is 2-0-0 with a 1.50 GAA and .956 SV% against the Sharks this season.

Barrie will not play tonight vs. the Red Wings, but coach Patrick Roy said he expects to have Barrie back for Saturday’s game in Minnesota. With Barrie out, Stefan Elliott will slide into the lineup and replace Barrie in all situations, including the top-pair and power-play.

Vitale was moved to IR yesterday and will miss his fifth straight game tonight. He is expected to miss the next the next three games as well, which will allow Brendan Shinnimin to stay with the team through the weekend.

Hanzal will miss his fourth straight game tonight and is expected to miss at least the next three games as well. With Hanzal out, the Coyotes recalled Alexandre Bolduc, who will be in the lineup tonight vs. Carolina.

Kane has reportedly been dealing with an injury all season long, so he was visiting doctors today and will be re-evaluated on Friday ahead of the Jets meeting with the Blackhawks.

Nikitin has missed the last three games, but was finally moved to IR this afternoon to make room for the Oilers to recall Martin Marincin. Nikitin is expected to miss 3-5 weeks with the shoulder injury.

Marincin, 22, has one assist in 12 games with the Oilers this season. Edmonton moved Nikita Nikitin to IR to make room for Marincin, who could be in the lineup on Saturday in Toronto.

Phaneuf skated for a second straight day on Thursday, but is not ready to return on Friday. The Leafs have a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday so it seems unlikely that he will return on Saturday, but monitor his status heading into the weekend.

Berglund missed the last three games with a shoulder injury that he suffered last Thursday. He will replace Ty Rattie in the lineup if he ends up returning tonight. Monitor his status close to the 7:00 p.m ET puck-drop.

Versteeg has been out since he suffered a hand injury in the Winter Classic. He was expected to miss “about one month” so his return to practice this afternoon is a good sign that he is progressing as scheduled. He skated in a no-contact jersey today, so he will need to shed that look before his return is imminent.