Niemi made 27 saves on 29 shots in the Sharks 3-2 victory over the Coyotes. The win pushed him to 2-3-0 with a 3.96 GAA and .866 SV% in five starts in January. Tonight he will take on a Maple Leafs team on the tail-end of a back-to-back. They have not scored a goal in their first two games on their California road-trip.
Samuelsson, 23, was a second-round pick of the Penguins in 2009. He is a solid defensive defeseman with little to offer in terms of offence or fantasy value. He had one goal and six assists in 38 AHL game with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Portland prior to being recalled. He will be paired with Zybnek Michalek.
This doesn’t come as a big surprise considering Doan was listed as doubtful on Wednesday. He will come out of the lineup, but thankfully for the Coyotes, Martin Hanzal is healthy and will replace Doan in the lineup. Monitor his status leading up to Saturday’s game in Minnesota.
Crawford made 36 saves on 37 shots in the Blackhawks 4-1 win against the Wild on Sunday. With four days off in between games, Chicago will go with Crawford again tonight vs. the Jets. Since coming back from his foot injury, he has gone 5-3-1 with a 2.74 GAA and .915 SV%.
Laughton must have suffered the upper-body injury in the Flyers 1-0 loss to the Capitals last night. With Laughton out, Zac Rinaldo is expected to slide back into the lineup. Expect the Flyers to shuffle their lines with Laughton’s absence.
The Predators announced this morning that Rinne would miss at least the next three games and then be re-evaluated, but Rinne met with the doctor this morning and he determined the knee sprain will keep him out for 3-5 weeks. If he misses exactly three weeks from today, he will miss eight games. This is a huge blow to the Predators, but they dealt with it OK last season. They will turn to Carter Hutton and Marek Mazanec as their goalie tandem.
Pavelec surrendered four goals on 43 shots in Sunday’s shootout loss in Anaheim. Pavelec has lost each of his last four starts while allowing four goals in each contest and posting a .906 SV%. Tonight he will take on a Stars team who are averaging four goals per game in their last nine contests.
Trouba, who is supposed to be out until February, skated in a regular jersey at the Jets morning skate. Ditching the no-contact sweater is a good sign that Trouba is nearing a return and that he could be back before February.
The Blues announced on Wednesday that Ott was questionable with an illness, but he will be in the lineup vs. the Red Wings.
Tanev missed Wednesday’s practice and Thursday’s morning skate and is listed as a game-time decision for tonight’s meeting with the Flyers. If he can’t go, Yannick Weber will slide back into the lineup.
Bonino missed Wednesday’s practice, but said that he is good to go tonight vs. the Panthers. Bonino has one goal and no assists in his last eight games.
Scrivnes allowed four goals on 29 shots in the Oilers 4-2 loss to the Blues on Tuesday. After winning two straight, he has lost two in a row while allowing eight goals on 56 shots (.857 SV%). Things won’t get any easier tonight as he gets set to take on the NHL’s highest scoring team in Tampa Bay—they average 3.22 goals per game; Edmonton, a full goal less at 2.23.
Luongo was pulled after he allowed four goals on 20 shots in the Panthers blowout 8-2 loss in Winnipeg on Tuesday. After a splendid return to Vancouver, the Jets got to him early and often, but the Panthers will give him a chance to bounce-back right away tonight vs. Colorado. He made 30 saves in a 4-3 win over the Avs back in October.
Granlund has been out since undergoing wrist surgery on December 29th. His original timetable was four weeks and he is already two and a half weeks into that. Coach Mike Yeo said he is getting much closer and practicing on Sunday could have him on pace to return before the four-week mark.
Hamhuis has been sidelined with a leg injury since November 20th and will miss another game tonight in Philadelphia, but he said that the plan calls for him to be back in the lineup in Carolina on Friday.
Varlamov stopped 36 of 38 shots in the Avs’ 2-1 defeat in Washington on Monday. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Varly, who was given Tuesday off, but will be back between the pipes tonight in Florida. He is 5-3-1 vs. the Eastern Conference with an identical 2.74 GAA and .921 SV% as he has posted vs. the West.
Miller has been sidelined with an illness for the last two games. He is coming off of a 27-save performance in the Canucks 3-1 loss to the Panthers last Thursday. Tonight he should make for a decent start against a Flyers team who are missing their starting goalie and two regulars on the blue line.
Neil has been out with a knee injury since December 11th, but was able to join the team for a skate this morning. Despite being on the ice, he needs to be a full participant in a practice before his return is imminent.
Anderson made 31 saves on 32 shots in the Senators win over the Coyotes on Saturday. He was given Tuesday night off, but will be back in tonight vs. the Habs. Anderson is 2-1-1 with a 1.98 GAA and .932 SV% to start January and catches a break with Montreal coming in on the second half of a back-to-back. Andy has gone 6-2-3 with a 2.23 GAA and .928 SV% at home.
Johnson will miss his second straight game with a lower-body injury, but head coach Jon Cooper is hopeful he will have his leading scorer back in the next two games before the All Star break.
