NHL Hockey Player News

Another Devils’ forward is out with an illness. As of right now it doesn’t appear that Josefson’s illness is the mumps, but it will keep him out of the lineup anyways.

Kane was listed as questionable for tonight’s game with a lower-body injury and his absence from the morning skate is not a good sign that he will be available tonight vs. the Wild. We will get an update following the skate.

Lehtonen stopped 30 of 33 shots in the Stars win over the Blues on Saturday. Lehtonen has had his fair-share of struggles this season, but the Stars offence is clicking and he has won five of his last eight with a 2.92 GAA and .900 SV%. He will be in tough tonight against a New York team who has won eight straight.

Palat is just a “little banged up” according to coach Jon Cooper. He did not skate this morning and will likely test his lower-body ailment in warmups before deciding if he will play.

Drouin, who missed Saturday’s game, took part in the morning skate and will be a game-time decision tonight. All signs point towards him returning, but the Lightning want to make sure he doesn’t start feeling under the weather again closer to puck-drop.

Garrison had hoped to return to the lineup tonight, but he did not take part in the morning skate and will miss his third straight game with an undisclosed injury. He remains day-to-day.

Lucic missed the morning skate, so it is not surprising that Coach Claude Julien confirmed that he will not play tonight. He is listed as day-to-day.

Bergeron missed the morning skate, so it is not surprising that Coach Claude Julien confirmed that he will not play tonight. He is listed as day-to-day.

Bishop stopped 25 of 26 shots in the Lightning’s win over the Hurricanes on Saturday. It was a nice return for Bishop who had struggled a bit prior to getting hurt. Tonight he will face a Toronto team who has lost four of five while averaging 4.20 goals against per game. They might push a few past Bishop, but he has a good chance to record the W tonight.

Rask allowed three goals on 15 shots after replacing Niklas Svedberg in Saturday’s loss to the Blue Jackets. Neither net minder was good in this one as a tough December continues for the Bruins. Rask is 3-4-2 with a 3.10 GAA and .895 SV% this month and tonight he will face a Red Wings team who always plays the Bruins tough in the regular season.

Ward made 36 saves on 38 shots in the tough-luck loss to the Lightning on Saturday. Ward was great, but the Hurricanes still fell short, moving Ward to 2-5-1 this month, despite posting a 2.13 GAA and .924 SV%. Tonight he will face the Habs, who pushed four past him in a 4-1 loss on December 16th.

Schneider gave up two goals on 27 shots in the Devils loss to the Rangers on Saturday. The coaching change sure didn’t help the Devils’ inability to score in their first game behind the bench. Despite posting a 2.28 GAA and .923 SV% in 10 starts this month, Schneider is 2-7-1. Tonight he takes on a banged up Penguins team, who he is 0-2-0 with a 3.64 GAA and .870 SV% against this year.

Halak allowed one goal on 21 shots in the Islanders win over the Lightning on December 20th. He missed the last two games with a lower-body injury, but will be back tonight. He has won his last four starts with a 1.47 GAA and .936 SV%. He is 1-0 vs. Capitals this season.

Drouin missed Saturday’s game with an illness but is on the ice this morning which is a good sign that he will return to the lineup tonight vs. the Maple Leafs.

Lucic is listed as day-to-day and his absence from the morning skate suggests that he will not play tonight vs. the Red Wings. We will get confirmation after the morning skate.

The Bruins called Bergeron day-to-day on Sunday, so his status for tonight’s game was unclear. Not being on the ice this morning does not bode well for Bergeron being available tonight vs. the Red Wings. We will get an update following the skate.

Schneider gave up two goals on 27 shots in the Devils loss to the Rangers on Saturday. The coaching change sure didn’t help the Devils’ inability to score in their first game behind the bench. Despite posting a 2.28 GAA and .923 SV% in 10 starts this month, Schneider is 2-7-1. Tonight he takes on a banged up Penguins team, who he is 0-2-0 with a 3.64 GAA and .870 SV% against this year.

Ward made 36 saves on 38 shots in the tough-luck loss to the Lightning on Saturday. Ward was great, but the Hurricanes still fell short, moving Ward to 2-5-1 this month, despite posting a 2.13 GAA and .924 SV%. Tonight he will face the Habs, who pushed four past him in a 4-1 loss on December 16th.

Anderson allowed three goals on 27 shots in the Senators 3-2 OT loss to the Red Wings. Anderson was not that busy in this one, but he made a number of highlight reel saves to keep the Senators in it. Tonight, he will get his first start of the year vs. the Sabres. He makes for a strong start at home where he is 5-2-3 with a 2.26 GAA and .930 SV%.

Oleksiak, 22, has one goal and three assists in 22 games during his time with the Stars this season. He had three assists in four games with Texas.