NHL Hockey Player News

Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock said it is unlikely that Gustavsson will be ready anytime soon, certainly not for this week’s game in Florida and Tampa Bay.

Howard skated for the first time since slightly tearing his groin on January 10th. He is just over two weeks into a 2-4 week timeline. Howard made the trip to Florida with the team and plans to skate every day, however, he was reluctant to predict a timetable for a return to the lineup. With Howie still out, Petr Mrazek will continue to get majority of the starts for the Red Wings.

Raffl is not participating in the morning skate because he is battling an illness, there is no word on his status for tonight’s game yet, but it doesn’t look good for Raffl.

Zadorov was in the Dominican Republic during the All Star break. He was unable to return in-time to make practice on Monday, so he has been suspended by the team. He will not play tonight, but is expected to join the team at some point during their road-trip this week.

Emery allowed two goals on 35 shots in the Flyers OT win over the Penguins prior to the All Star break. With Steve Mason not quite ready to go, Emery will start tonight vs. the Coyotes. Emery is 8-9-1 with a 3.27 GAA and .890 SV% on the season.

There was a chance that Mason could be available for tonight’s game, but he is splitting time with Rob Zepp at one end, while Ray Emery is in the starter’s crease, so it looks like Mason will miss his seventh straight game.

Hornqvist returned to the ice on Monday and his presence on the ice this morning is a sign that he could be available tonight, but that seems unlikely. Monitor his status after the A.M skate.

McElhinney allowed one goal on 17 shots after replacing the injured Sergei Bobrovsky last Wednesday. With Bobrovsky out for 4-6 weeks, McElhinney and Anton Forsberg will man the crease for the time being. McElhinney is 4-6-1 with a 2.98 GAA and .907 SV% entering play tonight.

Khudobin made 34 saves on 35 shots in the Hurricanes win in Toronto in their final game before the All Star break. He has won four straight starts while points a 1.34 GAA and .950 SV%. He draws a rough matchup tonight vs. the Lightning and their league leading 3.21 goals per game.

The Islanders announced on Monday that Okposo will miss 6-8 weeks with an upper-body injury, so placing him on IR was expected. Mikhail Grabovski is expected to get the first crack on the Islanders’ top-line with Okposo out.

Murphy, 21, has earned five assists in 16 NHL games for the Hurricanes this season. He leads all Charlotte skaters in assists this season with 17 helpers in 25 AHL games.

Dubnyk was pulled after allowing four goals on 10 shots in the Wild’s 5-4 shootout loss to the Red Wings before the All Star break. He is expected to get the lion’s share of the work while Darcy Kuemper is in Iowa (AHL). Dubnyk is 2-1-0 with a 2.34 GAA and .896 SV% since coming to Minnesota.

Schilling, 26, has appeared in two NHL games with the Capitals. He made his NHL debut on March 12, 2013, against Carolina and skated in one game with Washington last season. Schilling recorded 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) and 33 penalty minutes in 40 games with Hershey (AHL) this season.

Mrazek allowed four goals on 38 shots in the Red Wings 5-4 shootout win over the Wild before the All Star break. It was a nice bounce-back performance for Mrazek, who was yanked in his previous outing. Since Jimmy Howard went down, Mrazek has gone 5-1-0 with a 2.53 GAA and .910 SV%.

Crosby will not play tonight vs. the Jets because he missed the All Star game over the weekend. However, he is on the ice this morning, which suggests that he could be back in the lineup on Wednesday. He has been hampered by a lower-body injury as of late.

Flames head coach Bob Hartley said that Glencross isn’t far off from a return, could see him back as early as Thursday. Glencross will miss his fourth consecutive game today.

Rasmussen, 24, has 16 points (8G / 8A) in 44 games with Rockford, in what is his first season in North America. The 6-foot-3, 201 lbs. centre could make his NHL debut on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Versteeg has missed the last nine games with a hand injury that he suffered in the Winter Classic. He was expected to miss “about one month”, but he will miss at least one extra week as he wont’t travel out West this week.

Campbell, 26, got the call-up before Brandon Gormley and Philip Samuelsson following the All Star break because he has played better in Portland recently according to coach Dave Tippett. Campbell has 12 points (3G / 9A) in 40 games with Portland.

Mason practiced early Monday morning and has been quietly practicing since before the All-Star break. Mason, who has a right knee injury, has been practicing on his own, but has not taken shots or been involved in the normal routine he has the day before a game. Flyers GM Ron Hextall said it was not “100 percent” ruled out that Mason would be in the lineup.